Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
trip as well as during that trip and explain in detail)?' Some of the responses
involved matters that would be stressful for anyone planning a holiday -
such as 'weather and travel time' and 'worrying about the cost/money'.
However, many responses were specific to families, such as 'packing was
stressful, ensuring there were plenty of down time activities for the children'.
Many of the responses to question 15 were linked to the accommoda-
tion facilities, such as 'not having all our stuff we normally have at home.
Things in the house not child safe/friendly, i.e. the oven or doors etc.'
Similarly, 'blinds in the bedrooms let light through, making it extremely
hard for a two year old to have naps and sleep past 5:30 a.m. The outside
noise was constant, traffic, humming of heaters/air conditioners, music etc.'
Another respondent claimed 'sharing the one room was stressful especially
in the evenings when we wanted a bit of a reprieve from the kids'. Another
example was 'our son had a reaction to food and vomited four times, all
over himself and me. I had two loads of washing and couldn't get access to
the advertised washing machine, so spent what was meant to be a relaxing
night prior to a wedding hand washing clothes in a tiny bathroom'. There
were also discussions about dirty cooking appliances and cutlery, lack of
facilities, getting the wrong room, dusty bedding, a dirty microwave, dusty
room, and no response from the enquiries number listed for the venue.
Accommodation facilities were a likely contributor to stress for some re-
spondents, with some finding facilities inadequate. Question 16 was 'How
well did the facilities at your accommodation on your last family holiday
cater for the size and shape of your family?' The most commonly stated
area of inadequacy was drying facilities (Figure 8.4).
The issue of stress was considered further in question 17: 'Thinking
about your most recent family holiday, did you feel less stressed, more
stressed, or the same when you returned?' There were five options to select:
much less stressed, slightly less stressed, stress level unchanged, slightly
more stressed, much more stressed. For 36% of respondents, their stress
levels were either unchanged (16%) or had increased (20%) after going on
their last family holiday.
Question 18 was 'In thinking about all your past family holiday experi-
ences, describe your best family holiday and explain why it was the best'.
The responses varied widely, with a range of destinations mentioned.
However, sometimes the destination was not mentioned and the only focus
was on the weather, or the stage the children were at that seemed to be
why the holiday was a success - with no relationship to the destination.
Several respondents spoke of a stay in luxury accommodation being their
best holiday. For example, one respondent said 'our holiday to the Sunshine
Coast in March was fantastic as it was in a large luxury home. We will do
this again with our family as it was great accommodation.' Another said,
'we spent a bit more on accommodation so even though we stayed in most
nights while the kids slept, it felt like a luxury because we got to lounge
