The Stress of the Family Holiday - Family Tourism - page 106

which numerous forms of accommodation add to or relieve stress and what
responses accommodation providers could make to alleviate some of the
stressors. The research sought to examine the relative significance of the
following factors in adding to or relieving stress associated with taking a
family holiday: type of accommodation and facilities provided in addition
to work commitments of parent/s and life-stage of families.
Literature Review
Families travelling with children represent one of the largest markets in
tourism and yet tourism research has rarely taken notice of children's and
families' holiday experiences (Carr, 2011; Obrador, 2012). Family holidays can
be deemed to be a more 'mundane' and trivial type of tourism (Bærenholdt
et al ., 2004). Despite the economic significance of family tourism, this is
a marginalised research area (Schänzel et al. , 2005). Previous research has
been mainly market and consumer driven (Lehto et al. , 2009), with a lack
of research into experiential dimensions or family group dynamics. The
predominance of tourism research that focuses on the individual and em-
phasises detachment has effectively de-socialised tourist subjects, rendering
such research approaches unsuitable for families (Obrador, 2012). This
has resulted in mainly individual interpretations of group behaviour not
inclusive of sociality (Schänzel, 2010).
Relatively little attention has been paid to the meaning of family
holiday experiences for parents (Blichfeldt, 2006; Carr, 2011; Shaw et al. ,
2008) or the family group (Gram, 2005), and few studies have investigated
the family holiday experiences of children (Blichfeldt et al. , 2011; Carr,
2011; Hilbrecht et al. , 2008; Small, 2008). There have been studies of family
holiday experiences that are mainly informed by a feminist perspective and
thus focused on mothers (Anderson, 2001; Davidson, 1996; Deem, 1996b;
Small, 2005). Conversely, research on the holiday experiences of fathers is
only just emerging (Schänzel & Smith, 2011).
When family group dynamics are considered it emerges that a relation-
ship exists between time together or family time and pursuing own interests
or own time, and this can involve conflict (Schänzel, 2010). In fact, Gram
(2005) has pointed out that holidays present conflicts in that parents seek
relaxation and children seek activities, which makes the ideal of togetherness
hard to achieve. This is highlighted by Jepsen and Blichfeldt's (2005) study at
a caravan site where children were kept busy with activities which allowed
adults to be passive and was thus found conducive to family togetherness.
There is considerable literature on the positive contributions of family
leisure to family cohesion, family interaction and overall satisfaction with
family life (Orthner & Mancini, 1990; Reilly, 2002/2003). Similarly, research
has indicated that family holidays are associated with bonding, togetherness
and quality family time (Carr, 2011; Gram, 2005; Schänzel, 2008; Shaw et al. ,