Prelims
The Backpacker Tourist: A Contemporary Perspective
ISBN: 978-1-80262-256-0, eISBN: 978-1-80262-255-3
Publication date: 15 June 2022
Citation
Martins, M.R. and da Costa, R.A. (2022), "Prelims", The Backpacker Tourist: A Contemporary Perspective (The Tourist Experience), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. i-xii. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-255-320221013
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022 Márcio Ribeiro Martins and Rui Augusto da Costa
Half Title Page
THE BACKPACKER TOURIST
Title Page
THE BACKPACKER TOURIST: A CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE
BY
MÁRCIO RIBEIRO MARTINS
Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Portugal
AND
RUI AUGUSTO DA COSTA
University of Aveiro, Portugal
United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China
Copyright Page
Emerald Publishing Limited
Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK
First edition 2022
Copyright © 2022 Márcio Ribeiro Martins and Rui Augusto da Costa.Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-80262-256-0 (Print)
ISBN: 978-1-80262-255-3 (Online)
ISBN: 978-1-80262-257-7 (Epub)
Dedication Page
To my wife Ana for her extraordinary patience, to my son Afonso who thinks I will get rich with this book and to my daughter Maria who came into the world during the writing of this book and who didn’t always let me sleep. When they grow up, I hope they can also discover the world with the eyes of a backpacker.
To my wife Carla for her understanding and for always ‘being there’, and to my daughters Inês and Margarida, for their patience and love, hoping that they have the opportunity to travel and discover the world as a backpacker.
Contents
List of Tables and Figures | ix | ||
About the Authors | xi | ||
Acknowledgements | xii | ||
1 | Introduction: Backpacker Tourism, A Contemporary Overview | 1 | |
2 | Concepts and Segments of Backpacker Tourists | 9 | |
Origin and Historical Evolution | 10 | ||
The Diverse Backpacker Segments | 14 | ||
How to Identify and Operationalise Backpackers? | 22 | ||
Backpackers, Tourists, Travellers or Independent Travellers? | 25 | ||
3 | Backpackers’ Sociodemographic Characteristics, Travel Organisation and the Impact of New Technologies | 29 | |
Backpackers’ Sociodemographic Characteristics | 30 | ||
Travel Planning and Organisation | 34 | ||
ICT: The Impact on Backpackers | 41 | ||
Transformations in Supply and the Impact on Backpackers’ Experience | 45 | ||
4 | Backpackers’ Travel Motivations | 51 | |
Motivations – Conceptual Framework | 52 | ||
Backpackers from Different Cultures and Motivations for Travel | 57 | ||
Motivations and Travel Experience | 59 | ||
Differences between Backpackers and Mass Tourism | 61 | ||
Western and Eastern Backpackers | 63 | ||
5 | Space–Time Perspectives of Backpacker Tourists | 67 | |
Identity | 71 | ||
Freedom | 73 | ||
Backpackers from Non-Western Countries | 74 | ||
Backpackers from Asia | 76 | ||
Israeli Backpackers | 80 | ||
Changes in the Main International Routes | 82 | ||
Backpacker Behaviour | 85 | ||
6 | Conclusions: The Future of Backpacker Tourists and Managerial Implications | 91 | |
Impact of COVID-19 | 96 | ||
Future Backpacking Transformations | 99 | ||
Future Agendas for Research | 103 | ||
References | 105 | ||
Index | 125 |
List of Tables and Figures
TABLES
Table 1.1. | Hostels by World Region. | 5 |
Table 2.1. | Backpacker Tourism/Tourist Evolution. | 11 |
Table 2.2. | Backpacker Diversity. | 16 |
Table 3.1. | Backpackers’ Age Range. | 32 |
Table 3.2. | Information Sources Used by Backpackers Before Travel (%). | 36 |
Table 3.3. | Backpacker Activities (%). | 42 |
Table 4.1. | Backpackers’ Main Motivations to Travel. | 54 |
Table 4.2. | Backpackers Travel Motivation for Travel. | 58 |
Table 5.1. | The Countries Most Visited by Backpackers. | 86 |
FIGURES
Fig. 5.1. | International Backpacker Routes and Number of Hostels by Country. | 84 |
About the Authors
Márcio Ribeiro Martins was born in Murça (1979), Vila Real, Portugal. He has a degree in Geography (University of Porto – FLUP, 2002) and, in 2005, completed the Master in Natural Hazards Management in the same faculty. Since 2002, he has been teaching Geography at different secondary schools around the country, and since 2011, he has been teaching as an Invited Assistant in Instituto Politécnico de Bragança. In 2020, he completed his PhD in Tourism at the University of Aveiro with the thesis ‘The backpacker phenomenon and its spatiotemporal movement patterns in Porto urban destination’. At the moment, he holds the position of Adjunct Professor at Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, and he is a Collaborator Member of the research unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy, working in the group on Tourism and Development. He is also an author and co-author of several articles in national and international journals. Backpacker tourism and tourist space–time behaviour are his main research topics.
Rui Augusto da Costa was born in Oliveira de Azeméis, Aveiro, Portugal. He graduated in Management and Tourism Planning at the University of Aveiro in 1988, completed his Master’s degree in Innovation and Policy Development at the University of Aveiro and a PhD in Tourism at the same University in 2012.
He is an Assistant Professor in the Tourism Area in the Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism at University of Aveiro. He is a member of the Executive Board of DEGEIT and he is also an Integrated Member of the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy in the Research Group on Tourism and Development. He develops his research in the planning and project in tourism, networks, governance and public policy, territorial dynamics of investment and financing of small and micro enterprises in the tourism sector. He participates in several projects of applied research nationally and internationally, and he is an author and co-author of several articles in national and international journals.
He is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of Tourism & Development and a member of the Organizing Committee of the International Conference INVTUR.
Acknowledgements
In 2014, I started doing my first academic research on backpacker tourism. Since then, I had the opportunity to publish some scientific articles and finalise my PhD thesis on the spatiotemporal behaviour of backpackers in an urban destination, under the supervision of my co-author Rui Augusto da Costa. This book is the result of six years of ongoing research.
Some years ago, I had the opportunity to start working with my colleague and co-author Márcio Ribeiro Martins, which presented me the backpacker world! During these years, we had the opportunity to work together and to ‘build’ a very good friendship. Research is more than publishing papers … is to create ties between people!
We will begin by thanking the series editor, professor Richard Sharpley who supported and encouraged our initial proposal suggesting relevant and valuable contributions.
Thanks to all the publishing team, especially to Kousalya Thangarasu for her patience and dedication in overcoming all the delays and difficulties that were emerging and to David Mulvaney for the beautiful book cover.
We also would like to acknowledge the financial support of the research unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy (UIDB/04058/2020) + (UIDP/04058/2020), funded by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal.
- Prelims
- 1. Introduction: Backpacker Tourism, A Contemporary Overview
- 2. Concepts and Segments of Backpacker Tourists
- 3. Backpackers’ Sociodemographic Characteristics, Travel Organisation and the Impact of New Technologies
- 4. Backpackers’ Travel Motivations
- 5. Space–Time Perspectives of Backpacker Tourists
- 6. Conclusions: The Future of Backpacker Tourists and Managerial Implications
- References
- Index