Who takes 'traditional' family holidays?

Abstract - Social tourism is an extensive topic within tourism and an interest in which type or categories of people visit the seaside as a ‘traditional’ family holiday is focused on within this discussion paper. Social tourism can be seen as a type of tourism practiced by low-income group and which is affordable and facilitated independently whilst being distinguished as a recognised service.

Keywords- Social Tourism, Traditional holiday, British Seaside, Income, Demographic trends

Who takes ‘traditional’ family holidays?

The decline in the ‘traditional’ family holiday can be seen to follow the decline of the ‘traditional’ family and can have the possibility of contributing to the short fall in numbers. There appears to be within demographic trends that there are changes in the structures in society leading to more complex family models such as; higher rates of divorce, more single parents and diversity in sexual orientation, which have therefore impacted on the traditional family appear to show that there is an increasing number in single parents and blended families (Robinson et al., 2013). So it can be fair to question whether the ‘traditional’ family holiday still exists or has visiting the British seaside differed for another purpose?

The seaside holiday was known as a British creation, which by the mid twentieth century, a collective experience for families, individuals and children looked forward to (Ferry, 2009). Going on a holiday at a British seaside was highly related to a family with a low income or as such a working-class employee (Voase, 1995) and an insight to whether this connection still exists is explored. Domestic tourism within seaside resorts in Britain has had an overall fall in the market share and in relation to ‘traditional’ holidays to the seaside (Middleton, 2007).

As a result of data and research, it can be projected that there is a decline in the numbers of people visiting the seaside, or families taking holidays to the British seaside and opting to travel abroad. This may for well be true, however does this mean the British seasides are empty? Although there is further data which on the contrary claims the seaside resorts of Britain are still a large industry and surveys show that travel trends have moved towards people visiting and spending within the resorts as well as occasionally staying overnight (Beatty et al., 2010).

Primary research was undertaken to observe the movement of the British seasides and an interest of knowing who actually goes to the seaside was exposed. It was completed through observations at two of Britain’s accepted seaside resorts; Southend-on-sea and Skegness. This will determine an idea of who is visiting each seaside resort in today’s society, and with conversation to people allowed a further in-depth knowledge of their purpose of visit.

Findings of the research demonstrated that attractions at the seaside resorts have been a key factor and motive in driving tourists to visit the area as well as visiting the resort for a day trip. A diverse culture attends these destinations and a mutual agreement demonstrated that people participated in common traditional seaside resort activities, and described the purpose of travel to the seaside, whilst delivering opinions and thoughts from the individuals. Further results acknowledged the characteristics of individuals who attended the seaside and highlighted common features. Addition to this primary research, an analysis of travel websites was carried out to examine consumer comments and witnessed what was detailed about their visit to a wide variety of seaside resorts. Overall whilst inspecting the reviews it can be seen that a vast amount of the comments reflected on the events of an individuals ‘day out’.

The ‘traditional’ family holiday it is referring to families going to a British seaside in order to spend their holiday period. It can be seen in today’s society that family holidays are now reaching out to a variety of different locations around the world and consisting of diverse activities including exotic travels, adventure tourism and so on (Holden, 2006). It can be concluded that the ‘traditional’ family does yet still exist, however not completely to the term of a holiday but as a day trip or spontaneous decision. The social profile of the type of individual who visits the seaside for a holiday or day trip varies, however it can be categorised to the individuals who are on a lower income.

Three Key References -

ABTA. (2013) Travel Trends Report 2013. [online] ABTA Travel Association. Available from: http://67d8396e010decf37f33-5facf23e658215b1771a91c2df41e9fe.r14.cf3.rackcdn.com/publications/Travel_trends_report_2013.pdf [Accessed 25th March 2014].

Beatty, C., Fothergill, S., Gore, T. and Wilson, I. (2010) The Seaside Tourist Industry in England and Wales: Employment, economic output, location and trends. Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, 1-67.

Hazel, N. (2005) Holidays for children and families in need: an exploration of the research and policy context for social tourism in the UK. Children and society, 19 (3) 225-236.

The reason this paper was chosen to conduct a commentary on is because my conference paper was also about social tourism, focusing on low income families in the UK and their struggle to have a holiday. Although the paper is not directly related, it does concern a type of holiday that does appeal to low income families therefore I have some background knowledge on the topic.

Firstly, this paper is well structured with a clear argument. It highlights the reason for the decline of the traditional family holiday, which is due to changes within the structure of society and the within the family unit itself. Research does show that there has been a decline in the nuclear family (typically a married mother and father with children) and a rise of alternative forms of family including single parent families and families where children are taken care of by guardians or step parents (Carr, 2011). The change in the traditional family does affect whether or not they chose a ‘traditional’ family holiday.

This paper recognises that low income families are one of the most likely groups to take a traditional family holiday. Findings from my own paper revealed that there are a number of barriers affecting low income families. These are more prominent in today’s society compared with recent years, due to different factors for example, the economic climate.

The author’s primary research is useful in consolidating the argument and adds originality to their work. The research presents some interesting findings. In particular, the author found that a day out was a common trend among tourists visiting the seaside. This is interesting and shows that the seaside has now become more of a day trip as opposed to a holiday. As well as this, it is important to note that people still embraced the common traditional seaside resort activities and shows this is clearly still an important part of the traditional family holiday.

Furthermore the paper explores the idea that family holidays now reach out to a vast amount of alternative destinations around the world. Statistics show that if people are able to take a holiday abroad it will be instead of a holiday within England (VisitEngland, 2013). This correlates with findings from this paper and shows that a holiday to the British seaside is not as popular as it was once.

As a way of improvement to the paper, the author could have included exactly what type of people the primary research revealed visited the seaside, other than just those on a low income. There could have been further classification of whether the majority were families or couples, and of what ages. This would have provided further insight into the topic. Additionally, the paper could have used more clarity with linking the topic to the conference strand. Overall the paper highlights some important points and shows a clear understanding of the impacts affecting the traditional family holiday which have therefore resulted in a change to this holiday type.

References

Carr, N (2011) Children’s and Families’ Holiday Experiences, USA: Routledge

VisitEngland (2013) The Staycation: 2012 & Beyond, [online], available from: http://www.visitengland.org/Images/Staycation%20Feb%202013%20Debrief_for%20website_tcm30-37097.pdf [accessed: 05/05/2014]