Framing Experiences of Aboriginal Australia: Guidebooks as Mediators in Backpacker Travel

Abstract

Guidebooks play an influential role as mediator among the traveler, the travel experience, and the traveled destination. Despite the centrality of guidebooks in the experiences of independent travelers such as backpackers, the question of how readers use these texts has received little attention in tourism research. This article explores the influence of guidebook texts on backpacker experiences with, and interpretations of, Aboriginal Australia. The investigation is drawn from the textual analysis of three popular guidebooks to Australia, coupled with interviews with a sample of 28 international backpackers traveling in Australia. The research reveals that guidebooks are negotiated through the lived and imagined experiences of their readers at various times throughout the travel experience. Significantly, the interplay between the backpacker travel experience and the guidebook text is dynamic and primarily situational. The findings highlight the role that the text plays as mediator between the traveler (the backpacker) and the traveled culture (Aboriginal Australia).

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