About Intimacy and Tourism Webinar
In our day and age, ever more again since the impact of COVID, it is evident that the desire for intimacy continues to be alive as ever before. A sense of intimacy is something that all of us yearn for in some form or another on our journey through life, during our travels and in our daily lives.
Tourism is known as a context where we can immerse ourselves in a world that affords us ways to fulfil our hopes and dreams, none more so than our desire to experience emotions and feelings we associate with intimate connections, with romance and love, if not also with inner peace.
The idea of intimacy might commonly be associated with couples and physical intimacy, often alluded to in marketing of products, experiences and travel destinations. Couples holding hands, tropical beaches, awe-inspiring sunsets and romantic dinners are only some of the images that spring to mind.
But there is more to intimacy and tourism than meets the eye.
Intimacy, no doubt is about our relationships with other people, our shared experiences during our travels and our daily lives at home. However, intimacy is also very much about the relationship we have with ourselves. And it is worth reminding ourselves that intimacy with others and ourselves does not exist in isolation from the world we live in, the places we call home and the places we visit.
While intimacy, just like travel is commonly talked about with reference to physical involvement, our cognitive and affective involvement, our thoughts, emotions and feelings play a significant part in our experiences on our journey through life. After all, we travel in body, mind and soul.
In this webinar our panel of distinguished psychologists, sociologists, social anthropologists and tourism scholars will talk about intimacy from various perspectives. They will share their insights as to how intimacy relates to our social worlds and our innermost imaginations and aspirations. They will shine some light on the relevance of intimacy and the idea of love on our motivations, our sense of happiness and well-being, among other things – before, during and after our travel experiences.
Come and join us no matter what role you might play on the stage of life – be that in academia, in the travel and tourism industry, as a professional in any industry, as an avid traveller, or just because the topic of intimacy has stirred your curiosity.
By Dr. Birgit Trauer