Present whilst absent: Home and the business tourist gaze

Cheryl Willis, Adele Ladkin, Juliet Jain and William Clayton

Annals of Tourism Research, 2017, vol. 63, issue C, 48-59

Abstract: This paper reflects on business travel as a contemporary form of mobility and how it relates to family life. Through qualitative research with business travellers, insights are gained into the role digital technology plays in enabling connections to home and family. The paper argues that technology affords a ‘business tourist gaze’, characterised by a focus on ‘home’ rather than ‘away’ as might be the case for leisure tourists. The paper discusses how, through the business tourist gaze, the boundaries between the everyday and the exotic are dissolved and the business traveller is disconnected from the destination, simultaneously absent whilst present both at the destination and at home. Theoretical understandings of the business tourist experience are offered.

Keywords: Business travel; Tourist gaze; Mobilities; Digital technology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:63:y:2017:i:c:p:48-59

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2016.10.008

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