Can Club 18-30's Holidays be Classed as Sex Tourism?

When talking about sex tourism it cannot be limited to just being prostitutes, it can be interpreted into a lot of terms, blurring the lines. So young people and their behaviour towards holidays it has progressed from just stag and hen parties, which has lead to destinations being able to market themselves as party destinations. (Diken and Laustsen , 2004). club 18-30's holidays are holidays that have a reputation of young tourists visiting destinations for a holiday full of sun, sea, sand, alcohol and sex. It is a known fact that these destinations have all of these as pull factors. It is almost seen as a rite of passage to go on a 'crazy' holiday with friends, as it is something that all young people are meant to experience.

When young people go on holiday they enter a luminal state, which gives them the chance to express themselves in ways that they would normally suppress when at home. Because the tourist is travelling from a place that they know very well they are able to find the freedom and excited by the fact that no one knows who they are. As it gives them the chance to be someone slightly different than the person that they are at home. It makes people act more spontaneously, when talking about sexual behaviour the choices that young tourist make depending on the other person, frequency and attitude towards sex all relate back to the luminal nature of young tourist tourism. This is the case more so for western tourist it gives them the chance to reveal themselves from the social, gender and racial restraints. It gives them the ability to be someone different than their normal self, liberating themselves from their home suppressions. When people are on holiday there is certain level of behaviour that is more tolerated than if they were at home, this could relate to the place in which the tourist falls within the social order or even about their body image, with people who are more conscious becoming less worried and become the person they want to be at home. (Bauer. and McKercher. 2003).

When talking about young people and them wanting to have sexual relations whist on holiday, is not always the case. It is a wide assumption that young tourist all want this from their holidays. When really all they really want is to have a good time with their friends and create memories that will last a lifetime. Girls especially don't want people to hear them, or for their friends to walk in, as there is a lack of privacy, if they were to bring someone back. Also for girls sex is not always just about the physical aspect, they become emotional and attached, which is another reason to why some young tourist don't feel the need to have sexual relation whilst on holiday. From the quotes from the girls within Clift and Carter (2000) they all were seeking attention and wanted affection from someone, it also stemmed from them having alcohol. As the girls go on to say if they did have sex whilst on holiday it made them feel wanted and their feeling towards their sexual partner grew. Thought this is not the case for all of the girls some went on to say that they do what they want on holiday as they can get away with it, which goes back to what Bauer and McKercher (2003) the luminal state, where tourist do things that are out of the norm for them and behave differently than they do whilst at home.

Over all when talking about club 18-30's it is clear that it can be classed as sex tourism as young people travel believing that they are going to have some kind of sexual adventure, this could be from the media influences or even their friends influences. Though this is a generalisation as some of the research showed that not all young tourists go abroad with the thought of having sexual relations with another, but it also states that even though this is that case some of the tourists are having some kind of sexual relation on their holiday. Which I think blurs the lines to the term of sex tourism from what is firstly thought of. As from Clift and Carter (2000) and their interviews with the different girls, they express their feelings and how sexual intercourse makes them feel. And it shows that men aren't as bothered as women. This means that the term sex tourism can be interpreted into all sorts of meaning depending on the person and the context that it is used in. it is not a one dimensional term and cannot be easily categorised.

Bibliography

Bauer, T. G. and McKercher, B. (2003). Sex and tourism: journeys of romance, love, and lust. London: Haworth Hospitality Press.

Clift, S. and Carter, S. (2000). Tourism and sex : Culture, commerce and coercion. 4th ed. London: Pinter Publishers.

Diken, B. and Laustsen, C. B. (2004). Sea, sun, sex and the discontents of pleasure. Tourist Studies, 4, 99.

McGee has provided a vast and intriguing piece of writing in regards to Sex Tourism. However, research carried out is quite old and research which has been conducted more recently could be the opposite of what was being said up until 2004. Moreover, however it is right that Sex Tourism can not only be limited to prostitutes. Though, overall it is hard to decide who is a Sex Tourist.

McGee, has also mentioned Pull factors, this shows that theory can be used when investigating a topic, such as Sex Tourism. However, in regards to this, what are the Push factors of topic?.. Kim et al (2003) State push factors can be conceptualized as factors that urge people to leave the home environment, however pull factors can be described as the features or attractions that draw a person to a particular place. Getz (1997) states "Local residents are also a key market because they represent the highest proportion of attendee's. Therefore in regards to what Getz mentions here, could this therefore mean that tourists travelling to a different destination are not actually the main reason in which Club 18-30 is in this piece of writing described as Sex Tourism, and it is the locals who actually influence this on tourists!

McGee goes on to state "It is a wide assumption that young tourist all want this from their holidays. When really all they really want is to have a good time with their friends and create memories that will last a lifetime" This comment is the only comment in which the tourist is defended. Also when selling an Club 18-30 holiday, the travel advisor would not sell the holiday in order to encourage Sex Tourism to their clients.

This piece of writing has clearly looked at Sex Tourism from a negative point of view. However, it does not necessarily mean that Sex Tourism or Club 18-30 should be investigated form a positive point of view; however it would have been useful and also beneficial to understand this topic from both points of view. McGee has gathered the information in regards to Sex Tourism as a whole, however at different destinations may be known for Sex Tourism more than others. Therefore, is it right in which McGee states "Over all when talking about club 18-30's it is clear that it can be classed as sex tourism as young people travel believing that they are going to have some kind of sexual adventure, this could be from the media influences or even their friends influences."

This piece of writing overall is an interesting piece of work and very intriguing, as previously mentioned further research into more recent years would be comparable with research during 2004. Another item which could have been considered was how and when Sex Tourism begun, it didn't begin since Club 18-30 opened…did it?!

References:

Getz, D. (1997) Event Management and event tourism. New York: Cognizant Communication Corporation.

Kim, Y G, B. K& Yuan, J (2010). Development of a multi-dimensional scale for measuring food tourist's motivations. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 11(1), 56-71

Further research:

Lubbren, N. & Crouch, D (2003). Visual culture and Tourism. Oxford: Burg.

Brewis, J & Linstead, S (2000). Sex, work and sex work: eroticizing organization. London: Routelegde

McGee has written a really interesting paper which involves approaches of great potential in order to answer the research question. The primary focus is upon young people on a certain level of age, who are attracted by destinations where they are able to find their complete expression with regards to sexual interactions. Due to the fact, that their residential area is too familiar, and therefore the risk of other people finding out about - maybe embarrassing - individual sexual preferences, it is correctly stated that such destinations offer a different environment which makes people feel more liberal and forget about their social image as nobody knows there anyways who they are and what they do in their `normal´ life (Tepanon, 2006).

However, I assume to discover a slightly prejudice by the author while reading her text. It is important to avoid morality as far as possible when discussing a controversial topic like sex tourism. Otherwise it would not be possible to draw general conclusions from an objective perspective. Moreover, I would have liked to see a clearer outline of the linkage between the certain kind of holiday making, referred to as "18-30´s Holidays", and sex tourism itself.

An argument of high relevance has been made by both of my previous speakers - the author, and the commentator. It addresses the topic of pull factors, which are supposed to be indicators why tourists pick a particular destination, as McGee pointed out correctly. Nonetheless, they are indeed directly related to push factors, which make tourist leave their home environment as they do not receive there what they are looking for. Within my research on travel motivations of sex tourists I found out, that push factors may be the legal situation in their home countries which is correlated with punishments, whereas pull factors in foreign destinations may be the exoticism of local residents or also the seeming feeling of superiority (Mansfield, 1992).

Additionally, I recognised significant conformance with regards to the behaviour of female tourists who engage in sexual relationships abroad. The inequalities between men and women as sex tourists are quite obvious and caused by their different biological natures. Thus females have specific pre-arrival expectations and rather describe their encounters as romanticism than simply as sex, whereas males have a stronger sexual drive and consider sexual activity as a way of gaining `manliness´. Nonetheless, everyone can be a sex tourists and irrespectively of the gender, they all have the common ground of experiencing a kind of illusion when they sexually interact on holidays (Sánchez Taylor, 2011).

Of course, it is always beneficial to use sources of research which are highly new, and McGee could have discussed the issue better with up-to-date material as tourism changes very quickly. However, due to the high level of controversiality of sex tourism, it is quite a challenge to find good sources written by objective authors and without morality. Therefore I believe, that McGee has put her focus upon the content rather than on the date of the research, which is a sort of handling I fully support.


Bibliography

Mansfeld, Y. (1992) From motivation to actual travel. Annals of Tourism Research, 19(3): 399-419.

Sánchez Taylor, J. (2011) Sex Tourism and Inequalities. In: Cole, S. & Morgan, N. (eds.) Tourism and Inequality: Problems and Prospects. Oxfordshire: CABI, pp. 49-66.

Tepanon, Y. (2006) Exploring the Minds of Sex Tourists: The Psychological Motivation of Liminal People, Dissertation Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

McGee has written primarily about how young people (aged 18-30) feel they have a rite of passage to experience a sun, sea, sand, alcohol and sex holiday, many young people take part in these Club 18-30 type holidays to escape from their parents and to be able to do as they please when they please whilst abroad, "60% of young people taking a holiday with Club 18-30 tour operator live at home with parents." (Sellars,1998). They tend to act in ways they usually would not at home.

McGee concentrates on Club 18-30 holidays and how they are classed as sex tourism and how the media and peer pressure both influence their behaviour whilst on holiday. However could another influence be with the help of Club 18-30 itself as a company and its overseas representatives? Most of Club 18-30 customer's reasons for taking part in a Club 18-30 holiday was to let their hair down and experience the nightlife with friends, away from their parents, and most importantly the freedom of it all. The customers of Club 18-30 often have high disposable incomes and a significant amount of leisure time, Club 18-30 successfully manage to attract this target audience through its being a niche market. Being a former Club 18-30 overseas representative myself, the company often pushed representatives towards encouraging guests to drink copious amounts of alcohol and have a care free attitude whilst in resorts.

McGee also mentions liminality, which is understood to be a psychological condition that permits them to behave in a way that differs from their routine lifestyle, lets them escape from normality and allows them to break the boundaries. Whilst on holiday tourists experience situations that encourage liminal behaviour. Sexual behaviour whilst on holiday changes, which provides increased opportunities for sex. A youth tourist on Club 18-30 holidays exhibiting this liminal behavior, which leads to an excessive amount of drinking and sexual activity (Magdalena, 2010). This carefree environment in clubbing resorts has subsequently raised worry about what youths get up to on these mainly alcohol and sex fuelled holidays.

Many of the Club 18-30 destinations have become like British seaside holiday resorts but with the advantage of cheaper alcohol, better weather and activities, which encourage behavior that would not be acceptable at home. (Andriotis, 2010). These destinations have adapted to attract Club 18-30 customers and clubbing enthusiasts.
The sources of research used by McGee it dated before Club 18-30 had a rebranding in 2008.

McGee states that "It is a wide assumption that young tourist all want this from their holidays. When really all they really want is to have a good time with their friends and create memories that will last a lifetime" Club 18-30 wanted to move away from the sex tourism image they had as they believed young people were moving away from that kind of tourism.

Andriotis, K. (2010) Brits Behaving Badly: Template Analysis of Newspaper Content, International Journal of Tourism Anthropology, Vol. 1 (1), pp. 15-34.

Magdalena, B. (2010) Sex Tourism - liminal behaviour club 18-30. Only young participants in sex tourism?. Available: http://www.tsvc.lincoln.ac.uk/papers/submission.php?paper=5. Last accessed 11/03/12.

Sellars, A. (1998) The Influence of dance music on the UK youth tourism market, Tourism Management, Vol. 19 (6), pp. 611-615.