RETHINKING THE CONSUMPTION OF PLACES Tijana Rakic ´ Edinburgh Napier University, UK Donna Chambers University of Surrey, UK Abstract: The phenomenological concept of embodiment has underpinned the ‘perfor- mance turn’ in tourism studies which, along with the ‘mobilities paradigm’, has contributed to the disruption of the occularcentric and static nature of Urry’s original (1990, 1995) thesis on place consumption. In this paper we further the rethinking of the consumption of places by proposing that embodied consumption and construction of places at the point of visitation involves not just corporeal and multisensory aspects, but also cognitive and affective pro- cesses. We also argue that consumption and construction of places are simultaneous pro- cesses in which both tourists and locals play an active role. This theoretical exploration is supported by relevant findings from an ethnographic study of tourists’ and locals’ experi- ences at the Acropolis. Keywords: consumption, construction, place, embodiment, perfor- mance, Acropolis. Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. INTRODUCTION John Urry’s thesis on place consumption was arguably, inaugurated in his seminal 1990 publication titled The Tourist Gaze and further explored in his influential 1995 book length publication, a collection of papers, entitled Consuming Places (Urry, 1990, 1995). In these publi- cations Urry essentially suggested that places are consumed at least partly, both literally (e.g. consuming products and services at the des- tination) and symbolically (e.g. consuming meanings attached to places). Urry continued his preoccupation with this theme in some of his later publications (e.g. see Urry, 1992, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007a). The key assumption within these writings was the essentially visual nature of tourists’ consumption of place and this thesis has undoubtedly been instrumental in furthering tourism knowledge on how places are consumed. However, despite its valuable contribution to tourism studies, a number of tourism related publications over the Tijana Rakic ´ is Lecturer in Tourism and Events and Deputy Postgraduate Tourism Programmes Leader at Edinburgh Napier University (School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages, Edinburgh, EH14 1DJ, UK. Email <tijana224@gmail.com>). Her research interests include visual culture, heritage, tourism and national identity. Donna Chambers is Lecturer in Tourism Studies and Programme Director for the M.Sc. International Event Management at the University of Surrey. Her research interests include critical approaches to tourism research, heritage and visuality. Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 1612–1633, 2012 0160-7383/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain doi:10.1016/j.annals.2011.12.003 www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures 1612