Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Quality assurance
Holidays are considered as offering a break from everyday life. Family
holidays, however, can prove to be more stressful than staying at home,
especially with regard to domestic considerations. Parents and children
have unique requirements on holiday that are unlike those arising in other
markets, due to family group dynamics. Family travel holidays are not only
becoming more diverse but also contain constantly changing gender and
generational expectations. The role of the tourism operators in the future is
to provide more family-friendly quality assurance that reflects the changing
needs of modern family structures and behaviours.
Concluding for the Future
The merged cognitive map (Figure 12.11) shows the slow-moving changes
that are occurring within family tourism, whether it is the role of time or
purchasing behaviour. These observations are of interest to a number of
parties. For researchers, a reconceptualisation of tourism is required that
takes account of increasing diversity and difference in family forms (Shaw,
2010; Yeoman, 2008). Although the family market makes up a substantial
and robust market size, especially when VFR travel is included (Backer,
2012), this is not reflected in tourism research (Carr, 2011; Obrador, 2012).
In the future, tourism research needs to reflect more the complex realities of
individual needs present in a social group than the highly idealised focus on
quality family time (Schänzel, 2010). In particular, the changing role of the
father on holiday needs acknowledgement (Schänzel & Smith, 2011). The
benefits of family capital formation through travel need greater recognition,
especially in light of substantial VFR travel (Backer, 2012) and increasing
forms of extended family travel. This expands to social tourism needing
wider acceptance as a form of social inclusion and a means of extending
the benefits of family tourism beyond the realms of the middle classes
(Minnaert
et al
., 2009). For business, an emphasis on marketing and product
development is necessary in relation to the needs and decision-making
power of children (Blichfeldt
et al
., 2011; Carr, 2011) by giving a voice to a
heterogeneous group of young tourists as the next generation of travellers.
This means that marketing campaigns and products in the future need to
be more creative and innovative to capture the increasing diversity, multi-
vocality and fluidity of families who travel. If business can get it right and
minimise inconveniences for families, success will follow as currently many
tourism operators misunderstand the stresses and dynamics involved when
families travel.
This chapter has shown the connections between a wide variety of
concepts and has thereby presented a more holistic interpretation of the
future of family tourism than has been previously attempted. Significant
