Social tourism participation: The role of tourism inexperience and uncertainty

Social tourism initiatives tend to facilitate access to tourism for groups who would otherwise be financially unable to participate in holidays. The tourism products offered in social tourism vary between individual and group holidays, and day trips. This paper presents the findings of an exploratory, qualitative study with social tourism beneficiaries and social support workers, which explores via interviews and focus groups how these different tourism products can be tailored most effectively to the needs to the beneficiaries. The findings of the study highlight the important role of travel inexperience, and associated uncertainty, in travel decisions made by this target group. The findings show that (public sector or charitable) providers of social tourism can offer the most tailored and potentially most cost-effective tourism product to each beneficiary by closely considering previous travel experience and uncertainty levels before departure.     

Why Seniors use Mobile Devices: Applying an Extended Model of Goal-Directed Behavior

Seniors’ use of mobile devices for tourism-related purposes is an emerging social trend, but there is little theoretically based research on the topic. This study examines seniors’ usage of mobile devices for tourism-related purposes, applying the extended model of goal-directed behavior. Usefulness and enjoyment are shown to have significant effects on seniors’ use of mobile devices for tourism purposes and prior knowledge of information technology has a significant impact on seniors’ desire and behavioral intention to use mobile devices for tourism-related purposes. This study offers theoretical and practical contributions to tourism academics and practitioners.     

Re-evaluating well-being outcomes of social tourism: Evidence from Finland

This study contributes new findings on well-being outcomes in social tourism initiatives. Based on a two-stage survey of 371 respondents of the largest Finnish Social Holiday Association, including a control group, we assess subjective well-being, experience of inclusion and family outcomes. Positive effects on satisfaction with life, leisure time, mental health, family, social life, employment and economic situation and others were observed, but weaker associations and no effects in other areas such as learning or family cohesiveness. The findings suggest previous studies of well-being over-simplify positive outcomes associated with holidays, the advanced methods employed enable a nuanced analysis of holiday benefits. The study contributes to theory on well-being outcomes for disadvantaged tourists and outlines implications for social tourism organisations.     

‘Tourism poverty’ in affluent societies: Voices from inner-city London

There is now a significant body of work analysing the multifaceted connections between tourism and poverty in less developed economies. Far fewer studies discuss the relationships between tourism and poverty in the world’s affluent societies and most of these concentrate on social tourism and on the benefits of these holidays for deprived and marginalised groups. This paper provides an insight into the experiences of families unable to afford any form of paid holiday away from home. Based on participant-driven interviews with 20 low-income parents living in a deprived area of Inner London, the paper reveals that for these individuals exclusion from tourism makes a clear contribution to their children’s exclusion from everyday norms as holidays are regarded as part of contemporary British family life. The study discusses policy and business implications and suggests further investigation of trans-generational ‘tourism poverty’.     

An empathy lens into peer service providers: Personal versus commercial hosts

The focus of the peer-to-peer in tourism (Airbnb) has shifted recently from personal peer providers (i.e., individuals that rent a room) to commercial peer providers (i.e., companies that manage several Airbnb lodgings). While prior research encourages peer service providers (Airbnb hosts) to focus on social interactions, there is scant research on how consumers respond to the social dimension across the two peer provider types (personal vs. commercial provider). Two experimental studies (N = 600) reveal that consumers exhibit higher loyalty towards personal (vs. commercial) providers when they focus on communal norms, and this effect is driven via empathy. Study 2 examines the moderating effect of perceived warmth and demonstrates that low perceived warmth has a detrimental effect on loyalty among personal (vs. commercial) peer providers.     

Altruism in tourism: Social Exchange Theory vs Altruistic Surplus Phenomenon in host volunteering

Taking into consideration the scarcity of research on volunteering and altruistic behavior of host communities, this exploratory study examines altruism in tourism from the viewpoint of members of voluntary tourism associations. A literature review reveals two general types of altruism, i.e. reciprocal and true, as well as two theoretical constructs, namely Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Altruistic Surplus Phenomenon (ASP). By taking a sample of 21 members from two voluntary tourism associations located in the municipality of Veria, Northern Greece, this study confirms that reciprocal altruism is one of several motives for participating in voluntary tourism associations. Additionally, it is shown that ASP is more adequate than SET to interpret the study groups’ social behavior.     

Social tourism and self-efficacy: Exploring links between tourism participation,job-seeking and unemployment

Social tourism is assumed to provide important psychological benefits for economically and socially disadvantaged populations. This study examines empirically whether these individual benefits are associated with socioeconomic benefits to society by focusing on unemployed individuals. Psychological benefits are addressed in terms of self-efficacy, and socioeconomic benefits, in terms of job-search behaviour. Findings from mixed-methods data reveal that holidays create enabling environments, which bring about positive changes in participants’ self-efficacy, contributing to positive effects on their job-search behaviour. Positive effects are also identified with regard to behaviours towards alternative paths to employment, such as volunteering. Given that these behavioural changes comprise major determinants of reemployment, it is suggested that social tourism may hold potential for incorporation into existing unemployment policies.     

Agglomerating or dispersing? Spatial effects of high-speed trains on regional tourism economies

Following the paradigm of New Economic Geography, this study examines the impact of high-speed train (HST) services on the spatial structure of regional tourism economies in China. We collect panel data of 286 Chinese cities from 2007 to 2016 and adopt tourism-revenue location quotients to measure the relative agglomeration level of tourism economies for a city. According to the estimation results, tourism economies tend to agglomerate from the cities outside the HST network to those inside the network. Also, tourism economies start to disperse among cities within the network as more HST services become available. Furthermore, the results unveil the spatial heterogeneity of HST impacts. The moderating effects exerted by other transport modes are examined as well. Lastly, implications are provided for policy-makers and stakeholders on how to internalize the benefits from HST networks on tourism development.     

“You know that's a rip-off”: policies and practices surrounding micro-enterprises and poverty alleviation in South African township tourism

Supporting the development of small tourism businesses has been seen by policy-makers as a valuable means of alleviating poverty in South African townships. This perspective has been endorsed by several “responsible” tourism businesses and academics. Following a literature review, this paper reports the findings of an empirical study that examined the practices of 80 micro-business owners and the factors that shape their behaviour in two South African townships. In spite of significant visitor numbers, it finds that their narrow social networks, the imbalances of power between them and intermediaries such as travel agencies and tour operators, ideas of Ubuntu and Umona, and complex family and ethnic ties all represent barriers that prevent them from developing their businesses and sharing in the material gains available through tourism. This analysis has important implications for local policy-makers and those advocating responsible tourism. For the former, it suggests a cessation of current initiatives in favour of greater regulation and alternative forms of investment. For the latter, it implies a need to reassess the utility of advocating responsible tourism to consumers in a context where they do not understand the dynamics which fashion what is on offer or the implications of their choices.     

Degrowing tourism: rethinking tourism

Abstract

Concerns with growth have steadily advanced since the Limits to Growth report due particularly to human impacts on the natural environment. Since that time, neoliberal capitalism has become increasingly reliant on growth exacerbating these problems. The destructive outcomes of these strategies has led to a growing interest in degrowth. Analysts are examining how we can create economies that eschew a growth imperative while still supporting human thriving. Tourism as a key facet of capitalism is implicated in these issues and recent concerns with “overtourism” are only one symptom of the problem. This article presents a conceptual consideration of issues of degrowth in tourism. It examines current tensions in international mobility and argues just and sustainable degrowth will require greater attention to equity. This analysis suggests that essential to such an agenda is redefining tourism to focus on the rights of local communities and a rebuilding of the social capacities of tourism. This article argues for the redefinition of tourism in order to place the rights of local communities above the rights of tourists for holidays and the rights of tourism corporates to make profits.     

“With a young spirit,we will be young forever”: Exploring the links between tourism and ageing well in contemporary China

This research explores the entangled relationships between tourism, ageing and well-being in later life. We challenge the universal connotations of old age and “ageing well” and see their relationships with tourism as dynamic processes, in which older people are continuously producing different meanings and fulfilling personal quests over life courses. Using the contextualist and temporal lens, four scenarios of the evolving relationships between tourism and ageing well were identified from the lived experiences and travel histories of 48 Chinese senior travelers. The results demonstrate that how tourism affects ageing well are shaped by senior travellers' early life and travel experiences, the personalised conceptions attached to tourism and well-being, which are indeed complex responses to their personal, social and cultural contexts. This research unveils vivid pictures of Chinese older adults’ leisure lives, and highlights the urgency to develop relevant tourism policies and marketing strategies to cater for their changing needs.     

The impact of women's empowerment on sustainable tourism development: Mediating role of tourism involvement

Women's empowerment has been prioritised in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) recently, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030; albeit, women are still underrepresented in tourism industry. However, if robust women's empowerment is consolidated into planning and implementation processes, tourism can act as a vehicle for encouraging gender parity. This study examines the direct impact of women's empowerment (psychologically, politically, and socially) on sustainable tourism development (STD) and the indirect impact through tourism involvement. A total of 1000 women involved in the tourism industry in KSA filled out self-administrated questionnaires, analyzed using SPSS™ and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS. The results suggest that tourism involvement partially mediates the relationship between psychological and political empowerment and STD. Nonetheless, it fully mediates the relationship between social empowerment and STD. Several implications of the results for both policy-makers, tourism planners and tourism scholars are discussed.     

Migrant relationships and tourism employment

This paper examines how tourism employment and workplace experiences influence migrant workers’ adaptation in the host society. It is argued that tourism employment provides access to multiple social networks, which subsequently supports the improvement of foreign workers’ social and cultural competencies. Such networks also help to compensate for the negative aspects of tourism work and migration. In addition, the paper considers how relationships among international workers inform chain migration and influence subsequent recruitment practices and migration experiences. The findings stem from a wider study of the experiences of Polish migrant workers employed in the UK tourism sector using qualitative and quantitative data.     

Progress in research on seniors' well-being in tourism: A systematic review

Research on well-being has experienced exponential growth in tourism studies. However, knowledge about well-being of seniors in tourism is still limited, and thus conceptually underdeveloped, despite the growth of the ageing population and increased research focus on the subject. Consequently, the purpose of this review is to provide a holistic understanding of seniors' well-being in tourism, delineate the current research status, then identify gaps and future avenues for research. A systematic quantitative literature review was conducted, leading to 56 eligible articles extracted for subsequent analysis. By mapping the current state of knowledge, the study indicates a need for a comprehensive theoretical framework based on a holistic view of seniors' well-being in tourism. The findings of the systematic review suggest the need for a eudaimonic approach to the topic and research from residents' perspectives. Suggestions are made to investigate constraints to well-being and cultural differences in conceptions of seniors' well-being in tourism.     

Cross-institutional collaboration networks in tourism and hospitality research

This paper examines cross-institutional collaboration in tourism and hospitality research using a co-authorship network model based on papers published in six top-tier tourism and hospitality journals over the past 20 years. Data analysis reveals that multi-author, multi-university studies are the fastest-growing type of authorship structure in tourism and hospitality research. We use several network measures to evaluate the intensity of research collaboration among academic institutions in tourism and hospitality disciplines. Institutions with tourism and hospitality programs worldwide are ranked according to their centricity in cross-institutional research collaboration networks and categorized according to their characteristics in collaboration. The empirical analysis shows significant associations between research performance and a university's centricity position in cross-institutional research networks. Through advanced social network analysis, this study provides new insights into institutional collaboration in tourism and hospitality research over the past two decades.     

Evidence of a low-carbon tourism paradigm?

The global tourism industry has benefited from exceptional growth; however, a number of challenges have the potential to seriously undermine the industry's future aspirations. This research uses social representation theory to understand how the social group of tourism experts makes sense of the phenomena of “tourism growth”, “low-carbon tourism”, “peak oil” and “risks for tourism”, and whether representations are indicative of different underlying paradigms. A total of 101 experts from various tourism professions and key demographics were interviewed using the free associations method. The findings reveal distinct representations of the four phenomena, but also significant linkages between them, in particular in relation to the global economy, transportation, energy supply and sustainability. Further, whilst experts appear grounded in the Dominant Social Paradigm of consumerism and neoliberal capitalism, there is evidence of alternative views that question some of the fundamental assumptions of the growth paradigm. In particular, when asked about low-carbon tourism and peak oil, experts advanced associations that indicated an Alternative Paradigm. A broader paradigm shift originating from within tourism, however, alone is unlikely.     

Desired recreation companionship and travel behaviour of people with disabilities

This study examines whether people with disabilities(PWD) participate in leisure and travel activities with their desired companions and if there are discrepancies between their social networks and real recreation companions. The recreation companionship and travel behaviour of PWD have not been thoroughly explored, particularly in non-Western contexts. Accordingly, data were collected from 494 respondents in South Korea, and findings suggest that there was a significant gap between companions PWD desire and those they actually maintain. Travel and tourism were the least frequent recreation activities for PWD. The results can provide managerial implications regarding practices of inclusive and accessible tourism.     

Old bodies,young hearts: a qualitative exploration of the engagement of older male amateur rugby union players in Taiwan

The world’s population is ageing. Engagement in physical activities that assist people to age in good health while enjoying quality of life are critical considerations for practitioners and policy-makers. In 1913, the sport of Rugby Union was introduced to Taiwan. As a form of recreational activity, the game became popular among- Taiwanese males. In recent years, older players have sought to facilitate their continued involvement in an activity that is normally played as a full-contact sport. Why these individuals continue to play, how they perceive their experience and how the sport has evolved to maintain their interest and active involvement are especially interesting to explore. Study participants were specifically chosen from an established Taiwanese rugby union club. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted in 2013 with 15 amateur rugby players aged from 54 to 83 years. Results indicated that the main motivations for participants to continue playing was that it gave them ‘a sense of nostalgia and pride’, ‘lifelong friendship and belonging’, ‘pure joy and passion’, with considerations of being ‘mentally and physically active’, keeping up an involvement in ‘a real man’s sport’ and maintaining a sense of one’s ‘self-identity’ with ‘responsibility and commitment’ towards this chosen sport. Findings suggest that leisure providers need to be aware of the opportunities for reducing constraints and providing adaptations that allow older adults to immerse themselves in physically active pursuits integral to enjoying a fruitful ageing journey.     

Families at leisure outdoors: well-being through adventure

ABSTRACT

This study investigates families who choose to co-participate in outdoor adventure holidays, and explores how they benefit from these shared experiences. In so doing, it seeks to determine the role of adventure tourism in developing and enhancing family well-being (FWB). Hyper-modern family life for many is powered by technological hardware, each room in the house replete with on-line pleasures, distractions and identities. In response to this dystopia, some families opt to take adventure holidays together. However, scholarship concerning collective experiences of adventurous leisure, in this case as families, is limited. Using a qualitative whole family approach, 15 (adventure tourist) families were interviewed, totalling 62 interviewees (29 adults and 33 children under 18 years old), in their home environments. Four key themes related to FWB emerged. First, families extended their active lifestyles to adventure holidays and repeatedly mentioned the health and fitness benefits gained from these experiences. Second, adventure holidays facilitated unmediated time together for families. Third, parents harboured ideals of positive personal development for their children in these adventure settings. Fourth, making memories during adventure holidays, and recollecting these post-trip, were integral to family bonding. Further research should consider non-traditional families, and various socio-economic and cultural groups in this context.     

Creating a scale for assessing socially sustainable tourism

As destinations absorb ever increasing number of visitors, destination managers become progressively more concerned about the longer term viability of tourism from a resident's perspective. However, few studies have examined the application of real-time social sustainability within tourism, particularly how to measure impacts on social sustainability. This study outlines the development of a valid and reliable scale – the Scale of Social Sustainability (SSS) – for tourism that provides an assessment of social sustainability in destination settings. A 10-step procedure was developed drawing upon the related literature. A telephone poll-based survey generated 1839 valid responses from Hong Kong residents. Hong Kong's growing popularity as a destination provides a rich array of host–guest conflict situations. Dimensionality was identified using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Construct validity, reliability, and stability were assessed, and found good, showing that the scale could be used by other destinations worldwide. The theoretical and managerial implications of the scale are discussed, including options for annual surveys giving policy-makers alerts before situations worsen. Detailed host resident viewpoints and the large scale of the survey can help local residents be informed about tourism development and better involved in the policy formation process.