Feeling at home

The study of the tourist subject has been largely absent from the social science literature in tourism studies. Where discussions of the practice of tourism have taken place these have mainly centred around notions of the gaze. This perspective ignores the embodied and felt nature of the tourist experience and other senses such as smell and hearing. This article moves the discussion forward. The analysis is based upon ethnographic fieldwork in charter tourist resorts in Mallorca, Spain. In such a context the situated body is central to an understanding of tourist practices and can be examined to understand the constructions of national and gendered identities.