Equal access for all? Regulative mechanisms, inequality and tourism mobility.

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter focuses on those who are relatively immobile because of the economic and other structural and regulative mechanisms, such as class, race, gender and religion, which affect the economic and social capital of individuals in society and therefore their life chances, with respect to tourism related mobility. It primarily focuses on the allocation of economic resources as a central regulative mechanism of tourism mobility but other forms of regulation are noted. The first section of the chapter discusses inequality in relation to concepts of tourism mobilities. The second section uses national travel survey data to illustrate the way in which mobility is unevenly distributed in society and the strong relationship of those mobilities to economic unevenness. British, EU, American and New Zealand data are used to illustrate how poverty and lack of car access in particular affect leisure mobility, while New Zealand data is also expanded with reference to findings from a qualitative assessment of access to tourism and leisure mobility. Finally, the chapter concludes by stressing the importance of connecting social exclusion to understandings of leisure mobility and how restricted activity space may serve as an indicator of social justice.