Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
migration, such as mobile professionals (Favel, 2008; Fechter, 2007; Fechter and Walsh, 2010;
S. Scott, 2006; Stone and Stubbs, 2007; Wash, 2009), which are not discussed here. This
chapter focuses on the growing body of literature on the subject of IRM and attempts to
address the main topics of research in this fi eld as wel l as to provide some refl ections regarding
future directions for research.
Geographies of tourism and migration
Tourism has greatly infl uenced the development and extension of the many manifestations of
lifestyle migration, including IRM. Previous tourist visits to the destinations were reported
as the main prior connection to the area in most studies on IRM (Casado-Diaz
et al.
, 2004),
as was the purchase of second homes as a stepping stone towards permanent or seasonal retire-
ment migration (Hall and Müller, 2004; Müller, 2002d; Williams
et al.
, 2000). Mass tourism
developments in southern Europe (see Anton Clavé,
Chapter 28
in this volume) provided the
necessary infrastructure in terms of services and amenities that made the areas attractive to
future migrants, while friends and relatives who were already living in the destination infl u-
enced eventual decisions to migrate to the area on a seasonal or permanent basis (Gustafson,
2002; Rodriguez, 2001; Williams
et al.
, 2000). Similarly, this consumption-led mobility has
generated important reciprocal fl ows of visiting friends and relatives, exemplifying the re-
inforcing links between tourism and migration in later life (Williams and Hall, 2002).
In the majority of cases, before an elderly couple decides to migrate to another country,
they have usually spent time in the favoured area as tourists or workers, and to some extent
have become acquainted with the lifestyle, making it easier to integrate when they decide to
settle on a more permanent basis (Williams
et al.
, 2000). Thus the processes of international
mass tourism and second-home developments have strongly infl uenced the fl ows of interna-
tional retirees within Europe, emphasising the importance of these conditioning pathways
(Casado-Diaz, 2001; Müller, 2002d; Rodriguez, 2001; Williams and Hall, 2002; Williams
et al.
, 2000).
Similarly, some authors have argued that migrant networks become part of the process of
defi ning the search spaces of other potential migrants through 'visiting friends and relatives'
tourism, while the existence of an established expatriate community reduces the barriers to later
rounds of retirement migration (Williams
et al.
, 2000: 35). Indeed, touring in the adopting
country and abroad, and return visits to the country of origin, are a strong feature of the life-
styles of mostly younger retirees, while transportation and communication developments
enable them to actively maintain the social ties back in their countries of origin through their
own visits and by making visits from friends and relatives also possible. However, it is also
argued that the circulation between multiple homes and more seasonally based amenity-seeking
international moves might become an alternative to permanent migration (Gustafson, 2001;
Flognfeldt, 2002; Williams and Hall, 2002). Retired migrants become in this way a truly 'trans-
national' community (Bozic, 2006; Casado-Diaz, 2009; Gustafson, 2001, 2008; O'Reilly,
2000).
As well as the individual motivations, a series of historical developments and material
conditions have enabled growing numbers of lifestyle migrants to participate in these forms
of contemporary mobility. Several determinants explain the rise of IRM in Europe: an
increase in life expectancy, rising incomes and affl uence, innovations in transportation and
communications, the initial relatively lower cost of living and properties in southern
Mediterranean countries and the familiarity of travelling, working and owning a second
home abroad (Williams
et al.
, 2000). This historical context opened up the 'mental maps' of
