ABSTRACT

The emergence of the Singapore heartland as a tourist environment is explored. The ‘heartland’ refers to suburban residential neighbourhoods, often sited away from mainstream attractions and iconic landmarks, and seldom visited by mass tourists. The increasing trend of visitors to the heartlands and companies offering heartland tours is studied. Applying the concepts of ‘frontstage’ (featuring mainstream attractions) and ‘backstage’ (offering alternative sites), the production and consumption of heartland spaces are interrogated. The notion of ‘tourism place making’ is also introduced as we look at how tour companies attempt to ‘make places’ in the heartlands that appeal to visitors, and how tourists in turn ‘place make’ as they experience the landscapes. We argue, however, that there are limits to place making. Just as tour companies are incapable of transforming spaces into affective landscapes of tourism, likewise travellers encounter cultural shocks and other difficulties that mitigate against their place attachment. Further research on tourism place making in non-mainstream sites is required if we are to fully appreciate the complex relations between tourism, people and places.

摘要

探讨新加坡中心地带作为旅游环境的出现。“中心地带”是指郊区住宅区，通常远离主流景点和标志性地标，很少有大众游客参观。研究了中心地带游客和提供中心地带旅游的公司的增长趋势。运用“前台”（以主流景点为特色）和“后台”（提供替代地点）的概念，对中心地带空间的生产和消费进行了质疑。当我们研究旅游公司如何试图在中心地带“打造”吸引游客的地方，以及游客如何在体验风景时反过来“打造”时，还引入了“旅游场所营造”的概念。然而，我们认为场所营造是有局限性的。正如旅游公司无法将空间转化为旅游的情感景观一样，旅行者也会遇到文化冲击和其他减轻他们对地方依恋的困难。要想充分认识旅游、人、地之间的复杂关系，就需要对非主流场所的旅游场所营造做进一步的研究。