Role of travel photographs as self-discovery and self-expression

抄録

Most travelers take photographs when they encounter impressive scenes. One of the tourism areas that has recently been receiving a great amount of attention is “photogenic tourism.” Photogenic travelers find interesting travel photographs on Social Networking Services (SNS) and then decide to go traveling. They also take many photographs while traveling and post them on SNS. Photogenic travelers seem to have a desire to express themselves, confirm their identity, and become aware of new aspects of themselves through a series of photogenic behaviors. The purpose of this study was to assess to what extent university students engage in photogenic tourism. Additionally, this study aimed to verify the following hypotheses: [Hypothesis 1] Looking back at photographs taken during travel elicits a sense of identity and helps discover new aspects of oneself and [Hypothesis 2] Those who frequently look at travel photographs before traveling, take photographs during travel, and post them on SNS confirm their identity and become more aware of new aspects of themselves. The survey was conducted among 189 university students in May 2018. The results demonstrate that for about half the participants, interesting travel photographs on SNS helped them decide to travel. Photogenic tourism seems to be popular among younger generations. Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 were supported by the results of this study.