Football tourist trips: a new analytic for tourism studies

John McManus

Annals of Tourism Research, 2020, vol. 84, issue C

Abstract: This article explores the significance of touristic trips by European football fans. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with supporters of the Turkish team Beşiktaş, I argue that journeys to watch sides play constitute an ‘exceptional habit’, a ritualised shot of unorthodoxy that provides structure for other practices of football support. These trips are characterized by bodily practices less common in everyday life, such as mass imitation, fighting and drinking to excess. Yet examining fans' home lives also shows how they draw on exceptional practices to prepare for and memorialise the away match experience. Tracking both everyday and exceptional aspects of football support helps rebalance tourism studies: away from disproportionate focus on the touristic moment to considering its interpolation with everyday life.

Keywords: Sports; Fans; Ritual; Habit; Football; Embodiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:84:y:2020:i:c:s0160738320301298

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2020.102985

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