Reading Group: 4 February 2014

Our reading group discussed: “Understanding attitudes towards leisure travel and the constraints faced by senior Koreans” by Sun Hee Lee & Carmen Tideswell, Journal of Vacation Marketing 2005 11: 249.  The paper came under fire with regard to certain assumptions it made about the importance of travel and aspects of the survey methodology. But this also led to useful discussion about how and why the DEMAND centre might approach this topic differently when the paper exemplified several features widespread amongst previous studies. A number of topics were considered in this regard including: how different forms of travel ‘guilt’ might, according to the cultural context at hand, keep older people at home or push them around the world; how wellbeing and international travel may have been artfully conflated by different industry actors; the importance of considering the very different kinds of trip that go under the banner of ‘travel’; and how relevant parties buy into particular visions of what older people are and from what they stand to benefit. As such it was a useful exercise for Rosie and Russell as we prepare for our own study of post retirement leisure travel later in the year. Thanks to all who came.