Index
ATLAS Special Interest Group
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Index
IntroductionIn contrast to perceptions in the 1970s when backpacker travel was associated around 'drifters' who conjured up negative and 'poor image' connotations (of drug usage and anarchy), the backpacker phenomenon of today is an important and growing segment of international tourism. This type of travel has become a marketing as opposed to a de-marketing tool due to widespread acknowledgment of the economic merit of this market 'niche'. This transformation resulted in a shift in research, with the new research efforts focusing upon creating a more contemporary definition and means of classifying this type of traveller and in-depth investigations into the internal and external complexities of this market. This research progression was necessary due to the continued increase in the number of long-term budget travellers world-wide and the need for the tourism research to develop simultaneously with industry and market transformations.
In this context, The Backpacker Research Group was established in 2001 following discussions held among delegates at the ATLAS Asia Pacific conference in Hainan, China in October 2000. Many ATLAS members share an interest in backpacker tourism, and the group now has a membership of 35 researchers drawn from 9 countries. The initial activities of the group have concentrated on developing a network of researchers and compiling a bibliography of backpacker literature. A draft research programme 'The Modern Nomad' has been developed, aiming to analyse different aspects of backpacker tourism and its effect on the backpackers themselves and the places they visit. The first expert meeting of group members was held in Bangkok in July of 2002 to report on the existing body of research and discuss future research directions. The keynote speaker at the meeting was Professor Eric Cohen, a sociologist who produced in 1970s seminal works on 'drifters', recognised to be predecessors of contemporary backpackers. A bibliography of backpacker literature has been compiled by group members, and Irena Ateljevic from Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand in conjunction with Stephen Doorne from the University of South Pacific, Fiji have compiled a review of research in the field to provide an overview of current work and provide directions for future research. The theoretical review together with other papers presented at the Bangkok symposium have been published in an edited volume by Greg Richards and Julie Wilson (2004), The Global Nomad: Backpacker Travel in Theory and Practice. Clevedon: Channel View Publications. A great range of international research papers based in Israel, UK, Germany, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand reveal the complexity of the phenomenon and have raised many issues that need further investigation.
Support for an international programme of Backpacker research has been gained from the International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC) who in the conjunction with the ATLAS members (Greg Richards and Julie Wilson) conducted major transnational study in 2002/2003 of the global youth and student travel phenomenon. The study investigated the attitudes and habits of 2,300 young independent travellers across four continents and findings have been published in the report 'New Horizons in Youth and Student Travel' (free downloadable from the ATLAS web site). The research reveals that today's young travellers identify themselves as 'independent travellers' more often than backpackers - only 20% of those surveyed identified themselves as a 'tourist'. They are still motivated to explore other cultures, but have a wide range of personal travel ambitions including a desire to become part of the multi-million strong international community of young travellers 'on-the-road'. One of the most important findings of this study has been the recognition that youth and student travel makes up a significant proportion of world tourism - currently around one fifth - and is the fastest growing travel sector. Inspired by a motivation to discover, experience and learn, young travellers take more major trips, stay away longer and spend more than mainstream tourists. Parents, educational institutions and employers are increasingly supportive of the value of travel for young people.
Through the efforts of a global network of academics, ISTC and ATLAS have also published the 20-pages Bibliography of Youth and Student Travel Research (also free downloadable report available for ATLAS members). The bibliography provides an annotated list of research and publications on the psychology, travel patterns, motivations, statistical profiles, spending patterns, booking patterns and characteristics of the young independent traveller.
Following the symposium in Bangkok in 2002 the Backpacker Research Group had a follow-up meeting at the ATLAS annual conference 2003 in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands when members briefly reported on their current research projects and outlined the future plans for the group. Our next symposium is planned to be held in Goa, India in November this year (2004) when we expect most of our members to attend. Similarly, as with the symposium in Bangkok the papers will be published either as an edited volume book or a special issue of an international tourism journal.
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Annual review of activities 2006Irena Ateljevic
Wageningen University, the Netherlands
Irena.Ateljevic@wur.nl
No report available yet.
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Annual review of activities 2005Irena Ateljevic
Wageningen University, the Netherlands
Irena.Ateljevic@wur.nl
The Backpacker Research Group has grown from only a few members in 2001 (since it was established) to more than 35 researchers across 15 countries in 2005. The first expert meeting of group members was held in Bangkok, at the Kasetsart University in July of 2002 to report on existing body of research and discuss future research directions. The keynote speaker at the meeting was Professor Eric Cohen, a sociologist who produced in 1970s seminal works on 'drifters', recognised to be predecessors of contemporary backpackers. A great range of around 15 international research papers based in Israel, UK, Germany, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand revealed the complexity of phenomenon and raised many issues that need further investigation. The meeting has resulted in an edited volume by Greg Richards and Julie Wilson (2004), The Global Nomad: Backpacker Travel in Theory and Practice. Clevedon: Channel View Publications.
The second expert meeting was held in September 2005 in the same venue of the Kasetsart University, Bangkok, gathering almost double number of more than 30 delegates. The keynote speaker was Professor Phillip Pearce, a social psychologist who in early 1990s introduced the term backpacker to tourism studies literature. In comparison to the first meeting which mostly served to scope the existing body of dispersed backpacker literature, this symposium has revealed a significant move in terms of recognising two distinctive theoretical trajectories in backpacker studies: 1) industry driven and business oriented approaches; and 2) social science and critical theory informed studies. Whilst many gaps identified at 2002 meeting have been addressed, the Eurocentric perspective and the empirical dominance of Asia and Australasia remain strong. Two key outputs will be produced out of this meeting.
One is special issue of Tourism Recreation Research, edited by Cohen, E. and Pearce, P. Backpacker Tourism. Another one will be an edited volume of Global Nomad II, by Hannam, K. Ateljevic, I. and Jarvis, J. (Channel View Publications).
The contact person for this research group is: Irena Ateljevic, Assistant Professor in Socio-Spatial Analysis, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
N.B. At the last meeting it was also agreed that the coordinating role of Irena Ateljevic would pass in 2006 to Kevin Hannam, form University of Sunderland, United Kingdom (he has kindly volunteered to take over).
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Contacts detailsThe contact person for this research group is:
| Kevin Hannam | |
| University of Sunderland | |
| School of Arts, Design, Media and Culture | |
| Sunderland, United Kingdom | |
| kevin.hannam@sunderland.ac.uk |
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