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Purpose Wellness tourism offers opportunities for consumers to explore the self. This paper aims to explore how identity transitions occur in a liminal tourism space – a holistic wellness retreat. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopt a qualitative methodology, including in-depth semi-structured interviews supplemented by various projective techniques. Following an interpretivist approach, eight consumers were interviewed at the commencement and the completion of a holistic wellness retreat stay. Participant observation was also undertaken during the retreat programme. Findings The paper shows an identity transition is facilitated by the liminal space of the holistic wellness retreat and further shaped by self-work during the retreat. As participants gain new knowledge on the self and start living “consciously”, they gain a sense of vision, clarity and direction to a new self, wherein identity transition is a starting point and a process of change rather than an end goal. Originality/value While much past research views tourism activities as mainly “play”, the findings reveal the holistic wellness retreat experiences as both identity play and identity work. This paper provides theoretical insights into the process from identity play to identity work and what makes this process effective for identity transition.

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to explore innovative solutions to the challenge of creating a family environment without children in luxury lodges in New Zealand. Design/methodology/approach In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with guests, staff and managers in a luxury lodge that excludes children. An interpretivist analysis of interviewees’ comments was undertaken. Findings Guests at the childless lodge talked about the serenity and peace they experienced during their stay, and particularly the meal experiences. They thought that not having children on the premises is an advantage for this experience. Lodge managers said that not admitting children is their point of difference for the market that they are targeting. Research limitations/implications This research contributes to the emerging research theme of family tourism and extends the concept of family tourism to include family units without children. Practical implications There are significant practical implications in terms of industry approaches to creating a family atmosphere in luxury accommodation without children. Social implications That a family atmosphere does not need to include children and enables luxury accommodation to cater to a diverse range of family units. There are also implications for social diversity beyond the traditional assumptions of the nuclear family. Originality/value The exclusion of children from luxury lodges is certainly not new, but the concept of maintaining a family environment without children is innovative and worth investigating to consider the wider implications of the paradox of family without children.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (GLCA) encompasses more than 0.5 million ha (1.25 million ac) and extends over 322 km (200 mi) from its northern boundary in southern Utah to its southern boundary in northern Arizona. It is one of the most rugged, remote, and floristically diverse national parks on the Southern Colorado Plateau (Thomas et. al 2005) and has more than 4,900 km (3,045 mi) of waterways flowing through its eight Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC 8) watersheds. GLCA’s larger perennial rivers include the Colorado, Escalante, Dirty Devil, San Juan, and Paria, with smaller perennial and intermittent streams flowing into each of these rivers. After the creation of the Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell formed, covering 13% of the park’s total land area when full and the national recreation area attracts over 4 million visitors annually, and in 2019 GLCA ranked 19th highest in recreational visits out of all national parks. The National Park Service Natural Resource Condition Assessment Program selected GLCA to pilot its new NRCA project series. NRCA projects evaluate the best available science to provide park managers with reliable, actionable information pertaining to natural resource conditions in their park. For the park-selected focal study resources, this includes consideration of drivers and stressors known or suspected of influencing resource conditions; assessment of current conditions and trends for indicators of condition; and potential near-term and future activities or actions managers can consider, improving their knowledge and management of natural resources in parks. For focal resources that lack adequate data to assess current conditions, a gap analysis is provided (in lieu of a condition assessment) to highlight the present status of knowledge of the resource and to suggest useful indicators, data, and studies for further consideration and investigation. Park managers are encouraged to identify information needs and pose questions during the NRCA scoping process, with the understanding that information will be provided to help address those needs and answer those questions when possible. For a comprehensive list of GLCA managers’ questions and needs, please refer to Appendix A, Table A-1. The focus of GLCA’s NRCA study was the water-dependent resources—tinajas, springs & seeps, including water quality, riparian zone, amphibians, including the northern leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens), and small, native fishes—that are found off the mainstem Colorado River. Managers were interested in these particular environments and the natural resources that depend on them because they are less studied, and the habitats are “biodiversity hotspots” due to the intersection of complex desert and freshwater ecosystems in a region limited by water. The following summaries highlight the key findings of GLCA’s focal resource drivers and stressors (Chapter 2), states (Chapter 3), and manager responses (Chapter 4).