Family Tourism

The family, in many countries, is in a state of flux and their vacation patterns have changed significantly in recent years. This book provides a comprehensive picture of the family on holiday, past, present and future. The authors fill a gaping hole in the academic and practitioner literature and this book will be an invaluable resource for students and professionals alike.

-- Tom Baum, University of Strathclyde, UK

This book addresses a much under-researched aspect of contemporary life. Family tourism represents a major aspect of all leisure travel, yet little systematic research has, until now, been undertaken on the various forms of the family and their experiences of tourism. This book represents a systematic approach to the subject and is written in an accessible and interesting manner. I heartily recommend it to all those interested in tourism and in the family.

-- Conrad Lashley, Oxford Brookes University, UK

This book breaks new ground by bringing together a range of well-respected researchers from around the world to delve into the concept of family tourism from their individual knowledge base, so as to develop a multiple disciplinary focus to the study of family tourism. I am sure in a short time this book will be required reading, not only for students of tourism, but also for those who work in tourism marketing and want to better understand their markets.

-- Brian Hay, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK

This book on family tourism is a welcome contribution to tourism studies through its discussion of this hitherto forgotten, but significant market. The interesting collection highlights the pleasures and stresses of family travel, the social exclusion of some groups, and the creativity required by the industry to provide for the family whose structure and requirements are ever changing.

-- Jennie Small, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia

Family Tourism: Multidisciplinary Perspectives provides a concise look at timely and important topics related largely to tourism studies, but also brings in ideas and research from family leisure, sociology, gender studies, and marketing. Professors, graduate students, and researchers looking to update their knowledge of specific or niche tourism topics, or to better understand the interdisciplinary nature of their field, will find this to be a useful text...Overall, the editors have crafted a book of well-written and sourced, timely, and interesting chapters on topics not often addressed in the tourism literature, but that are important issues and trends in the field.

-- Keri A. Schwab, University of Utah, USA * Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 41, pp. 251–252, 2013 *

This is probably the first book dedicated to addressing family tourism issues. As such, it is an appropriate contribution to tourism education and research...this book offers an informative introduction for postgraduates and new researchers who are interested in investigating issues in family and tourism.

-- Catheryn S.C. Khoo-Lattimore, Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, Malaysia * Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 38, No. 2, 2013 *

Family Tourism: Multidisciplinary Perspectives gives a welcome stage on which to examine some of the aspects of the family tourism experience. This is clearly a book that provides a grounding in families and their tourism experiences and highlights a wide array of potential and important future research avenues. As such, the book represents a text that should be read by all those researchers (from Professors to Honours students and everyone in-between) looking at the family in the context of tourism and hospitality. While the book is clearly primarily aimed at the academic research market, the ideas set out within it still represent something that should appeal to the leaders and innovators of the tourism and hospitality industries.

-- Neil Carr, University of Otago, New Zealand * Hospitality & Society, 2013, Volume 3, Number 2 *

This book is an essential read for all in the tourism industry, the public and private sectors, as well as NGOs. Family tourism continues to shape and impact our travel behaviours, decisions, and purchasing patterns. Therefore, understanding and appreciating these ever changing dynamics will allow us to better actively engage with, meet, and respond to the needs of family tourism.

-- D’Arcy Dornan, La Rochelle Business School, France * Annals of Leisure Research, 2013, Vol. 16, No. 2, 175-176 *

Family Tourism: Multidisciplinary Perspectives is a solid starting point in redefining families and family tourism for the 21st century. It provides a workable frame for conducting research into the topic and demonstrates the potential for family tourism studies to inform and influence research in sociology and family studies, thereby improving the status and acceptance of tourism studies in general. It seems well poised to meet its aim of stimulating debate and research into the broad field of family tourism and stands, therefore, as a timely and welcome contribution to the literature.

-- Gary Lacey, Monash University, Australia * Tourism Analysis, Vol. 19, pp. 125–128 (201