Abstract
This article examines the role of tourism as a motive and mechanism for change in contemporary cities, considering how the theming of space with tourists in mind necessarily involves other kinds of spatial and social transformation, and asking what role actual and hypothetical tourists play in local contests over space and representation. Looking closely at Belfast’s Gaeltacht Quarter provides an insight into how global fashions in place marketing, tourism and minority language promotion intersect with the particularities of areas to which they are applied. This paper argues that the superficially value-neutral, internationally recognisable language of economic
development can be used both as a means of transcending, and a means of
strategically negotiating, intense struggles over space, identity and status.
development can be used both as a means of transcending, and a means of
strategically negotiating, intense struggles over space, identity and status.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2012 |
Keywords
- Tourism, minority languages, Belfast, Irish, post-conflict, urban anthropology, sociolinguistics
