IGD

Institute of Geography and Sustainability of the University of Lausanne
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Practices of Disconnection in Banff National Park

Research fields Cultures and natures of tourism
Keywords Tourism
Wilderness
Digital space
Funding UNIL
Duration September 2015 >
Website
Researchers Stock Mathis (Supervision) [web] [email]

The research for this doctoral thesis aims at understanding the issues related to disconnection from new information technologies and communication during touristic activities. These newly emerging touristic practices consist of disconnecting from any form technology in order to feel physical and mental distance from daily life. The particular interest of studying such practices is that they are recently appearing as response to the ubiquity of connexion during touristic activities. This hyper-connectivity leads to the fact that it nowadays becomes difficult to feel the traditional break from “home” during a trip (Beaude, 2014b; Knafou et al., 1997; Stock et al., 2003; Urry, 2002; N. R. White & White, 2007). Fieldresearch for this project is conducted in the natural park of Banff in Alberta, western Canada, as it represents an iconic area of "wilderness" across North America. The choice of this case study is not insignificant as nature and wilderness spaces are supposedly situated "outside" the connected space beyond the park boundary (Crown 2006) and in this way signify a disconnection and a break from a stressful daily life. This project also aims to apprehend the tension growing between nature and new digital technologies and what type of spaces are produced/are appearing in the wilderness.