Beyond the gaze: How participatory tourism produces social space

Abstract

This article investigates participatory tourism through two objectives: clarifying how experiential forms of travel contribute to tourists’ pursuit of authenticity and subjectivity and examining how these practices shape the social production of space. Responding to gaps in existing tourism theory, the study employs a conceptual research design based on theory adaptation. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s spatial triad and revisiting foundational ideas from MacCannell and Urry, we synthesise contemporary literature with illustrative case observations to construct a theoretical framework suitable for understanding participatory tourism within modern social conditions. The analysis demonstrates that participatory tourism, with its demand for experience, challenges traditional models portraying tourists as passive recipients of staged authenticity. Activities such as long-term stays, volunteer engagements, and experience-based interactions enable tourists to step beyond scripted frontstage environments and engage with spaces commonly reserved for residents. These practices illuminate how travellers renegotiate their social roles and reclaim agency in shaping their travel experiences. Using Lefebvre’s concepts, we show how such forms of participation contribute to the production of social space by blending perceived, conceived, and lived dimensions, often extending tourist influence into everyday and residential settings. The study further highlights how digital platforms and online interactions, while not treated as empirical objects of measurement, function as mechanisms through which tourists participate in spatial meaning-making. Overall, the article argues that Lefebvre’s framework offers a productive lens for understanding participatory tourism as a socially generative phenomenon and for reconsidering the evolving roles of tourists within contemporary tourism spaces.