Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
geography, R.J.Johnston (1985a:10) argued that 'Academic disciplines exist to maintain,
further and promote knowledge', and this is certainly the case in tourism and recreational
geography.
Figure 1.1 illustrates the relationship between leisure, recreation and tourism. As
Parker (1999) eloquently explained,
It is through studying leisure as a whole that the most powerful
explanations are developed. This is because society is not divided into
sports players, television viewers, tourists and so on. It is the same people
who do all these things.
(Parker 1999:21)
This indicates the value of viewing tourism and recreation as part of a wider concept of
leisure. Broken lines are used to illustrate that the boundaries between the concepts are
'soft'. Work is differentiated from leisure with there being two main realms of overlap:
first, business travel, which is seen as a work-oriented form of tourism in order to
differentiate it from leisure-based travel; second, serious leisure, which refers to the
breakdown between leisure and work pursuits and the development of leisure career paths
with respect to their hobbies and interests (Stebbins 1979). As Stebbins (1982) observed:
leisure in postindustrial society is no longer seen as chiefly a means of
recuperating from the travail of the job…. If leisure is to become, for
many, an improvement over work as a way of finding personal
fulfillment, identity enhancement, self-expression, and the like, then
people must be careful to adopt those forms with the greatest payoff. The
theme here is that we reach this goal through engaging in serious rather
than casual or unserious leisure.
(Stebbins 1982:253)
Figure 1.1 also indicates the considerable overlap that exists between recreation and
tourism. For example, Bodewes (1981) saw tourism as a phenomenon of recreation.
Similarly, D.G.Pearce (1987a:1) observed the 'growing recognition that tourism
constitutes one end of a broad leisure spectrum'.
Historically, research in outdoor recreation developed independently of tourism
research. As Crompton and Richardson (1986:38) noted: 'Traditionally, tourism has been
regarded as a commercial economic phenomenon rooted in the private domain. In
contrast, recreation and parks has been viewed as a social and resource concern rooted in
the public domain.' Outdoor recreation studies have focused on public sector (i.e.
community and land management agencies) concerns, such
