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Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 834851, 2002 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0160-7383/02/$22.00

PII: S0160-7383(01)00088-3

THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE

A Tourist Typology
Eugenia Wickens Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, UK
Abstract: Much writing treats the tourist as a unitary type, conned to a touristic bubble. Attempts have been made to subdivide the tourist by developing various typologies. These approaches neglect the tourists voice. By contrast, this papers case study from Chalkidiki, Greece, indicates that different tourist types experience the same host community in different ways. Analysis of qualitative data from 86 British holidaymakers has led to the identication of ve micro-types. Each is characterized by the dominant themes identied for their choice of holiday, types of activities, and views about the host community. Keywords: tourist roles, experiences, ontological security, coastal tourism, Greece. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Resume: Le sacre et le profane: une typologie de touristes. Beaucoup de litterature traite le touriste comme un genre unitaire, enferme dans une bulle touristique. On a essaye de subdiviser le touriste en developpant differentes typologies. Ces approches ne tiennent pas compte de la voix des touristes. Par contraste, letude de cas de Chalkidiki (Grece) de cet ` article indique que differents types de touristes font lexperience de la meme communaute daccueil de facon differente. Une analyse des donnees qualitatives de 86 vacanciers britan niques a mene a lidentication de cinq microtypes. Chacun se caracterise par le motif princi` pal quils identient pour leur choix de vacances, les sortes dactivites et leur perception de la communaute daccueil. Mots-cles: roles de touristes, experiences, securite ontologique, tourisme cotier, Grece. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. `

INTRODUCTION Although much writing on tourism treats the tourist as a unitary type, some analysts have recognized that an understanding of the touristic experience requires constructing typologies (Cohen 1972). It is argued that focusing on the tourists themselves and their typological forms helps explain why people are attracted to specic destinations (Jafari 1989:2627). Following a brief review of the literature on typologies of roles and experiences, this paper presents a case study from Chalkidiki, a region in Northern Greece, which shows that different tourist types experience the same host community in different ways. Analysis of qualitative

Eugenia Wickens is Senior Lecturer in Tourism, and Faculty Research Student Tutor in the Faculty of Leisure and Tourism, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College (Wellesbourne Campus, Kingshill Road, High Wycombe HP13 5BB, UK. Email <eugenia.wickens@bcuc.ac.uk>). Her current research interests are in coastal and heritage tourism, tourists experiences and behavior, motivation, and particularly in the sociocultural impacts of tourism. 834

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data obtained from 86 British participants has led to the identication of ve types: the Cultural Heritage, the Raver, the Shirley Valentine, the Heliolatrous, and the Lord Byron. Each category brackets off a set of respondents who exhibit similarities in their enactment of a particular role (Goffman 1967). Using Goffmans theoretical heritage, together with ethnographic evidence from Chalkidiki, this paper suggests that, while tourists commit themselves to play the institutionalized role (Cohen 1972), they may also choose an additional role by entering into one of ve scenarios observed in Kalimeria. Kalimeria (a pseudonym) is a coastal village/resort in Kassandra, Chalkidiki. The region is a fast developing tourism area and is evolving into one of the largest destinations in Northern Greece. Chalkidiki has a plethora of attractions, including long golden beaches, traditional villages, and the ancient site of Stagira, the birth place of Aristotle. Like other holiday regions in Greece, it can guarantee the sun. Therefore, it is not surprising that Chalkidiki becomes congested during the summer months with both foreign and domestic tourists. Extreme peaks occur between mid-July and mid-August. Most arrivals originate from northern European countries, particularly the United Kingdom, Germany, and Austria. A high proportion are drawn from the lower income brackets. THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE The literature demonstrates that some analysts have felt the need to subdivide tourists into categories (Cohen 1972, 1974; Pearce 1982). Cohen was one of the rst sociologists to propose a typology to conceptually clarify the term tourist. His four-fold typologythe drifter, the explorer, the individual mass, and the organized massis based on the degree of institutionalization of the tourist. This classication is often cited in academic studies, and attempts have been made to develop and rene it (Pearce 1982; Redfoot 1984). Of particular importance to the present study has been Cohens (1972) work. His typology was useful for guiding eldwork, particularly during the early stages of research in 1993 and 1994. The organized/individual mass distinction in Cohens classicatory scheme certainly says something about tourists motivations, albeit at too high a level of generality to organize or illuminate the qualitative data collected during eldwork. The strength of his typology is that it recognizes the tourist as a polymorphous consumer and attempts to specify types in terms of clearly expressed dimensions (such as institutional/non-institutional, familiar/strange). Following Cohens advice that one way to accommodate the various approaches and moderate their extreme images of the tourist is to bring them to a common ground and build typologies which would bridge them (1988:43), this paper introduces and develops a ve-fold classication of respondents. Study Methods Fieldwork in the form of semi-structured interviews and participant observation was undertaken in the summer months of 1993, 1994,

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1995, and 1996. Interviews were carried out with 86 British holidaymakers. These were conducted at various sites, including bars and taverns. The majority of interviews were taped with the consent of the participant, and subsequently transcribed. A snowball sample was used. This is common in ethnographic studies of mobile populations such as tourists and migrants (Lazaridis and Wickens 1999). All of the participants were individual mass tourists in Cohens sense of this term. Most were economically active, with the majority in manual skilled/semi-skilled occupations. Half of the participants stayed in self-catering accommodation; and the other half in one (family owned) small hotel. These types of accommodation are characterized by the independence they afford tourists, for instance, in terms of when and where they take their meals. The qualitative data were clustered into ve types: the Cultural Heritage, the Raver, the Shirley Valentine, the Heliolatrous, and the Lord Byron. Each cluster is characterized by the dominant themes identied by participants for their choice of holiday, the types of activities they indulged in, and the views they expressed about the host community. Clusters were checked and reviewed against new data from the eld and from a self-completed questionnaire. They were nally rened with the data from the last round of collection in the summer of 1996. When looking for differences and similarities in participants responses to a given question, care was taken that responses to a specic question were analyzed with due regard to the context and the conditions which produced them. Signicant statements were then selected and coded in terms of theoretical concepts and themes found in literature (such as familiarity, strangeness, isolation). Emerging ones were also retested for reliability with another round of data collection. Individual Mass Tourist Types In what follows the paper names the ve types of tourists found in Chalkidiki. Their characterization attempts to specify the similarities and differences within and between them. Although the types are analytically separate, all participants had two features in common. First, they all, to a greater or lesser extent, enjoyed the sun, sea, and sand ethos of Kalimeria. Second, they all had a fundamental wish for familiarity at the level of the basics, (like toilets, cleanliness, and the like). The Cultural Heritage Type. One group of 18 participants demonstrated more similarities than differences with each other, in that they all placed a strong emphasis on the cultural aspects of Kalimeria. Although this was their rst visit to Kalimeria, they had some previous holiday experience of Greece and knowledge of its culture and ancient history. The majority had visited the country at least twice in the previous six years. They identied the natural beauties of Greece, its culture and history as the primary reasons for their visits. As one female participant (her traveling companions included her husband, two young sons, and her elderly mother) put it:

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The classical sites, the Greek way of life, the food, the language, the music, the plant life, the animal life a lot of wild birds, some of them en route, on migration the beautiful sunsets, Greece has so many things to offer . And so Greece can provide a number of things sailing and water sports, as well as the conventional, sunbathing type .

It was the promise of an experience of typical Greek village life, with its traditional hospitality found in travel brochures that had inuenced their decision to visit Kalimeria for the rst time. Their expectation of experiencing Greekness is reected in many of their holiday activities. For example, with Kalimeria as their base, and using public transport, they visited other villages located away from the coast. One such village, Aghia Paraskevi, was described as a typical Greek village, as a lovely and peaceful place and as a place not geared towards tourism. Organized excursions to the historical monuments of Thessaloniki, to Stagira and to the Petralona caves were also undertaken by Cultural Heritage tourists. As one female participant traveling with her husband expressed it:
You can always escape we try to get about on the local bus and thats quite a good experience its also nice listening to the Greek people, yapping to each other, especially the old women in their black clothes yesterday, we were in Aghia Paraskevi the scenery was fantastic, breathtaking oh yeah, we spend most of our time sightseeing and visiting other villages.

In actively seeking to sample the village life in Kalimeria, the cultural heritage type also comes into contact with locals and Greek holidaymakers. Interactions with their hosts occur in taverns, cafes, shops, but also on the beach. The unexpected friendliness and hospitality of their hosts was a common theme during interviews. This is illustrated in the following extract from a conversation with a female participant vacationing with her husband in Kalimeria.
Last night we just happened to be getting off the boat and walking up along the beach and these people just dragged usme and my husbandinto their party. There were lots of Greek people dancing on the beach and they were cooking the little sh and they shared the sh with us and it was a wonderful experience, it was just wonderful. So you still get the spontaneity here and I like that .

This tourist type clearly is not isolated from the host environment as has been suggested in previous studies, including Cohens work. When asked if they would return to Kalimeria, a common response was that they would like to visit other parts of Greece. For example:
Oh Id come again, perhaps, in a few years time, to another resort in Chalkidiki, yes, but Id like to see other places in Greece as well. Id come to Greece in May or early June, or late September when its not that hot.

Fieldwork reveals that the majority of participants in this category had visited Kalimeria in June or late August. The majority comprised families (including two single parents traveling with their young children)

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or elderly people. In addition, two single female participants (aged 22 and 23) are also included in this category. Their cluster of participants was seeking to experience real Greek culture: its architecture, food, drink, music, language, folklore. Although this cultural heritage types resemble MacCannells (1976) tourists, in that their accounts reveal that they are looking for authenticity in the other (that is, they want to sample the Greekness of Kalimeria), they differ from them in that they do not want to experience any of the physical hardships of a traditional village. They expect to enjoy the comforts of their own culture while on holiday. The Raver Type. Another cluster of 18 participants emphasized in their conversations the possibilities offered by Chalkidiki for sensual and hedonistic pleasures. Unlike the Cultural Heritage type, the Ravers experience of Kalimeria is conned primarily to the beach and its night-clubs. This is illustrated in the following extract from a conversation with one participant vacationing with her friend.
We stay about ve hours on the beach, swimming and sunbathing . We go to the beach at eleven-ish, it depends on the time me and Kate get up . Its really nice to stay out late till early hours in the morning . We go to discos, nightclubs, and bars you go away to let your hair down and to have fun.

A common theme among these participants was the perceived opportunities to be silly. Phrases used by them to describe their expectations included: just looking for a good time; to have fun; to let my hair down; to get drunk; and to have a casual ing and to enjoy myself. These participants were active and willing consumers of the sensual pleasures made accessible by a two week packaged celebration of the here and now. As a type, these participants are more likely to have casual sex with more than one partner, and even to engage in group sex. Six males and ve females told me that they had sex on the beach or sex in the sea with more than one partner, and one male and one female that they had engaged in group sex on the beach, because its fun, its part of having a good time. Although their sexual partners are more likely to be other fellow tourists, nearly half of female ravers also reported having sexual liaisons with Greeks. Enjoyed the sex, it was passionate and exciting the way it is with someone new, a memorable night, and sex makes the holiday were the way two participants described their experience. For them the real avor of a Greek village is purely coincidental. Ravers are on a quest for thrills rather than for authenticity or Greekness (Wickens 1997). This is reected in the fact that the majority had been allocated to (rather than choosing) Kalimeria upon arrival at Thessaloniki airport by their tour operator. Nearly half had some previous experience of the holiday atmosphere in resorts such as Corfu, Alonysos, and Skiathos (eight referred specically to the nightlife and the party atmosphere of Greek resorts). It was this that had inuenced their decision to purchase a holiday in Chalkidiki. Cheapness was also a signicant factor in choice of destination. When asked if they would return to

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Chalkidiki, a common response was only if we can get here cheaply. In common with the cultural heritage types, Ravers also expect the familiar. The Shirley Valentine Type. This cluster consisted of 14 women traveling on their own or with a female friend, all with some previous travel experience of Greece and its islands. As a type, they were characterized by their wish for a romantic experience with a Greek God. These participants share a particular expectation of pleasure, of meeting a real friend or a charming Greek gentleman, during their stay in Kalimeria. This expectation is based on the stereotypical image of a Greek male created by the lm Shirley Valentine and the media, including TV programs (such as Holiday Romances in Greece), Radio programs (like the Real Shirley Valentines in Greece), and newspapers. This expectation of a holiday romance is reected in their onsite holiday activities. In addition to spending a considerable amount of time on the beach, swimming, and sunbathing, these female tourists also enjoy irting with waiters or barmen, known in Greece as Kamakis (Wickens 1997). Like the Ravers, Shirley Valentines see Kalimeria as an easy-going place, a place where you can come and go as one pleases, and a place where nobody bothers you. This is illustrated in the following extract from a conversation with an unaccompanied middle-age female tourist:
When Im on holiday, I try to leave my life behind . In England, one ts into the routines of work, children, and the requirements of domesticity . One of the reasons for coming on holiday on my own is to forget all that, Its very different when youre on your own, youve got no pressures here. You can please yourself . Also nobody knows you here . And yes, I think, you behave differently when youre away from home. You can let your hair down. Its partly the atmosphere, the beach, and the sunny weather. Yes, Chalkidiki is very romantic. It has a relaxed atmosphere . The sunshine and the freedom from restraints means that you can relax, and if you give yourself a chance you can nd out things about yourself that you didnt know about before .

A common theme among these participants was that a Greek holiday in the sun offered them a temporary break from domesticity, from family life, from a perceived mundane environment. Like Ravers, Shirley Valentines seek opportunities to live, albeit temporarily, without inhibitions by becoming involved in a liaison with a stranger. However, unlike the Raver, she wants a particular type of stranger and a particular type of liaison (namely, a romantic one). As one participant expressed it:
Yes I am looking for some romance . This is my hidden motive . My idea of a romantic evening is with someone who is really genuine a nice Greek gentleman. You dont have to talk I enjoy sensual pleasures of touching and feeling and being close to somebody . My feelings are affected by music. So if you get the right music and you get me in the right mood, you never know I might .

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Shirley Valentines differ considerably from Ravers, in terms of their holiday activities in that they are not interested in heavy drinking, clubbing, or drug taking, whilst on holiday. When asked if they would return to Chalkidiki, a common response was that they would love to come back some time in the near future. The dream is to come back and perhaps to re-live the holiday romance with the same Greek guy. The Heliolatrous Type. This cluster of 25 participants had in common that they just wanted two weeks of hot sunshine, just a relaxing holiday in the sun. This is what one female participant (vacationing with her husband) had to say:
The sun denitely is one of the main reasons that Im here. I need two weeks of hot sunshine. In England, we get very little sun. Its very cold and very miserable, and so, its very nice to go somewhere, where the climate is totally different. This is very important.

Similarly,
I love the sun. Not knowing Greece, initially sunshine is what I came for . No, I didnt bother to read anything about Greece . I didnt know what it was like. I knew it was hot and I love the sun .

Throughout eldwork, the theme its just a holiday in the sun was commonly encountered in conversations with participants in this category. As another female participant who was holidaying with her husband said:
We didnt have any expectations of the place it is just a holiday, and it is really no more than enjoying the sunshine, which we love very much we love the great heat and strong sunshine .

The size of this cluster is consistent with the fact that the whole area of Chalkidiki is marketed as a place which can guarantee the sun. As a type, these participants had no previous holiday experience of Chalkidiki, but nearly half of them stated that they had visited Greece at least once. A Heliolatrous commonly perceives a suntan as a fashion accessory. S/he spends the largest part of the holiday (more than seven hours per day was frequent among this group), lying on the beach trying indefatigably to change his/her color, only moving to eat, drink, or to take a swim. Their experience of the host community is conned primarily to the beach and to the open-air restaurants serving Greek and international cuisine which are to be found along the seafront, and to the occasional Greek taverns. Unlike the Cultural Heritage type, no Heliolatrous types had participated in any of the cultural excursions offered by the local tour organizers. When asked if they would return to Chalkidiki, typical responses were: never visit the same resort twice, prefer to visit other sunny resorts, or once is enough, it was cloudy most of the time. As one male Heliolatrous (holidaying with his wife and family) put it:
When you come to Greece, you expect to nd good weather we had no sun, it has been cloudy most of the time but its a great place, heavenly water, quite nice beach and gorgeous mountains .

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Such statements indicate that it is not the cultural authenticity of the village, but the authenticity of the Greek weather that these tourists expect and want. The Lord Byron Type. The dening characteristic of the Lord Byron tourists is the annual ritual return to the same place and, sometimes, to the same accommodation. This was the smallest group, consisting of 11 participants. As a group, these tourists often spoke of Kalimeria as if it were their beloved home in Schutzs (1971:296) sense of the term. As used by him, the term home means the friends, as well as beloved landscape, a way of life composed of small and important elements, likewise cherished. Throughout eldwork these homecomers often reported that this place feels like home and offered detailed accounts of their intimate relationships with their Greek friends. It should be noted that this meaning of the word home contrasts with that ascribed to it by analysts such as Turner and Ash (1975). In their work, the term is used to refer to a purposefully built touristic space which provides the foreign tourist with an environment which is similar to the one back home. Lord Byrons enjoy a love affair with Greece, with what they see as a relaxed, laid-back and outdoors way of life. Feeling that they were treated as a friend, as a member of a family, and not as a tourist, was a common theme among these participants. Unlike the members of the other four types, which collectively contained the rst-time tourists to Kalimeria, members of this group of repeat tourists are more likely to have protracted contacts with locals, often being invited for a meal either in their friends homes or in a Tavern. In this way, the Lord Byron type is likely to have a more intimate and direct experience of Greek hospitality. In discussions with Lord Byrons about their motives, it was evident that Kalimeria was seen by them as a place that also provided security. A note of nostalgia was also detectable in their conversations. Although they expressed concerns about the changes that have been taking place in Kalimeria as a result of mass tourism (one of their favorite topics of conversations), they still saw their hosts as spontaneous, child-loving and hospitable, and claimed that Greeks havent changed. This is what a female participant, who has been visiting Kalimeria on her own for the last 10 years, had to say:
For me, theyve ruined this area. And I dont like that. I like the Greek way of life. So, Ive noticed a big difference in tourism, but not in the people, they have not changed. They are still very courteous, friendly, and nice.

For them, although the place is no longer a true Greek village, and resembles a disco inferno with its ashing lights, Greeks are seen as genuine, friendly, real friends and friends for life. Fieldwork shows that Lord Byrons felt that they could have an authentic experience (that is, human spontaneity and genuine hospitality, by interacting with local people in this host community). This desire for human authenticity, rather than cultural/material or physical/natural

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authenticity, seems to form the focus of their holiday experience (Wickens 1999). This expectation of human authenticity is reected in several of the Lord Byrons activities. I prefer doing things that are Greek, I prefer eating out in a real Greek taverna, we prefer to use the pantopoleio [a grocers shop] where locals do their shopping, we prefer to have our meals where the locals go, are participant statements, which reect their desire to go native. Lord Byrons often reported that, the novelty is to go away and do something that is typically Greek. Throughout eldwork, the researcher encountered participants with a long history of repeat visits to Chalkidiki, who stated that they had made an attempt to speak Modern Greek. This is what a female Lord Byron, who has been visiting Kalimeria for the last ve years reported:
Yes, because I am learning the language, I am understanding more about the locals and their traditions, their values denitely Ive learnt an awful lot about lots of things about relationships, about their approach to life .

Getting by in Greek, or conversing with their hosts, using a few Greek words, certainly facilitated encounters between these repeat visitors and their hosts. Tourism Motivation What a tourist does, his or her behavior while on vacation in Chalkidiki, conveys information about his/her motivations. Within the social science literature, the word motive has been variously interpreted, when discussing both tourism and tourists. Psychological studies tend to provide explanations that emphasize those motives which satisfy a tourists needs (Jarvis and Mayo 1981; Mannell and Iso-Ahola 1987). Other studies suggest that motivation is both socially and psychologically determined in that the tourists home environment plays a key role in inuencing his/her reasons for traveling (Dann 1981). However, as Giddens has argued:
Motives do not exist as discrete psychological units needs are not motives because they do not imply a cognitive anticipation of a state of affairs to be realizeda dening characteristic of motivation . We should regard motivation as an underlying feeling state of the individual (1992:64).

These underlying feeling states have to be inferred from ethnographic data both conversational and observational. At the macro level, tourists expectations are created, at least partly, by the marketing strategies and publicity brochures. These are reinforced by media representations (both ctional, documentary, and news), which themselves deploy cultural stereotypes, such as Zorba the Greek, blue-seasblue skies, and the like. These expectations of a country at least partly inuence the choice of a particular holiday. However, for all the participants in this study, vacation choice is motivated by one, or several, of three feeling states. These are a wish to escape from everyday life, the pursuit of pleasure, and ontological security.

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The Need to Escape. The theme of escape is a major pre-occupation in theoretical discourses on why people leave their home environment for holiday in another country. This has variously been explained in terms of a need for rest and recovery (Cohen 1979), or a need to escape from an alienating or anomic modern world (Dann 1977). Such differences in interpretation reect the theorists own attitude towards his/her culture. When asked about their motives, a common theme among the majority of participants was the wish to forget about work or to forget about everyday life, and at the same time, to become absorbed into something different. Analysis of these statements shows that a two week vacation is seen by many of them as a break from everyday life. This was expressed in a variety of ways: getting away from all the pressures at work and at home, to relax away from England, a holiday away from kids, a break away from family obligations, from parents, and from work, its just a holiday, we just wanted a relaxing holiday in the sun, just wanted to switch off from work, to forget my dull everyday life, its a break away from England, a drinking holiday, away from home. As one put it:
Because you are not going to work, so you just do what you want to do, you havent got a routine . Your life isnt structured so you can please yourself when you get up, when you eat, what you do. Well its completely different here. You can forget about work. Its just great.

These ndings give empirical support to the contention that a break from everyday life is a signicant general motive for holidaying abroad. According to Cohen and Taylor, people become fed up and feel the need to break away a little, to shake off some routines (1992:49). The Desire for Pleasure. While escaping from everyday demands and obligations is one motivational factor, the expectation of having a good time is another equally important one. For participants, going away on holiday to Kalimeria carries with it notions of endless carefree time to pursue the pleasures and enjoyments of ones choosing. Phrases used by participants such as, freedom to do ones own thing, to do what I want, or even to do nothing, just enjoy the sunshine, capture one of the motivational factors inuencing tourists holiday choice. Specics mentioned by participants include sightseeing, eating and drinking outdoors in local taverns, strolling along the waterfront, roasting in the sun, dancing, irting with waiters, and casual sex. This evidence supports the consensus found in the literature, that tourists travel to another country in the expectation of pleasure (Lundberg 1985). This, in its various manifestations (aesthetic, cognitive, physical, emotional, sensual, and sexual) is one of the motivational forces inuencing the tourists choice of holiday type (Wickens 1994). Ontological Security. A common theme among many tourists to Chalkidiki was that a package holiday makes you feel safe if anything goes wrong. In other words, as an institutionalized tourist, he/she is able to feel secure while enjoying the strangeness of the Chalkidiki experience. This is what a rst-time male tourist to Chalkidiki said:

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Package holidays are very attractive you dont have to worry about many things you pay your money and get to the airport, you are met by your representative, who reminds you to put your labels on your case, you arrive in Thessaloniki you get off the plane you are met by the representative and you get picked up by the coach and from there you go to your hotel . Oh yes, everything is organized down to the last detail and yes, it makes your feel safe.

A package holiday to Chalkidiki makes you feel safe, if anything goes wrong was often mentioned. Research ndings reveal that the reality for many holidaymakers is that their vacation is actually characterized by minor negative side-effects such as health problems (Wickens 1997). In these circumstances, if people choose to go on a pre-packaged holiday, which is free from risks to health, as well as physical hardships, it need not be despised as evidence of an unadventurous tourist, unimaginative cast of mind (Rojek 1993:176). Commitment to the institutionalized role is based on the tourists need for security and familiarity. However, it is not only the newcomer or the occasional tourists to Chalkidiki who reported this need for security. An elderly female repeater said:
Oh yes. I always look forward to a holiday in Chalkidiki. I think that there are so many pluses about coming back to the same place, to the same hotel more than once the security, that you feel, coming back to the same place that is familiar is disproportionate to the way one would feel if one was going to a place on ones own. And yes, you are made to feel very welcome .

These tourists have a need for what Giddens calls ontological security, or the condence that most human beings have in the continuity of their self-identity and in the constancy of the surrounding social and material environments of action. Further, ontological security is one form, but a very important form, of feelings of security. Ontological security is an emotional phenomenon, which is rooted in the unconscious. It feeds into many things that people do, and provides a sense of continuity. Ontological security and routine are intimately connected, via the pervasive inuence of habit (1991:92, 98). Viewed in this light, this concept helps to explain why so many tourists to Chalkidiki choose to experience the strangeness of this host community from the security provided by a packaged holiday. The notion of ontological security is closely related to Schutzs argument that the strangeness of a place and its people may cause an outsider to feel uneasy and even insecure. Schutz denes an outsider as someone who joins a group that is not and never has been his own. Being in a state of transition, an outsider does not see the new and strange environment as a shelter but a eld of adventure a problematic situation itself and one hard to master (1971:294). The strangeness of a place is experienced by the outsider as a labyrinth in which he/she has yet to nd his/her bearings. Moreover, strangers are more likely to experience culture shock as a challenge to the validity of their habitual thinking as usual when they discover that things in their new and strange social environment are different from what pertains at home. Schutzs overall argument is that familiarity with a

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social environment creates feelings of security, and by contrast, strangeness produces feelings of insecurity and uneasiness. According to him, strangeness and familiarity are the two most general categories for interpreting the social world. Familiarity refers to the knowledge one has of another social group and its cultural pattern. Fieldwork indicates that many rst-time tourists to Chalkidiki do indeed experience a form of culture shock, when they discover that things in Kalimeria are different or even primitive. One participant said:
Chalkidiki has the worst lavatories I have ever experienced. One was in Apol restaurant it was just a hole in the ground, and I was thinking how could people have that in here.

A similar complaint was reported by a female tourist:

I dont like the plumbing, thats the only thingGreek plumbing, my God, it is so primitive. Yes, its primitive the toilet situation where you have to put paper in the binthats so strange. Yuk. And the second thing, you try and have a shower and the water runs out in ve minutes. Its not solar heating, but when they do electrical heating, they have little tanks and the tanks are always too small and they are always freezing cold, and youve got to rinse it out. Its a nightmare.

Many participants experienced revulsion at having to place toilet paper into a waste bin rather than being able to ush it away. They failed to appreciate that the expansion of the village had out-paced the ability of the infrastructure to cope. This is a good example of Schutzs habitual thinking as usual. Even repeat tourists also experience some uneasiness when they discover that things are not as natural as they appear. A Lord Byron type said:
Sometimes, they take you around the back to the kitchen in the restaurant and show you what they are cooking but it is a little bit frightening for English people to do that sort of thing. I mean I do it now, but its taken me years and years to do that. But Im still a bit reticent about going into kitchens. I still feel its not right, you know, I still feel its not right to go into someones kitchen; its such an unEnglish thing.

This clearly illustrates the tourists feelings of uneasiness, and in addition it lends credence to Shutzs argument that a stranger perceives his/her new surrounding through his/her own cultural lenses. Another area where the need for ontological security was evident was in regard to food and drink. One Cultural Heritage tourist stated:
This place is very Westernized they do things the tourists like English breakfasts and things like that . They do things like MacDonalds and many things like that . Oh yes, I would buy a MacDonalds because I recognize it . But I would probably say afterwards Oh God, not bloody MacDonalds. But Id eat it because Id recognize the thing, so it would be better if I have more restaurants that do English and Greek . It would be much better .

Throughout eldwork it was found that, while tourists try to leave their everyday life behind, they still try to retain many of the basic routines

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of their own culture. This nding supports Cohens argument that familiarity enables the institutionalized tourists to feel secure enough to enjoy the strangeness of what they experience. According to him, Most tourists seem to need something familiar around them, something to remind them of home (1972:166). Participants frequently expressed a wish for familiar food and drink (for instance, food like the traditional full English breakfast). A common complaint from British tourists was that Greeks dont know how to make tea, because it is often made with tinned milk. This is what a male participant said:
Weve had tea made with cold water; that was a strange experience with tea. And they [the Greek owners of the hotel] look really surprised if you ask for a pot of tea . Youre not even asked, youre just given Nescafe.

Participants often reported that we miss a nice cup of tea here in Kalimeria they dont know how to make a nice cup of tea, when Ive asked for a cup of tea I get a funny look, either you get labeled as an awful tourist, or they immediately think you are poorly. Such statements certainly reect tourists deep habits and, at the same time, illustrate how they interpret their new cultural experiences. Role as a Sociological Concept In the preceding discussion motivating feeling states primarily determined the decision to become an individual mass tourist. The studys ve-fold typology considered motivation at the level of the individual. Yet each type among the 86 participants may be characterized by a dominant motive in conjunction with one or several already discussed. Thus, an interpretative framework for the studys typology may be derived from Goffmans work (1961, 1967). As generally accepted, the word role refers to the pattern of behavior expected of an individual who occupies a particular status, with each role carrying certain characteristic actions, emotions, and attitudes. However, it has some conceptual precision only if applied in the context of social interactions . All social interaction is situated interactionsituated in space and time (Giddens 1991:86). An individuals situated role comprises a bundle of activities visibly performed before a set of others and visibly meshed into the activity these others perform. This bundle (or cluster) of holiday activities undertaken by foreign tourists to Kalimeria revealed the primary characteristics of each type. Yet the bundle cannot be considered fully (Goffman 1961:96) but only through an individuals participation in certain situated activities, such as those regularly reported by this studys participants and sequentially or simultaneously observed in the course of eldwork. By focusing on these situated activities, the researcher was also able to consider the tourists face-to-face interactions with the other, including their Greek hosts. This approach contrasts markedly with many previous studies of tourism motivations, which have made the assumption that institutionalized tourists are both physically and socially segregated from the host community.

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The role concept as used by Goffman derives from the language of the theater. His starting point is that each individual, like an actor in a theatre, has lines, props and costumes that are suitable for an effective performance. Drawing upon Durkheims work on religion, Goffman makes a useful distinction between the profane and the sacred parts of a social role. The former is said to be attributed to the obligatory world of social roles; it is formal, and it is exacted by society. By contrast, the latter, social role has to do with personal matters and personal relationshipswith what an individual is really like underneath it all when s/he relaxes. It is here, that an individual can be spontaneous and show what kind of a person s/he wishes to be (1961:152). Goffmans theoretical model recognizes that social actors are constrained by external societal controls, and at the same time it suggests that an individual has a choice of whether to stay in role or to go out of role. As he explains roles differ according to how seriously and fully the performers stick to the script. Even in the most serious of roles, such as a surgeon, we yet nd that there will be times when the fully-edged performer will go out of play and behave in a manner unbecoming a surgeon (1961:140). Goffmans overall argument is that people, like actors on a stage, have the option of performing their parts either enthusiastically, by closely identifying with the characters and actions, or by distancing themselves from the part they are interpreting. Goffmans concept of role enactmentwhich he analyzed in terms of role commitment, attachment, and embracementunderpins his theoretical model. Role commitment describes the profane parts of a role which are imposed on the social actor. Role attachment refers to those sacred parts that an individual wishes to play. Role embracement denotes the active and spontaneous involvement in the role activity (1961:106). Employing Goffmans vocabulary to interpret the roles that tourists play, it can be seen that respondents have committed themselves into Cohens institutionalized tourist role, or more specically, into the individual mass tourist role. This role commitment was earlier explicated in three fundamental feeling states (escape from everyday life, pursuit of pleasure, and ontological security). Despite the commitment to play the profane part of this role via a package largely shaped by the tourism industry, an individual can choose to step outside this role and attach him/herself to one of ve types. Role attachment is used here to refer to an individuals inclination to play an additional sacred part during his/her vacation in Chalkidiki. The more closely a particular tourists activities coincide with those typical of a particular type, the stronger his/her role embracement. Role embracement is used to describe the tourists purposeful engagement in certain activities. As Goffman points out, to embrace a role is to disappear completely into the virtual self available in the situation (1961:106). More importantly, according to him, the virtual self includes an individuals expectations for role embracement. For instance, the Heliolatrous type wants and expects sunny climates, clean

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beaches; the Cultural Heritage type expects to experience the Greek culture/hospitality; the Shirley Valentine type seeks a holiday romance; the Raver desires sexual adventure; and the Lord Byron wants to be treated by the hosts as a special guest and to become involved in the lives of hosts/friends. It is also true to say that under certain circumstances, an individual must continue to play the profane parts associated with the individual mass tourist role. For instance, people on a one week package holiday are constrained by time and are more likely remain playing the institutionalized tourist, with no real feel for the host or the place. In other words, an individuals role embracement may also be determined by such factors as the length of stay in Chalkidiki. This observation on the signicance of holiday duration warrants further study (Wickens 1999). In addition, visiting places such as bars, taverns, and cafes, and spending long periods on the beach talking to tourists, allowed the researcher to gain an initial feel for, and understanding of, expectations. As Goffman stresses, when social actors play their sacred parts, they also convey information about their desires and expectations:
Whatever an individual does and however he appears, he knowingly and unknowingly makes information available concerning the attributes that might be imputed to him and hence the categories in which he might be placed (1961:102).

Theoretical approaches to tourism as a cultural phenomenon treat tourists as conforming completely to their institutionalized role. Holidaymakers are denied any autonomy, or freedom in structuring their experience. A further assertion found in previous studies is that they all are physically and socially segregated from the host community and remain in and around tourism bubbles. In this way, it is alleged, they are shielded from the experience of any offensive smells, primitive sanitary conditions, and the strangeness of the culinary tastes of the host communities. The package is programmed to make the foreign tourists stay enjoyable, free from any problems, or any unpleasant experiences. Conned to these purpose-built tourism factories, they rarely participate in the lives of the host community (MacCannell 1976). This so-conceived generalization resembles Goffmans (1991) total institution. Total institutions (like prisons) have the following characteristics. First, inmates rarely come into contact with anyone other than their fellows and staff. Second, the institution provides inmates with organized activities, standardized food, and sleeping accommodation. Third, the staff supervise all the daily inmate activities; for instance, where and when they have their meals, or sleep, and so on. The regimented rules of the total institutions dictate their activities and constrain their behavior. Goffmans study shows that their everyday routines and experiences are very much determined by the total institution. A comparable interpretation of tourists experience is evident in several studies, including Boorstin (1964) and MacCannell (1976). Their authors suggest that the experience is regimentally programmed, stan-

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dardized, and homogenized by the industry, which makes it totally institutionalized. This theoretical model sees tourism as a system, carefully organized to ensure that tourists, like the inmates of an institution, act the profane partsand only thatwhich have been assigned to them by the industry. By contrast, the evidence from the present study suggests that one can usefully distinguish between the profane and the sacred parts of a tourists experience. The former, of going on holiday and staying in a host community, are undoubtedly institutionally arranged. However, it is the contention of this paper that without proper consideration of the sacred part, a sufciently rich and deep understanding of the touristic experience cannot be gained.

CONCLUSION This paper presented evidence that participants on an organized package holiday to Chalkidiki commit themselves into Cohens individual mass tourist role. An understanding of this commitment is developed in terms of three feeling states or motivating forces: the wish to escape from everyday life, the pursuit of pleasure, and ontological security. In addition, this paper has argued that, despite an individuals commitment to play the part assigned to him/her by the industry, an individual also has a choice to step outside the individual mass tourist role, and attach himself/herself to one of its subtypes: Cultural Heritage, Raver, Shirley Valentine, Heliolatrous, or Lord Byron. Goffmans concepts of role commitment, role attachment, and role embracement have been used as tools in the development of a conceptual framework for understanding the differences among the above ve micro-types. The important point made in this paper is that individual mass tourists in Chalkidiki are characterized by a highly diversied pattern of interests and activities. The paper suggests that in order to advance understanding of this phenomenon, future research focus on the multiple types of tourism, by identifying and examining the different micro-types which are specic to the studys particular situation. To this end, this case study hopes to stimulate further research in the eld of tourist typologies. Of particular interest would be comparative studies involving, for example, the newly emerging mass destinations in the coastal regions of South East Asia (such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia). Undoubtedly, cross-cultural analysis of motivations differentiated by ethnicity as well as age, gender, and interests is still very much in its infancy. Thus, more in-depth case studies which allow tourist voices to be heard are required in order to shed more light on this complex phenomenon. Finally, this study raised a number of social science issues. They include economic (who will visit the destination, and why), services (tourists satisfaction), ecological (environmental degradation), heritage, and sustainability, and they may be of some value to those social analysts who are working in these areas.

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1994 Consumption of the Authentic: The Hedonistic Tourist in Greece. In Tourism: The State of the Art, A. Seaton, C. Jenkins, R. Wood, P. Dieke, M. Bennett, L. Maclellan and R. Smith, eds., pp. 818825. London: Wiley. 1997 Licensed for Thrills: Risk-taking and Tourism. In Tourism and Health: Risks, Research and Responses, E. Wickens, S. Clift and P. Grabowski, eds., pp. 151164. London: Pinter. 1999 Tourists Voices: A Sociological Analysis of Tourists Experiences in Chalkidiki, Northern Greece. PhD dissertation, Oxford Brookes University.

Submitted 7 March 2000. Resubmitted 18 November 2000. Accepted 8 March 2001. Final Version 6 September 2001. Refereed anonymously. Coordinating Editor: Valene L. Smith