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490 recreation business district
tions arising from his study are `sociopsychological'
in origin and closely match those defined elsewhere
for recreationists. Indeed, the general categories of
recreation motives enacted through tourism may
explain much of the push factors in tourist
motivation �escape, relaxation, prestige and
social interactions), while `cultural' motives �novelty
and education) may help explain pull
factors shaping specific destination choice �see
push±pull factors). While motivation is multifaceted
and may change over the course of a single
trip, Crompton cautions that much tourism may
thus simply be diversionary and destinationspecific.
Several contributions on `recreational
travel' represent a deliberate integration, and again
reinforce the `push' �in terms of `seeking' personal
and interpersonal rewards) and `pull' �`escaping'
personal and interpersonal environments) motives
for travel. The common goal is the re-creation or
restoration of the individual.
Leiper's �1995) work follows a similar vein. He
advocates that tourism is `a special form of
leisure', albeit with some dimensions that raise it
above daily recreation. In his analysis, the physical
nature of withdrawal and return and the strong
temporal and physical demarkers of touristic
movements �departure, travel to and travel from
destinations, and return) promote this heightened
distinction. Moore et al. �1995) further advance
the argument for a behavioural approach to the
study of recreational travel �that is, tourism) as a
contemporary career among one of everyday
life's central `planes'. The other central planes of
contemporary life �at least in the developed world)
are family and work, each with its own career
structure. Others have argued that both satisfactory
recreation and tourism experiences require a
match between existential �subjective reality:
personal evaluations) and structural �environmental
or structural reality: industry programming)
elements, and this remains an important caveat
for tourism developers and providers of services to
tourists.
While the debate about recreation and tourism
will continue, there can be little doubt that
recreational activity is a central construct in tourist
choice and decision making. Thus the interrelationships
between leisure, recreation and tourism
seem set to continue to occupy a central place
in tourism �and recreation) research for some time,
whatever the disciplinary �geography, sociology,
psychology, management) or interdisciplinary
focus.
References
Annals of Tourism Research �1987) `Interrelationships
of leisure, recreation and tourism', special issue,
14�3).
Crompton J.L. �1979) `Motivations for pleasure
vacation' Annals of Tourism Research, 6�2): 408 ±
24.
Leiper N. �1995) Tourism Management, Collingwood,
Victoria: TAFE publications.
Moore, K., Cushman, J.G. and Simmons, D.G.
�1995) `Behavioural conceptualisation of tourism
and leisure', Annals of Tourism Research 22�1): 67 ±
85.
Neumeyer, M.H., and Neumeyer, E.S. �1958)
Leisure and Recreation, 3rd edn, New York: The
Ronald Press.
Shivers J.S. �1981) Recreation and Leisure Concepts,
Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Smith S.L.J. �1992) `Recreation', in Dictionary of
Concepts in Recreation and Leisure Studies, New York:
Greenwood, 253±7.
DAVID G. SIMMONS, NEW ZEALAND
recreation behaviour see behaviour,
recreation
recreation business district
The recreation business district denotes an area
of a city that is largely influenced by tourism
activities such as hotel accommodation, attractions,
shopping opportunities and tourism retailers
�see urban tourism). This notion often forms
a sub-area of the central business district and is
synonymous with it in tourism-dominated resorts.
See also: recreation
MARTIN OPPERMANN, AUSTRALIA