Launch of ESRC-funded seminar series on social tourism

Tuesday 5 April 2011

On Wednesday 30th March 2011, NET-STaR, the Network for Social Tourism and Regeneration, was launched with an inaugural seminar in London. The seminar series is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The series is led by Dr Graham Miller and Dr Lynn Minnaert of the University of Surrey, and Professor Robert Maitland of the University of Westminster.

 

Speakers included James Berresford of Visit England, who highlighted the potential of social tourism for the domestic tourism market. Social tourism practices in the UK and other European countries were outlined by John McDonald of the Family Holiday Association, and Charles Etienne Belanger of the International Social Tourism Organisation (Brussels). Benedict Rickey and John Houghton discussed potential regeneration strategies for seaside resorts, and the potential role for social tourism in this process. Finally Robert Maitland, Lynn Minnaert and Graham Miller presented a new model for the conceptualisation of social tourism.

In a series of 6 seminars, NET-STaR will create a network to explore the potential of social tourism as a regeneration strategy in the UK, drawing on scholarship from tourism, family and social policy, regeneration and spatial planning. Social tourism involves encouraging visitors to destinations in need of regeneration, often during the shoulder season, and / or offering holidays to the disadvantaged. Though well-established as part of public policy in much of mainland Europe, in the UK it is largely dependent on the charitable sector. To date, research in the field has been partial and fragmented, originating from different disciplines, and interaction between academics and practitioners has been limited. The network breaks new ground by bringing together academics, policymakers and industry figures to examine existing academic work and debate policy experiences.