Page 56 - The Disneyization of Society

THEMING

on animals in both the text and particularly images which show the most popular
animals (lion, giraffe, elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus) in natural habi-
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tats. In addition, images of the Masai are interspersed in a similar way among the
images of the big five animals. The images and the text surrounding them are
designed to give the impression of direct contact with raw nature and Norton’s
research on safari tourists in the region shows that this was the primary reason for
an East African safari as a choice of holiday.
In a similar vein, Nuttall argues in connection with tourism in Alaska that:

As in the early days of Alaskan tourism, Alaska continues to be marketed as a land of superlatives and
extremes, where nature can still be experienced as raw and untouched. Tour brochures … repro-
duce predictable stereotypical descriptions and images of pristine wilderness, fascinating Native cul-
ture and abundant wildlife, so that a trip to Alaska will be an unforgettable encounter with majestic
scenery, gold rush history, indigenous people, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see whales,
spawning salmon, bears and other animals. 127

The references to gold rush history and Native culture in this passage suggest
that intrinsic narratives are often supplemented by cultural narratives of place
but the message of a pristine wilderness and its creatures seems to be the
prevailing one. Similarly, Goss shows in relation to Hawaii how its intrinsic
theming as an ‘earthly paradise’ is supplemented by references to its culture and
history. 128 In order to get across this thematic element, Hawaii’s urban develop-
ments and its tourist infrastructure are all but ignored to convey a sense of unfet-
tered contact with nature and the history of the islands. Likewise, the tourist
publicity for Canada’s Eastern Arctic emphasizes ‘nature’, augmented by refer-
ences to Inuit culture and similar cultural themes, and is presented in opposition
to urban life. 129
These studies show that an important component of tourist imagery and pub-
licity entails the theming of place in terms of intrinsic narratives, which empha-
size inherent qualities of regions, as well as cultural ones, which are supplemented
by cultural narratives. However, in a sense the very fact that the material that
forms the basis for intrinsic narratives – nature, wilderness, wild animals – under-
goes a process of theming means that it too becomes a form of cultural theming.
As the intrinsic qualities of regions become commodities that are projected in
tourist publicity, they become a kind of cultural artefact too.

Theming of tourism and holidays
Tourism and holidays generally can be viewed as being increasingly themed. Urry
refers to ‘adventure tourism’ in New Zealand and ‘boring tours’ in Sydney which
can be interpreted in such terms. 130 A London firm launched a Jack the Ripper
themed tour in the wake of a new movie retelling the Ripper story. 131 ‘Terror
tourism’, organized trips to some of the world’s trouble spots, 132 a genre of themed
tourism that included ‘axis of evil’ tours to Kabul 133 can also be seen in these