Paper short abstract:

This paper explores how the mobilities paradigm enables us to understand tourism holistically and offers a new range of possibilities for field research. It first outlines the ways of understanding tourism as a mobile phenomenon and further presents utilisation of mobilities in the field including mobile research methods.

Paper long abstract:

This paper aims to explore the new mobilities paradigm (Urry, 2007) in the context of tourism, in particular, new ways of understanding and researching tourism through mobilities lens. I argue that the mobilities paradigm enables us to understand tourism holistically and offers a new range of possibilities for field research. The paper first outlines the ways of understanding tourism as a mobile phenomenon existing through the imaginative, virtual, corporeal, communicative travel and travel of objects. Further it presents these features in three cases of tourists who differ in their travelling and dwelling. I suggest such differences derive from diverse connectivity and networks tourists have or create with the place of visit. Lastly, I discuss new methods for research, in particular written and video diary that enables us to follow the movement and experiences of mobile people. This paper presents work in progress as a part of a doctoral research project conducted with British tourists in Slovenia.