Abstract:
Each individual's meaning of the leisure and tourism experience will be constructed according to
the recreationist and tourist's own cultural and social background, the purpose of the visit, the
companions, preconceived and observed values of the social group, the marketing images of the
destination and, above all the relationships of power between recreationist/tourist destination or
area. If the space is perceived as one in which interactions occur and the self enlarged or expanded,
challenged, renewed or reinforced, the recreation and tourist experience becomes an ongoing
process that extends beyond the time and place boundaries of the visit. In accounting for
tourism and outdoor recreation much of the initial sociological and social psychological work was
concerned with the individualand the part that holidays and outdoor recreation play in establishing
identity and a sense of self. This paper then is about examining the effects that comparable
types of tourism (ecotourism/volunteer tourism) and leisure (outdoor recreation) can have on the
development of self and the common ground that exists in trying to analyse the experience that
results through the disciplines of tourism and leisure.
