Globalizing The Gaze Summary

“Globalizing the Gaze” by John Urry is a chapter that discusses the implications of globalization in tourism and travel, examining the ways in which tourism has changed since technologies like mobile phones and the internet have pervaded global communities. The chapter chronicles how the nature of tourism has changed drastically with the rise of these technologies and their ubiquity across the planet. For one, there is the increased scope of travel- it is no longer restricted to the wealthy, white, males or the Western world. Then there is the increase in the quality and reach of various infrastructure technologies that allows people to go far beyond what was once believed possible. For example, I discussed this article with my mom and she was saying that in her generation, a road trip to a neighboring city or state carried the same excitement and was just as common as the present-day trips to neighboring countries or continents. In writing this chapter, the author wanted to highlight these developments, and specifically the way globalization has
Whereas tourism in the past was dominated by tropical getaways and exotic adventures, travel in the globalized world has come to include less-traditional destinations with substantial meaning in their given setting. For example, places that have been drastically shaped by their history or certain historic events such as Northern Ireland or former Nazi occupation sites (142). The author contributes this diversification of travel destinations to the rise in certain technologies (cellphones, tv, internet) that have increased the number of stimuli that people are now exposed, where unique locations and cultures throughout the globe are introduced and showcased by the various channels which we encounter through the media on a daily