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Backpackers: The next generation?
Similarly, McCullough (1992, p. 25) theorises that the term “backpackers”
[accommodation] evolved to “move away from the stigma of ‘youth hostel’”.
Ateljevic and Doorne (2000, p. 131) concur, commenting that “the term
‘backpacker’ came into vogue as a description less derogatory than ‘drifter’ and
more succinct than ‘budget traveller’”. But, as asked in the first chapter, what if
the backpackers themselves have come to reject that self-definition? Welk (2004)
has already determined that more experienced backpackers dismiss the term as
limiting.
Has “backpacker” reached its own crisis of definition? The role of nomenclature
is “to assign a set of terms or system” (Merriam-Webster, 1927) that enable
clearer communication. It offers a frame of reference for understanding, but
when that frame overly constricts both industry reaction and academic debate, it
may be time to evolve beyond its limitations.
From an industry perspective, the current research raises questions about what
damage and negativity the term “backpacker” may be inflicting upon its own
industry, and how a lack of lexical (and marketing) sophistication may be
perpetuating a narrower audience and lower financial returns than is necessary.
All travellers – both backpackers and non-backpackers – and most owners
spoken with in this research agreed that the terms “backpackers” and “hostels”
were off-putting to baby boomers. Suggestions were diverse about alternative
names – “guest house”, “lodge”, “independent traveller network”, and “budget
travel lodgings”. But owners believe that the word would be difficult to change.
You could call it something else, but what? You’d still have to use
backpacker, because that’s who you’re trying to attract. What would you
change it to? … It’s been a long time like this, and everyone knows it
(105).
While people in the industry may perceive that “everyone knows it”, the
research suggests otherwise for the travelling public. The baby boomers
surveyed indicate strongly that, while they’d heard the word, it has a negative
connotation. Both the older backpackers (and hosts) interviewed admit that the
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