Context and History

Social and historical circumstances are determining factors for the tourist experiences that can take place at a given point in time, and these circumstances thereby also set norms for the general perception of tourism at that particular time. Therefore, such circumstances and the way they affect tourism at a general level are also perceived to play a role to identity construction in the present – in light of the norms that once prevailed and how people’s tourist experiences are related to that norm in the construction of identity. Therefore, a short presentation of the socio-historical circumstances that may have influenced tourism throughout the lifespan of these best-agers will be made, thus including the socio-historical context in which the best-agers’ tourist experiences are anchored in the discussion of identity construction at a later stage.

Weaver & Lawton (2006) have explored the factors that seem to have the most significant impacts on developments in tourism from 1950 and onwards, which corresponds well with the best-agers generations in terms of their travel careers and the time in which they have been formed²⁸: The factors are economic, social, demographic, technological and political, some of which are more complex and wide-ranging in influence. Their relevance to this study will be described in the following.

In terms of people’s participation in tourism, a link to the general economic developments in society has been outlined by a reference to Burton’s four phases

28 None of the respondents explicitly express having travelled before the 1950s, probably because of vague recollections of these tourist experiences for those that might have – respondents were all born between 1942/43 – 1957/58

of a tourism participation sequence, which illustrates the shifts that have taken place in the relevant period when the best-ager segment is concerned.

Figure 3.4

Source: Burton (1995) in Weaver & Lawton (2006:70).

These four phases illustrate the economic developments that came with the industrial revolution in Europe, among them affluence as the main factor of economic development in relation to tourism (Weaver & Lawton, 2006:69;

Burkart & Medlik, 1974:25). The phases relevant for describing the best-agers’

socio-historical context are phases three and four.

According to Weaver & Lawton (2006), phase three in western European countries, the UK at first, was initiated during the post WWII period, and a bit later also in Denmark based on interviewee statements. In this phase, the majority of the population is relatively affluent and travels to domestic and nearby international destinations is a mass tourism tendency. The so-called discretionary time aspect, i.e. time left for leisure activities and rest after work, also plays a role, in that quotas for various activities have changed. In addition, the realisation that more leisure time to consume the goods produced was needed caused a shift in focus from production to consumption, which came

along with the democratisation of labour time that provided annual holidays for all. The annual holiday makes long-haul tourism more accessible to the general population (Ibid.).

For a while now, phase four has become evident in these same countries, which can be seen in the fact that they have moved into a high tech oriented society, in which tourism is also increasingly high tech, and mass participation in domestic and international tourism is well established. In addition, discretionary household income seems as high as ever in these western economies, which may result in increased spending on luxuries such as holidays, and it is a fact that tourism expenditure worldwide has been rapidly growing,²⁹ and that phase four countries are major players in this respect (Weaver & Lawton, 2006). When it comes to aspects of time, the fact that work time has become more flexible in the fourth phase has changed general tourism participation and travel patterns. Leisure time has also increased in phase four and moreover, attitudes have changed from play in order to work to work in order to play, which has given more focus as well as time to spend on tourism activities. Leisure time has become an end in itself (Löfgren, 1999:273), and thereby the focus on consumption over production is reinforced (Weaver & Lawton, 2006:72-74). However, Weaver &

Lawton (2006:74) note that in phase four, in order to maintain a certain lifestyle, additional time may need to be spent on extra work, which may take time away from tourism activities. This is part of the paradox in the work/leisure dichotomy that has a significant impact on tourism.

Part of the reason for exploring tourist experiences in the first place is based on the idea that demographics have changed considerably in the later phases of this development process. As a consequence, the tourist experiences that form the travel career may be influenced by changed demographic circumstances around people engaging in tourism, and they may differ from previous tourist experiences. Besides the actual baby-boom, the number of people in a household

29 Tourism is heavily influenced by the world economy and other global phenomena, and since the global economic crisis is a fact at the time of writing, tourism has also been affected by this in recent months and a decline in tourist arrivals has been noted (WTO, 2009). The influenza threat of early 2009 may also have influenced this decline, and thus deterioration rather than growth is now a fact. This only goes to show the dynamics of the tourism system.

has decreased in most western countries. As women have simultaneously moved into the labour force, thereby contributing to a growing discretionary household income, time and money have been made more readily available for tourism in the family.

Furthermore, life expectancy has increased, which means that life after retirement is much longer and offers more possibilities than before in terms of tourism, also in light of the fact that health concerns have generally diminished over the years for the older part of the population, perhaps as a result of decreased work hours as well. As Weaver & Lawton state:

“From a tourism perspective, one critical issue is how much the retiring baby boomers will continue to influence the development and marketing of tourism products, as well as tourism policy” Weaver &

Lawton (2006:79)

This implies that not only are the baby-boomers an important segment in tourism at this point, but may become even more significant in time because they constitute a sizeable segment, and during their retirement years may have strong incentives to travel, such as time, money and unrestricted opportunities.

Lastly, it is appropriate to mention briefly the developments in modes in transportation, since they seem to have had quite an influence on the developments in the type of tourist experiences that the interviewees within this segment have had over the years. The most significant change is the increased availability of passenger flights and the use of these by the masses for tourism purposes by 1970 (Burkart & Medlik, 1974:24). Figure 3.5 shows this development for German pleasure tourists since the 1950s, the main points of which are a heavy increase in automobile and air traffic, and on the reverse, the heavy decline of bus and railway transportation:

Figure 3.5

Source: Weaver & Lawton (2006:81).

It may very well be that these modes may have changed a bit since the 1990s.

However, they are meant to illustrate the main influence on transportation in a tourism context, in which the best-agers have actually pursued travel. It should give an idea of the changes, the most revolutionary in terms of tourism being the fact that aircraft has become accessible to the general population (Burkart &

Medlik, 1974), making long-haul international travel accessible as well.

Hereby, a short presentation of the socio-historical developments that have taken place throughout the period that these best-agers chosen for this study have travelled, have been provided. In the data material, there are several indications of this specific context playing a significant role to the tourist experiences obtained, and therefore this section will be useful to the analysis of the interviewees’ tourist experiences and the links to their context.