Transformations in Destination Texture: Curry and Bollywood Romance in the Swiss Alps

Szilvia Gyimóthy*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

This article takes heterogeographical approaches to understand Bollywood-induced destination transformations in Switzerland. Positioned within the theoretical field of mediatized mobility, the study contextualizes Bollywood-induced tourism in Europe the concept of texture. Textural analysis (based on Lefebvre’s trialectics of space) combines the analysis of material performances and communicative representations converging in the production/consumption of tourism spaces. The article contributes threefold. First, it reviews the phenomenon of nonwestern popular cultural tourism through the theoretical lens of mediatized mobility. Second, the article offers methodological reflections on textural analysis and strategies to capture the entanglements of popular cultural representations and performances simultaneously. Third, through an analytical deconstruction of Bollywood’s imaginaries and disruptive new tourism practices in Switzerland, it discusses the placemaking potentials and challenges of concurrent narratives in cosmopolitan tourism destinations.

Original languageEnglish
JournalTourist Studies
Volume18
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)292-314
Number of pages23
ISSN1468-7976
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2018
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Bollywood
  • Destination transformations
  • Emerging markets
  • Film tourism
  • Switzerland
  • Texture

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