Book Chapters by Gill Pomfret
Papers by Gill Pomfret
Leisure/Loisir, Dec 11, 2023
Journal of outdoor recreation and tourism, Dec 1, 2019
Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism
Managing Visitor Attractions
Leisure Studies, 2019
This study investigates families who choose to co-participate in outdoor adventure holidays, and ... more This study investigates families who choose to co-participate in outdoor adventure holidays, and explores how they benefit from these shared experiences. In so doing, it seeks to determine the role of adventure tourism in developing and enhancing family well-being (FWB). Hyper-modern family life for many is powered by technological hardware, each room in the house replete with on-line pleasures, distractions and identities. In response to this dystopia, some families opt to take adventure holidays together. However, scholarship concerning collective experiences of adventurous leisure, in this case as families, is limited. Using a qualitative whole family approach, 15 (adventure tourist) families were interviewed, totalling 62 interviewees (29 adults and 33 children under 18 years old), in their home environments. Four key themes related to FWB emerged. First, families extended their active lifestyles to adventure holidays and repeatedly mentioned the health and fitness benefits gained from these experiences. Second, adventure holidays facilitated unmediated time together for families. Third, parents harboured ideals of positive personal development for their children in these adventure settings. Fourth, making memories during adventure holidays, and recollecting these post-trip, were integral to family bonding. Further research should pay attention to non-traditional family groups in adventure tourism, and to various socioeconomic and cultural groups in this context.
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Tourist Studies, 2019
Limited work has explored the relationship between efficacy and personal constraint negotiation f... more Limited work has explored the relationship between efficacy and personal constraint negotiation for adventure tourists, yet efficacy is pivotal to successful activity participation as it influences people’s perceived ability to cope with constraints, and their decision to use negotiation strategies. This article explores these themes with participants of a commercially organised mountaineering expedition. Phenomenology-based ethnography was adopted to appreciate the social and cultural mountaineering setting from an emic perspective. Ethnography is already being used to understand adventure participation, yet there is considerable scope to employ it further through researchers immersing themselves into the experience. The findings capture the interaction between the ethnographer and the group members, and provide an embodied account using their lived experiences. Findings reveal that personal mountaineering skills, personal fitness, altitude sickness and fatigue were the four key ty...
Growing demand for and supply of adventure tourism activities, particularly packaged adventure ho... more Growing demand for and supply of adventure tourism activities, particularly packaged adventure holidays, means there is a need to understand adventure tourists. At the start of my research journey, the embryonic nature of adventure tourism research and the limited extant literature about adventure tourists provided the impetus to develop understanding of these tourists as a unique group of adventurers. Accordingly, the aim of this programme of research is to demonstrate the empirical and conceptual contributions that my published works make to the knowledge and understanding of adventure tourism participation and consumption. My research ethos reflects an interpretivist approach and my empirical publications predominantly report on qualitative data drawn from interviews and surveys with adventure tourists. The research contribution is achieved through two Focal Concepts. Firstly, adventure tourism participation, i.e.: the different elements which influence tourists to take adventure...
Objectives | 1. To provide insights into family adventure tourists relative to their motivations,... more Objectives | 1. To provide insights into family adventure tourists relative to their motivations, collective experiences while on adventure holidays, and the benefits that they gain from these experiences. 2. To synthesise and reflect on previous research pertaining to family tourists, family recreationists, adventure tourists and recreational adventurers, and the application of this knowledge to family adventure tourists. 3. To develop a theoretically grounded perspective of family adventure tourists in the form of a conceptual framework which demonstrates extant understanding of this market and proposes suggestions for further research. Methodology | The work reviews existing research pertinent to family adventure tourists, and develops a conceptual framework to highlight current understanding of these tourists. It explores three key themes related to the aforementioned objectives. Firstly, it considers the motivations of family adventure tourists. Secondly, it explores the experi...
Introduction The historical development of adventure tourism The sources of adventure The milieu ... more Introduction The historical development of adventure tourism The sources of adventure The milieu of adventure tourism Outdoor adventure and management training Artificial environments for adventure tourism Mental adventure tourism The adventure tourist The supply side of adventure tourism The geography of adventure tourism The impacts of adventure tourism Topical issues and the future of adventure tourism Case studies.
Tourism Management Perspectives
Tourism Management Perspectives, 2012
This study examines the personal emotional journeys that tourists experience while participating ... more This study examines the personal emotional journeys that tourists experience while participating in adventure activities during their packaged mountaineering holidays. It also investigates whether the adventure activities within these holidays provide experiences that they consider to be adventurous. Although an understanding exists about the experiences of recreational adventurers, including mountaineers, there is only a limited awareness of the experiences of tourists who engage in adventure activities as part of packaged mountaineering holidays. Hence, the paper extends understanding of the personal emotional journeys of mountaineers from an adventure recreation to an adventure tourism context. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with tourists during or at the end of their packaged mountaineering holidays. Key findings focus on three interrelated themes. First, respondents perceptions of risk associated with their participation in the packaged adventure activities; second, the contrasting emotions that they encountered; and, third, the "other world" feelings that they experienced.
Tourism Management, Feb 1, 2006
Mountaineering has emerged as a popular form of adventure tourism, yet there is scant research th... more Mountaineering has emerged as a popular form of adventure tourism, yet there is scant research that develops an understanding of its participants. This paper contributes to a theoretical understanding of mountaineer adventure tourists by evaluating previous work on mountaineering, mountaineers, adventure, recreation and tourism. It uses this to develop a conceptual framework to examine mountaineer adventure tourists, the key influences on their participation in mountaineering and their actual experiences during involvement. In this framework a number of influences encourage participation.
Current Issues in Tourism, 2014
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Book Chapters by Gill Pomfret
Papers by Gill Pomfret