‘Everydayness’ in Tourism

1. Introduction

Like many social realms, tourism has undergone dramatic changes over the past thirty years. Richards (2017) argued that it shifted from a top-down Fordist production system, characterised by cultural tourism that involved gazing at sites, to creative tourism based on everyday consumption. Arguably, modernity produced the separation of tourism and culture (everyday culture), and postmodernity is bringing them together. Larsen (2008) postulated the ‘de-exoticising’ tourism theory to make more space within the theory of ‘everydayness’, and suggested that “everyday practices, social obligations, networks at a distance and social capital should be central to 21^st-century leisure and tourism theory” (2008, p.31). Lash and Urry (1994) even proclaimed the ‘end of tourism’ given that the postmodern media culture blurred and then dissolved the distinction between the ordinary (everyday) and the extraordinary.

Thus, the ‘de-differentiation’ between tourism, everyday life (social realms), and various forms of travel led to the ‘touristification’ of everyday life (Jansson, 2018), ‘perforation of the ordinary by the extraordinary’ (Binnie et al., 2007) or ‘a common horizon of extra-quotidian … an element of the everyday’ (Darbellay & Stock, 2011). Consequently, Larsen (2008) proposed developing a transdisciplinary approach, known as ‘mobilities studies’, rather than independently researching the fractional domains of travel, mobility, leisure, tourism, migration, and transport. Hannam (2009) supported the notion that tourism needs to be understood as a specific process within the broader context of mobility or mobilities. Moreover, tourism has become a significant modality through which transnational life has been organised in a world where social networks are increasingly geographically dispersed due to migration flows. Löfgren (1999) spoke about ‘Robinsonian tourism’, where tourists sought authentic places, objects, and genuine sociability between themselves, where getting away from it all was an attempt to get it all back together again.

Following these developments, we aim to draw the attention of researchers to what we call as ‘everydayness in tourism’. The central part of this proposal is concerned with elaborating upon and bringing together examples of current ‘everydayness’ tourism developments. We posit that leisure travel is no longer necessarily an escape from everyday life but also a means of engaging with it (Larsen, 2008). Valek and Fotiadis (2019) questioned the notion that tourism serves as an escape from everyday activities. Their research documented a positive association between the same activity that was undertaken during daily life and while travelling. This ‘everydayness’ seems to be quite absent from tourism research thus far. Therefore, we aim to encourage a broader, less binary (ordinary/extraordinary) and more intertwined tourism perspective, where ‘everydayness’ enters leisure and tourism. We present modern-day tourism developments where tourists are catching up with their ‘everydayness’ during holidays. Furthermore, we propose a philosophical framework for a better understanding of and methods for measuring these concepts to advance the research.

2. Philosophical Foundation

To investigate ‘everydayness in tourism’, the binary tourism perspective of ordinary/extraordinary needs to be expanded. The World Tourism Organisation defines tourism as a phenomenon entailing the movement of people who stay outside their usual environment [but not necessarily their regular activity] for more than twenty-four hours. Therefore, ‘everydayness in tourism’ fits this definition. However, what is needed is a paradigm shift and expansion of the tourism concept in the postmodern reality.

As a point of departure, we propose two theoretical frameworks: the ‘liquid modernity’ of sociologist Zygmunt Bauman (2000) and the ‘everydayness’ of philosopher Martin Heidegger (1927). The ’liquid modernity’ of Zygmunt Bauman (2000) presents a framework of social life in a more ‘liquid form’, meaning it cannot keep any shape or course for a long time and is prone to change. In liquid modernity, a person goes through life almost like a tourist, switching positions, changing places, jobs, values, convictions, spouses and more. This process excludes traditional networks of support and frees individuals from the restrictions and requirements they impose. Nomadism becomes an integral part of liquid modernity, filled with increasing feelings of uncertainty, ambivalence and alienation. New technologies promote the acceleration of time, where past, present and future seem to be compressed into the present. All is transitory rather than permanent. Consequently, individuals experience an ‘instantaneity of living’, which impacts moral commitments, human solidarity and the modality of human relations. Therefore, liquid modernity is characterised by a collapse of long-term perspectives into an immediate, short-term mentality.

Second, the theoretical framework of the philosopher Martin Heidegger could serve as a starting point for exploring ‘everydayness in tourism’. According to Heidegger (1927), much of our lives is immersed in the task of getting on with our lives, rather than in reflexive contemplation of it. It is called ‘Dasein's [being-in-the-world] mode of average everydayness’. Everydayness is a condition of being in the world. It reflects our routines, habits, and conventions, which create order and stability in our lives. Everydayness has its merits. Breaking from everydayness might be terrifying because it leads to the realm of authenticity, where conventions are not established. Everydayness is recognisable by conditions such as ‘idle talk’, ‘curiosity’, and ‘ambiguity’.

2.1. ‘Everydayness’ in Tourism

The current world is hugely influenced by ‘hyperconnectivity’ and ‘always-on (constantly connected) culture’. As a result, the line between professional and personal lives becomes blurred. Moreover, people function in societies characterised by super-diversity and multiplicity, and that are increasingly ‘complexifying’ (Vertovec, 2024). We hypothesise that tourism increasingly intertwines ‘escape from everyday life’ and ‘catching up with everyday life’. Here, we propose a few examples that contextualise this reflection and encourage further exploration.

2.2. Catching up with Family Life: Family Tourism

Spending time with family has been one of the most fundamental everyday activities (Figure 1). Nowadays, we take time during holidays to reconnect and re-engage with close and extended families. So-called ‘family tourism’ is predicted to grow faster than any other form of leisure travel (Schänzel, 2021). The American Express (2023) travel report identified reunion, reconnection, and spending time with loved ones as one of the most essential travel motivations currently. Fifty-eight per cent of the respondents agreed that they were more interested in multigenerational family trips than they were before. Additionally, there is significant growth in dispersed families and friends who are geographically apart. Tourism has expanded into various aspects of social connections, including migration, kinship, and friendship (Larsen et al., 2007). The globalised movement of society and important migration trends generate what is called ‘visiting friends and relatives tourism’ [VFR tourism]. In 2021, ‘VFR, health, religion and other’ accounted for almost one-third of international tourist arrivals (World Tourism Organisation, 2021).

2.3. Catching up with work: Leaveism and Bleisure Tourism

The work overload and blurring of boundaries between work and home life (due to flexible working hours) have led to a new phenomenon called ‘leaveism’, where employees use their holidays to catch up on work. This greater flexibility at work has blurred the distinction between work and rest, as evidenced by shorter lunch breaks, working during sick leave, and always-on behaviour (Stevens, 2020). Additionally, an increasingly competitive work environment, overburdened employees, and environments filled with disruptions and distractions blur this reality. More workers consider combining work and leisure. Hybrid work-vacation trips, also known as ‘bleisure’ (where people bring work to resorts), are gaining attention. Vacations and work are now superimposed upon one another.

2.4. Catching Up with Sleep: Sleep Tourism

Sleep is increasingly important (and lacking) in our fast-moving society. Sleep tourism has become one of the top trends with ‘sleep concierges’, the use of artificial intelligence for beds, mattresses and room temperature, and optimum hotel arrangements for perfect sleep (sleep suits and spas). On the one hand, we understand its benefits and regenerative faculty; on the other hand, we suffer from sleep deprivation and sleep-related problems in our fast-moving society.

2.5. Catching Up with Health: Medical (Health) Tourism

Medical services were once consumed locally within the welfare system. There is an increasing number of medical hotels (also known as ‘medihotels’) that combine hospitality and health services in the same location. Health services (including diagnostic tests, bone density scans, vitamin infusions, stem cell therapies, and ozone therapies) are now available at hotels and resorts. Tourists also combine their ‘visiting friends and relatives’ travel and medical tourism; a phenomenon known as diasporic medical tourism (Mathijsen, 2019).

2.6. Measuring ‘Everydayness’

The binary tourism perspective – ordinary vs. extraordinary - needs to be expanded to investigate this phenomenon. The concept of ‘everydayness’ in tourism offers a new paradigm: less exceptional, less static, explorative, and fluctuating. New frameworks and alternative paradigms are required to overcome current limitations and divides, with an encouragement to build multidisciplinary research teams working on ‘mundane mobilities’ (Binnie et al., 2007). Understanding this shift is essential in designing tourism programs and policies. Detailed observations and precise data are necessary to capture the development and evolution of this new phenomenon. The concept of ‘everydayness’ needs to be explored in more depth, including its conceptualisation, theoretical components, characteristics, scope, profiles and other relevant aspects. What are the characteristics of ‘everydayness’? When, where and how do they operate? How can we map those experiences and draw the line between ordinary and extraordinary? Herein below, we propose certain avenues for guiding future empirical work.

One of the most suitable philosophical approaches for studying human experience, such as ‘everydayness’ in tourism, is phenomenology, where one can examine tourists' being-in-the-world (Heidegger, 1927) and describe their experiences as specific ‘lived’ phenomena (Goolaup & Soler, 2018), or explore their human experiences. Heidegger (1927) refers to this as ‘circumspection’, which involves understanding the most basic aspects of our daily life (‘mundane as it often is’). Phenomenology aims to comprehend how individuals perceive their world and how their subjective experiences influence their understanding of reality. A complementary qualitative method proposed for studying ‘everydayness’ is enography, which documents social interactions and practices.

Among methods, the one that deserves application for researching ‘everydayness’ is the so-called Experience Sampling Method (ESM). It is an intensive longitudinal methodology (with its roots in ecological psychology) that allows researchers to study tourists' ordinary moments and capture such experiences of ‘everydayness’. This method is sometimes referred to as a daily diary or ecological momentary assessment (EMA). It enables the collection of data on immediate conscious experiences during the tourist endeavours (in the real world). Detailed travel diaries have been successfully utilised in tourism to date (Weaver et al., 2017). With the use of mobile technologies, this method is easily accessible for collecting data at multiple points throughout the day. The Photovoice method, where participants take photographs (or even videos) about the topic and collectively discuss them to form a dialogue, can also be explored for a better understanding of the reasons and feelings about how ‘everydayness’ penetrates leisure. The Quantified Self Movement goes even further, encouraging the use of wearable technology and sensor probes to capture bodily experiences as well as the contexts in which tourists operate. For the locations, the trajectory-based location-based social networking (LBSN) method can help in recording GPS trajectory and location history (distance, duration, speed and users’ experiences). Consequently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) enables the analysis of past travel behaviours and information about experiences and search histories to make suggestions based on interests and expressed needs, with tailored recommendations.

New technologies enable us to probe deeper into the super-diversity of today’s tourists' experiences and trajectories of ‘everydayness’ in tourism. With blurring boundaries between the ordinary and the extraordinary, new concepts should be explored in greater depth. This may also require a more interdisciplinary approach to uncover the reverse order of everydayness that penetrates the extraordinary.