Cultural Representations and Interpretation Practices of the Guided City Walking Tour:A Case Study of Shanghai,China
With the increasing prosperity of urban cultural tourism and the rapid development of the local tourism market during the pandemic,the city walking tour has risen rapidly and become a new travel choice for local residents and outside tourists in China.In particular,the city walking tours guided by professional interpreters have emerged on the market and become popular in some big cities in China including Shanghai,Guangzhou,Nanjing,etc.Guided city walking tour not only meets the travel and leisure needs of local tourists with fast-paced lifestyle and fragmented time allocation,but also becomes a display window for urban culture with its diverse travelling routes,exquisite tourism forms,and strong cultural atmosphere.In doing so,the guided city walking tour plays a role in preserving,communicating,and exhibiting the history and culture of the city.Taking Shanghai as the study site,this study explored the content and practices of the guided city walking tour through examining the cultural representations and interpretation practices of the activities.The study collected data through a variety of methods including collection of online text materials,participant observation,and in-depth interviews with 12 walking tour guides and 28 tourists.Based on data analysis,the study found that the cultural representations of guided city walking tours are mainly reflected in three dimensions:material space,spiritual culture and everyday life.In particular,the representation of everyday life is absent from traditional tourism products and has contributed to the uniqueness and depth of guided city walking tours.The interpretation practices mainly cover three aspects:themed and alternative space organization,authentic and in-presence cultural performance,and embodied experience featured by wandering and gazing.Overall,the guided city walking tour has provided a platform for urban cultural exploration,exhibition and communication,and has provided unique and memorable experiences for participants.The study contributes to an in-depth understanding of the new form of tourist actvities and provides theoretical and practical guidance for the integration of culture and tourism.In addition,the study renders three practical implications for urban tourism management:First,the tourism industry should redefine tourism resources and space in urban settings,because the former turns to be more diversified and the latter has become increasingly blurred with residents'everyday life space;Second,urban tourism should stress on the cultivation of the local market because it cannot only expand the tourism demand but also can help drive innovation and upgrade of urban tourism products;Third,the tourism industry should stress on the important role of interpretation in urban culture communication and tourism experience,and put more efforts to expand and improve the talent pool of potential interpreters.
urban culturein-depth tourismcultural representationcity walking tour
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
