Tourism, seasonality and social change

Abstract

This paper examines various aspects of seasonality in recreational travel and tourism. There is an institutionalized and a natural seasonality which both affect tourism. Since tourist seasonality is subject to change and the appraisal of climatic resources for recreation varies from culture to culture, a historical and cross-cultural perspective is necessary. In advanced western societies a swift change of place and season is possible, so that travel agencies are able to offer particular seasonal environments, which could also be understood on a global scale as ‘space-time packages’. Seasonality is usually a problem for a regional tourist service system. An economically-oriented policy stresses a more evenly-spread tourist seasonality. This may also be beneficial for the social environment and ecological base of a tourist region.