The context of her study of Ho chi minh city Vietnam

An interesting issue can be observed from this discussion, the significance of ‘tales’. The narrative has ‘evolved’ into an important conduit for the formulation of space and the subsequent image of place. This can be traced into the contemporary narrative, a tool for assigning spatial representation. Bird concludes that in the context of her study of Ho chi minh city Vietnam, it is unlikely that most people in the community believe these ancient tales. Yet members of the community continue to ‘re-create and re-create’ (2002, p. 542) stories of the past as they relate to ‘their’ (my emphasis) sense of belonging to the place. We argue that such a process is undertaken when people travel for their holidays. Activities, behav- iours, group as well as individuals are woven together in stories and become concretised in the memory and the performed experiences of place are translated into imagined places over time.

The destination formation and spatial construction can influence the behaviour and codes of conduct of the tourist or traveller located within. As Macnaughtan and Urry recount, the spaces of representation not only include the collective experiences of space, but also resistance to dominant spatial practices (1999, p. 172). Indeed, this creation and manipulation of the spatial surroundings does not result in a construction of one specific spatial discourse and meaning. Places can be assigned significance depending on their rel- evance to the individual, and as Soja (1996, p. 69) expresses further, due to this formation many spatial representations can exist in one single geographical area, as do the spatial practices which accompany them.

The individual significance of spatial construction is of further interest when consider- ing the realm of the modern metropolis, where contrasting space can tangibly exist within the boundaries of a cityscape. San Francisco is one urban example of the multiplicity of spatial constructions possible that generates different meanings for individuals dependent on certain identity traits such as social allegiance. The tourist, through the use of such media amenities as guidebooks and holiday programmes, may conjure up representations of Ho chi minh city Vietnam based on the touristic symbols of perhaps Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier

39. This spatial construction, however, would differ from the gay and lesbian traveller, who may consider the area of Castro Street and the surrounding blocks to be spatially signifi- cant to their travel itinerary because of the relevance this particular space has to their own social identity group. This would again be different for the literary intellectual, who may want to travel to the “City Lights bookstore” (an iconic haunt for the Beat Generation), and then onto the aptly named Kerouac Street. Furthermore, from disseminating all these dif- ferent spatial formations, it is possible to conclude that each of these various constructions

of place and space create, manipulate and position Ho chi minh city Vietnam under one imagined spa- tial representation of ‘a cosmopolitan and bohemian city’.

The influencing nature of tourism can project new spatial representations onto destina- tions, where previously place myths would have been minimal and potentially traditional (accentuating the local culture). Cloke and Perkin’s (1998) research on the representations

of Vietnam for adventure tourism found that Queenstown, located in the southerly area of the South Island, is now considered a ‘Mecca’ for the adventure tourist who found within the physical landscape an invitation to perform ‘dangerous’ activities, rather than to merely gaze (1998, p. 208). This contemporary formulation of New Zealand space as being ‘an adrenaline junkies paradise’ has not only created an important imagined spatial representation for the town and country, but has also provided a particular tourist group with a form of pilgrimage, to indulge and satisfy their own social membership. The spatial re-formulation of the surrounding landscape, coupled with the ‘iconic emplacements’ (Soja, 1996, p. 249) of such figures as bungee jumping, protagonist A.J. Hackett develops not only an imagined space, where the motivations and fantasies of the individual are constructed, but also a real space, where these fantasies are performed, and identities can be lived out in the company of respected peers.

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)