Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
has been awarded far less attention than it deserves for its overall market
share and size. One area of family tourism in which the invisibility of the
family is especially disconcerting is coastal mass tourism (Obrador, 2012);
the invisibility results partly from the general vilification of mass tourism.
Another area where family tourism has been ignored is domestic tourism,
despite the predominance of families with children travelling within their
own countries. In New Zealand, for example, domestic tourism has generally
been the neglected cousin of international tourism (Pearce, 2001) because of
the emphasis placed on export earnings. Both of these shortcomings can be
linked back to the perception of ordinariness and the taken-for-granted nature
of family travel. It is the purpose of this multidisciplinary book to expand
in a comprehensive manner our understanding of families who travel with
children. It results from the collaboration of international tourism experts
and is the first book to disseminate original thinking and research on family
tourism from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. The chapters in Part 1
of the topic provide some context by looking at the social, demographic and
historical trends affecting families and their holiday behaviour before Parts
2 and 3 respectively provide a comprehensive reflection on family holiday
experiences now and into the future, from a range of perspectives. A more
holistic, multidisciplinary, global and future-orientated approach is taken
here to understand family tourism by acknowledging its underlying social
dynamics, fluidity and multidimensionality. What emerges is that family
tourism is far more complex and noteworthy than has been appreciated.
Definition of Families and Family Holidays
This is a pertinent time for a comprehensive consideration of families in
tourism. The concept of the 'family' is itself in question. There is recogni-
tion of the plurality of family forms, to the effect that many would refer
to
families
rather than to 'the family', in that different family members
are likely to perceive the composition of their families in different ways
(Dumon, 1997; Shaw, 1997). Nevertheless, despite the diversity of family
forms, a common denominator is that 'they all serve as
person-supporting
networks
' (Dumon, 1997: 181, original emphasis). Defining 'family' is not
only a complex undertaking for researchers but also a problem that confronts
society with new challenges. The concept of relationships and interaction
between family members is essential to any notion of family and underlies
most literature on family leisure and family tourism. Researching the family
holiday must be considered within the context of changing family structures
and values, and wider societal trends. In the UK, a family holiday is most
commonly defined in the literature and policy as a recreational break of four
or more nights away from home (Hazel, 2005). A more widely accepted
definition of family holidays is that it involves leisure travel away from
home for more than one day undertaken by a family group, itself defined
