Sex and Tourism by Mckercher Bob Chon Kaye Sung Bauer Thomas

Author:Mckercher, Bob, Chon, Kaye Sung, Bauer, Thomas
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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*Names have been changed to ensure privacy.

Chapter 8

Condoms in the First Aid Kit:

River Guides, Clients, and Sex

Martin Fluker

Margaret Deery

Sexual encounters between commercial white-water rafting guides and their clients are a phenomenon that does occur infrequently. The fact that condoms are to be found in the first aid kits of many whitewater rafting companies provides evidence that although management tends to turn a blind eye to this occurrence, it also acknowledges its existence. This chapter considers some of the reasons for these sexual relations occurring from the perspectives of both the client and the river guide as well as considering the resulting management implications. It is not suggested that sexual relations between guides and clients is restricted to just commercial white-water rafting. This may well happen in other examples of not only adventure tourism, but tourism in general. However, it is suggested that the white-water rafting experience includes various factors, which may make it more susceptible to this type of behavior. These factors include high levels of risk, opportunity, and self-selection of similar traits.

The assumption being made here is that the majority of these occasional sexual relationships that occur within this context are of a heterogeneous nature. Another assumption is that these occurrences happen on a nonprofessional basis, unlike the case of Indonesian “beach boys” whose romantic entrepreneurship takes place in areas such as Sengigi and Yogykarta. Here the tourists are regarded as “resources to deploy strategically for making money and improving one’s network” (Dahles and Bras, 1999). Rather than this, it is suggested that the motivations for this behavior are other than for financial reward.

The definition of adventure tourism stated here has been adapted from that suggested by Weiler and Hall (1992). The main difference between this definition and that proposed by Weiler and Hall is the inclusion of a commercial dimension. The reason for this is so that adventure tourism activities such as commercial white-water rafting may be distinguished from white-water rafting done on a recreational or self-organized basis. The implications of sexual encounters discussed in this chapter may well be different for each group.

Adventure tourism represents a broad spectrum of risk-orientated outdoor tourist activities that are delivered on a commercialized basis where profit is the key motive for providers, is characterized by the deliberate seeking and/or acceptance of perceived physical risk by the tourist, and in which the outcome is influenced by the participant, the setting, and the careful management of the experience.

According to Weiler and Hall (1992), the outcome of the experience is influenced by the participant, the setting, and the careful management of the experience. It is the participant and the river guide carefully managing the experience that this chapter pays particular attention to. In the case of commercial white-water rafting, the setting is the river.

Commercial white-water rafting is an adventure tourism activity that is steeped in imagery. Brochures invariably portray a picture of a river guide steering an inflatable raft through wild rapids while trusting clients stare at the impending rapid with looks resembling either sheer excitement, sheer terror, or something in between.

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