Untitled

522 second home
defined seasons existed for participating in certain
activities and for visiting facilities, such as taking
the waters at spas, or hunting. Such seasons
normally involved small numbers of elite tourists
and are of less significance in contemporary
tourism. Seasons relating to sporting activities are
now more common and reflect to a degree climatic
and related conditions which may be a requirement
of the specific activity, such as skiing. A
great deal of the seasonal pattern of tourism can be
explained by inertia and tradition. People take
holidays at specific times because that is when
vacations have been taken historically.
Seasonality is viewed as a concern in many areas
and in the industry because it results in uneven
loading on facilities. Most elements of the tourism
infrastructure have to be large enough to accommodate
peal numbers and are therefore unused
and unproductive for large periods of the year.
While it may be that in a few areas it is possible to
use labour for tourism which is employed in other
activities in the non-tourist season, in most cases
this is not feasible as the season often corresponds
to times of peak demand for labour for agriculture
and other resource-related activities.
In two respects, seasonality can be viewed as a
beneficial feature. In the case of the environment,
the non-tourist season allows for vegetation and
wildlife to recover from the demands of tourism
use. In the case of residents of destinations, the
periods without tourists allow them a `normal' life
for part of the year. In such situations, some
services may be discontinued or reduced because of
lack of demand due to reduction in tourist
numbers.
Efforts to reduce seasonality have been
introduced in many areas, and include lengthening
the main season of visitation, establishing
alternative seasons based on other attractions,
diversifying and broadening markets, staggering
holidays to spread domestic tourism over a
longer period, creating off-season attractions such
as festivals and special events, and economic
incentives such as differential taxation and
pricing. Almost all of the steps taken have been
related to destination areas, and few initiatives
have been taken in origin regions. Perhaps for
this reason, most attempts have not had lasting
success. In many cases, while tourist arrivals have
increased, numbers have also increased in the
peak season, suggesting that seasonality is a
complicated and deep-seated characteristic. In
areas where there has been a change in seasonal
patterns, at least parts of the change appears to
have come about through changes in the areas of
origin of tourists, such as additional holidays and
changes in tastes.
Seasonality also has spatial components, and is
more accentuated in rural and remote regions and
is less problematical in urban centres. Such
destinations have more non-seasonal attractions
and more business travel and, in many cases, are
less vulnerable to climatic changes. As well, many
of their infrastructural features operate year-round,
particularly those relating to accessibility. The
reasons for current patterns of seasonality have
been little explored and may well relate more to
the motivations and behavioural attributes of
tourists than to innate climate or historical
characteristics in destination areas.
See also: climate; destination; marketing;
vacation
Further reading
Bar On, R.V. �1975) Seasonality in Tourism, London:
Economist Intelligence Unit. �Reviews seasonality
in a number of countries.)
Butler, R.W. �1994) `Seasonality in tourism: issues
and problems', in A.V. Seaton �ed.), Tourism State
of the Art, Chichester: Wiley, 332±9. �Discusses
origins and causes of seasonality in tourism and
their policy implications.)
second home
RICHARD BUTLER, UK
Second homes are properties maintained for
leisure purposes which are not the principal
residences of their owners. They date back to
classical times when the social elite retreated for
pleasure and privacy to other residences, often to
escape unpleasant summer temperatures in their
normal city home. Owning a town house as a
principal residence and a rural estate for leisure
use, often related to sporting activities, became a