Paper short abstract:

What happens to a place when it is labelled as a tourism destination? My argument is that labelling in order to direct mobility suppresses the narratives that bring places into motion. Places become through the narratives that shape them, weaving together the paths of places as they are lived.

Paper long abstract:

A guided stroll through the centre of Reykjavík reveals a place which appears as a dead space in the form of a little used square. Although the place is a former graveyard it is not this original use that imparts a sense of lifelessness. Rather, it is how the graveyard has been covered over so that there are no visible traces of actual people who brought the place to life through their daily activities before they were eventually brought to rest. So, paradoxically, this former place of the dead conveys less life now by the act of covering up the dead. Nevertheless, the square has a name, taken from a man whose statue is located in the centre of it. Occasionally, tourists can be spotted there as guides show them the statue and tell them the story of this particular man, often described as the founding father of Reykjavík. This former graveyard has been labelled as monument; simultaneously it has been stripped of life.

In this paper I will look at what happens to a place when it is labelled with a special focus on tourism destinations. As Sheller (2004) has demonstrated, through labelling the tourism sector aims to mobilise places and bring them to life. My argument is that this directed mobility, on the contrary, suppresses the narratives that bring places into motion. Travelling is a way of narrating life. Thus places become through the narratives that shape them, weaving together the paths of places as they are lived.