Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
11 Investigating the 'Family Life
Cycle' Model in Tourism
Elisa Backer
Introduction
The 'family life cycle' (FLC) model is considered to be a set of stages that
most people go through during their adulthood. It is frequently used for
explaining consumer behaviour and market segments and is used for under-
standing travel patterns. However, the traditional FLC model is becoming
increasingly outdated. The natural progression from singles, to couples, to
having children, retiring and being a solitary survivor is a depiction of life
in the 1950s. However, an increasing proportion of people exist outside this
model. Some people remain single with no children (called SINKs - Single
Income No Kids), while others elect not to have (or leave it too late to have)
children (DINKs - Double Income No Kids). Even couples with children do
not necessarily holiday together. There are also other people who sit outside
of the FLC model - gay and lesbian couples, and people whose spouse dies
at an early age. The issue of evaluating the FLC is not new, and the model
itself has been redefined numerous times by various researchers since it was
first used in 1903. However, despite attempts to redefine the FLC model
to consider those groups left out, the traditional FLC model from 1966
continues to dominate in tourism. While its limitations have been discussed
for 80 years, few studies have considered what proportion of travellers fall
outside of the traditional FLC model. The aim of the research reported in
this chapter was to consider what proportion of travellers in four regions of
Australia's state of Victoria - Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong Otway and Yarra
Valley - were not captured by the traditional FLC model.
Literature Review
The FLC is essentially a set of stages that most people are expected to go
through during their adult life. A history of the development of the FLC
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