I rarely take pictures while travelling; I think that disturbs me from capturing the moment in my head and heart. Also, I usually buy food and drinks from my destination, but also try to be present by watching, smelling and feeling what is happening around me or with me. Even if I return back to the same place, I will never experience the same thing again, so I try to be present at the moment. A recent travel to a lovely European destination made me put my thoughts in a sequence and write about tourism aesthetics.
Tourism seems to be related to aesthetics, the branch of philosophy aiming at comprehending the nature and meaning of beauty. However, there is few research about the aesthetic dimension of travelling, despite its obvious link with beauty and tourist satisfactions. Recently, an interest in tourism aesthetics has arisen by uncovering the features that are used for destinations in terms of their beauty.
Taken into consideration that experience design is a multifaceted process, the role of aesthetics seems very important. This does not include only visual messages associated with buildings and landscapes, but also tactile, auditory, gustatory and olfactory messages that inspire a feeling of aesthetic pleasure. For instance, we enjoy beautiful weather, pleasant sounds or smells in a destination, which are part of the tourism experience.
What makes an object beautiful?
What makes an object beautiful? Let’s see some different point of views.
The school of objectivists supports that beauty is a property of an object that is able to deliver pleasurable experiences for observers, and thus objects with certain properties (i.e. symmetry, proportion and complexity) are universally considered as beautiful. Psychologists support this aspect by asserting that aesthetic experience is a cognitive process, and stimuli that are familiar, prototypical, symmetric, reflect the human mind’s ability to process such information efficiently and with ease.
On the contrary, the school of objectivists argues that beauty is a function of human perception; therefore, aesthetic judgements and experiences depend not only on the properties of the object, but also on observers’ qualities and characteristics. In particular, environmental psychologists support that one’s familiarity and past experience with landscape has an impact on preferences.
Additionally, the contemporary approach of interactionism, supports that beauty and aesthetic experiences arise from patterns by which both the object and observers, relate. In that sense, it is positive because it also evokes pleasure, but also it is intrinsic because the surroundings are perceived beautiful without and reasoning about their utility.
Multisensory aesthetics
Although visual aesthetics dominate a tourism experience, there are also the rest of the senses that contribute to the aesthetic appreciation. For instance, a natural scenery observed from a window of an air-conditioned tour bus is not likely to deliver a full-scale tourist experience. Also, beauty is a multisensory experience in itself. So, we need to examine the extent of senses’ role in that frame.
Taste
Without any doubt, food is one of life’s finest pleasures; sampling new taste combinations, such as local cheese, fresh seafood or wines. Each time you take a bite, your taste buds and brain work together to create a map of what you’re eating and where. However, it seems that we have forgotten to focus on our taste buds because of several factors, such as noises, the crowd in a restaurant, or stress.
Taste has unexpected consequences. For instance, take spicy meals; scientists say that capsaicin, a chemical found in chillies, stimulates the body’s production of feel-good endorphins, explaining the vague euphoria that accompanies a curry. In any case, taste simply makes us happy!
So, how you could focus on your food in your travel? What would you like to taste? What kind of place would help you in that? What was you most memorable experience while travelling?
Sound
Listen to the world and you’re rewarded with another layer of sensory experience. Delight may come out of the sounds of the arts and theatre in a town. On the other hand, there are the sounds of the nature, such as a lullaby of waves or wind, rain pattering on windows, or the song of birds and whales. Certain sounds are as specific to a place as language; the rattle of passing trams or the tolling of cowbells. Even conversational volume is culture-specific: Greek adults seem to speak loudly while French kids rarely yell in restaurants.
What could you do to capture the sound in your destination? What sounds inspire you? You many need to stay silent to observe them – can you do that? What sound experience you would like to share?
Smell
Smell instantly transports us to a time and place. A single sniff can trigger a decades-old memory and you like memories from your travels, right? Not only a garden park blanketed in the aroma of tulips, roses and lilies, but also the series of eateries surrounded by scents of food and coffee are treats for the senses.
I usually observe the smell of the place that I’m going to stay; does it have a pleasing and fresh odour? What you like to smell?
Sight
Imagine a picturesque scenery with visual delights from architectural masterpieces or riverside places. For travellers, the most critical part about “seeing” a new place is knowing how to go beyond the shapes and colours our eyes take in and get at the deeper truth of the destination. Our other senses will then tune into these sights and make the experience whole. “Seeing is not always believing” as the saying goes but guidebooks tell us what to look at, travel magazines tempt with glossy photos, bucket lists hector us with must-sees. We can, however, challenge ourselves to reconsider the visual clichés – let’s try it!
What was the most memorable place you visited? What did you like the most? Did it resemble something familiar? What you like most to see in the places you visit?
Touch
Of all the senses, touch is the most immediate; you have to be close to something (or someone) to engage. So why not embrace that intimacy while traveling? For instance, the touch of a texture, such as the special products produced by locals, will give an amazing sensation. In any case, our skin is constantly garnering endless data from our surrounds: whether we’re being rained upon or sunburned or whether that bowl of food is too hot. And who doesn’t want to run their fingertips over husky fur, or dig the legs in the sand?
What do you like to touch in your travels? Do you prefer certain kind of fabrics to wear, because of the sense they provide? Do you search for products in https://www.eversthetics.com/2019/10/17/aesthetic-identity-dress-up-in-you/the local markets? Do you need a company during your travel?
Summary about tourism aesthetics
The paragraphs above tried to present the connection of tourism with aesthetics, but also the different kind of pleasing aesthetic signals one gets while travelling. I think that we need to be present at the moment, open to new things, and willing to observe; that would make our travel a unique experience. I love travelling (and aesthetics), so your comments are highly welcomed!