Traveling to Risk: Crosscultural Perspectives on Thrillertainment in Tourism

Session Title

Session 1-1-E: Gambling and the American Dream

Presenters

Marta Soligo, UNLVFollow

Presentation Type

Event

Location

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

Start Date

28-5-2019 9:15 AM

End Date

28-5-2019 10:40 AM

Disciplines

Sociology

Abstract

Increasingly, tourists travel to experience adrenaline-based adventures that range from theme parks rides to gambling. This paper analyzes this phenomenon borrowing from Stuart Moss’s notion of Thrillertainment, which is the idea of being scared and/or thrilled while being entertained.

Keywords

tourism, risk, gambling, sociology, entertainment, society

Author Bios

Marta Soligo is attending a Ph.D. program in Sociology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where she also teaches Principles of Sociology. Soligo is Research Assistant at the International Gaming Institute (UNLV). She is also collaborating with Università di Bergamo (Italy) as Heritage and Cultural Studies researcher. She graduated (Master’s degree) in Planning and Management of Tourism Systems at Università di Bergamo in 2012, with a thesis focused on Entertainment, Cultural Heritage, and Tourism. In 2013, she was invited as visiting scholar by UCLA (University of California Los Angeles), to investigate the creation of tourism spaces and phenomena linked to Hollywood. She presented her academic work at several international conferences, such as UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) and ICOM (International Council of Museums). Soligo is also working with Italian websites and media, publishing articles on her research topics. She is collaborating with Lecco-Lombardia Film Commission (Italy) and with the creative hub Mediars (Italy – Los Angeles).