Gareth Shaw

Tourist group holiday decision-making and behaviour: the influence of children

Abstract This paper examines the influence children have on the behaviour of tourist parties while on holiday. It argues that the role of children has been under-researched and under-valued. A diary based space-time budget survey was used to collect information on the activities of 143 tourist parties staying in Cornwall, England, for a period of at least one week. The paper stresses the role of group decisions in purchasing tourism products while on holiday and the contrasting needs of two or more generations. Children were found to influence the behaviour of tourist parties either through their physical needs (e.g. arrangement of meal times, need for sleep) or through their ability to negotiate with parents. The results suggest the need for theories sensitive to the influence of group decision-making and the ability of children to influence group behaviour.

From Tourist to Tourism Entrepreneur, from Consumption to Production: Evidence from Cornwall, England

There has been little research on the social and cultural aspects of tourism entrepreneurship. In this paper the social routes to tourism entrepreneurship are investigated, with emphasis on two major channels—those of the ex-employer and the ex-employee. Data are reported from a case study of Cornwall where 411 firms were interviewed as part of a stratified sample, representing different local economic environments and different sectors of tourism. An analysis of previous occupational experience and of access to capital only provides a partial explanation of entrepreneurship in Cornish tourism. Further analysis of business motivations and of migration patterns reveals an important dimension of noneconomic decisionmaking. This raises questions as to whether tourism entrepreneurship can be seen as a form of consumption rather than production and to its relationship with the entrepreneurial middle class as a whole.

Tourism and economic development : Western European experiences

Tourism and development - introduction, Allan M. Williams and Gareth Shaw Western European tourism in perspective, Allan M. Williams and Gareth Shaw Spain - the phenomenon of mass tourism, Manuel Valenzuela Italy - multi-faceted trourism, Russell King Greece - prospects and contradictions of tourism in the 1980s, Lila Leonidou Portugal - market segmentation and regional specialization, Jim Lewis and Allan M. Williams Switzerland - structural change within stability, Andrew W. Gilg Austria - contrasting tourist seasons and contrasting regions, Friedrich Zimmermann The United Kingdom - market responses and the public policy, Gareth Shaw et al France - the changing character of a key industry, John Tuppen West Germany, Peter Schell The Netherlands - tourist development in a crowded society, David Pinder tourism policies in a changing economic environment, Allan M. Williams and Gareth Shaw Scandinavia - challenging nature in Norway, Knut S. Brichmann and Morten Huse.

Disability, holiday making and the tourism industry in the UK: a preliminary survey

Abstract The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act has focussed attention on the tourism industry in the UK. More specifically, national tourism agencies are promoting the Act within the context of the economic potential of disabled tourist. This paper, based on a pilot study of disabled people, argues that the needs of the disabled are far more complex than is currently being debated. It also argues for research on the disabled tourist to be part of wider studies of disability that encompass the social model of disability. The findings from the survey also point to close similarities with other studies of marginal tourists, at least in terms of the meanings attached to holidays.

Revisiting Time—Space Diaries: An Exploratory Case Study of Tourist Behaviour in Cornwall, England

In this paper we examine the potential contribution of time-space diaries to the analysis of tourism behaviour. We pay particular attention to how such diaries can provide insights into activities and tourism activity spaces which are not available from tourism ‘snapshot’ questionnaire surveys. These arguments are illustrated by the results of a time-space diary survey undertaken in Newquay, Cornwall, with which we explore differences in activities and activity spaces related to the types of accommodation used, occupational and family structures, diurnal and intradiurnal variations.

Selling Self-Service and the Supermarket: The Americanisation of Food Retailing in Britain, 1945-60

This article explores the early origins and growth of the supermarket in Britain. In doing so, it focuses on a number of themes, including the transfer of ideas of selling from America, and how such ideas were modified by the conditions operating in early post-war Britain. Within this context, emphasis is given to the role of individuals, commercial associations and the state in promoting the benefits of self-service. The research is based on a detailed reading of the trade press and the minute books of various retailers that now comprise the business archives of Somerfield plc.

Sun, Sand and Sales: Enclave tourism and local entrepreneurship in Indonesia

This paper examines the operation and function of resort enclaves in the context of Third World tourism. The emergent linkages and inevitable tensions which develop between external capital and local entrepreneurship are examined through case studies of Indonesian resort enclaves on the islands of Bali, Lombok and Pulau Bintan in the Riau archipelago. The authors argue that the whole notion of enclavity is inherently unsustainable, marginalising local entrepreneurs and widening the economic, cultural and social gaps which already exist between hosts and guests.

The geography of tourism production: Uneven disciplinary development?

Production has been a relatively neglected area of research within tourism, in contrast to the notable advances made in adjoining disciplines such as economic geography. A review of the trajectory of tourism development in the UK provides insights into how changes in consumption, in scale and ownership, and in the geographical organization of production are leading to new supply-side structures. There have been attempts to advance theoretical understanding and empirical knowledge of some aspects of the changing geography of tourism production, notably in respect of globalization, labour markets, firm structures, information technology and restructuring. However, there are more gaps than areas of advancement in this research frontier, and this provides the basis for outlining a future research agenda.

Sustainable Lifestyles: Sites, Practices, and Policy

Proenvironmental behaviour change remains a high priority for many governments and agencies and there are now numerous programmes aimed at encouraging citizens to adopt sustainable forms of living. However, although programmes for addressing behaviour change in and around the home are well developed, there has been significantly less attention paid to activities beyond this site of practice. This is despite the environmental implications of consumption choices for leisure, tourism, and work-related activities. Through focusing on sites of practice as a key framing device, this paper uses data from a series of in-depth interviews to identify three major challenges for academics and practitioners concerned with understanding and promoting more environmentally responsible behaviour. First, attention must shift beyond the home as a site of environmental practice to consider the ways in which individuals respond to exhortations towards ‘greener’ lifestyles in other high-consumption and carbon-intensive settings, Second, in broadening the scope of environmental practice, policy makers need to revisit their reliance on segmentation models and related social marketing approaches. This is in the light of data that suggest those with strong environmental commitments in the home are often reluctant to engage in similar commitments in other sites of practice. Third, researchers and policy makers therefore need to move beyond the traditional ‘siting’ of environmental practice towards a spatially sophisticated conceptualisation that accounts for the multiple settings of consumption through mapping the relationships that exist between sites of practice.

Firm formation and operating characteristics in the Cornish tourist industry — the case of Looe

Abstract G. Shaw and A. Williams, of Exeter Universitys Geography Department, examine the organization of the tourism industry in the county of Cornwall, UK, taking the town of Looe in south-east Cornwall as a specific example. Factors considered include the way in which tourism businesses are set up, how they obtain their start-up capital and the types of person involved.