Fandoms in Tourism – Visitors and/as Volunteers

The intersections between popular culture and tourism are becoming increasingly visible and important, making fans a relevant target segment for special interest tourism. Tourism provides spaces for fans to come together and create the sense of community that is at the core of fandom. Fans are likely to attend and potentially also volunteer at fan-based events, where additional social capital can be accrued and one’s membership status within the fandom is elevated. The aims and motivations of fan-based volunteers and fan-based visitors, however, do not appear to differ – both share common passions and a desire for social interactions with the purpose to create a perceived sense of community through expressions of membership, influence, shared emotional connections and the fulfillment of needs. This paper explores the similarities between fan-based visitors and fan-based volunteers to examine how managers of special interest tourism services can utilize expressions of fandom to create and enhance visitor experiences