Tourism as a way of mobilising hope against neoliberal logic: tourist‐activism in Rural Inland Destinations of the Global North

Abstract

Faced with crises that have led to a decrease in tourism and weakened the narrative with respect to its benefits, tourim is now being proposed by neoliberals as a solution to rural problems. This commodification of new peripheries of pleasure opens up a new range of types of tourism, ostensibly more sustainable and responsible, but still tending to ignore idiosyncrasies of place and ways of life as well as any conflicts associated with the neocolonising process. The objective of the present paper is to identify platforms, organisations, and social movements mobilised against “touristification” of rural contexts, also highlighting (whenever appropriate) alternative forms of tourism that have arisen to produce significant change in defiance of the demands of capital. We examine and link these movements through the notion of tourism-‐activism, applying Protest Event Analysis (PEA) as a research method. We argue that collective actions in rural destinations in the ‘developed’ or ‘Western’ world can trigger the rise of true social movements, channeled through tourism, that transform tourist destinations into places of hope.

Ante las crisis que abocan al decrecimiento turístico y debilitan el relato sobre sus bondades, la demagogia neoliberal presenta la actividad turística como solución a los problemas del medio rural. Esta mercantilización de las nuevas periferias del placer invita a otras formas de turismo, más sostenibles y responsables, aunque por lo general se siga omitiendo la idiosincrasia del lugar, formas de vida y conflictos asociados a este proceso neocolonizador. El objetivo planteado es identificar plataformas, organizaciones o movimientos sociales contrarios a la turistificación en contextos rurales, así como, en su caso, formas de turismo alternativo que surjan con voluntad de generar un cambio profundo frente a las exigencias del capital. Todo ello gira en torno a la idea de activismo turístico, aplicando el análisis de eventos de protesta (AEP) como método de investigación. Consideramos que la acción colectiva en destinos rurales del llamado mundo desarrollado u occidental puede desencadenar verdaderos movimientos sociales canalizados turísticamente para transformar espacios turísticos en espacios de esperanza.