Building sense of community in youth vacation camps through staff training: a comparative case study

ABSTRACT

This study examines a sense of community developed by and among staff at two diverse youth vacation programmes. In-depth interviews and non-participant observations conducted with counselors and camp directors at each camp were the methods used by this study to collect data. Inclusion boundaries and episodic distinction are the two themes that emerged from the data. The findings reveal that both camps sought to establish a sense of community through the development and use of rituals and traditions established primarily over an intensive staff pre-camp training week that were integrally connected to the natural context in which the camps were located. However, the contemporary camp emphasized community and natural surrounds as a metaphor for life outside of camp, while the traditional camp tended to emphasize the natural context of community as a respite from life outside of camp.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth vacation camps
• sense of community
• children's tourism
• staff training

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Kevin Lyons is associate professor of tourism studies in the Newcastle Business School at the University of Newcastle. His research has focused upon the role travel and tourism plays in the education and career development of youth. Kevin has also researched volunteering and tourism and considers the ambiguous parameters of this growing social phenomenon to identify how it is best regulated and managed in diverse contexts. He has also undertaken research on regional tourism planning and policy development.

Tamara Young is a lecturer in tourism studies in the Newcastle Business School at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Tamara combines critical tourism theory and cultural methodologies to interrogate the experiential and educational aspects of tourism cultures and their significance in contemporary global society. Tamara is coauthor of Tourist Cultures: Identity, Place and the Traveller.

Po-Yu Wang is an assistant professor in the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan. Dr Wang has conducted research on adventure tourism supply in national parks. He has also undertaken research that investigates the overlap between adventure tourism and informal experiential education.