Constructing tourism realities through LEGO Serious Play

The study of social interactions is fundamental to the understanding of tourism in the social sciences. Foundational studies have yielded important insights into the nature of host-guest relations (Smith, 1989); tourist experiences (Cohen, 1979); tourism as a social world (MacCannell, 1976); critical perspectives (Ateljevic, Morgan, & Pritchard, 2007), among others. The constructivist paradigm is often applied to uncover meanings which participants create in their reality based on their subjective, individual worldview and their shared exchange in social contexts (e.g. Small (2008)). The goal of social constructivism is to identify how individuals and groups of people understand their co-created perceptions of social reality (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005), which is fluid and constantly changing through the interactions. Such social interactions are dynamic, complex and arguably demand a multidimensional approach to achieve deep understanding.