Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
historical studies have been apparent in the tourism and recreation literature in the
English-speaking and French literature (e.g. McGibbon 2000; Tissot 2000). Yet
geographers have not played a major role in developing the historical analyses of tourism
and recreation demand, with some notable exceptions (e.g. Towner 1996) which are
based upon two important processes of development: continuity in the patterns and nature
of demand through time, and contextual changes as the continuity in tourism and leisure
phenomena is shaped by evolving social, political, cultural and economic forces within
society (Page 2003a). Even where these approaches to the geography of demand exist,
they are not a prominent element of geographical analysis or the interpretations of
tourism and leisure with some notable exceptions (Towner 1996). But as with any form
of historical analysis, it provides the underlying basis, context and explanations of how
tourism and recreation has evolved spatially and through time. As a result, the
interconnection between historical geography and history and the methodologies used to
analyse tourism and recreation phenomena remain undervalued but frequently referred to,
to contextualise the complexity of modern day leisure phenomena. This is reinforced by
the arguments that the past is the key to the present. Such an approach can also question
current assumptions on prevailing interpretations of modern day leisure. For example,
Bayliss' (2003) study of leisure on two Unwin-designed quasi-rural council estates in
outer London in the inter-war period use oral histories and documentary evidence to
reconstruct the leisure lives of residents. It illustrates the complexity of generalising
about inter-war council estates which provided over 1 million homes in the period 1919-
39. These estates were often seen by researchers as social failures in the post-war period,
being desolate areas devoid of community feelings and spirit. Bayliss (2003) showed the
diversity of leisure pursuits in the two contrasting estates studied, the importance of
organisations and social groups in promoting formal and informal leisure, and the
ideology and rhetoric of attempts at social control in the physical planning of such estates
to create leisure spaces designed to promote the enrichment of life, to educate and
promote physical recreation as well as the provision of gardens and allotments. The
results were far from indicative of such estates as social failures as oral histories suggest.
Bayliss (2003) also illustrated how the inter-war years saw the evolution of home-based
forms of leisure demand, as the radio became a commonplace item of mass consumed
media, shaping leisure behaviour and social interaction. Therefore, the role of the
historical geographer and historical analysis of recreation and tourism is a theme which
will emerge throughout this topic in seeking to understand and explain the geography of
leisure-based phenomenon in time and space.
The geographers' contribution to demand-based research: an
overview
Within the recreational literature, the geographers' contributions have often been
subsumed into social science perspectives, such as sociology, psychology and planning,
so that the spatiality and placefulness of their contribution has been implicit rather than
explicit. This chapter discusses some of the key behavioural issues associated with
recreation and tourism demand and some of the new concepts being used to understand
why certain social groups are not able to participate in leisure (i.e. social exclusion) and
how this shapes leisure patterns. The spatiality of leisure has been implicit in much of the
