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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
111

Vocação agrícola: a inserção do Império brasileiro no comércio internacional e a percepção de viajantes britânicos e norte-americanos (1840-1870) / Agricultural propensity: the entry of the Brazilian Empire in international trade and the perception of British and American travelers (1840-1870)

Gerbovic, Tathiane Pinto 06 November 2017 (has links)
O Brasil do Segundo Reinado é objeto de relatos de viajantes britânicos e norte-americanos produzidos no contexto imperialista do século XIX. Na busca por mercados produtores e consumidores, a vocação agrícola brasileira é abordada pelos viajantes articulada à influência britânica mantida no Brasil e à crescente confiança dos Estados Unidos em ampliar as relações com o Império brasileiro, no jogo de interesses geopolíticos e econômicos em que o país atuava como fornecedor de produtos agrícolas e matérias-primas, tendo parte considerável de seu aparato produtivo e infraestrutura voltados a atender à procura desses gêneros nos países de origem dos viajantes. No apêndice há o resumo biográfico dos viajantes estudados. / The Second Empire Brazil is the subject of reports from British and North-American travelers produced in the imperialist context of the nineteenth century. In the quest for producer and consumer markets, Brazil\'s agricultural propensity is approached by travelers hinged to British influence upheld in Brazil and the growing confidence of the United States regarding broadening relations with the Brazilian Empire, in the game of economic and geopolitical interests in which the country played as a supplier of agricultural commodities and raw materials, with a considerable portion of its production apparatus and infrastructure aimed at handling the demand for such genres in travelers home countries. The researched travelers biographical abstract can be found at the Appendix section.
112

Avaliação pós-viagem dos viajantes atendidos no ambulatório dos viajantes da DMIP do HCFMUSP / Post travel assessment for travelers evaluated at the outpatient traveler\'s clinic from the \"DMIP HCFMUSP\"

Perret-Gentil Arriaga, Monique Louise 11 April 2014 (has links)
Introdução. O Ambulatório de Viajantes (DMIP/HC/FMUSP) foi criado em São Paulo em fevereiro de 2001. Atualmente, os viajantes comparecem à clínica para consulta pré-viagem e em caso de doença, quando voltam à cidade. Avaliação pós- viagem não é feita rotineiramente. Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo ampliar as informações sobre as viagens realizadas e avaliar a adequação e a adesão às orientações pré-viagem. Métodos. No período de 03/02/2011 a 31/12/2011 foram convidados a participar do estudo os viajantes que procuraram o ambulatório para consulta pré-viagem. Os viajantes que concordaram em participar assinaram o Termo de Consentimento Livre e Esclarecido. O estudo foi realizado em duas etapas. Orientação pré-viagem: coleta de dados sobre as medidas de prevenção gerais recomendadas em relação a doenças transmitidas por vetores, água e alimentos, exposição acidental a animais; e dados individuais sobre as condições da viagem, vacinação prévia e histórico de saúde. Avaliação Pósviagem: Um questionário foi enviado aos participantes 15 dias após a data prevista de retorno. As respostas foram armazenadas na base de dados Excel. Foi utilizada estatística descritiva para apresentar todas as variáveis relevantes, utilizando Epi Info (CDC) e SPSS. Regressão logística multivariada foi usada para detectar fatores de risco independentes associados com o desenvolvimento de diarréia. Resultados. Foram obtidas 150 respostas (taxa de resposta de 52,8%), sendo 94 % dos participantes brasileiros, 89% com nível universitário, 55,1% do sexo feminino, a maioria entre 25 e 44 anos (54,5%). O tempo desde a consulta até a viagem foi menor de 28 dias em 60,1 %. Os destinos mais frequentes foram África em 58 viajantes (38,7%), seguida pela Ásia em 43 (28,7%). Demanda por serviços de saúde: 10,9% durante a viagem, e 6% no retorno. Causa da procura de atenção médica, diarréia (31,2%), seguido de acidentes em 18,7% e suspeita de malária em 12,5%. Entre os pacientes com diarréia ficar em casa de nativos (RR = 2,38; P = 0,004) e ter várias acomodações (RR 1,93; P = 0,02) foram fatores de risco na análise univariada. Viagem à Ásia foi também fator de risco (P= 0,024). Na análise multivariada a associação não se manteve. Em relação à adesão às medidas profiláticas recomendadas, a utilização de água mineral foi elevada entre todos os viajantes (94,1%), uso de hipoclorito, água fervida e limpeza dos alimentos antes do consumo foi maior no grupo de viajantes com diarréia. Hipoclorito para o consumo de água foi fator de risco (P = 0,003), independentemente do país visitado. Adesão à quimioprofilaxia da malária foi baixa, no entanto, apenas 9,6 % dos viajantes em risco apresentou malária. Exposição acidental a outros animais ocorreu em 4,7% dos viajantes. Relação sexual com conhecidos durante a viagem foi relatada por 20 % dos viajantes; 43,3 % não usaram preservativos; 46,1 % dos viajantes fizeram comentários favoráveis ao atendimento recebido e a utilidade durante a viagem. Conclusões. A principal causa de doença e procura por assistência médica foi diarreia. Adesão à quimioprofilaxia da malária e outras medidas recomendadas foi baixa. A procura por atendimento médico durante e após a viagem foi alta nessa série. Propõe-se aumentar a divulgação do serviço de forma a atingir outros setores da população / Background. The Travelers Outpatient Clinic (DMIP/HC /FMUSP) was established in São Paulo in February 2001. Currently, patients attend the clinic for pre-travel consultation and in case of illness when return to the city. Post-travel evaluation is not done routinely. This research aims to expand the information about the trips; profile occurrences; assess pre-trip orientations; adherence and adequacy, impact on disease prevention, and may be used to improve the pre-travel orientation and quality of care. Methods. In the period from 03/02/2011 to 31/12/2011 were invited to participate in the study travelers seeking outpatient care for pre-travel consultation. Travelers who agreed to participate signed the informed consent form. The study was conducted in two stages. Pre-travel orientation: collecting data on general prevention measures recommended in relation to vector-borne diseases, food and water, accidental exposure to animals, and individual data on the conditions of travel, prior vaccination and health. Post-travel evaluation: A questionnaire was sent to participants 15 days after the expected travel return date. The responses were stored in Excel database. Descriptive statistics were used to present all relevant variables using Epi Info (CDC) and SPSS. Multivariate logistic regression was used to detect independent risk factors associated with the development of diarrhea. Results. Were obtained 150 responses (52.81% response rate); 94% of participants were Brazilians, (89%) had college education, 54.5% of the participants were between 25 and 44 years and 55.1% were female. The time from consultation until the trip was less than 28 days in 60.1%. Travel destination: Africa in 58 travelers (38.7%), followed by Asia in 43 (28.7%). Demand for medical services: 10.9% during the trip, and 6% in return. Cause of seeking medical care: diarrhea (31.2 %) followed by accidents in 18.7% and suspected malaria in 12.5%. Among the patients with diarrhea the accommodation in native houses (RR=2.38 P = 0.004) and multiple accommodations (RR=2.006 P = 0.020) were risk factors. Travel to Asia was also a risk (RR 1.93 P = 0.024). In multivariate analysis the association was not maintained. Regarding adherence to prophylactic measures recommended; the use of mineral water was high among all travelers (94.1%); use of hypochlorite, boiled water and cleaning food before consumption were higher in the group of travelers with diarrhea; finding hypochlorite for water consumption as a risk factor (P = 0.003) regardless of the country visited. Adherence to chemoprophylaxis for malaria was low, however only 9.6% of travelers at risk had malaria. Reporting of accidental exposure to other animals occurred in 4.7% of our travelers. The sexual relationship with acquaintances during the trip was reported by 20% of travelers; of these 43.3% did not use condoms. 46.1% of travelers made favorable comments to the care received and the utility during the trip. Conclusions. The leading cause of illness and demand for medical care was diarrhea. Adherence to chemoprophylaxis for malaria and other recommended measures was low. Looking for medical service during and after the trip was high in this series.Proposes to increase the disclosure of the service in order to reach other sectors of the population .
113

A paisagem como experiência estética da natureza: a viagem de Martius e Spix pelo Brasil / Landscape as aesthetic experience of nature: the travel Martius and Spix in Brazil

Rüsche, Roberto 14 April 2015 (has links)
Em meio às distintas orientações que atribuem ao termo paisagem um variado conjunto de acepções, este trabalho disserta sobre a paisagem como experiência estética da natureza e tem como objetivo promover a identificação desta associação em um contexto específico, a obra Viagem pelo Brasil, de Carl Friedrich von Martius e Johann Baptiste von Spix, naturalistas que integraram a Missão Austríaca e percorreram o território brasileiro entre os anos de 1817 e 1820. Baseada em conceitos teóricos que compreendem a paisagem enquanto vivência e representação sensíveis da natureza, esta pesquisa versa sobre os parâmetros que justamente permitem compreender a experiência paisagística no âmbito da sensibilidade, ocupando-se, durante o trajeto que nos conduz ao texto de Martius e Spix, de demais questões sintonizadas com o ideário dos viajantes e, sobretudo, com a experiência estética da natureza. Neste caso, igualmente discorremos sobre a paisagem enquanto gênero pictórico, o pensamento estético-científico e demais aspectos relativos às questões propriamente estéticas vigentes entre os séculos XVIII e XIX, estendendo tanto a compreensão sobre a maneira como consideramos a paisagem no presente estudo quanto sua expressão no referido relato de viagem. Finalmente, destacamos que este trabalho não somente oferece subsídios ao entendimento da paisagem como um acolhimento sensível da natureza, mas também evidencia os desdobramentos dessa relação, tangenciando a essência da experiência paisagística circunscrita nos domínios da estética, relacionada à conformação de unidades que, contudo contidas em limites precisos, irrompem nas dimensões ilimitadas do mundo natural. / Among the different orientations that attach to the term landscape a diverse set of meanings, this work discusses the landscape as aesthetic experience of nature and aims to promote the identification in a specific context, the book Journey in Brazil written by Carl Friedrich von Martius and Johann Baptiste von Spix, naturalists who joined the Austrian Mission and traveled along the brazilian territory between the years 1817 and 1820. Based on theoretical concepts that comprise the landscape as a sensitive living and representation of nature, this research runs upon the parameters that allow us to understand the landscape experience in the field of sensibility, occupying, during the course that leads us to the text of Martius and Spix, with other issues that deal with the ideas of travelers and mainly the aesthetic experience of nature. In such case, we also describe the landscape as a pictorial genre, the aesthetic and scientific thought and different aspects related to other themes valid between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, extending the understanding of the way we consider the landscape in this study and its expression in the selected travel report. Finally, we emphasize that this work not only contributes to the understanding of the landscape as a sensitive host of nature, but also highlights the consequences of this relationship, touching the essence of the landscape limited in the fields of aesthetic experience, related to forming units which, however contained in precise limits, erupt in unlimited dimensions of the natural world.
114

Viajantes britânicas na América do Sul: gênero e cultura imperial (1868-1892) / British travelers in South America: gender and imperial culture (18681892)

Motta, Ivania Pocinho 10 March 2016 (has links)
Este trabalho analisa os relatos de viagem de três mulheres britânicas à América do Sul no século XIX. São elas: a inglesa Marianne North (18301890), a escocesa Florence Dixie (18551905) e a irlandesa Marion Mulhall (18441922). Um dos objetivos desta pesquisa é refletir sobre as impressões que essas autoras tiveram sobre o continente sul-americano e suas representações a respeito dessa região, sua natureza, seus habitantes. Tendo em vista que as viajantes vieram de países pertencentes ao Reino Unido da Grã-Bretanha e Irlanda - Inglaterra, Escócia e Irlanda - procurou-se interpretar se seus relatos conteriam as possíveis dissensões existentes entre eles, no interior da Europa. Por último, por tratar-se de fontes produzidas por mulheres, buscou-se observar as visões das autoras sobre os papéis tradicionalmente atribuídos ao sexo feminino. / This work analyses the travel accounts of three British women to South America in the nineteenth century. They are: the English Marianne North (18301890), the Scottish Florence Dixie (18551905) and the Irish Marion Mulhall (18441922). One of the purposes of this research is to reflect on the impressions that these authors had on the South American continent and think about their representations concerning this region, its nature, its inhabitants. Considering that the travelers came from countries belonging to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - England, Scotland and Ireland - we sought to interpret whether their accounts would contain the possible existing dissensions among them, in Europe. At last, as the sources were written by women, we sought to observe the views of the authors about the roles traditionally attributed to women.
115

L'éléphant dans la zoologie et la symbolique médiévales : connaissance et méconnaissance d'un très grand animal exotique / Elephant in medieval zoology and symbolic : knowledge and unknowledge of a very great exotic animal

Gauthey, Thomas 15 December 2016 (has links)
L'éléphant du Moyen Âge occidental était un animal paradoxal. Absent de la faune européenne, il apparaissait pourtant dans une importante quantité et variété de sources, tirant largement profit des héritages scientifiques, littéraires et artistiques antiques : textes savants, récits historiques, écrits de voyageurs, fables animalières, miniatures dans les manuscrits, dessins sur les cartes et globes, fresques et sculptures dans l'architecture, tableaux en fin de période et ivoires dès la période altomédiévale. Il avait également parfois trouvé son chemin jusque dans les ménageries occidentales. De fait, la culture savante médiévale disposait d'un bon nombre de savoirs à son sujet, plus ou moins justes : sa place dans le monde animal ou dans la géographie, sa physiologie et son comportement, son exploitation par l'homme, sa morphologie étaient autant d'objets de discussions ou de contradictions. Jamais inconnu, l'éléphant était cependant mal connu, un étranger pour le monde occidental, profondément teinté d'orientalisme et de symbolisme chrétien : bête de guerre de l'Antiquité et de l'Inde médiévale, il était une démonstration vivante de pouvoir et d'opulence ; il était aussi, par essence, un animal pécheur, mais également doté d'une remarquable chasteté, un être d'une grande ambivalence. / Elephant in the western Middle Ages Europe was a paradoxical animal. Missing in european fauna, he appeared yet in a large quantity and variety of sources, taking great advantage of scientific, litterate and artistic legacies from the Ancient World : scholarly texts, historical accounts, writings of travelers, animal fables, miniatures in manuscripts, drawings on maps and globes, frescoes and sculptures in architecture, paintings in the late Middle Ages and ivories since the early Middle Ages. He also found sometimes his way into western menageries. De facto, medieval scholar culture had a lot of knowledge about him, more or less right : his place in the animal world or in geography, his physiology and behaviour, his exploitation by man, his morphology were subjects of discusses or controversies. Never unknown nor well known, the elephant were a stranger in the Western World, deeply tinged with orientalism and christian symbolism : warbeast from Ancient World and Medieval India, he was a living demonstration of power and opulence ; he was also, in essence, a sinner animal, but also gifted of a remarkable chastity, a being of great ambivalence.
116

In the Privacy of One’s Own Homelessness: The Search for Identity in Twentieth-Century Yiddish Travelogues

Vedenyapin, Yuri January 2016 (has links)
This dissertation argues that the richness and distinctiveness of modern Yiddish travel literature—with its emphasis on arriving rather than departing—reflects the complexity of such East European Jewish notions as home, homelessness, and wandering. It examines the ways in which the experience of travel affected the search for identity, home, and belonging by Yiddish writers from the first secularized and westernized generation of East European Jews. Yiddish travelogues written in the first four decades of the twentieth century show a curious trend with respect to the search for identity and the destinations that are their subject. These destinations fall into two categories: those with specific Jewish connotations and those without. For writers addressing the latter destination category, even though motivated by the search for a Jewish identity, locales beyond the Jewish map engender the greatest sense of empowerment. Even when their ostensible motivations and emphases are diametrically opposed, they arrive at the same conclusion, that Jews belong simultaneously nowhere and everywhere. Peretz Hirschbein and Melech Ravitch are exemplary illustrations of this tendency: the former laments the countless roads on which Jews have traveled and many borders that separate them; he longs for universal brotherhood and closeness to nature, and as such rejects the diversity of the Jewish experience; the latter, on the contrary, celebrates diversity. How can we explain this trend? It is born of the contradictory set of ideological and artistic aims and interests of a generation that rejected the traditional beliefs and lifestyle of their parents, and that aimed to create a body of modern literature in Yiddish that would equal major European literatures, and that internalized a number of European cultural (primarily literary) tropes. Moreover, this literature was the product of a generation of writers who yearned for an organic connection to Jewish past, present, and future and at the same time saw problems with every existing ideology. The Introduction situates the study within the context of Jewish cultural and literary history and addresses questions of scope and methodology. Chapter 1 analyzes Yiddish travel writers’ fascination with exotic destinations lacking specifically Jewish connotations and its role in these writers’ struggles to define their cultural identity. Chapter 2 analyzes the work of Peretz Hirschbein and argues that his longing for universal brotherhood and closeness to nature reflected both a reluctance to celebrate the diversity of the Jewish experience and an impulse to embrace its global proportions. Chapter 3 focuses on the life and work of Melech Ravitch and contrasts his passion for diversity with the opposite approach of Peretz Hirschbein. Chapter 4 explores Yiddish writers’ travel to Mandate Palestine and to Soviet Russia and focuses on the parallels between travelogues about these two politically charged destinations. Chapter 5 examines the development of Yiddish travel literature after World War II, focusing both on works that describe travel back to Eastern Europe and are dominated by the themes of mourning and preservation, and on later works, filled with the urge to affirm a worldwide Jewish presence. The Conclusion recapitulates the dissertation’s main points and stresses the uniqueness of the Yiddish travelogue and its importance in Jewish studies and beyond.
117

Viajantes britânicas na América do Sul: gênero e cultura imperial (1868-1892) / British travelers in South America: gender and imperial culture (18681892)

Ivania Pocinho Motta 10 March 2016 (has links)
Este trabalho analisa os relatos de viagem de três mulheres britânicas à América do Sul no século XIX. São elas: a inglesa Marianne North (18301890), a escocesa Florence Dixie (18551905) e a irlandesa Marion Mulhall (18441922). Um dos objetivos desta pesquisa é refletir sobre as impressões que essas autoras tiveram sobre o continente sul-americano e suas representações a respeito dessa região, sua natureza, seus habitantes. Tendo em vista que as viajantes vieram de países pertencentes ao Reino Unido da Grã-Bretanha e Irlanda - Inglaterra, Escócia e Irlanda - procurou-se interpretar se seus relatos conteriam as possíveis dissensões existentes entre eles, no interior da Europa. Por último, por tratar-se de fontes produzidas por mulheres, buscou-se observar as visões das autoras sobre os papéis tradicionalmente atribuídos ao sexo feminino. / This work analyses the travel accounts of three British women to South America in the nineteenth century. They are: the English Marianne North (18301890), the Scottish Florence Dixie (18551905) and the Irish Marion Mulhall (18441922). One of the purposes of this research is to reflect on the impressions that these authors had on the South American continent and think about their representations concerning this region, its nature, its inhabitants. Considering that the travelers came from countries belonging to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - England, Scotland and Ireland - we sought to interpret whether their accounts would contain the possible existing dissensions among them, in Europe. At last, as the sources were written by women, we sought to observe the views of the authors about the roles traditionally attributed to women.
118

Adoption and Resistance of Service Innovations by Travelers in the Sharing Economy

January 2019 (has links)
abstract: This dissertation examines travelers’ innovation adoption and repurchase behaviors in the sharing economy. The central question is to what extent the tourism industry embraces service innovations in the sharing economy. Predicated upon behavioral reasoning theory, this research makes a contribution to the tourism study and diffusion of innovation literature, by exploring the influence of travelers’ reasonings in the innovation decision process. The dissertation follows a two-study format. The analysis contextualizes reasons for and against adoption, by incorporating appropriate constructs relevant to service innovations in social dining services (Study 1) and ride-sharing services (Study 2). An exploratory mixed methods approach is taken in both studies. The survey data and the semi-structured interviews are used to identify the context-specific reasons for and against adoption. And, a series of statistical analyses are employed to examine how reasonings influence intentions to adopt social dining services (Study 1) and intentions to repurchase ride-sharing services for the next trip (Study 2). The main results suggest that both reasons for and reasons against adoption have countervailing influences in the psychological processing, supporting the validity of the research models. The findings also reveal that different psychological paths in travelers’ adoption and repurchase intentions. In Study 1, the trustworthiness of service providers attenuates the reasons against adoption and enhances the likelihood of adopting social dining services in the pre-adoption stage. In Study 2, attitude strength functions as an additional construct, which mediates travelers’ attitudes and ultimately intentions to repurchase ride-sharing services for the next trip in the post-adoption stage. By developing and testing a framework comprising a set of consumers’ beliefs, reasonings for adoption and resistance, attitudes towards adoption, and behavioral responses to the sharing economy, the insights gleaned from this research allow practical recommendations to be made for service providers, platform providers, and policy makers in the tourism industry. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Community Resources and Development 2019
119

Exploring the Positive Utility of Travel and Mode Choice

Singleton, Patrick Allen 12 July 2017 (has links)
Why do people travel? Underlying most travel behavior research is the derived-demand paradigm of travel analysis, which assumes that travel demand is derived from the demand for spatially separated activities, traveling is a means to an end (reaching destinations), and travel time is a disutility to be minimized. In contrast, the "positive utility of travel" (PUT) concept suggests that travel may not be inherently disliked and could instead provide benefits or be motivated by desires for travel-based multitasking, positive emotions, or fulfillment. The PUT idea assembles several concepts relevant to travel behavior: utility maximization, motivation theory, multitasking, and subjective well-being. Despite these varied influences, empirical analyses of the PUT concept remain limited in both quantity and scope. There is a need for more fundamental development and classification of the PUT idea and its multifaceted nature. The wide variety and quality of ways to measure PUT attributes are further research challenges. Additionally, few studies investigate both major aspects of the PUT concept--travel activities and travel experiences--simultaneously. Finally, research is only beginning to examine empirical associations between PUT measures and travel behaviors such as mode choice. This dissertation addresses many of these gaps in conceptualizing, measuring, and modeling the PUT concept. First, a literature review strengthens the definition, classification, and empirical support for a PUT, defined as "any benefit(s) accruing to a traveler through the act of traveling." The two primary PUT categories are travel activities (travel-based multitasking) and travel experiences (travel subjective well-being), and the most useful PUT measures involve gathering self-reported assessments of these topics. Based on this review, an online questionnaire is designed and administered to nearly 700 commuters in the Portland, OR, region. The survey includes detailed questions about commute mode choice, activity participation, travel usefulness, positive emotions and fulfillment, and travel liking for a recent home-to-work trip. Next, these PUT measures are empirically examined using factor analyses, finding groupings of activities and common unobserved constructs of hedonic ("Distress," "Fear," "Attentiveness," "Enjoyment") and eudaimonic ("Security," "Autonomy," "Confidence," "Health") subjective well-being. Many of these factors exhibit large variations among travel modes--walking and bicycling commuters are the most satisfied and appear to value time spent exercising--and are predicted (somewhat less strongly) by other trip and traveler characteristics in ordered logit regression and structural equation models. Finally, integrated choice and latent variable models are estimated to examine relationships between measures of the PUT concept and commute mode choice. This is made possible by the unique dataset that collects PUT measures for not only the chosen mode but also modal alternatives. Measures of travel-based multitasking are significantly related to mode choice, suggesting people may be doing things more to pass the time than to be productive. A validated measure of travel subjective well-being is also a significant and positive factor, suggesting people are more likely to choose a mode that makes them happier. Overall, PUT measures greatly increase the explanatory power of the mode choice model. These findings make significant contributions to travel behavior research methods and knowledge. They also offer important implications for transportation policies around promoting nonautomobile travel and planning for autonomous vehicles.
120

A 'Journey Of Her Own'?: The Impact Of Constraints On Women's Solo Travel

Wilson, Erica Christine, n/a January 2004 (has links)
Women are increasingly active in the participation and consumption of travel, and are now recognised as a growing force within the tourism industry. This trend is linked to changing social and political circumstances for Western women around the world. Within Australia specifically, women's opportunities for education and for earning equitable incomes through employment have improved. Furthermore, traditional ideologies of the family have shifted, so that social expectations of marriage and the production of children do not yield as much power as they once did. As a result of these shifts, women living in contemporary Australia have a wider range of resources and opportunities with which to access an ever-increasing array of leisure/travel choices. It appears that one of the many ways in which women have been exercising their relatively recent financial and social autonomy is through independent travel. The solo woman traveller represents a growing market segment, with research showing that increasing numbers of females are choosing to travel alone, without the assistance or company of partners, husbands or packaged tour groups. However, little empirical research has explored the touristic experiences of solo women travellers, or examined the constraints and challenges they may face when journeying alone. 'Constraints' have been described variously as factors which hinder one's ability to participate in desired leisure activities, to spend more time in those activities, or to attain anticipated levels of satisfaction and benefit. While the investigation of constraints has contributed to the leisure studies discipline for a number of decades, the exploration of their influence on tourist behaviour and the tourist experience has been virtually overlooked. Research has shown that despite the choices and opportunities women have today, the freedom they have to consume those choices, and to access satisfying leisure and travel experiences, may be constrained by their social and gendered location as females. Although theorisations of constraint have remained largely in the field of leisure studies, it is argued and demonstrated in this thesis that there is potential in extending constraints theory to the inquiry of the tourist experience. Grounded in theoretical frameworks offered by gender studies, feminist geography, sociology and leisure, this qualitative study set out to explore the impact of constraints on women's solo travel experiences. Forty in-depth interviews were held with Australian women who had travelled solo at some stage of their adult lives. Adopting an interpretive and feminist-influenced research paradigm, it was important to allow the women to speak of their lives, constraints and experiences in their own voices and on their own terms. In line with qualitative methodologies, it is these women's words which form the data for this study. Based on a 'grounded' approach to data analysis, the results reveal that constraints do exist and exert influence on these women's lives and travel experiences in a myriad of ways. Four inter-linking categories of constraint were identified, namely socio-cultural, personal, practical and spatial. Further definition of these categories evolved, depending on where the women were situated in their stage of the solo travel experience (that is, pre-travel or during-travel). The results of this study show that there are identifiable and very real constraints facing solo women travellers. These constraints could stem from the contexts of their home environments, or from the socio-cultural structures of the destinations through which they travelled. However, these constraints were not immutable, insurmountable or even necessarily consciously recognised by many of the women interviewed. In fact, it became increasingly evident that women were findings ways and means to 'negotiate' their constraints, challenges and limitations. Three dominant negotiation responses to constraint could be identified; the women could choose to seek access to solo travel when faced with pre-travel constraints: they could withdraw from solo travel because of those same constraints, or they could decide to continue their journeys as a result of their in-situ constraints. Evidence of women negotiating suggests that constraints are not insurmountable barriers, and confirms that constraints do not necessarily foreclose access to travel. Furthermore, a focus on negotiation re-positions women as active agents in determining the course of their lives and the enjoyment of their solo travel experiences, rather than as passive acceptors of circumstance and constraint. Linking with the concept of negotiation, solo travel was also shown to be a site of resistance, freedom and empowerment for these forty women. Through solo travel, it was apparent that the women could transgress the structures and roles which influenced and governed their lives. This thesis shows that, through solo travel, the women interviewed found an autonomous and self-determining 'journey of their own'. At the same time, the extent to which this really was a journey of their own was questioned and revealed to be problematic under a feminist/gendered lens. Thus a more appropriate concept of women's solo travel is that it is a 'relative escape'. That is, their journeys, escapes and experiences were always situated relative to the societal expectations and perceptions of home; relative to the gendered perceptions and ideologies of the destination, and relative to the limited spatial freedoms as a result of a socially constructed geography of fear.

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