‘Stand out,not up’: bodyboarders,gendered hierarchies and negotiating the dynamics of pride/shame

In this paper, bodyboarders who surf the breaks of the Illawarra, New South Wales talk about their surfing experiences. We are particularly interested in leisured exclusions. Bodyboarders’ principal concern appears to be territorialisation of surf breaks and the legitimisation of bodyboarding in a sport where they are disavowed a ‘real’ surfing identity based on shortboarders’ desire to claim superiority. The paper explores how bodyboarders’ experiences of pride and shame articulate with understanding of space, self and masculinities. Alongside the physical environment of the surf break, interpersonal relationships between shortboarders and bodyboarders figure heavily in participant’s negotiation and construction of their gendered identities. We argue how individual bodyboarders negotiate the pride/shame nexus has important implication for understanding gender and territorialisation of the surf.     

‘Freaky is just how I get down’: investigating the fluidity of minority ethnic feminine subjectivities in dance

This article addresses a lacuna of research into minority ethnic young women’s leisure participation by specifically focusing on the experiences and embodied subjectivities of two ethnic young women participating in dance. In the context of a qualitative research study based in an American inner‐city, post‐structural theory is used to signal the operation of intersecting racial, ethnic, gender, and class discourses and power relations. This analysis focuses on how the two young women engaged with dance cultures that were underpinned by particular dance forms; these dance forms arguably reproduced specific versions of ‘normalised’ femininity. The article then illustrates how the young women actively negotiated their dance cultures in order to construct multiple and shifting minority ethnic subjectivities. Commentary from one young woman, ‘Carrie’, indicates that she used her high school dance spaces as well as festival and club dance spaces to take up fluid white, black and ‘mixed’ subjectivities. I then investigate how a Salsa dance space provided the discursive resources through which another young woman, ‘Jenny’, constructed a proliferating diasporic identity. While Jenny identified as both black and Haitian, her hyperbolic dance performances re‐enacted various other subjectivities. These accounts demonstrate the possibility that young women can take up multiple versions of femininity in their leisure participation. These femininities reflect both alignment and resistance to dominant discourses which have ascendancy within young women’s leisure contexts.     

‘It made me feel powerful’: women’s gendered embodiment and physical empowerment in the martial arts

This paper presents data collected from 11 females and explores their gendered and embodied experiences of the martial arts. Our research suggests that through their involvement in the martial arts, women develop physical strength, which leads to individual physical empowerment. Furthermore, the women note their involvement in the martial arts increases their confidence to defend themselves and challenge their gendered embodiment. However, despite acquiring physical strength that challenges their previous forms of gendered embodiment, their experiences remain predominantly at the level of individual empowerment. Thus, the women do not problematise normative views of gendered embodiment which position women as weak and men as strong. Nor do the women in this study question the pressure on females’ bodies to be toned and feminine. Drawing predominantly on physical feminism, we question and problematise the concepts of women’s empowerment and gendered embodiment through women’s experiences of the martial arts.     

‘What’s the Story in Balamory?’: The Impacts of a Children’s TV Programme on Small Tourism Enterprises on the Isle of Mull,Scotland

Film- and television-induced tourism effects have been witnessed in a number of locations world-wide, creating a range of positive and negative impacts for host communities and environments. The children’s television programme Balamory, filmed on the Isle of Mull, Scotland, has created a new tourism phenomenon for the island, leading to concern that Mull’s reputation as a green destination for the discerning might be displaced by a less desirable form of tourism. Through a questionnaire survey of tourism businesses on Mull, this paper explores the perceptions of television-induced tourism and the effect of Balamory on business activity during the 2003 season, exploring customer numbers, spending, turnover and profitability, along with attitudes to the new visitors. The research also explores the implications for sustainable tourism development, particularly recognising the limited life-span of film- and television-induced tourism and issues relating to displacement of traditional markets, with an emphasis on sustaining tourism as a means of generating revenue to support a rural island community.     

‘What’s on your Bucket List?’: Tourism,identity and imperative experiential discourse

The concept of the Bucket List has achieved rapid and widespread recognition. This article makes an original Critical Discourse Analysis of the Bucket List as a cultural phenomenon that provides important insights into the interrelation between identity and tourism. The Bucket List is used to communicate specific suggestions of desirable tourism experiences and uses what can be termed the experiential imperative discourse, where the language, tone and framing of the text positions the experience described as essential and obligatory. Ultimately, the Bucket List discourse serves to prescribe culturally specific ideas of what constitute ‘good’ tourism experiences and is imposed on individuals who are prompted to desire a constantly renewing range of tourism experiences.     

‘I want to do everything!’: leisure innovation among retirement-age women

Innovation theory asserts that the adoption of new leisure activities in later life (leisure innovation) may facilitate healthy ageing through personal growth, interest renewal, identity reconstruction and increased sense of meaning in life. The purpose of this study was to explore innovation theory among retirement-age women. Thirteen women aged 60–70 completed in-depth interviews and focus groups. Data were analysed through open, axial and selective coding. Themes emerged regarding the nature of newly adopted leisure activities, triggers of innovation and outcomes of innovation. Participants attributed meaning to innovation within established interest areas and to innovation related to taking advantage of previously unavailable opportunities. Participants also identified innovation catalysts including additional resources, increased perceived freedom, purposive life changes and health concerns. Outcomes of innovation included feelings of joy, self-confidence, independence and improved social connections. Findings support and extend innovation theory and suggest that acknowledging and exploring the adoption of new leisure activities can extend existing theory and improve future research related to leisure and ageing.     

‘Consuming’ tourist sites/sights: a note on York

Two perspectives on place-consumption are considered: a ‘business metaphor’ by which the city is viewed as a consumable ‘product’; and a cultural perspective whereby a relationship between tourist site and mythical meaning is theorised. MacCannell's theorised trajectory of discovery, by which tourists progressively seek out the ‘unmarked’ and ‘authentic’, appears to be validated by observation of supplyside visitor attractions in York. A conventional product extension strategy inspired by the ‘business metaphor’ and involving the acquisition of a new ‘icon’ attraction would arguably accelerate the process of commodification, simultaneously eroding the potential for self-authored experience on the part of the tourist. Such a strategy may thus prove incomplete in its capacity to secure the long-term health of tourism in a mature, successful destination.     

Am I choosing the right career? The implications of COVID-19 on the occupational attitudes of hospitality management students

The hospitality industry is under threat from COVID-19 and the possibility of future crises remains very real. To improve understanding of how such a crisis impacts the attractiveness of pursuing a career in the hospitality industry, this study examines the effects of negative emotions invoked by COVID-19 on hospitality management students’ occupational attitudes. Using a sample of 425 students, we find that in addition to diminishing their occupational identification and in turn, job choice intentions, that the effects of these negative emotions are channeled through three salient motivational pathways, namely self-efficacy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and passion. Thus, the study not only advances theory by providing a more nuanced conceptualization of the effects of negative emotions on occupational attitudes but it identifies important leverage points that can be harnessed to help mitigate the harmful emotional effects of a crisis, such as COVID-19, important and timely contributions that the authors hope will benefit aspiring hospitality industry talent and help restore the attractiveness of careers in the hospitality industry. Future research directions and implications to theory and practice are discussed.     

‘I lose,but that’s not the point’: Situated Economic and Social Rationalities in Horserace Gambling

ABSTRACT

This article compares ethnographic observations of horserace gambling in two UK spaces – the betting shop (remote) and the racecourse (proximal). The paper identifies the emerging, situated rationales that attract gamblers to these leisure spaces, and that motivate them to integrate their gambling activities as an ongoing, sustainable feature of their lives. Doing so, it is observed that, for the vast majority of punters, gambling on the horses is neither ‘addictive’ nor is it ‘irrational’, except in narrowly defined zweckrational terms. The article thus argues for a shift in current gambling research, away from an overwhelming preoccupation with pathological gambling, towards a broader consideration of the more representative and socioeconomically significant activities of leisure gambling.     

Navigating the uncharted: A crisis response mix to creeping ‘unknowns’

Creeping crises have received limited attention in crisis management. With a backdrop of COVID-19, we explore how tourism organisations can address unprecedented creeping crises. We propose and test a creeping crisis response matrix qualitatively and quantitatively by analysing 108 earnings calls from 22 hotel groups covering the first 16 months of the pandemic. Some cannot detect creeping crises during the incubation periods or the later re-emergence, whereas early exposure gives an advantage in crisis response. Contrary to conventional wisdom, organisational responses to unknown crises are not always reactive, with organisations deploying a varied mix of responses (reactive, adaptive, protective and proactive) even in the early stages of a crisis. As the framing of the crisis improves, crisis responses shift from survival to full-on experimentation, to response by design and then to response by protocol. The proposed matrix can be used as a response roadmap for navigating future, unknown, creeping crises.     

‘I can’t be very sad’: constraint and adaptation in the leisure of a ‘learning in retirement’ group

The purpose of this paper is to consider adaptive processes in relation to the constraints that limit leisure in late life. Interview data gathered from a purposive sample of 20 male and female retirees involved in a ‘Learning in Retirement’ programme were used to identify constraints, responses to constraints and the personal meanings of both. Results indicated a variety of emotional and behavioural responses to constraints suggesting five prominent behavioural themes and three emotional themes. Behavioural responses were grouped into: (1) reducing and eliminating; (2) persistence with commitment; (3) constraint as ‘project’; (4) substitution; and (5) exploration and self‐discovery. Emotional reactions ranged from the initial frustration to acceptance and even gratitude for the possibilities that remain. Findings are discussed in terms of the models of constraint negotiation and selective optimisation reported in the literature; but they also indicate that constraints may lead to responses that are not only personally beneficial but are also novel and transformative to some extent.     

Visitors with their ‘Backs to the archaeology’: religious tourism and archaeology

This paper presents a conceptual analysis of the crossover between religious tourism and archaeology. It begins with a clarification of what religious tourism is and continues to consider the link between archaeological sites, religious heritage and religious tourism. It then moves on to a supply-focused typology of sites and a typology of visitors according to their characteristics. It also discusses the primary conflicts existing today between archaeology and religious tourism. In light of this discussion, it concludes with thoughts on possible future research needs. The paper conceptualized the multiple relationships between religious tourism and religious archaeology. Archaeological remains that also serve as attractions for religious tourism appear to have unique characteristics, the understanding of which is important for long-term planning and development that will take into consideration archaeological, religious, political, and tourism needs. A better understanding of these contexts may also ultimately contribute to our understanding of the development versus conservation arguments facing archaeological areas.     

Vacation from work: A ‘ticket to creativity’?: The effects of recreational travel on cognitive flexibility and originality

Recreational travel may increase creativity by relieving workers from stress, providing diversifying experiences and increasing positive emotions. Consequently, vacations may boost creativity, apparent in a greater variety (flexibility) and originality of ideas after work resumption.In our longitudinal field study, creativity (measured by Guilford's Alternative Uses Task; independently scored by three raters) was assessed in 46 workers before and after vacation. Potential precursors for creativity changes (i.e. work load, vacation hassles, vacation destination and positive affect) were also explored.Cognitive flexibility increased whereas originality remained the same after vacation. None of the precursors explained variance in creativity changes.Although vacations seem to increase chances on creative insights by raising the amount of available cognitive elements (flexibility), they do not necessarily lead to higher levels of originality (uncommon, remote and clever ideas). Research in larger samples is required to further explore mechanisms that may explain why travel seems to enhance creativity.     

‘I never promised you a rose garden’: gender,leisure and home-making

This paper explores the importance of contemporary gardens as leisure sites and argues that leisure in general, and the garden in particular, play an important role in the process of homemaking. We also consider how the contemporary garden reflects wider social relations by examining how gender relations imbue gardens and gardening. The gendered meanings of gardens and the garden as a place where gender power relations are played out, are highly significant in the social construction of ‘home’. Using primary research data, the paper looks at what it is about the domestic garden that is important to both men and women, and how it contributes to homemaking. The findings show that there are conflicting uses and meanings of gardens which help to reveal the changing nature of gender relations in late modernity.     

Leisure corporations,beer brand culture,and the crisis of masculinity: the Speight’s ‘Southern Man’ advertising campaign

Leisure corporations and their brands are becoming increasingly signified to represent certain values and attitudes towards leisure and particular aspects of identity. One popular leisure product and practice is beer and its consumption, which also plays a role in constructing identity and, more specifically, masculinity. Within the context of contemporary promotional culture, beer advertising serves to reproduce the cultural links between masculinity, sport/leisure, and the consumption of beer, which form a theorised ‘holy trinity’. In this paper, we focus on Speight’s, one of New Zealand’s renowned breweries and beer brands, to explore the ways in which its promotional culture illuminates notions of a crisis of masculinity. Our multimethod, qualitative approach combines contextualisation with the critical textual analysis of two advertisements from the ‘Southern Man’ television campaign and interview data obtained from one key cultural intermediary, the campaign’s creator. From this, our analysis elucidates three key dimensions about the important role of the Speight’s ‘Southern Man’ advertising campaign as a site for understanding masculinities, in addition to how they are constructed and, ultimately, how they embody a crisis of masculinity. The first is the campaign’s exploitation of societal cleavages. The second is the campaign’s explicit use of nostalgia. And the third is the campaign’s omission of ‘other’ masculinities.     

‘From the Flames to the Light’: 100 years of the commodification of the dark tourist site around the Verdun battlefield

In order to contribute to research on dark tourism, this article details the process of commodification of a dark site by adopting a supply approach. We empirically apply the dark tourism spectrum (Stone, 2006) to the battlefield of Verdun in France from 1916 to 2016. In doing so, we shed light on the relationship between the temporal distance from the tragic event and potential economic exploitation. Our findings reveal that commodification is possible from the very creation of the site and becomes more complex as temporal distance increases, notably due to the multiplicity of stakeholders and their incompatible interests. Our results contribute to the improvement of the dark spectrum; we add the stakeholders' structure as a new and dynamic attribute.     

“I will never go to Hong Kong again!” How the secondary crisis communication of “Occupy Central” on Weibo shifted to a tourism boycott

Social media, an open space for the public's opinion and expression, has become an increasingly essential issue in crisis events, leading to secondary crisis communication. Realizing the potential risk of that, this study took the “Occupy Central” spreading on Weibo as a case, and applied topic clustering and sentiment analysis to examine the sequential characteristics of secondary crisis communication on social media in topics and emotions. Results show that the topics Weibo users discussed shifted from a political event to tourism boycott, with emotions turning increasingly negative. The turning point of such a transfer was aroused group conflicts and negative emotions elicited between people from mainland China and Hong Kong. The results indicate the necessity of emphasizing secondary crisis communication during a crisis due to the dynamic and sequential change of topics and public's emotions, which may result in new crises impacting the tourism destination where the initial crisis occurs.     

The better I feel,the better I can do: The role of leaders’ positive affective presence

This study adopts the affect theory of social exchange to examine the influence of leaders’ positive affective presence on employees’ service performance via employees’ energy at work and the moderating role of service climate. Based on 383 dyads of leaders and their employees in the hospitality industry, the results reveal that leaders’ positive affective presence has a positive effect on employees’ service performance. Employees’ energy at work mediates the relationship between leaders’ positive affective presence and employees’ service performance. Service climate enhances the relationship of employees’ energy at work and service performance, which in turn strengthens the indirect effect of leaders’ positive affective presence on employees’ service performance via employees’ energy at work.     

‘I just hope people can forgive me’: Australian women athletes,apologies and image restoration at the Rio Olympic Games

Prior to the 2016 Olympic Games, Australia’s Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller predicted that the Australian team could win as many as 16 Olympic gold medals. Australia’s Olympic team won a total of eight gold medals and the sports media reacted by suggesting the team had ‘failed’. At the 2016 Olympic Games, three high-profile Australian female athletes apologised to the Australian public for their performances. This study examines these three interconnecting cases and how such behaviour is linked to research that examines sports media and gender (including female agency), ‘image restoration’ and third-wave feminism. Additionally, this work identifies how the culture of third-wave feminism is conceptually troubled by the notion of the ‘female apologetic’ and calls for a re-examination and modification of such a notion.     

‘The town dictates what I do’: the leisure,health and well-being of women in a small Australian country town

The contribution of leisure to individual health and well-being is well documented. It is also clear that patterns of leisure activity are differentiated by gender and regional differences, as well as those of age, class and ethnicity. This paper explores the leisure and well-being of mid aged rural women in a small Australian country town in the late 1990s, focusing on issues which have been identified in the Canadian literature as being significant for women in isolated areas. These issues, which constrain the choices women make about their lives, include poor job opportunities, a lack of public transport and other facilities, family transience, community designs that isolate women in their homes, and the politics of being ‘different’ in a small community. Commonalities in the lives of rural women in North America, New Zealand and Australia indicate that these issues may more broadly characterise the lives of women in isolated towns in western post-industrial societies. Data are drawn from focus group interviews, augmented with observation, and the study is contextualized in findings from the Women's Health Australia longitudinal study (WHA).