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This article explores the cultural significance of family vacations and the role that these vacations play in the social construction of the family. Based on a series of semistructured interviews with members of families living in Ontario, Canada, the article examines the meanings and experiences associated with family vacations for parents of school aged children. Family vacations were seen as a form of escape from the pressures of everyday life, even though they involved organizational and emotional work, especially for mothers. Family vacations were valued as an opportunity for family togetherness and for improving patterns of family communication. Of particular importance was the long-term goal of creating memories that would enhance family cohesion and construct and support a positive sense of family. The findings indicate that the cultural meanings associated with family vacations, at least for these Canadian families, may be different in some important ways from other forms of tourism.

Purpose The market segment of families with young children is significant for the cruise industry in China. This study aims to examine the cruise experience of them and facilitate the provision of family cruise vacation products and services. Design/methodology/approach This study collects online comments on the cruise experience of Chinese families with young children and analyzes the data in terms of text, sentiment and content. Findings The results of the text analysis indicate issues with several dimensions of the cruise experience. But the results of a sentiment analysis reveal that only 56.76% of the Chinese families with young children expressed positive feelings about cruise tourism. Almost one third (30.43%) expressed negative feelings, and the rest were neutral. In addition, by conducting a content analysis of the negative sentiment comments, this study identifies areas where cruise products and services need to be improved. Practical implications Cruise lines are advised to improve the provision of family cruise vacation products and services, such as enhancing physical experience elements, paying attention to human interaction and situational factors and caring for travelers’ personal needs. Originality/value This paper explores the cruise experience of Chinese families with young children, which is currently underdeveloped. A methodology approach including text analysis, sentiment analysis and content analysis is systematically applied to offer a holistic and deep understanding of travel experience. A framework for the cruise experience is proposed, which has theoretical and practical significance. 携儿童出游的中国家庭邮轮体验研究 摘要 目的 有小孩的家庭细分市场对中国的邮轮行业来说意义重大。本研究旨在通过分析他们的邮轮体验, 提升家庭邮轮度假产品和服务的开发与运营。 设计/方法/途径 本研究通过收集携儿童出游的中国家庭邮轮体验的相关在线评论, 对其从文本分析、情感分析和内容分析等方面对数据进行了分析。 调查结果 文本分析的结果表明邮轮体验的若干维度上存在问题。但情感分析的结果显示, 只有56.76%的有小孩的中国家庭对邮轮体验表达出了积极情绪。近三分之一 (30.43%) 表达了负面情绪, 其余的则持中立态度。此外, 通过对负面情绪评论进行内容分析, 本研究提出了邮轮产品和服务需要提升的方向。 实际意义 建议邮轮公司根据本研究的结果改进家庭邮轮度假产品和服务, 如增强身体体验元素, 关注人际互动和情境因素, 关心旅客的个性化需求等。 原创性/价值 本文对目前尚没有进行充分探讨的携儿童出行的中国家庭的邮轮体验进行了分析, 为了更全面深入地理解邮轮旅行体验, 本研究系统地应用了包括文本分析、情感分析和内容分析等方法, 提出了邮轮体验的研究框架, 具有一定的理论和实践意义。 Experiencias vacacionales en crucero para familias chinas con niños pequeños Resumen Propósito El segmento de mercado de familias con niños pequeños es significativo para la industria de cruceros en China. Este estudio tiene como objetivo examinar la experiencia de crucero de este segmento, así como facilitar la oferta de productos y servicios de vacaciones familiares en crucero. Diseño/metodología/enfoque Este estudio recopila comentarios en línea sobre las experiencias de crucero en las familias chinas con niños pequeños, analizando los datos en términos de texto, sentimiento y contenido. Conclusiones Los resultados del análisis del texto indican problemas con varias dimensiones de la experiencia del crucero. Pero los resultados del análisis de sentimientos, revela que solo el 56,76% de las familias chinas con niños pequeños expresaron sentimientos positivos sobre el turismo de cruceros. Casi un tercio (30,43%) expresó sentimientos negativos, y el resto fue neutral. Además, al realizar un análisis de contenido de los comentarios de sentimiento negativo, este estudio identifica áreas donde los productos y servicios de cruceros deben mejorarse. Implicaciones prácticas Se recomienda a las líneas de cruceros que mejoren la oferta de productos y servicios vacacionales familiares, así como mejorar los elementos de la experiencia física, prestar atención a la interacción humana y los factores situacionales, y atender las necesidades personales de los viajeros. Originalidad/valor Este trabajo explora la experiencia de crucero de las familias chinas con niños pequeños, que actualmente está poco desarrollada. Se aplica sistemáticamente un enfoque metodológico que incluye análisis de texto, análisis de sentimiento y análisis de contenido para ofrecer una comprensión holística y profunda de la experiencia de viaje. Se propone un marco para la experiencia del crucero, que tiene significado teórico y práctico.

Purpose This paper aims to explore adolescents’ perceptions of child-parent dominance in family vacation decision-making (FVDM) by investigating child-parent relative influence (CPRI) and responsibility-sharing (RS) within the family in regard to 15 vacation issues. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts Davis and Rigaux’s (1974) framework for identifying adolescents’ perceptions of child-parent dominance across a set of subjects concerning FVDM, by inspecting the distribution of family decision roles across 25 nations. This study then segments the issues regarding family vacations and nations, judging by CPRI and RS within the family. In addition, this paper introduces Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and diverse indices of development for each surveyed nation and compares their respective correlations with CPRI and RS at the national level. Findings The results, derived from data collected in 25 countries or territories, illustrate a climate of a parent-dominant-to-autonomous style of FVDM for all decision issues and all nations. Overall, both information availability and economizing attribute of issues are related to the democratization of FVDM. The relationship between the child-parent role distribution and national clusters varied across issue clusters. In addition, the paper found the national effectiveness more effective than the cultural dimension in explaining the dispersal of CPRI-RS profiles. Originality/value The data collected from 25 nations provide strong evidence for profiling child-parent dominance in FVDM. The data also serve as a basis for analyzing the role of sociocultural and ideological influences on child-parent dominance in FVDM, which was not established in previous research. 子女在家庭渡假决策中的主导地位：多国分析研究 中文摘要 目的 我们针对15个度假决策项目，调查青少年子女与父母的相对影响力（CPRI）和责任分担（RS），以探讨青少年在家庭渡假决策（FVDM）中相对于父母的支配地位的看法。 设计/方法/流程 我们应用戴维斯（Davis）和里加（Rigaux）发表于1974 年的理论架构，调查25国中家庭决策角色的分配情况，从而确定青少年在家庭渡假决策相关决策项目中，子女-父母主导地位之看法。此外，我们根据”相对影响力”和”责任分担”来分别区隔决策项目与国家。我们也应用霍夫斯泰德的文化维度和多元社会发展指数，比较它们与”相对影响力”和”责任分担”的相关性。 结果 从25个国家或地区收集的数据得出的结果表明，对于所有决策问题和所有国家来说，家庭渡假决策属于父母主导或自治风格的氛围。总体而言，资讯的可用性和问题的节约属性都与家庭渡假决策的民主化有关。子女-父母角色分布与国家集群之间的关系因决策项目集群而异。此外，我们发现，在解释”相对影响力-责任分担”侧像的分散方面，国家效能比文化维度更具影响力。 创意/价值 我们从25个国家/地区收集的数据为分析家庭渡假决策中子女-父母的主导地位提供了有力的证据。并分析社会文化和意识形态影响对家庭渡假决策中子女-父母主导地位的基础，在现有的文献中尚未被建立。 Predominancia de los hijos en la toma de decisiones de vacaciones familiares (FVDM): un análisis multi-nacional Propósito del articulo Nosotros exploramos las percepciones adolescentes sobre la predominancia de padre e hijo en la toma de decisiones vacaciones en familiares (FVDM) mediante la investigación de la influencia relativa entre padres e hijos (CPRI) y la responsabilidad compartida (RS) dentro de la familia en relación con 15 temas de vacaciones. Diseño/ metodología/enfoque Adaptamos el sistema de David and Rigaux para identificar las percepciones de adolescentes sobre el dominio padre e Hijo en un conjunto de temas relacionados con la FVDM, mediante la inspección de la distribución de los roles de decisión familiar a través de 25 países. Luego, segmentamos los problemas relacionados con las vacaciones familiares y naciones, juzgando por CPRI y RS con la familia. Además, presentamos las dimensiones culturales de Hofstede y los diversos índices de desarrollo para cada sociedad encuestada y comparamos sus respectivas correlaciones con CPRI y RS a nivel nacional. Resultados Los resultados obtenidos de los casos recopilados en 25 países o territorios, ilustran un clima de estilo de FVDM de los padres en predominio autónomo para todos los temas de decisión y naciones. En general, tanto en los temas de disponibilidad de información como el atributo economizador están relacionadas con la democratización de la FVDM. La relación entre la distribución de roles de padres e hijos y los grupos nacionales vario entre los grupos temáticos. Además, encontramos que la eficacia nacional es más eficaz que la dimensión cultural para explicar la dispersión de los perfiles CPRI-RS. Originalidad/valor Nuestros datos recopilados de 25 países proporcionan pruebas sólidas para perfilar el dominio de padres e hijos en la FVDM. Los datos también sirven como base para analizar el papel de la influencias socioculturales e ideológicas en el predominio de padres e hijos en la FVDM, que no se estableció en investigaciones anteriores.

Extant studies rarely explore macro factors explaining cross-culture variations in adolescents’ social influence in family decisions. This study focuses on adolescents’ influence practices (AIPs) in terms of family and cultural values/regions across 25 countries, using data regarding vacation decisions from the Commonwealth Research Program. Our results show that communication culture and cultural region are both related to AIP clusters and AIP measurement error clusters. Furthermore, a country’s culture/values and its level of socioeconomic/sociopolitical development have stronger correlations with the use of bargaining by female adolescents than by male adolescents. This study adds to relatively few crossvergence investigations in the tourism industry.

Children's and Families' Holiday Experiences is based on the recognition of the active social role of children in shaping the nature of their holiday experiences and those of their parents and other adults. The volume provides significant insights into the holiday desires, expectations, and experiences of children and their families that offer the potential for the tourism industry to plan, develop, and market products that provide a higher quality of service to these populations. This book traces the modern history of the demand for and provision of holidays for children and families. As part of this it examines the nature of the holiday desires of parents and children and the roles society and the tourism industry play in influencing these. It provides an analysis of the changing nature of the holiday desires and experiences of children as they evolve through different life stages and the influence this has on the shape of family holidays. Given increasing concerns about child safety and education, this book examines both issues within the tourism experience. Finally, the book analyzes how the tourism industry caters to the needs of children and families and offers insights into how this could be improved in the future. This thorough investigation will be of interest to students, researchers and academics in the areas of Tourism, Geography and Child and Family Studies as well as the tourism Industry.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to provide a nuanced understanding of Chinese family tourists’ value co-creation by examining three important aspects of family vacation: What do families do during vacation? How do they make meaning of what they do? Do travelers’ role identities within their families play a role in the value creation process? Design/methodology/approach Upon reviewing related theoretical work, the authors undertook a mixed-method study consisting of both survey data and in-depth interviews. Findings The analysis revealed three clusters of family interactional content, including We open and share our worlds, We build knowledge and skills and We co-create and co-evaluate, and five clusters of family travelers, including Outdoor enthusiasts, Socializers, Nature lovers, Culture admirers and Relaxation seekers. Family roles, life situations and destination environments also interfaced with family activity participation and family conversations. A family vacation value co-creation process framework with four propositions was, thus, proposed. Research limitations/implications Further exploration and validation of the proposed framework and propositions which emerged from the findings of this study are needed. Impacts of various family types and relational dynamics also warrant future investigation. Practical implications The results of family interactional and relational well-being facilitated by family vacation are pertinent to academia, industry and public policy-making. Social implications Family vacation can be a positive intervention for the creation of family value and a means of meaning-making. Programs that integrate multiple family roles and address family-level value propositions would be collectively enriching. Originality/value The current study initiated a pioneering investigation by providing a depiction of how family travelers experience and make sense of a shared tourism experience, along with their value perceptions in such a co-created consumptive scenario.

Exhibiting evidence of the applicability of scales developed in one society to other societies is a critical issue in establishing the general models of consumer behavior. This study investigates the measurement model of adolescent influence tactics with their parents in family vacation decision making in 19 societies. By conducting a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, adolescent influence behavior emerges in a refined and validated model of four subscales indicating its construct equivalence across societies. Procrustes rotation assessing the similarity of each society’s factor structure reveals a substantial degree of metric equivalence. Moreover, the original measures of influence tactics were relatively free from cross-cultural response bias, achieving the necessary degree of scalar equivalence. Our findings not only furnish future empirical research with cross-societal evidence of the generalized model of measuring adolescent influence behaviors but also highlight the participative role that adolescents play in family vacation decisions.

PurposeDrawing on a qualitative study approach using data collected from children in a primary school in Marmaris, Turkey, this study aims to intend to understand children’s vacation perceptions and preferences.Design/methodology/approachStudents were asked to write a short composition describing where they would love to go for vacation (either in Turkey or abroad), why they would choose that destination(s) in particular and what they would do while on vacation. A task-based research technique was adopted, which is more adequate for research involving children participants. A total of 103 compositions were collected and a thematic content analysis was conducted. This approach has been widely used in tourism and hospitality research.FindingsThe findings revealed that children can clearly express their perceptions and preferences with regard to leisure activities. The majority of children wanted to visit overseas destinations (specifically, the USA, Germany and France), while a significant portion preferred local destinations within Turkey (specifically, Istanbul and Antalya). The desire for recreation and holiday, exploring new places and trying local foods and visiting families and relatives were identified as key travel motivations.Originality/valueA key contribution of the current study lies in the fact that it adds to a research stream that shifts attention to insights gained directly from children rather relying on parents as a proxy. The paper has some theoretical and empirical implications.

Purpose Surprise family vacations have become increasingly prevalent in today’s digitally mediated consumer culture. Drawing on a performance-based view of tourism, this paper aims to explore the performance practices and embodied experiences by which young consumers are the recipients of last-minute surprise vacations. Design/methodology/approach YouTube offers a space for examining surprise family vacations, as captured in real time by consumers. The visual elements and verbal discourses of 139 surprise family vacation reveal videos were analyzed using a hermeneutical approach. Findings Findings suggest that surprise family vacations are characterized by three performance practices in which embodied tensions arise between normative expectations and unanticipated experiences: executing the reveal (scripted act versus improvised act), announcing the destination (absolute ideal versus relative ideal) and reacting to the surprise (initial acceptance versus initial rejection). Research limitations/implications By exploring a phenomenon in which children’s anticipation for a vacation is largely absent or limited, surprise family vacations reveal culturally idealized norms and performative practices in family tourism. Positioning a family vacation as an offering or surprise for the children is distinct from previous research, which suggests family vacations are co-created. Children of all ages experience tourism-related stresses and anxieties. Practical implications The primary practical contribution for marketers lies in revealing how the material and performative practices of a family vacation begins even before a family enters its tourist destination. Service providers and retailers may provide offerings for families to support surprise family vacations, particularly in an increasingly digital culture. This study also reveals opportunities for parents to strategically discuss surprise vacations with their kids. Originality/value This study captures the liminal moment in which a child’s tourism journey begins. By using YouTube as a resource for digital ethnography, researchers can better understand how families discuss, negotiate and mediate tourism-oriented concepts, through their lived experiences.