Ugly Tourists: How Jamaica Kincaid’s Antigua and Ecopornography Reveal Mindless Behavior

This thesis examines the possibility of being a mindful tourist. To begin answering this question, the history of tourism within North America and England is studied and conceptions of wilderness and the importance of travel photography are discussed in order to better understand this history. Jamaica Kincaid and her book A small place are used as a lens through which to understand what it means to be an “ugly” tourist. Despite limitations in Kincaid’s perspective from critics, her text gives the reader an exact blueprint for how not to behave as a tourist. Ecopornography is also used as a lens through which to understand how tourism industry photography creates “ugly” tourists as it gives tourists false expectations of a place. Four beach images taken from the Antigua Barbuda Tourism Authority website are compared and evaluated using Kincaid and ecopornography as ways in which to understand the images. Finally, individuals were interviewed with differing levels of travel experience. For them, traveling responsibly and mindfully is never going to be perfect, but asking questions marks the first step towards correcting ugly tourist behaviors