TOURISM RECREATION RESEARCH VOL. 39(1), 2014: 115–125 ISSN (print): 0250–8281/ISSN (online): 2320–0308 ©2014 Tourism Recreation Research http://www.trrworld.org

Research Note

The Co-creation of Animal-based Tourism Experience Giovanna Bertella is Associate Professor at the School of Business and Economics, UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway. e-mail: [email protected] Introduction The purpose of this research note is to present some reflections on the role of animals in animal-based tourism experiences. It is inspired by those tourism studies concerning the conceptualization of animals and human–animal relationships (e.g., Curtin 2005, 2009, 2010; Woods 2000; Cohen 2012). Some of these studies qualify the domain in which encounters between the tourists and the animals occur as the place where humanity and animality meet. Thus, these encounters are viewed as particularly complex and meaningful. Although these studies concern wildlife tourism, it can reasonably be assumed that similar considerations are valid for any form of tourism that includes animals. This study focuses on the case of domesticated animals. People who live in close contact with domesticated animals tend to view them from the perspective of both their animality and also their individual subjectivity (Fox 2006). This observation can be relevant to those tourism activities that involve domesticated animals (e.g., dog sledding, equine tourism). Although the studies mentioned at the beginning of this section can be viewed as a sign of recognition by some tourism scholars of animals as important elements of the tourism experience, the dominant position in the literature seems to be characterized by a

view of animals as rather passive elements. This study proposes a conceptualization of human–animal encounters focused on the central and active role played by the animals. Moreover, it is proposed that tourism experiences in which the tourists can interact closely with one or more animals can be viewed as encounters among subjects. The point of departure is the co-creation approach to the tourism experience. Theoretical Background The Co-creation of Tourism Experiences The co-creation approach to the tourism experience originates from the servicedominant logic perspective on the consumer’s role and is related to the recognition of the centrality of consumption as an experience (Pine and Gilmore 1999; Vargo and Lusch 2004; Mustak et al. 2013). The latter factor, the understanding of consumption as an experience, has been indicated to be particularly important in terms of memorability. Moreover, the degree of the consumers’ physical participation and their mental and emotional connection with the experience are viewed as critical success factors in today’s economy. These ideas have been adopted in the context of tourism and hospitality, where one of the main success factors is identified as the active role played by tourists in creating and

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giving meaning to an experience that touches them deeply (e.g., Mehmetoglu and Engen 2011; Grissemann and Stikburger-Sauer 2012; Chathoth et al. 2013). There are several elements that are posited as being crucially important in such processes: the environment in which the experience takes place, and the objects and the subjects with which the tourists interact. Among the subjects, the following are usually included: the front-line employees, the guides, other tourists, and the local population. Recently, a network model has been proposed to illustrate the central elements of a co-created tourism experience (figure 1). Within such model, tourists are viewed as a human being. This means that tourists are viewed as having sets of relationships and conditions that they bring with them when playing the role of the tourist (Binkhorst and Dekker 2009). These include all the objects, subjects and contexts that are relevant to the tourists before the visit, during the travel decision-making process, and during and after the experience. Figure 1 illustrates the conceptualiza-tion of the tourism experience network model. This conceptualization is not intended to be exhaustive, but aims to illustrate the immense “baggage” of relationships and conditions that come with a person when entering the tourism experience. All the relationships and conditions represented in the model are thought to play a role in the tourism experience. Such a role can be direct, as in the case of a guide who is in contact with the tourists during the experience. Other roles can be indirect, as in the case of friends who can influence the choice of travel and can also be involved in the post-visit phase when tourists share their memories. It can be seen that individuals, groups of individuals, organizations and objects are included in the model. 116

Figure 1.The Tourism Experience Network Model (adapted from Binkhorst and Dekker 2009: 322) This study proposes that in the case of animal-based tourism, the animals can be included in the tourism experience network as subjects who play an active and central role in creating the experience. The Conceptualization of Animals as Subjects The theoretical basis for proposing to view the animals involved in animal-based tourism as subjects lies in the on-going debate about the animals’ capabilities and the moral consideration of animals. This debate is quite widespread across several disciplines (DeMello 2010) but it is only recently that some tourism scholars have shown an interest in joining it (Fennell 2012a). The view of animals as objects can be illustrated with reference to Descartes’ view of animals as “automata,” i.e., living creatures that do not feel pain or pleasure and cannot Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 39, No. 1, 2014

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reason (Kalof and Fitzgerald 2007). Nowadays, such a mechanical view of animals is usually recognized as outdated and different positions concerning the conceptualization of animals as subjects and the consequent moral responsibility of humans toward them can be identified (Armstrong and Botzler 2008). Such positions can be related to three animal ethics approaches: the utilitarian approach, the animal rights approach, and the ecofeminist approach. Although with some differences, all these approaches view animals as subjects, the first approach focusing on their sentience, the second on their intrinsic value, and the third on their relational and emotional capabilities (Gruen 2011). Within the ecofeminist approach, interspecies interactions are viewed as potentially meaningful encounters (Gaard 1993; Donovan and Adams 2007). As the focus of this study is on the relation between domesticated animals and tourists, the ecofeminist approach is potentially particularly valuable. In the tourism literature, there are few studies concerning animal ethics (Shani and Pizam 2008; Cousquer and Allison 2012; Fennell 2012a, 2012b, 2012c) and few scholars have used the ecofeminist approach (Fennell and Sheppard 2011; Fennell 2012a; Bertella 2013; Yudina and Fennell 2013). One of these studies concerns dog sledding tourism and reports on a Canadian case in which several dogs were culled as they were considered to exceed the tourism demand for dog sledding tours and therefore useless (Fennel and Sheppard 2011). This study illustrates well the severe consequences of the conceptualization of animals as commodities and the negative implications in terms of ethics and also destination image. Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 39, No. 1, 2014

The proposal of the present study is based on a case study concerning the same form of tourism, dog sledding, and the focus is on the related tourism experience. The case study is explorative and the aim is to illustrate the active and central role that animals can play in the tourism experience. Case Study: Tromsø Villmarkssenter Tromsø Villmarkssenter is a Norwegian company situated in the municipality of Troms, close to the main town Tromsø, at a latitude of 69 o N. The company’s main facilities include a building containing an office and the owners’ private house, a dog yard, a shop, a small restaurant, and a lavvu (traditional Sami tent). Tromsø Villmarkssenter arranges various open-air activities (kayaking, skiing, snowshoeing, northern lights sightseeing tours) and its main product is dog sledding tours. The firm has recently developed a new product in which tourists participate in the training of the puppies. Approximately 300 Alaskan huskies are kept by Tromsø Villmarkssenter, some at a camp close to the town and some at another camp in the nearby mountains. The case is investigated through the collection and analysis of primary and secondary data. Primary data were gathered through interviews and observation. Semistructured interviews were conducted with two guides (Kvale 2007). One of the guides had no experience with dogs before working at Tromsø Villmarkssenter. At the time of the interview, she had one year of experience, with her tasks varying from care (e.g., cleaning the crates and feeding the dogs) to guiding the dog sledding tours. The other guide had a longer personal experience with dogs, and during the interview she made it clear that she considered her work with the dogs more a lifestyle than a job. 117

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The interviews focused on the guides’ personal experiences in relation to the interactions between the tourists and the dogs. The interviews were undertaken in a conversational manner, offering the interviewees the chance to comment on issues that they considered particularly important. The interviewees’ responses were often probed and they were asked to provide examples of episodes to illustrate their thoughts. The first interview was conducted in a coffee shop during the interviewee’s free time and lasted one and a half hours. The second interview was conducted during and after a puppy training session. On this occasion, the researcher participated in the activity with the tourists to observe directly the interactions between the tourists, the dogs and the guide. Before and after the puppy training session, informal conversations were conducted with the driver, the person in charge of online activities, including monitoring the tourists’ comments on Trip Advisor, and with one of the owners of the company, a professional musher. Additional data were collected by consulting the firm’s promotional material and reviews of the firm on Trip Advisor (January 2012 to August 2013). The analysis of the tourists’ online reviews was datadriven. First, the reviews were divided into two groups according to their content, with some reviews concerning the activities with the dogs and others concerning other activities. Attention was also paid to the profile of the reviewer, in particular the nationality and the presence of some cues that might be relevant in terms of the human– animal relationship (chosen profile pictures, comments in the text). Relevant categories that emerged from this first analysis of the 118

text were identified to guide a second phase of the analysis. These broad categories encompassed how 1) the experience in general, 2) the dogs, 3) the guide/staff, and 4) other tourists were described by the reviewers. Particular attention was paid to the adjectives and expressions used in such descriptions. The same categories were used to classify the pictures attached to some of the reviews. The Role of the Dogs in Dog Sledding Tours The data from the promotional material, the interviews and conversations show that the ideas underpinning the firm’s products are the creation of memorable experiences and the active involvement of the tourists. Such an understanding of the tourism experience can be related to the basic ideas of the co-creation approach. With the model of the tourism experience network as the point of departure, this research note proposes the inclusion of the dogs in such a framework. Such a proposal is based on the role that the animals play in the tourism experience, as shown in the following discussion concerning the dogs’ contributions in terms of the memorability and meaningfulness of the experience. With regard to the memorability of the experience, the data show how the tourists’ memories of the tourism experience are focused on their encounters with the dogs. This is quite evident from the Trip Advisor reviews. Table 1 shows some of the results of the analysis of Trip Advisor reviews concerning Tromsø Villmarkssenter. The number of the reviews and the expressions used to describe different features concerning the experience are reported here. It can be noted that among the 65 reviews, 57 concern activities that include Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 39, No. 1, 2014

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Table 1. A Selection of Results from the Analysis of Trip Advisor Reviews THE REVIEWS 65 reviews in total National background of the reviewer: Europe (51), U.S. (3), Oceania (5), Asia (5) Profile pictures: 10 reviews are characterized by profile pictures of or with animals Reviews that indicate elements that might be relevant in terms of human-animal relationsips (i.e. vegetarian diet): 3 8 reviews about other activities (i.e. kayaking, northern lights tours) 57 reviews about dog-sledging (from few hours tours to 3-days tours) and/or puppy training 21 reviews with titles mentioning the dogs. Among these, the expressions varied: very postive (13, i.e. "Dogs lovers paradise! ") positive (3, i.e. "Nice dogsledding tour ") neutral (5, i.e. "Two day dogsledding ") EXAMPLES OF FOCUS OF AND EXPRESSIONS USED IN THE REVIEWS CONCERNING THE ACTIVITIES WITH THE DOGS The dog-sledging/puppies experience is described as: a great day, amazing, memorable, once in a lifetime expereince, pure magic, fantastic, a real rush 3 reviews comment that this type of tour is only for dog-lovers 1 review is focused on the physical activity of dog-sledding (the musher's perspective) 3 reviews comment on the meeting with the dogs as the element that turned a mediocre experience into a good one 20 reviews mention the "guides" and the "staff"

28 positive comments where the guides/personell are described as: fabolous, friendly, chatty, jolly, kind, helpful, knowledgeable, experienced, professional, respectful (towards the dogs), terrific 3 reviews mention the first nameS of the employees 2 negative comments (attitude, communication problems)

57 reviews mention the "dogs" and the "puppies"

all positive comments where the animals are described as: friendly, social, lovable, nice, adorable, cute, great, awesome, well-behaved, well-trained, happy, healthy, trusting, strong other description of the dogs: they love to run, they are exited, they love their work, they love to be patted, smelly, jumpy description of the possible interactions with dogs: you can meet, pet, hold, cuddle, train them, hung out and play with them, take pictures of them 1 review refers to the dog as their guide 1 review mentions the presence of a border-collie, in addition to the huskies, as a bonus 1 review describes the enthusiasm of the dogs as pure joy other comments about the dogs concern the dogs' condition in regard to their wellbeing (igienic and working conditions)

17 reviews have attached one or more photos, with the following subjects: 25 dogs 3 dogs and tourists 1 guide Other pictures show: the landscape, the sledges, the dinner area, the bus

dogs; of these, 21 mention the dogs in the title of the review with expressions that vary from very positive (13 reviews, e.g., “Dog lovers’ paradise!”), to positive (three reviews, e.g., “Nice dog sledding tour”), to neutral (five reviews, e.g., “Two-day dog sledding”). In comparison, only 20 reviews mention the guides and the staff. They are usually described in positive terms as friendly, fabulous, chatty and professional. One review describes the guide as respectful toward the dogs. None of the reviews mentions other

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tourists met during the activities. The central role of the dogs in the tourism experience is confirmed by the interviews and the informal conversations with the company’s employees. The driver and the person in charge of the company’s online activities, who occasionally performs other tasks, mentioned that at the end of each tour, when the tourists are driven back to town, they tend to chat and the main topic of such conversations is the encounter with the dogs. In particular, they commented on a recent

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visit from a group of teenage boys: ‘It is quite amazing to see the effect that the dogs can have on people! Imagine these young boys … I thought they would be enthusiastic about the experience of guiding a sled, in the wild, the physical activity … but they went on and on talking about the dogs, how beautiful they were and cute… and so on … which dog they would have liked to take home with them … All the comments were about the dogs!’ The elements that seem to be recalled more often in the Trip Advisor reviews are the dogs’ friendliness and playfulness. As shown in Table 1, some of the words that are used to describe the dogs are: friendly, social, lovable, adorable, nice and well-behaved. As noted in studies on encounters with wildlife species, the reviews show that memorability seems to be related to the novelty of the experience of getting so close to Alaskan huskies, and the opportunity to see them performing an activity (running) that is viewed as natural and instinctive. Several reviewers wrote commenting on the latter element, with comments as: ‘these dogs love to run.’ Due to the process of domestication and also the positive attitude toward the animals that can be assumed to be held by most of the tourists who choose these products, close interactions between the tourists and the dogs seem to be quite easy to achieve. The Trip Advisor reviews report several possible types of interactions, such as petting, cuddling and playing (figure 2). One reviewer wrote about a tourist singing to the dogs and remarked that the dogs seemed to appreciate it, gathering all around the singer. As observed during the visit to the firm and as described by the Tromsø Villmarkssenter employees and the owner, the tourist–dog interactions can be seen as 120

Source: Tromsø Wilderness Center

Figure 2. Learning to Care: A Guide is Showing a Kid How the Dogs are Given the Food relationships, meaning that the tourists and the dogs are aware of each other and try to communicate. From the dogs’ side, this communication is described as the dogs inviting the tourists to prepare them for the tour (i.e., the tourists put the harnesses on the dogs) and start the activity (i.e., the tourists get on the sledge). In some cases, especially when puppies are involved, the animals are portrayed as if they were asking for some caring attention, in the form of stroking or food. This communication is both vocal (i.e., the dogs bark, whine and howl) and physical (i.e., the dogs jump up, look at the tourists, wag their tails, sniff and lick the tourists’ faces). From the tourists’ side, the communication is also described as being both verbal and physical, and appears to result in Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 39, No. 1, 2014

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gaining the trust of the animals. The guides reported that most of the tourists like the physical contact with the dogs and therefore it is important to dedicate some time to this activity usually in the dog yard before the tours. However, this is not always possible when the tours are short and the lack of such contact is viewed as a factor that can compromise the quality of the tour. This seems to be confirmed by some Trip Advisor reviews reporting ‘too little time with the dogs.’ The conceptualization of the tourist–dog interaction as a two-way relationship is fully embraced by the Tromsø Villmarkssenter employees and the owner. During the interviews, it appeared very clear that such a conceptualization is quite obvious for people who work daily with the dogs and in some cases live with them. Signs of the operationalization of this conceptualization on the tourists’ side were noted during the observation, and can be illustrated by the following episode. When sitting on the bus returning to town after the puppy training, a tourist was asked whether she had had any success in training the puppies. The tourist answered: ‘Well… it was more the opposite… they (the dogs) trained me!’ Similarly, a Trip Advisor review refers to a dog, presumably the guide, as an additional guide (figure 3). It is difficult to conclude from the collected data whether the animals are viewed as individuals. During the observation, the tourists commented on the different behaviors shown by the puppies, and tried to identify their different personalities. Some puppies were qualified as shy, others as adventurous and curious, and others as natural leaders or followers. On the other hand, in the Trip Advisor reviews, the animals are referred to as “the Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 39, No. 1, 2014

Source: Tromsø Wilderness Center

Figure 3. The Tourist’s Perspective: The Dogs as “Guides” into the Arctic Wilderness. dogs”, “the huskies” or “the puppies”, with no use of names or other individual characterizations. This is despite the fact that the guides usually present the dogs to the tourists, and that the name of each dog is reported on the dog-house in the yard where the first meeting between the tourists and the dogs takes place. In the data, there are two instances in which it seems that the tourists consider the animals as individuals, without mentioning names but referring explicitly to specific individuals. These are the cases in 121

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which the dogs are identified by the tourists as the guides’ own dogs. According to the guides, some common comments made by the tourists show that the encounters with the dogs are perceived as a way to come into contact with a reality that is both familiar and exotic. This aspect can be related to the humanity–animality component of the encounter. This is particularly evident in the cases when the tourists compare the huskies to their pets. This element was commented on by a guide and also observed during the puppy training session. In this case, a tourist commented several times about her dog at home and her experience in training him when he was puppy. This shows how animals other than those present during the tourism experience can be an influential factor in the tourism experience network model, and can be explained by the strong family-like relationship many pet owners have with their pets. It seems correct to conclude that the tourists are physically, emotionally and mentally active during the experience; there is deep engagement focused on the dogs and the relationships the tourists establish with them. It can also be proposed that such engagement is triggered by the animals through their direct and rather explicit way of communicating with the tourists. As a result of the considerations presented above, it seems appropriate to include the dogs as central actors in the tourism experience network. This can be done by adapting the model of the tourism experience network with the addition of two components: one relating to the animals that the tourist meets during the experience and one relating to the animals with which the tourist has a relationship at home. 122

Figure 4. The Inclusion of the Animals in the Tourism Experience Network Model. Graphically, this can be illustrated as in figure 4, where the elements “huskies” and “pets” are shown. The circle for “pets” overlaps with the one representing “family” as it can be assumed that some tourists have dogs that are viewed as family members, and also have close and/or distant contact with other dogs. The circle for the “huskies” is linked to both the tourist and the guide, illustrating the direct contact among these subjects. The lighter line between pets and huskies illustrates the relationship exist in the tourist’s mind. Conclusions This research note has applied the cocreation approach to animal-based tourism experiences. This has been done on the basis of a case study concerning tourist activities in which dogs are involved. The findings suggest that the tourists’ role as the main characters of the tourism experience is shared primarily with the animals, and only Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 39, No. 1, 2014

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secondarily with other humans (mainly the guide). As a result, the tourism experience network model has been presented to include the human–animal relationships as relevant to the tourism experience. Some important implications of this study concern the methodological challenges presented by the study of animal-based tourism experiences. It can be argued that these studies require a form of multi-species ethnography. Such a methodology has been applied in anthropological studies of human– animal relationships (e.g., Maurstad et al. 2013). According to this perspective, the interactions between animals and humans can be conceptualized as on-going processes of intra-acting, i.e., a form of interaction in which the parties meet and change as a result of their meeting. Such research requires that the researcher has particular competence in relation to animals, including factual knowledge about the specific type of animal, in addition to personal and practical experience. A premise for such a type of studies is that the researcher has what can be termed inter-species empathy, a form of empathy that can allow him/her to understand the animal world. Other implications concern the ethical dimensions of animal-based tourism. Once the animals are recognized as subjects, many questions could be raised and discussed with regard to their inclusion in the tourism experience. Limiting the discussion to the case of domesticated animals and fully embracing the ecofeminism approach, the next step after recognizing the subjectivity of the animals involved in the tourism experience could be to try to adopt their perspective. As mentioned above, this requires a form of inter-species understanding and empathy. Conceptually, the basis for adopting such a Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 39, No. 1, 2014

perspective would be the recognition of the animals’ diversity, at both the species and individual levels. The tourism experience that includes the use of animals would then be seen as an encounter where the privileged subjects, in the case of dog sledding the musher and the tourists, use their power not to dominate the other but to help the other to fulfill his/her potentials. In practice, this would lead to actions that aim to provide the animals with what they need in order to have a meaningful life, and to evaluate whether and how these actions can be integrated in a context that hosts one or more tourism activities. As illustrated in the mentioned study of dog sledding tourism in Canada (Fennell and Sheppard 2011), there are signs that indicate that, at least in some cases, we are quite far from demonstrating a caring attitude and behaviours towards animals. The first action could then be to elaborate codes of conduct that guarantee the animals’ well-being, as it has recently happened for dog sledding activities in Canada (Fennell 2013). The empirical part of this study is quite limited. It can be proposed that several elements only partially included here could be relevant to the study of animal-based tourism when focusing on the human– animal relationship. From the tourist’s side, the tourist’s cultural background, gender and age, and the tourist’s attitude and behaviour toward animals in general, and toward the type of animal included in the tourism experience in particular, may be relevant elements for further research. Similarly, some elements regarding the animals should be included, such as the peculiarities of the investigated animal species and the characteristics of the individual animals. Finally, the role of the guide could also be investigated in terms of being a “facilitator” of the human–animal encounters. 123

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