Are we dying for a tan?
Author: Adel Free-Medford
1 Commentries
Discussion Paper
Are we dying for a tan?
Introduction
Tourism experiences are predominantly about the pursuit of pleasure for the tourist, however there are considerable risks involved with tourism and travel (Peattie et al, 2005). Risks in tourism have been brought into focus in the last decade with media coverage showing acts of terrorism (Sharm el Sheikh) and health and safety failings (Costa Concordia sinking), these acts are put upon the tourists by acts of others. However, one of the most long term risks of tourism is the risk of sun burn which can lead to skin cancer. This is a difficult issue to tackle in the tourism industry as it is widely recognised exposure to sunlight is likely to result in skin cancer (Cancer Research 2012), yet the 'sunshine holiday' is the main component of the tourism industry. The question is raised does the tourist perceive the risk to be less if they place the risk upon themselves.
Risk Perception
People are much more aware of the short term risks such as being burned by a cigarette than the long term risks of contracting lung cancer. To understand the selectivity of risk perception it becomes necessary to examine other areas of risk which include elements of personal control. What people perceive to be an everyday risk often are the risks which have short term consequences.
The Media: Friend or Foe?
Peattie et al (2005) demonstrates using the titanic as an example that health and safety concerns are only addressed when they are of a large scale and classed newsworthy, they tend to be of a reactive nature and although they do lead to efforts to reduce further risks to tourists such as, terrorism, the potential consequences are associated with remote possibilities. Cartwright (2000) notes that health is major factor in tourist satisfaction, and with sun protection being widely recognised as a health hazard (Cartwright, 2000: Peattie et al, 2005) why is it not being widely documented in the media? Understandably the media are taking the view that skin cancer is not something connected to a particular destination or contradicted at the particular time.
Personal Control
Optimism is a generalised positive expectation for the future. As a generalisation it can be gathered that tanning is a personal choice, it is your body and you control the risks you place upon yourself. Being optimistic and having a positive attitude towards sun tanning will in fact present an illusion to the individual that the future will not hold skin cancer in store for them. Optimism bias is where the individual reduces the anxiety they would feel if they accepted personal vulnerability, adding substance to the argument that people who sunbathe have their head in the sand, with this notion it won't happen to me. There becomes a point then, that personal control plays an important factor in a person's individual perception of risk, the more optimism a person holds the lesser they perceive the risk to be, coupled with the fact skin cancer is developed decades after the sun tan has faded, it becomes easy to see why young people disregard the sun tan as an everyday risk.
Is the greatest danger under the sun?
The risk of melanoma can almost double with one incident of severe sunburn in childhood (Peattie et al, 2005). The sunshine holiday is part of the mainstream tourism industry with the mass market promoting sun exposure as the central point to the holiday. The time lag between the exposure and the development seems to be the general issue that is resulting in a lack of immediate consequences that link to many other health and safety risks. The tan is seen a crucial consumption of the tourism product that is sold, so is it the responsibility of the industry to discourage their main selling point? It is argued that sun safety issues lack the level of publicity afforded to the low probability risks.
Conclusion
Skin cancer is a highly preventable disease; simple behavioural changes to avoid catching the sun could potentially reduce up to 90% of case (Cancer Research, 2012). It becomes about the idea of the risk you are willing to place on yourself. This paper has challenged the notion of the fashionable tan, however evidence still supports that this is the main drive for achieving the 'deathly suntan'. The head in the sand attitude is something that is not going to change, it has been argued that increased education will change individuals attitudes (Peattie et al, 2005) but this paper is arguing not- as even with the clear messages and educational campaigns the positive attitude of its not going to happen to me is encouraging people to head to the beach and into the tanning booth without a second thought for the tan that's worth dying for.
Will you still be wearing the fashionable tan this summer?
Cartwright, R. (2000). Reducing the health risks associated with travel, Tourism economics,6 (2), 159-167
Cancer Research UK. (2012). Skin cancer risks. [Accessed 21.04.13] http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/skin/riskfactors/
Peattie, S., Clarke, P., Peattie, K. (2005) Risk and responsibility in tourism: Promoting sun safety. Tourism Management, 26, 399-408
Are we dying for a tan?
Introduction
Tourism experiences are predominantly about the pursuit of pleasure for the tourist, however there are considerable risks involved with tourism and travel (Peattie et al, 2005). Risks in tourism have been brought into focus in the last decade with media coverage showing acts of terrorism (Sharm el Sheikh) and health and safety failings (Costa Concordia sinking), these acts are put upon the tourists by acts of others. However, one of the most long term risks of tourism is the risk of sun burn which can lead to skin cancer. This is a difficult issue to tackle in the tourism industry as it is widely recognised exposure to sunlight is likely to result in skin cancer (Cancer Research 2012), yet the 'sunshine holiday' is the main component of the tourism industry. The question is raised does the tourist perceive the risk to be less if they place the risk upon themselves.
Risk Perception
People are much more aware of the short term risks such as being burned by a cigarette than the long term risks of contracting lung cancer. To understand the selectivity of risk perception it becomes necessary to examine other areas of risk which include elements of personal control. What people perceive to be an everyday risk often are the risks which have short term consequences.
The Media: Friend or Foe?
Peattie et al (2005) demonstrates using the titanic as an example that health and safety concerns are only addressed when they are of a large scale and classed newsworthy, they tend to be of a reactive nature and although they do lead to efforts to reduce further risks to tourists such as, terrorism, the potential consequences are associated with remote possibilities. Cartwright (2000) notes that health is major factor in tourist satisfaction, and with sun protection being widely recognised as a health hazard (Cartwright, 2000: Peattie et al, 2005) why is it not being widely documented in the media? Understandably the media are taking the view that skin cancer is not something connected to a particular destination or contradicted at the particular time.
Personal Control
Optimism is a generalised positive expectation for the future. As a generalisation it can be gathered that tanning is a personal choice, it is your body and you control the risks you place upon yourself. Being optimistic and having a positive attitude towards sun tanning will in fact present an illusion to the individual that the future will not hold skin cancer in store for them. Optimism bias is where the individual reduces the anxiety they would feel if they accepted personal vulnerability, adding substance to the argument that people who sunbathe have their head in the sand, with this notion it won't happen to me. There becomes a point then, that personal control plays an important factor in a person's individual perception of risk, the more optimism a person holds the lesser they perceive the risk to be, coupled with the fact skin cancer is developed decades after the sun tan has faded, it becomes easy to see why young people disregard the sun tan as an everyday risk.
Is the greatest danger under the sun?
The risk of melanoma can almost double with one incident of severe sunburn in childhood (Peattie et al, 2005). The sunshine holiday is part of the mainstream tourism industry with the mass market promoting sun exposure as the central point to the holiday. The time lag between the exposure and the development seems to be the general issue that is resulting in a lack of immediate consequences that link to many other health and safety risks. The tan is seen a crucial consumption of the tourism product that is sold, so is it the responsibility of the industry to discourage their main selling point? It is argued that sun safety issues lack the level of publicity afforded to the low probability risks.
Conclusion
Skin cancer is a highly preventable disease; simple behavioural changes to avoid catching the sun could potentially reduce up to 90% of case (Cancer Research, 2012). It becomes about the idea of the risk you are willing to place on yourself. This paper has challenged the notion of the fashionable tan, however evidence still supports that this is the main drive for achieving the 'deathly suntan'. The head in the sand attitude is something that is not going to change, it has been argued that increased education will change individuals attitudes (Peattie et al, 2005) but this paper is arguing not- as even with the clear messages and educational campaigns the positive attitude of its not going to happen to me is encouraging people to head to the beach and into the tanning booth without a second thought for the tan that's worth dying for.
Will you still be wearing the fashionable tan this summer?
Cartwright, R. (2000). Reducing the health risks associated with travel, Tourism economics,6 (2), 159-167
Cancer Research UK. (2012). Skin cancer risks. [Accessed 21.04.13] http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/types/skin/riskfactors/
Peattie, S., Clarke, P., Peattie, K. (2005) Risk and responsibility in tourism: Promoting sun safety. Tourism Management, 26, 399-408