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428 participation, recreation
and use in the parks system of the Canadian
province of Ontario.)
ROBERT J. PAYNE, CANADA
participation see public participation
participation, recreation
Detailed investigations of recreational participation
have now been undertaken at the local, regional
and national levels in numerous countries around
the world. Sometimes at considerable cost, the
national studies have surveyed thousands of people
�usually adults) in depth about their recreational
preferences and participation rates, either in the
form of specialist surveys or as part of wider
`quality of life', health or time budget studies.
The rationale for such expensive social science
exercises is that they provide essential data for
infrastructure and service provision, and that
the promotion of active recreational participation
in particular has positive benefits for community
health.
Examples of these ambitious, large-scale studies
are national surveys carried out in New Zealand,
the New Zealand Recreation Survey, published in 1984,
and the 1991 Life in New Zealand Commission
Report. The first of these used trained interviewers
who questioned 4,011 New Zealanders over the
age of ten about their involvement in 220 activities
over the previous twelve months. The second
utilised a similar-sized sample, but used a mail-out
questionnaire targeting only people over the age of
15 years and restricted itself to involvement in fiftyfour
home and away-from-home activities over the
preceding four weeks. Because such surveys
typically find small overall participation rates in
most activities, it is common to group them into
`clusters'. Thus in the case of the first study, the five
clusters identified were cultural pursuits, sporting
activities, home-based leisure, interest groups and
`other recreational activities'. It is difficult to make
meaningful comparisons among countries �or even
within the same country between different dates)
on the basis of such surveys because different
methodologies and definitions have been used and
the times of recall vary considerably, thus casting
doubt on the reliability of findings.
In addition to the enormity of statistics
provided by such surveys �most of which highlight
the overwhelming importance of home-based
recreation) for most countries, now have excellent
data are available on participation in
individual sports, both in schools and the wider
community. Such data are relatively easy to collect.
Sports participation statistics in particular highlight
the strong influence of hallmark events like the
Olympic Games and the global media in
promoting certain sports rather than others.
However, the publicity given to sport tends to
mask the fact that in any society most people, and
not just the young and the elderly, are not active
participants in sporting activity.
See also: behaviour, recreation; demand,
recreational; need, recreational; recreation
Further reading
Department of Sport, Tourism and Recreation
�1985/6) Recreation Participation Survey, Canberra:
DSTR.
Perkins, H.C. and Cushman, G. �eds) �1993) Leisure,
Recreation and Tourism, Auckland: Longman Paul.
partnership
DAVID MERCER, AUSTRALIA
Partnership is defined as arrangements devoted to
some common end among otherwise independent
organisations. In tourism, this relationship refers to
all cooperative activities sustained between the
private and public sectors, or even strategic
alliances practised within the industry itself. This
concept is not new in tourism development.
Traditionally, governments provide physical, regulatory,
fiscal and social frameworks, as well as basic
touristic infrastructure such as roads, airports
and communications. In turn, the private sector has
been responsible for developing the tourism
industry, covering the whole range of such goods
and services as tour operators, travel agencies,
transportation and communications, hospitality,
restaurants, recreation and more.