Research news June 2009
10/07/2009
16:03
Page 19
ResearchNews | Volume 3 | Issue 1 | July 2009 19
Dublin Institute of Technology
Social, Business and Economic Development
Tourism researchers address the Scottish Parliament
In March 2009, researchers from DIT were invited to address a Social Tourism Forum at theScottish Parliament. Jointly organised by the Family Holiday Association and UNISON Welfare, the purpose of the forum was both to raise the issue of social tourism at the heart of government and to explore the various ways in which low-earning families might be helped to access the benefits a break away from home can deliver. Jane Stacey from DIT’s Tourism Research Centre provided an Irish perspective on social tourism, which ‘involves the extension of the benefits of holidays to economically marginal groups, such as the unemployed, single-parent families, pensioners and the handicapped’. She informed the Forum about DIT’s research into poverty, social exclusion and holidaying in an Irish context, funded by the Combat Poverty Agency, and conducted with colleagues Dr Bernadette Quinn and Dr Kevin Griffin, both from DIT’s School of Hospitality Management and Tourism. (For more information on this project see Research News, January 2009, p6). The key contribution of the research is to demonstrate the value of holidaying for those experiencing disadvantage, contributing significantly to quality of life for people experiencing poverty. The research argues that promoting participation in annual holidaying constitutes an innovative response that can complement a broader range of interventions designed to address the complex realities of poverty and social exclusion. The Forum was chaired by Alison Rice, well known travel journalist and trustee of the Family Holiday Association, a registered UK charity which has been supporting disadvantaged families by helping them gain access to holidays for more than 30 years. Also addressing the Forum were Michael Matheson MSP, Chris Maguire Visit Scotland, Luc Gobin Tourism Flanders and Dave Watson UNISON Scotland.
Pictured outside the Scottish Parliament are: L-R: John McDonald FHA, Julie Grant UNISON Welfare, Dave Watson UNISON Welfare, Alison Rice Freelance Journalist, Jane Stacey DIT, Luc Gobin Tourism Flanders, Thea Joldersma FHA, Chris Maguire VisitScotland.
“The key contribution of the research is to demonstrate the value of holidaying for those experiencing disadvantage, contributing significantly to quality of life for people experiencing poverty.”
In addition to representatives of the Scottish Parliament, welfare agents working with disadvantaged families and those with a professional interest in family and social welfare attended the forum. For more information contact: Jane Stacey e: jane.stacey@dit.ie