Popular Culture Review Vol. 10, No. 2, August 1999 | Page 23

The Trouble with Tourists

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in vain for the real in our travels. Because of this paradox, promoters of any
tourist sight, writers of any travel book, and producers of any filmed travelogue
must structure experience to convince us that we are experiencing the authentic,
and we must comply faithfully if we care to enjoy the illusion.
The street map of Paris featured by CNN after Lady Diana’s death high
lighted the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and the Arc de Triomphe. Why? The vast
majority of CNN viewers have never been to Paris. Therefore, most viewers could
never gain a meaningful understanding of the exact geographical location of the
crash sight; a street map was thus meaningless if its goal was to offer a helpful
spatial point of reference. Moreover, the landmarks themselves bore no pertinent
connection to the crash itself (the tunnel was not in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower;
Diana was not traveling from Notre Dame to the Arc de Triomphe), so the map had
no relevance whatsoever, since viewers could learn nothing practical from it to
enhance their understanding of exactly where Diana’s car crashed. How were we
to respond? Perhaps the map was simply another flashy graphic definitive of CNN,
but it may represent much more, no matter its initial intention: this map had a
substantive touristic value. Yes, most of us have never been to Paris, but most
know what is “important” about it-its tourist sights-and we define the city accord
ingly; we know it as a place to visit, especially in April. CNN, then, has accurately
placed the tragic tunnel in its logical context for us and future generations. With
Diana’s death, this relatively obscure tunnel has become significant, and a new
line has been added to the Parisian tourist’s itinerary. Where is it? It is somewhere
between a stop at the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, or maybe right after the Arc de
Triomphe on the way to the Louvre. There is little doubt that, right now, travel
writers are capturing how the tunnel affects them; right now, many publishers are
updating their guidebooks on Paris, adding a landmark. And for those of us who
will someday travel to Paris either as actual tourists or virtual ones, we have one
more stop to make-that is if we seek a full and authentic experience. Will we want
something, a souvenir, a memory?
Auburn University Montgomery

Jeffrey Alan Melton

Notes
1.

Throughout this essay, I use “sight” rather than “site” to indicate the place of a touristic
experience. Although “site” may indicate a physical location, it cannot cover the broader
implications of touristic behavior discussed in this essay. Tourists are, after all, sightse
ers. This use of “sight” is well established. In addition to the Oxford English Dictio
nary, see, for example, Paul Fussell, “From Exploration to Travel to Tourism,” Abroad:
British Literary Traveling Between the Wars (New York: Oxford UP, 1980) 37-50; and