Untitled

season and staggering school holidays on a regional
basis.
See also: behaviour, recreation; recreational
need; recreational participation
Further reading
Jackson, E.L. and Burton, T. L. �eds) �1989)
Understanding Leisure and Recreation:Mapping the
Past, Charting the Future, State College, PA:
Venture Publishing.
Smith, S. �1983) Recreation Geography, London:
Longman.
democratisation
DAVID MERCER, AUSTRALIA
Democratisation is the process whereby the
opportunity to participate in tourism, which until
the 1850s was a socially selective activity, has
become available to the majority of people in the
developed societies who wish to do so. Usually
linked to technological developments in transportation
systems, it also refers to the continually
increasing range of destinations, vacations and
styles of travel available to the mass market.
See also: mass tourism; social tourism
demography
RICHARD SHARPLEY, UK
As a branch of the social sciences concerned with
studying the structure and change of human
populations, demography examines birth, death
and migration rates and lifestyle characteristics,
among others, and employs these data to define
social and economic dynamics. Demography draws
upon the methodologies and theoretical perspectives
of economics, sociology, statistics, geography,
anthropology and other fields.
Demography views tourism as a form of
temporary migration. Demographers seek to
understand such issues as the impact of tourism
upon society and the economy, historic patterns,
the consequence of changes in society �such as
ageing population or economic growth) upon
tourism tendencies, the effects of increased life
expectancy and better health conditions upon
tourism patterns and activities, and the effects of
political policy �for example, protection versus
multiple use of parks) upon pleasure tourism.
Demographic data are also useful in addressing the
unsolved issue of identifying underlying motivations
for travel. An effective methodology for
identifying the characteristics of non-visitors to a
destination, attraction or accommodation
also remains a concern of tourism researchers.
A useful tool of researchers, demography is
employed primarily in demand forecasting for
marketing and promotion, and in impact assessment
to facilitate destination development and
management �see also promotion, place).
Numerous factors are traditionally considered in
conducting demographic analysis of a market.
Background data include geographic area of
residence, age, sex, household size, race, household
income �disposable income), education and
occupation. These may be expanded to include
such lifestyle characteristics as tendency to travel,
leisure preferences, media habits, and ownership
of houses, automobiles and sports equipment.
However, trip characteristics �for example, purpose
of travel, activities, length of stay or expenditures)
are not components of tourism �or visitor) demographics.
Primary and secondary data sources are utilised
in developing visitor background data. These may
be collected on an individual basis or in conjunction
with another destination, attraction or event.
Primary data collection requires skills in writing
surveys and designing distribution methodologies.
Problems associated with data collection include
obtaining statistically reliable response rates and
inadvertent exclusion of groups such as foreign
language speakers or economically disadvantaged
persons. Two survey formats normally are utilised:
personal interviews and self-administered
questionnaires. A number of researchers and
agencies subscribe to secondary sources of demographic
data, such as the US Travel Data
Centre, Statistics Canada and the World Tourism
Organization.
See also: marketing research; tourist
demography 139