Philosophy

Psychoanalysis

Social psychology

Existentialism

Tourism

Psychiatry

Anxiety

Dialectic

Aesthetics

Psychology

Political science

Epistemology

Sociology

Place attachment

Alienation

Art history

Adventure

History

Annals of Tourism Research

Although underexplored in tourism studies, recent work suggests theories of alienation, as the dialectic of authenticity, have much to contribute to our understanding of tourism motivation. This paper uses three major theoretical tropes (Marxism, existentialism, and Lacanian psychoanalysis) to examine the role of alienation in the motivations of hiking and rock climbing tourists. In particular, these tourists describe only temporary and retrospective relief from anxiety, articulating authenticity as an elusive experience that lies at the horizon, in the next adventure, or in the past as a memory. Alienation is an ever-present component of the human condition, and as such, anxiety is omnipresent in our lives, contributing significantly to touristic desires for escape, rejuvenation, and existential experiences.

Alienation and anxiety in tourism motivation