TY  - JOUR
AB  - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to tackle the issue of the meaning of tourism as it is being crippled by the economic crisis in Greece.Design/methodology/approach To do so, it brings together the findings of three different fieldworks related to tourism in Athens in times of crisis. Each one of these focuses on a specific player of tourism: a linguistic and semiological analysis led mainly on travel guides and ad campaigns deals with the industry of tourism; a linguistic analysis of tourists’ posts on a French web forum deals with the tourists themselves; and an ethnographical approach of alternative guided tours of Athens focuses on local players (associations and cooperatives offering out of the beaten tracks tours).Findings The whole study reveals that there is a misunderstanding between the industry and the consumers toward what the tourist practice should mean: whereas the tourists are in search of an ethical meaning, the industry claims there is no room for such issues. The alternative players, however, offer a political perspective that embraces the ethical issues raised by tourists.Originality/value They thus might, in the end, show us the way a so-called “civil society” could also have its own role to perform in tourism.
VL  - 5
IS  - 1
SN  - 2056-5607
DO  - 10.1108/IJTC-12-2017-0086
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-12-2017-0086
AU  - Vergopoulos Hecate
PY  - 2018
Y1  - 2018/01/01
TI  - Alternative tourism and civil society in Athens
T2  - International Journal of Tourism Cities
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 51
EP  - 62
Y2  - 2024/04/19
ER  -