Co-creating communities: Fandoms in tourism spaces

Abstract

Fandoms as expressions of popular culture are characterized by common interests and a sense of belonging and community. Creating and participating in communities is an inherent part of fandom, with tourism providing spaces for this community building to occur face to face. Overlaps between tourism and fandoms have been identified in popular culture (e.g. film tourism contexts); previous research, however, is characterized by disciplinary fragmentation and ambiguous transferability. This article introduces a conceptual framework of fan-based community co-creation, taking into account different intensities of fan involvement as well as factors that contribute to a psychologically perceived sense of community. The framework’s applicability to on-site tourism activities and fan-based events is illustrated, and recommendations for its empirical verification are provided.