| Tourism is one of the most powerful forms of transnational encounter today with an increasingly crucial role in the global economy. This dissertation investigates the hypothesis that it is the backpacker subculture that serves as the "gentrifier" of tourism, forging pathways in developing nations worldwide and remote locations within them where more conventional tourists eventually follow. The study is focused on two complimentary research arenas: backpacker subculture, and the travel industry itself-investigating the ways in which low-budget independent travelers are the pioneering forces of tourism, making countries "marketable" in the international economy. Travelers' stories provide a key aspect of this study. Since backpackers generally have neither the desire nor financial means to make extensive purchases abroad, their main souvenirs become their stories. Contributing to the genre of travelers' reminiscences in the form of novels, published diaries, travelogues, and feature films, these narratives ultimately make knowledge of remote places accessible to broader populations, proving the crucial media for the expansion of tourism.This dissertation concentrates on the well-worn backpacker circuit in South America (the "gringo trail"), studying specific sites in Bolivia. Unlike the fashionable destination of neighboring Andean country Peru, Bolivia represents places not yet listed in the independent travel guidebooks. Additionally, it is an ideal location for the study as it is one of the most romanticized of traveler destinations in the Americas, partly due to a fascination with the "indigenous," its perceived remoteness, and even its impoverished status. |
