Wherever you go, there we are: Tourism in a society of ubiquitous connectivity

In a world where pervasive information and communication systems seem to negate the need for travel, it would appear that tourism might no longer be necessary. Yet, tourism researchers examining international arrivals around the world know that tourism continues to be a dominant economic force for many countries. For individuals that engage in tourism today, the experience has dramatically changed as the ability for tourists to be connected to their social networks means they are never truly "away" on their journeys. Conversely, people are now being made aware of new attractions, events, and restaurants in their local community through online user-generated tourism reviews, thereby becoming tourists in their own "home" locale. With this blurring of "home" and "away," resulting from the presence of ubiquitous connectivity and access to information resources, a new paradigm of the study for the touristic experience is needed.;In this dissertation, the changing nature of the touristic experience is examined through a phenomenological and self-reflexive approach, beginning with the common history that travel and communication share which later diverged with the advent of telecommunication systems. Since the development of mobile telecommunication, ubiquitous connectivity, and Internet-based resources, there has been a transition from communication connecting place-to-place nodes to it connecting person-to-person nodes. The result has been a reunification of the social experiences created through communication and travel; however, academic studies in these fields remain separate. Herein, the commonalities that exist between these two fields are noted and discussed. It is argued that the academic study of the social effects of tourism and telecommunication can be unified through the lens of the emerging "mobilities" paradigm, and the five travel characterizations which comprise that paradigm (Urry, 2002; 2007).;Initially, an understanding of the linkages between the fields of tourism and communication can be gleaned by examining two focal areas that have been studied separately, but which have produced similar results: the motivation to engage in social connection, and the meaning of authenticity. In addition, the blurring of the "home" and "away" dichotomy resulting from the use of telecommunication in tourism has led to a need to abandon that dichotomy in favor of understanding the touristic experience through the framework of encapsulated (e.g. engaged / mentally involved) and decapsulated (e.g. disengaged / mentally distant) states. Finally, the applied use of mobile communication in the tourism experience through the development and application of location-based services lends further support for the need to study tourism and communication through a unified paradigm, rather than as separate fields of study.;Based on the preceding information, it is suggested that the mobilities paradigm can serve as the desired paradigm to research and promote understanding of the commonalities between the social experiences of tourism and communication. However, a reformulation of the primary divisions within the original mobilities paradigm is suggested for the purposes of simplification and the removal of tautological concepts: Urry's "corporeal" and "object" travel are combined into a common "physical travel" segment, "virtual" and "communicative" travel are combined in a common "communicative travel" segment, and the segment of "imaginative travel" retaining its current definition. Finally, based on this restructured mobilities paradigm, suggestions for future research opportunities, implications and applications are provided.