The role of charities for social tourism methods; breaking down leisure constraints faced by older people in the UK.
Author: Emily Carter
0 Commentries
Abstract: This conference paper discusses potential barriers presented to older people based on Crawford and Godbey’s (1987) leisure constraints theory. It looks into social tourism methods used by Age UK, a charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for the elderly community in the UK and compares this to the IMSERSO scheme which is publically funded by the Spanish government.
Key words: Social tourism, older people, leisure constraints theory.
In many countries, going on holiday is considered a right and a social norm (Stone, 2013), but for those who find this challenging, methods and provisions should be put in place to aid participation. This introduces the concept of social tourism, whereby vulnerable members of society are enabled to access tourism and recreational activities (Walton, 2012).
Crawford and Godbey (1987) introduced the leisure constraints theory (LCT) conceptualises barriers to leisure activities in three areas. The most important are intrapersonal constraints concerned with psychological aspects which shape an individual's leisure preferences. Secondly, interpersonal constraints are social barriers or interactions with other individuals’ preferences (White, 2008), these are often associated with family dynamics, and the preferences of family members. Finally, structural constraints are external factors that lie between an individual's preference and their participation such as financial resources.
These categories often intertwine with each other, making it difficult to understand an individual’s exact barriers (Gilbert and Hudson, 2000), creating a lack of understanding for caregivers, family members or the individual and challenges to pinpoint changes needed to break down barriers to participation. Godbey et al. (2010) agreed indicating the theory is restrictive in its portrayal of levels to individuals’ constraints.
Haulot (1981) stated without social intervention, millions of people would not have access to tourism and therefore would not receive the benefits. The quality of life and life satisfaction is benefited more by holidays rather than short-term experiences (McCabe and Johnson, 2013), and social tourism methods can provide older people with companionship, increased physical and psychological activity, and horizon broadening such as learning new skills (Medari et al., 2016). Methods of social tourism can benefit vulnerable, economically weak or otherwise disadvantaged groups by participating in tourism activities (Minnaert, 2011), often this is providing financial aid (McCabe et al., 2010).
In the United Kingdom, the limited use of social tourism is provided and encouraged through charitable organisations (Morgan et al., 2015). A charity is defined by law as an established institution for charitable purposes and the institution is subject to the control of the High Court’s charity law jurisdiction (GOV.UK, 2013). Age UK’s charitable purpose is increasing quality of life for older people through research and initiative programmes, they are the largest UK charity dedicated to the elderly community (Age UK, 2020a). This is not a tourism focused charity and does not have a scheme exclusive for providing holidays, but they do encourage tourism due to the various benefits for this group.
The charity website page ‘Holidays & Travel’ shows articles discussing Europe and UK tours, city breaks and activities available for people wishing to partake in holiday making (Age UK, 2020b). Age UK also works alongside Silver Travel Adviser, an award-winning website providing information to over 50s about travelling. Through the partnership older people have access to services designed to make planning and participating in travelling easier, breaking down barriers identified by LCT.
The Age UK Somerset branch celebrated their 70th anniversary by getting involved with the Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards in 2018, a special award was sponsored by the branch for Age Friendly Tourism Business of the Year (Somerset Age UK, 2018). The three winners of the award went to businesses who showed the needs of older people had been considered and encouraged this group to experience their services positively, this award has motivated other local businesses to tailor their services towards older people in the community too.
In parts of Europe, it is governmental responsibility to provide social justice in the form of tourism, rather than charities. In 1985, the Spanish government publicly funded the Instituto de Mayores y Servicios Sociales (IMSERSO) scheme designed to financially support older people who wish to go on holiday (Sedgley et al., 2018). In 2015-2016, 1.132 million people used this scheme, providing stays in coastal and inland areas and improving their quality of life and health (Sedgley et al, 2018); for some of these people, this scheme may be the only affordable method of taking a holiday.
An important benefit of the scheme is that it is offered during the tourism low season. By encouraging the IMSERSO project for local people will not only support the objective for social justice, but also encourage local long-term employment opportunities and benefit the economy through alleviation of seasonality within this industry for Spain (IMSERSO, 2019).
Social tourism is vital for providing older people opportunities for travelling, as they are presented with multiple barriers, as analysed using the LCT. After examining the role of charities in the UK and the IMSERSO project, similar projects should be considered by the UK too or begin providing charities such as Age UK partial funding for set social tourism focused schemes. Although charities are doing respectable work to encourage social tourism, they do not have dependable funds in order to provide long term schemes for the vast amount of vulnerable members of society.
Age UK. (2020a). About us. Available from: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/about-us/. [accessed 4 March 2020].
Crawford, D. W., and Godbey, G. (1987). Reconceptualizing barriers to family leisure. Leisure Sciences. 9(2), 119–127.
Minnaert, L., Maitland, R., and Miller, G. (2011). What is social tourism? Current Issues in Tourism. 14(5), 403–415.
Key words: Social tourism, older people, leisure constraints theory.
In many countries, going on holiday is considered a right and a social norm (Stone, 2013), but for those who find this challenging, methods and provisions should be put in place to aid participation. This introduces the concept of social tourism, whereby vulnerable members of society are enabled to access tourism and recreational activities (Walton, 2012).
Crawford and Godbey (1987) introduced the leisure constraints theory (LCT) conceptualises barriers to leisure activities in three areas. The most important are intrapersonal constraints concerned with psychological aspects which shape an individual's leisure preferences. Secondly, interpersonal constraints are social barriers or interactions with other individuals’ preferences (White, 2008), these are often associated with family dynamics, and the preferences of family members. Finally, structural constraints are external factors that lie between an individual's preference and their participation such as financial resources.
These categories often intertwine with each other, making it difficult to understand an individual’s exact barriers (Gilbert and Hudson, 2000), creating a lack of understanding for caregivers, family members or the individual and challenges to pinpoint changes needed to break down barriers to participation. Godbey et al. (2010) agreed indicating the theory is restrictive in its portrayal of levels to individuals’ constraints.
Haulot (1981) stated without social intervention, millions of people would not have access to tourism and therefore would not receive the benefits. The quality of life and life satisfaction is benefited more by holidays rather than short-term experiences (McCabe and Johnson, 2013), and social tourism methods can provide older people with companionship, increased physical and psychological activity, and horizon broadening such as learning new skills (Medari et al., 2016). Methods of social tourism can benefit vulnerable, economically weak or otherwise disadvantaged groups by participating in tourism activities (Minnaert, 2011), often this is providing financial aid (McCabe et al., 2010).
In the United Kingdom, the limited use of social tourism is provided and encouraged through charitable organisations (Morgan et al., 2015). A charity is defined by law as an established institution for charitable purposes and the institution is subject to the control of the High Court’s charity law jurisdiction (GOV.UK, 2013). Age UK’s charitable purpose is increasing quality of life for older people through research and initiative programmes, they are the largest UK charity dedicated to the elderly community (Age UK, 2020a). This is not a tourism focused charity and does not have a scheme exclusive for providing holidays, but they do encourage tourism due to the various benefits for this group.
The charity website page ‘Holidays & Travel’ shows articles discussing Europe and UK tours, city breaks and activities available for people wishing to partake in holiday making (Age UK, 2020b). Age UK also works alongside Silver Travel Adviser, an award-winning website providing information to over 50s about travelling. Through the partnership older people have access to services designed to make planning and participating in travelling easier, breaking down barriers identified by LCT.
The Age UK Somerset branch celebrated their 70th anniversary by getting involved with the Bristol, Bath and Somerset Tourism Awards in 2018, a special award was sponsored by the branch for Age Friendly Tourism Business of the Year (Somerset Age UK, 2018). The three winners of the award went to businesses who showed the needs of older people had been considered and encouraged this group to experience their services positively, this award has motivated other local businesses to tailor their services towards older people in the community too.
In parts of Europe, it is governmental responsibility to provide social justice in the form of tourism, rather than charities. In 1985, the Spanish government publicly funded the Instituto de Mayores y Servicios Sociales (IMSERSO) scheme designed to financially support older people who wish to go on holiday (Sedgley et al., 2018). In 2015-2016, 1.132 million people used this scheme, providing stays in coastal and inland areas and improving their quality of life and health (Sedgley et al, 2018); for some of these people, this scheme may be the only affordable method of taking a holiday.
An important benefit of the scheme is that it is offered during the tourism low season. By encouraging the IMSERSO project for local people will not only support the objective for social justice, but also encourage local long-term employment opportunities and benefit the economy through alleviation of seasonality within this industry for Spain (IMSERSO, 2019).
Social tourism is vital for providing older people opportunities for travelling, as they are presented with multiple barriers, as analysed using the LCT. After examining the role of charities in the UK and the IMSERSO project, similar projects should be considered by the UK too or begin providing charities such as Age UK partial funding for set social tourism focused schemes. Although charities are doing respectable work to encourage social tourism, they do not have dependable funds in order to provide long term schemes for the vast amount of vulnerable members of society.
Age UK. (2020a). About us. Available from: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/about-us/. [accessed 4 March 2020].
Crawford, D. W., and Godbey, G. (1987). Reconceptualizing barriers to family leisure. Leisure Sciences. 9(2), 119–127.
Minnaert, L., Maitland, R., and Miller, G. (2011). What is social tourism? Current Issues in Tourism. 14(5), 403–415.