Host-children of tourism destinations: systematic quantitative literature review

ABSTRACT

Although it is estimated that 19 million children are engaged in the tourism industry, our knowledge of child labour issues within tourism is highly limited. This paper systematically and quantitatively reviewed interdisciplinary research on host-children, aiming to identify the extent of scholarly attention. The work sought to map the trajectory of existing literature and identify whether, and if so, how host-children were included in research. The review revealed that within the limited host-children studies, child sex workers have received the most attention whereas issues relating to other child labourers have been neglected. Additionally, this review identified that the subjective dimensions of tourism impacts on host-children have been overlooked and limited studies have actually reflected children's voice in the research. Based on these findings, the directions for future research on host-children are recommended.

KEYWORDS:

• Host-children
• child labourers
• children in tourism
• children's perspective
• children's voice
• systematic quantitative literature review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Mona Ji Hyun Yang is a Doctoral candidate in Tourism, Hotel and Sports Management at Griffith University. She holds a degree of Bachelor of Business with Honours in International Tourism from Griffith University. Mona’s research interest is children, particularly from Asian perspectives. She has co-published two journal articles on Malaysian-Chinese and European family holidays in Young Consumer and Journal of China Tourism Research. In addition, Mona presented at the renowned international tourism conference, CAUTHE 2016 and CTS 2019. Currently, for her doctoral thesis, she is exploring the quality of life of children in host-countries.

Elaine Chiao Ling Yang is a Lecturer in the Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management, Griffith University. Elaine’s research interest is in Asian tourism, gender, solo consumer and tourist risk perception. Elaine has co-published two edited books on Asian tourism. Her works have also been published in Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research and Current Issues in Tourism. Elaine is an editorial board member of Tourism Management Perspectives and Annals of Leisure Research. Elaine has been identified as an Emerging Tourism Scholar by e-Review of Tourism Research. She is a proud volunteer administrator of Women Academics in Tourism (WAiT).

Catheryn Khoo-Lattimore is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management, Griffith University. Catheryn’s current research interest is in tourist and guest behaviour, with a passionate focus on women, families and young children. She is also particularly interested in understanding these segments from an Asian perspective, and how Asian tourists’ travel experience and behaviours differ cross-culturally. Catheryn is Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Management Perspectives and serves on the editorial boards of several other tourism and hospitality journals. She is Second Vice-Chair of the Council for Australasian Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE). She is also the founder and chair of Women Academics in Tourism (WAiT).

ORCID

Mona Ji Hyun Yang http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4049-7344

Elaine Chiao Ling Yang http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5245-1688

Catheryn Khoo-Lattimore http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2858-870X

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.