Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Accordingly, a conceptual framework is developed here that centres on
the holiday experiences of all family members. It moves from an individual
perspective (one dimensional) and a dyadic or gendered perspective (two
dimensional) to a more inclusive triangular family group perspective (three
dimensions of mothers, fathers and children) with its implicit gender,
generation and group dynamic perspectives (see Figure 1.1). This means
that the generational perspective (parents-children) must be considered
alongside a gender perspective (mother-father, daughter-son) and that
individual family members must be understood as part of a group dynamic.
Further explanation of the three-dimensional conceptualisation of families
in tourism is in order.
The tourist experience is currently depicted as an obscure and diverse
phenomenon which is essentially constituted by the individual consumer
(Uriely, 2005). In fact, much of the initial research on tourism was concerned
with the individual tourist and the part that holidays play in establishing
self-identity (Wearing & Wearing, 2001). The figure of the primarily male
tourist is presented as a disembodied and asocial subject who has no family,
no private life, no social obligations, no children, not even any friends
(Obrador, 2012). This has led to a mainly one-dimensional understanding
of tourism experiences, unsuitable for family groups. Gender considerations
have appeared in the tourism literature since the 1990s (Kinnaird & Hall,
1994; Swain, 1995), and a growing body of research on the female travel
experience now attests to the unique needs, motivations and constraints
that women face (Harris & Wilson, 2007). However, the objects of gender
research to date have almost exclusively been women (rather than women
and men
) (Pritchard
et al.
, 2007). There is recognition that an intersection
between gender and other social roles is needed, or true gender scholarship
(Stewart & McDermott, 2004). For example, a gendered approach to the
study of parents (fathers as well as mothers) in family tourism is much
neglected (Schänzel & Smith, 2011) and is absent in the study of children
(boys and girls). And even a two-dimensional gendered approach is itself
unsuited to the study of group dynamics and generational perspectives
in family tourism. Turley (2001) and Carr (2006) recognised that a more
comprehensive approach to tourism research is needed for family groups,
an approach that triangulates the views of children and adults, but neither
offered a conceptualisation of such an approach. In effect, there is little
research on how social interaction and travel party composition intersect
with the holiday experience (Yarnal & Kerstetter, 2005). There are few
generational comparisons in family tourism research (Carr, 2006, 2011) but
what is needed is a three-dimensional conceptualisation of family tourism
experiences that is inclusive of gender, generation and group dynamic per-
spectives (Schänzel, 2010) (see Figure 1.1).
The strength of this conceptualisation is that extended families (for
example ones that include grandparents) could be accommodated through
