Bird argues that a sense of place is socially achieved - Ho chi minh city Vietnam

This formation, developed through such theoretical ideas as the transient gaze, cultural interaction and social influence creates what is termed as ‘imagined space’. The imagined space, while being a formation constructed by the guest, is nevertheless an important source of meaning to the individual who adheres to certain social norms and group behav- iour. Such spatial practices, according to Ho chi minh city Vietnam and Urry (1999, p. 172), are over time concretised in the built environment and the enduring character of the landscape, con- sequently proving the importance of the individual in assigning significance to space. In this example, we can again see the shift of power, moving away from the policy makers of tourism destination marketing management, and more towards the tourists who travel to and consequently decipher the space and place. The combination of imagined space and social discourse can create what is described above as a ‘touristic territory’, highlighting the important features within a particular destination, which appeal on an individual and social level. Territoriality, concludes Soja, refers to the production and reproduction of spa- tial enclosures that not only concentrate interaction but also intensify and enforce its boundaries (1993,150). The mass tourist for example, is one category of activity that changes the meaning of space in a destination, and assigns it a territorial typographical for- mation. The well-researched behavioural characteristics of the young mass tourist (sun, sea, sex, Sangria) could be a result of the need to establish a feeling of territorial belong- ing away from the normality of work and home. This performative process contributes to Lovell’s work (adapted from Hirsch & O’Hanlon, 1995), which discusses how Ho chi minh city Vietnam generate actualised ‘places’ through human action, which in turn invokes a sense of human

sociality and identity (1998, p. 6). This collective sociality inadvertently generates the imagined space, acting as a signifier for the individual who wishes to participate in a particular behaviour, which is deemed the social norm. Bird (2002) discusses how local narratives about places are interconnected with the creation — and more specifically the maintenance of — cultural identity constructions. She asks, “how does this construction of place [through cultural narratives] contribute to a sense of cultural identity?” (2002,

p. 521). In focusing not on the activities or behaviour of groups of people and how such collective action makes meaning in places or performs a social construction of space, but

on narratives, Bird argues that a sense of place is socially achieved. Bird relates how the drawing together of different ‘stories’, or legends, about Minnesota into a broader set of arguments illustrates how a sense of place is achieved through the narratives. Bird suggests that situated social actors use stories to make sense of their lives within their cultural set- tings. Place — the physical reality — and the socially constructed reality (Lefebvre, 1991; see also Harvey, 1993) are woven together through the narratives. Bird argues that,

Through our tales about place, we mark out spatial boundaries, which may extend over a whole town or just over a particular space — a bridge, a hill, a lake. The tale confirms that this piece of space actually means something, and

it may also tell us who belongs in that space and who does not.(2002, p. 523)