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Is there a holiday for low income families? Social tourism and the case of Butlins.

Is there a holiday for low income families? Social tourism and the case of Butlins.
Author: Emma Bennett
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Abstract: Holidays are important and bring many benefits, however not everyone can afford a holiday. Butlins used to be a cheap holiday, however today it has become expensive. This paper considers if there is such a thing as a cheap UK holiday and if people on low incomes can access holidays.

Keywords: Social Tourism, Butlins, Family Holiday Association (FHA), Low income.

Holidays bring many benefits such as, health reasons, de-stressing, relaxing and spending time away from home. The most important reason for taking a holiday is to spend time together as a family, this is more important these days as people are working more and longer hours than ever before. Full time workers in the UK are entitled to 5.6 weeks paid holiday a year, however in 2013 7 million people in the UK did not take a holiday away from home.

In the UK affordability was found to be the main factor for not taking a holiday. Low income is classed as anyone earning less than £20,000 a year and is defined as "relating or belonging to people who earn low wages" (Oxford dictionaries, 2013). Although unemployment has decreased, low paid jobs have increased and with the rise in living costs it means people do not have disposable income for leisure activities such as holidays. With 1/5 of the UK's population on low incomes does this mean that holidays are only accessible for high earners? Visit England would suggest this is the case as the social grade AB take 45% of all UK trips.

There are many interpretations of social tourism, Minnaert et al, 2009 pp 316 define it as "the relationship and phenomena in the field of tourism resulting from participation in travel by economically weak or otherwise disadvantaged elements in society". Examples of social tourism range from holiday initiatives for people with disabilities to the development of community-based tourism in economically underdeveloped areas. The aims of social tourism are: for social equity, aiding access to tourism for all citizens and contributing towards the sustainability for the tourism industry.

Social tourism is not as well advanced in the UK as other European countries such as Spain where there are initiatives funded by the government such as IMERSO who provide people on low incomes or who are disadvantaged access holidays. In the UK social tourism is largely dependent on charities such as the family holiday association (FHA) which focus on families living on low income; they work with agencies such as faith groups and deliver around 1,400 holidays a year.

Holidays in the UK have become too expensive and out of reach for many people, an example of this is the holiday camp Butlins. This used to be a 'weeks holiday for a week's pay' and would see people (mainly the working class) flock to these camps near the seaside each year. Butlins was an affordable holiday where you could spend quality time with your family and take part in many fun filled activities. Butlins provided what the tourists were looking for, prices were reasonable, plenty of food and there were lots to do even if it was raining. However in the 1970's we saw a decline in visitor numbers to these holiday camps due to the rise of package holidays to the Mediterranean which had become affordable and easily accessible to many people. In the 1990's there was a revival of holiday camps due to new and improved facilities and a new advertising campaign. There was also the emergence of Centerparcs which is today seen as the 'new' holiday camp and has a variety of activities, however these camps became expensive as the average cost of a holiday at Butlins is now £736.06.

So is there a holiday for low income families? It seems that the once cheap UK holiday such as camping has also become expensive and therefore a holiday in the UK for low income families is no longer available. There are options such as last minute deals or charities such as FHA and also visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism is increasing and is a cheaper option for many. It is believed that because more people are missing out on a holiday the government need to address social tourism and quickly.

A final thought: Is it fair for children to miss out on a holiday? Surely for most of us our happy childhood memories are whilst we were on holiday?


McCabe, S. (2009) Who needs a holiday? Evaluating social tourism, Annals of tourism research 36 667-688

Minnaert, L, Maitland, R and Miller, G. (2009) Tourism and social policy, the value of social tourism, Annals of tourism research 36 316-334

Seaside history (2013) Holiday Camps [online] Available from: www.seasideholiday.co.uk [Accessed: 3/5/13]