Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The findings in the FLC literature that has considered the relationship
with travel frequency are not unexpected. Studies have observed low-travel
frequency in 'full nest' FLC stages, particularly full nest I (see Figure 11.2).
Such findings seem axiomatic. Parents with pre-school children are unlikely
to want to travel far, or often, with very young children, who are likely to
require frequent naps, high chairs, nappies, cots, booster seats, and other
facilities that are bulky to transport.
However, of greatest significance from the tourism-related FLC studies
is Lawson's (1991) finding that 40% of travellers did not fit into any FLC
stage. Lawson's study was undertaken in New Zealand, and as such may
not reflect broader behaviours. It was also undertaken over two decades ago
and as such it is reasonable to expect that an even higher proportion of
travellers do not fit into the traditional FLC model now. The study reported
here aimed to consider the specific area of what proportion of travellers in
four regions within Australia's state of Victoria fitted into the traditional
FLC model. The Wells and Gubar (1966) model was used as the conceptual
framework, following the model used by Lawson (1991), which is also found
in current popular tourism textbooks, as detailed above.
Method
In order to ascertain what proportion of travellers were not reflected in
the traditional FLC model, four regions in Victoria were selected. The four
regions were Ballarat, Geelong, Bendigo and Yarra Valley. These regions are
identified on the map of Victoria (Figure 11.4).
The four regions in which surveying for this research occurred are each
no more than two hours from Victoria's capital city, Melbourne. Geelong is
the largest of the four regions, with a population of 216,330 (City of Greater
Geelong, 2011). Geelong is about 70 kilometres south-west of Melbourne's
central business district (CBD). Ballarat has a population of around 96,000
(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011b) and is around 110 kilometres
from Melbourne's CBD. Bendigo is furthest from Melbourne, at around
150 kilometres. Its population is slightly more than 100,000 (Australian
Bureau of Statistics, 2010). Yalla Valley is a large and diverse shire, with a
population of around 147,000 (Yarra Ranges Council, 2011). However, the
township and surrounding area in which the regional visitor information
centre (VIC) has a population of only around 3,400 (Yarra Ranges Council,
2011). Yarra Valley is about 70 kilometres from the CBD of Melbourne.
These four regions all have destination marketing organisations (DMOs)
that operate VICs. Permission from the organisations was obtained to
conduct a short paper-based survey for this research in their information
centres. Surveying took place for the four months from the beginning of
March through to the end of June 2011. Tourists to the four regions who
