Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Financially and physically able
elderly people will significantly increase the demand for leisure travel, with health-
related tourism being a significant component of growth in the retired travel market
(Tarlow and Muehsam 1992). Nevertheless, a critical factor in the tourism, leisure and
second home patterns of retirees is not only their time budget but also their level of
income. Growth of retirement tourism therefore requires continued economic growth in
order to maintain pension and superannuation packages. Yet in many western countries
the retirement age is now being increased by government (e.g. New Zealand) or such
increase are being debated (e.g. Germany and the United Kingdom) because of concerns
over the affordability of pensions. In addition, many retirees are continuing to work either
out of choice or of necessity because of the inadequacy of retirement savings (Hall
2005d). Indeed, a further influential factor with respect to demographic change and
tourism is that it is estimated that among the major industrialised countries only the
United States is estimated to have significant population growth by 2050 (Population
Reference Bureau 2004).
TRANSFORMATIONS?
As this topic has indicated, the geography of tourism and recreation, as with the
discipline as a whole, has undergone considerable change since it began in the 1930s.
This is to be expected, since geography, as with any discipline, adapts and reacts in
relation to the society and culture within which it operates (see Chapter 1). The case for
understanding the changing nature of tourism and recreation 'contextually closely
parallels the case made by realists for appreciating all human activity; the operation of
human agency must be analysed within the constraining and enabling conditions
provided by its environment' (Johnston 1991:280). In this sense the environment for the
study of tourism and recreation must be positive given the growth of international
tourism and the role it now plays within government policy-making. Given the
significance of globalisation, mobility, postmodernism, post-Fordism and localisation to
contemporary social theory, it should also be no surprise that many human geographers
and other social scientists are now discovering tourism and recreation as having some
significance for social change. Indeed, the emerging paradigm of mobility which is acting
to link research in tourism geography with that of migration, and is also connecting
geographers, sociologists and demographers, appears to be a research direction
potentially rich in possibilities (see e.g. Urry 2000; A.M.Williams and Hall 2000; Hall
and Williams 2002; Coles et al. 2004). However, previous work in the area is often
ignored while many authors discussing contemporary tourism phenomena, particularly in
an urban or rural setting, seem to think that all tourists and tourism are the same and fail
to perceive the complexity of the phenomena they are investigating.
It would also be true to note that many tourism and recreation geographers find the
discovery of 'their' field by social theory and cultural studies somewhat amusing given
that they have been ignored for so long. Others will also find it threatening given that
their own work bears all the hallmarks of traditional spatial science, excellent maps,
flows and patterns but a limited role for more critical examination of tourism phenomena.
