International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research

Deconstructing tourist typologies: the case of backpacking

Natan Uriely,
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Research, Vol. 3 Issue: 4, pp.306-312, https://doi.org/10.1108/17506180910994523
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 Deconstructing tourist typologies: the case
of backpacking
Natan Uriely

Natan Uriely is based in the Abstract

Department of Hotel and Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide researchers with an analytical tool for deconstructing
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Tourism Management, well-established tourist typologies in which motivations and meanings are coupled together with
Ben-Gurion University of practices of travel arrangements.
the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Design/methodology/approach – In line with the distinction between types and forms of tourism, the
Israel. analysis examines the motivations and meanings (type-related attributes) of tourists who comply with
conventional travel arrangements and practices (form-related attributes) of backpacking.
The backpackers’ motivations and meanings are analyzed in light of a revised version of Cohen’s
phenomenological typology of tourist experiences.
Findings – The analysis suggests that contemporary backpacking is a form of tourism that can be
further segmented into sub-types by the variety of meanings backpackers assign to their experiences.
Research limitations/implications – The distinction between type and form can be used for
deconstruction of tourist categories other than backpackers. However, this distinction cannot be
expected to completely cover the complexity and variety of tourists’ behaviours and attitudes.
Originality/value – The study presents evidence to suggest that the implicit inclination that tourists who
travel in the same manner also share the same motivations and meanings is open to doubt. Accordingly,
the paper stresses the need for cautious and sensitive tourist typologies that capture the existing variety
in tourism.
Keywords Tourism, Travel, Leisure activities
Paper type Conceptual paper

Introduction
To capture the essence of tourism, early tourist experience conceptualizations do not focus
on trip meanings and motivations. While theorists, such as Boorstin (1964), MacCannell
(1973) and Turner (1973), propose different conceptualizations regarding the nature of the
tourist experience in modern society; each author presents homogenizing portrayals.
Tourism’s diverse and plural realm was addressed by typologies developed during the late
1970’s and the early 1980’s (e.g. Cohen, 1972, 1979; Krippendorf, 1984; Plog, 1977). This
typology emergence marks the first step in shifting tourism experiences from essentialist
and unifying depictions as a general type toward pluralizing conceptualizations stressing
diverse characteristics (Uriely, 2005). Recent studies show a second step – further
deconstruction of well-established typologies. These studies stress tourism’s experience
diversity within existing typological categories (Uriely et al., 2002; Wickens, 2002).
This paper stresses the need for cautious and sensitive analyses of tourist categories to
capture the existing tourism varieties. Specifically, this paper advances the second step
toward pluralizing tourism depictions by further deconstructing well-established categories.
Accordingly, this paper presents the theoretical distinction between types and forms of
tourism that Uriely et al. (2002) apply to deconstructing backpacking tourists. A review of the

PAGE 306 j INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH j VOL. 3 NO. 4 2009, pp. 306-312, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1750-6182 DOI 10.1108/17506180910994523
 backpacking literature reveals that type and form-related attributes are used
indistinguishably to differentiate backpackers from mass tourists (Cohen, 1972, 1973;
Riley, 1988; Vogt, 1976). In contrast, Uriely et al. (2002) differentiate between backpacking
as a form of travel characterized by various practices and backpacking as a type of travel
identified by a tourist’s attitudes and motivations.
To estimate how much backpacking as a form of tourism relates to backpacking as a type of
tourism, Uriely et al. (2002) interview 38 Israeli travelers, who comply with conventional
form-related attributes of backpacking such as participating in long trips without a rigid
itinerary, visiting ‘‘third world’’ destinations, using public transportation, staying at
inexpensive accommodations, and eating in low-priced restaurants. The type-related
attributes of these activities are analyzed in light of a revised version of Cohen’s (1979)
phenomenological typology which includes six tourist experience modes. Each interviewee
was classified into one of Cohen’s modes by travel motivations, meanings assigned to both
routine living in the home environment, and backpacking experience.

Theoretical tools
This paper presents the theoretical distinction between tourism’s type and form as a
sensitive and systematic analytical tool for classifying tourists (see Uriely et al., 2002).
Tourism’s form refers to visible institutional arrangements and practices by which tourists
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organize their journey such as length of trip, itinerary flexibility, visited destinations and
attractions, means of transportation and accommodation, and contact with locals. Tourism’s
type refers to less tangible psychological attributes such as tourists’ attitudes toward
fundamental values of their own society, motivations to travel, and meanings they assign to
their experiences.
The distinction between tourism’s type and forms questions the validity of previous tourist
typologies to couple together indistinguishably external practices (form) and internal
meanings (type). This line of thinking also assumes tourists who exhibit similar behaviors
share the same motivations and meanings. In this regard, Uriely et al. (2002) argue tourists’
behaviors probably are determined by numerous factors and circumstances not necessarily
related to their exclusive dispositions and moods. These assumptions suggest tourism’s
form- and type-related attributes are interrelated; however, they are not necessarily
combined. Form- and type- related attributes should be examined separately.
As noted above, Uriely et al.’s (2002) analysis of backpackers’ type-related attributes draws
from Cohen’s (1979) well-established phenomenological typology of tourist experiences.
The revised typology includes six tourist experience modes ranging from the quest for mere
pleasure to searching for meaningful experiences (see Table I).
Cohen’s (1979) search for meanings is conceptualized as a quest for a center while
stressing the midpoint as the zone of sacred moral values that exists in every society (Eliade,
1969; Shils, 1975; Turner, 1973). Accordingly, Cohen (1979) characterizes tourism
experience modes by the meanings travelers assign to both the center of their own
societies in everyday life and their quest for centers of other cultures during excursions. The
first mode, referred to as recreational, associates with entertaining but shallow activities. This
tourism experience mode serves the need to take a break from the daily living pressures to

Table I Cohen’s modes of tourist experiences: attitudes toward routine living and travel
motivations
Travel motivations
Attitudes toward daily life Mere pleasure Profound experiences

Alienated Diversionary Experiential

Experimental
Existential
Meaningful Recreational (Humanist)
(Dualist/pluralist)

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 restore the strength needed to cope. People engaging in this tourist experience type,
although stressed by their daily living, are committed to the ‘‘center’’ of their own society. The
second tourist experience mode is referred to as the diversionary. Divisionary mode involves
the pursuit of mere pleasure without any quest for the center. While recreational mode
associates visitors perceiving their daily life as meaningful, diversionary mode refers to
visitors alienated from their everyday goals and values.
The three remaining tourist experience modes relate to people who are alienated from their
own society’s center. These tourists search for meaning in the other cultures’ centers while
traveling. Specifically, the third tourist experience mode is experiential. Experiential mode
involves the quest for observing the authentic life of others without any attempt to be
converted or even engaged in their life. The fourth mode is experimental mode. The
experimental mode refers to travelers who try to participate in others’ authentic lives to
pursue an alternative cultural center. The fifth tourist experiences mode is existential.
Existential mode refers to individuals already committed to an elective center. This elective
center is culturally and geographically external to the society in which they live. These
individuals live their daily routine in a spiritual exile. They travel to a remote ‘‘center’’ to
actualize and sustain their spiritual existence. Uriely et al. (2002) adds a sixth mode by
suggesting some travelers attach to more than one spiritual center. Such individuals
perceive their routine life as meaningful yet they still search for profound experiences while
traveling. These tourists travel in the experiential, experimental or the existential modes
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without alienation from their own society’s culture. Such tourists exhibit a humanistic mode
(Uriely et al. 2002). Using the revised version of Cohen’s (1979) typology for the type- related
analysis, Uriely et al. (2002) determine how backpacking tourism form and type are related.

Backpacking as type and form

Cohen’s (1972) seminal backpacking study differentiates between institutionalized and
non-institutionalized tourists. The former complies with the conventional mass tourism
features, while non-institutionalized tourists, prevalently middle-class young travelers, are
referred to as drifters (Cohen, 1972), nomads (Cohen, 1973), youthful travelers (Teas, 1974),
wanderers (Vogt, 1976), hitchhikers (Mukerji, 1978), tramping youth (Adler, 1985), and
long-term budget travelers (Riley, 1988). Recent studies address these travelers as
backpackers (Loker, 1993; Loker-Murphy, 1996; Loker-Murphy and Pearce, 1995). Despite
the literature’s multiplicity of terms, the general consensus is that the various non-institutional
tourist groups constitute a distinct tourism category that differs from institutionalized
mass-tourism (Cohen, 1972, 1973; Loker, 1993; Loker-Murphy and Pearce, 1995; Riley,
1988; Vogt, 1976). However, the notion of backpacking as a distinct tourism category
involves an indistinguishable usage of form and type-related attributes.
In terms of form-related attributes, the literature suggests that backpackers tend to travel for
long periods with flexible schedules (Cohen, 1972, 1973, 1982; Riley, 1988; Vogt, 1976).
Backpackers also are characterized as low-budget travelers (Riley, 1988; Teas, 1974). They
eat in low-priced restaurants, use public transportation, and stay at inexpensive hotels
(Cohen, 1972, 1973; Loker, 1993; Loker-Murphy and Pearce, 1995; Riley, 1988; Vogt, 1976).
These behaviors create more opportunities than their institutionalized counterparts to initiate
direct encounters with the local population. Institutionalized tourists primarily are confined to
institutions operated for the tourists’ exclusive use. Backpackers also are characterized by
the so-called type-related characteristics. These type-related characteristics include a
tendency to hold anti-establishment or ambivalent views toward their own culture, a quest for
adventure, authenticity, profound experiences; and a self-perception as travelers rather than
tourists (Cohen, 1972, 1973; Riley, 1988; Vogt, 1976).
In contrast to combining form and type characteristics, Uriely et al. (2002) separate type and
form characteristics of backpacking. Their analysis of the backpackers’ type-related
attributes yields three relevant insights. First, the findings indicate that different Israeli
backpackers conformed to different tourist experiences types as suggested by Cohen
(1979). Some backpackers visualize their trips as recreational; other backpackers seek new
experiences to expand knowledge and to explore their own psyches. Although a few

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PAGE 308 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURE, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH VOL. 3 NO. 4 2009
 interviewees were very critical of Israeli society and expressed serious doubts about
belonging to that society, most informants, while critical of various aspects of Israeli culture,
had no doubts regarding their commitment to that culture. Second, the findings show some
tourists attracted to both home and the host societies. Some interviewees were intrigued by
their host country experiences. They felt that their lives enriched by their excursion without
feeling estranged from Israeli society and culture. This finding corresponds to Cohen’s
(1979) humanistic experience type. Note that Cohen’s typology does not include this explicit
typology. Third, the results show that some individual backpackers correspond to more than
one tourist experience type over their backpacking history, even during a single trip.
Uriely et al.’s (2002) target population relates only to travelers complying with conventional
form-related backpacking attributes. The study reveals form-related practices shared by
these backpackers function as major elements of their discourse and ideology.
Self-differentiation from the conventional mass tourist image is valued highly. The findings
show that backpackers develop attitudes that approve and respect tourists who fully comply
with the form-related attributes described above, which signify the backpackers’ identity.
Status is gained by those tourists who travel for long periods of time, lack itinerary barriers,
maximize ‘‘best value’’ purchasing, and depart from the beaten track to visit remote areas.
On the contrary, backpackers deviating from these norms are considered ‘‘fake’’ or ‘‘not
serious’’ backpackers. Surprisingly, backpackers tend to downplay trip segments not
following these form-related codes of the backpacking ideology.
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Based on the revealed diversity of type-related attributes among backpackers combined

with their commitment to the form-related backpacking ideology, Uriely et al. (2002) suggest
regarding contemporary backpacking as a form rather than a type of tourism.

Conclusions
The analysis of type and form presented above suggests that the category of backpacking
can be further segmented by the meanings that backpackers associate with their tourist
experiences. Accordingly, this exercise stresses the need for cautious and sensitive tourist
typologies that would capture the existing variety in tourism. While external practices of
travel (forms of tourism) cannot be independent of cognitive and psychological aspects
(types of tourism); they should not be conceived as being determined by them.
With respect to the phenomenon of backpacking, perhaps further classification into
sub-forms of this category would point to more homogeneous groups of backpackers in
terms of their type-related attributes. For example, those travelers who pursue the main
destinations of backpacker tourism in Asia might differ from travelers who prefer more ‘‘off
the beaten track’’ locations in terms of their motivations and the meanings they derive from
travel. Thus, the relations between type and forms of backpacking should be further
reconsidered in analytical terms and examined with respect to backpackers from other
nationalities and locations.
Future research on backpacker tourism also could address the social and economic
implications of this study. For example, local resident attitudes toward backpackers could be
related to their differences in terms of their approach toward local religions or other cultural
centers. In this respect, Third World destinations visited mostly by recreational and
diversionary backpackers whose ignorance and lack of interest in local ‘‘centers’’ might be
accompanied by disrespectful behavior. Here, backpackers may be considered
undesirable guests by local residents.
Finally, the heterogeneity among backpackers provides an opportunity to investigate these
tourists from a marketing point of view. In this context, future attempts to segment the
backpacker market could associate the different types of backpackers with a range of
tourist products and services.

References
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 Boorstin, D. (1964), The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America, Harper, New York, NY.
Cohen, E. (1972), ‘‘Toward a sociology of international tourism’’, Social Research, Vol. 39 No. 1,
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Journal of Comparative Sociology, Vol. 14 Nos 1-2, pp. 89-103.
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Appendix. Exercise questions

1. Uriely and colleagues (2002) provide the following account from one of the interviewed
backpackers who returned to Southeast Asia about a year and a half after his first
excursion:
‘‘The first two weeks back at home after the first trip were great. However, as time
passed by, I started to feel that I didn’t belong to this place. I could not stand the stressful
atmosphere . . . the way people drive here, the way they try to cut in front of you when you
stand in a line for the theater . . . you know the small things . . . After a few months of feeling
the same emptiness, I decided to save money for a second trip. I did not have any
particular plans or desires except to get out of here. I guess I missed the lifestyle of doing
nothing without feeling guilty about it.’’

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 This backpacker’s second trip corresponds to the ____ mode of tourist experiences
presented in Table I:

a. Recreational.

b. Pluralist.

c. Existential.

d. Diversionary.
2. Which of the following tourist groups can be regarded as a form of tourism?

a. Tourists who arrive in Beijing for the Olympic Games.

b. Pilgrims in the Holy Land.

c. Organized tours to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

d. Vacationers in the Islands of Thailand.

3. The analysis presented above leads to the conclusion that:

a. Tourists who search for meaningful experiences are not necessarily alienated
from the ‘‘center’’ of values that governs their everyday life back at home.
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b. Tourists behaving similarly also share the same motivations and meanings.

c. Tourists cannot be detached from the ‘‘centers’’ of both the sending and the
visited society.

d. Backpackers differ from Mass tourists mainly in terms of travel motivations.

4. A study of British holidaymakers in Chalkidiki, Greece suggests that these mass tourists
are characterized by highly diversified patterns of interests (Wickens, 2002). Specifically,
the study points toward five categories of vacationers: placing a strong emphasis on the
local culture; searching for sensual and hedonistic pleasures; wishing for a romantic
experience; desiring sunshine and hot climate; and enjoying the familiarity provided in a
holiday destination visited annually.
The findings of Wickens’ study lead to the conclusion that:

a. In similar to backpacking mass tourism cannot be regarded as a form of tourism.

b. In similar to backpacking mass tourism cannot be regarded as a type of tourism.

c. Mass tourists do not search for meanings in the centers of other cultures while
traveling.

d. None of the above.

5. Advanced exercise. In one of his early works, Cohen (1973) distinguishes between
backpackers interacting mainly with counterpart travelers (inward-oriented) and
backpackers establishing social ties with locals (outward-oriented). He also
distinguishes between students or junior employees on a prolonged summer vacation
(part-time drifters) and timeless travelers (full- time drifters). In addition, he associates
backpacking with a counter-culture ideology that calls for a departure from conventional
ways of life.
Do the three observations suggested by Cohen (1973) support or alternatively
challenge Uriely and colleagues (2002) conclusion to regard backpacking as a form
rather than a type of tourism (Answer in a paragraph of up to 120 words)?
Notes for Instructor lead discussion
1. The correct answer is d. The quotation’s last sentence suggests this backpacker’s
second trip did not involve a search for meaningful experiences. The lack of a quest for
meanings (while traveling) rules out options b (pluralist) and c (existential). Also, the
interview’s account clearly depicts his alienation from daily life at the home society.
Accordingly, the combination of home alienation and travel lacking a meaningful
experience search complies with option d (diversionary).

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 2. The correct answer is c. Only c refers to a tourist’s form-related attributes (an organized
tour). The tourists in the three other options differ from each other in the arrangements and
practices used to organize their journeys. For example, the islands of Thailand host
backpackers who reside in cheap bungalows as well as mass tourists who purchase
package-deals to luxury resorts. A form-related heterogeneity also may characterize
pilgrims in the holy Land and tourists who arrive in Beijing for the Olympic Games.
3. The correct answer is a. Uriely and colleagues’ sixth mode adds to Cohen’s typology of
tourist experiences (Humanist/Dualist/Pluralist) and suggests tourists searching for
meaningful experiences are not necessarily alienated from the ‘‘center’’ of values
governing their everyday life back at home In contrast to option b, the current analysis
leads to the conclusion that tourists behaving similarly do not necessarily share the same
motivations and meanings. Option c is wrong, because the ‘‘diversionary’’ mode refers to
tourists detached from the ‘‘centers’’ of both the sending and the visited society. Option d
is wrong because backpackers are distinguished from other tourists by their form rather
than type related attributes.
4. The correct answer is b. Uriely et al. (2002) and Wickens (2002) reveal the heterogeneity
of type related attributes among a form related category of tourism. The former study
suggests backpacking cannot be regarded as a type of tourism and the latter study
concludes the same for mass tourism. Option a is wrong since backpacking is regarded
here as a form. Also, the Wicken’s study does not address form related attributes. Option
d is wrong since Wickens reveals that some mass tourists are interested in the local
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culture.
5. Following the proposed distinction between type and form-related attributes, one might
notice that Cohen’s (1973) distinctions of inward/outward and part-time/full-time
backpackers point to the decreasing homogeneity of drifting as a tourism form.
Moreover, his third observation (backpacking as a manifestation of a counter-culture
ideology) emphasizes a type-related feature of backpacking. In contrast to Uriely and
colleagues (2002), Cohen (1973) stresses drifting is a type rather than a form of tourism
(word count ¼ 82).

Corresponding author
Natan Uriely can be contacted at: urielyn@som.bgu.ac.il

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