Tourism experiences through the eyes of a child

ABSTRACT

Children are viewed typically as unsophisticated or incompetent research respondents. We challenge these assumptions by collecting data directly from 39 children, aged 9 and 10 years, which captures how they experience their holiday destination through ‘real time’ recordings. The findings reveal that children like to be physically active, have freedom and safety to play and make new friends independently. Holidays represent time spent with family and offer an escape from everyday routines and environments. Conversely, children dislike bad weather and queuing in traffic, restaurants and attractions; journeys are spoiled by travel sickness. This paper makes a number of major contributions to existing research. It adds to our understanding of the physical and emotional proximity of tourism experiences within an age specific context. It explores children's views and opinions as articulated by themselves and not adult proxies. It provides ‘real time’ data on tourism experiences, rather than using recollections.

KEYWORDS:

• Children
• experiences
• visual
• pictorial
• qualitative research

Acknowledgements

The children, parents and teachers of the schools participating in the study, and Mei Seong (Joanne) Lei for her support with data collection and organization.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Steven Rhoden is a Principal Lecturer in Tourism Management (Manchester Metropolitan University, Cavendish Street, Manchester M15 6BG, UK). His main research interest is tourists’ experiences whilst travelling.

Philippa Hunter-Jones is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing. Her primary research focus is health service design and the consumer behaviour of vulnerable consumers.

Amanda Miller is a Principal Lecturer in Tourism Management. Her research centres on the experiences of spectators and participants at sporting events.

ORCID

Steven Rhoden http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6509-7347

Amanda Miller http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4005-1593