The short-break holiday: assessing its understanding in the Northern Territory, Australia

Abstract

The paper is based on a national study of the 'Short-break holiday market in Australia'. It was conducted on behalf of the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Center (STCRC). The study relates to specific market segments and examined a range of issues including: consumer attitude and behavior of the short-break holiday market; destination choice sets of that market; market potential vis-à-vis other travel and leisure offerings; destination attributes. Primary data was obtained by conducting local focus groups with actual and potential short break tourists in the relevant areas, followed by interviews with local tourist associations and industry representatives regarding current market and product strategies and possible adjustments to the evolving economic conditions. A key finding (the focus of this paper) indicates significant conceptual divide between the demand and supply side responses in terms of their understanding of the dimensions and key issues of 'short break holidays'. Consumers view this in a very broad manner compared to a more precise definition provided by the industry stakeholders. This disparity has obvious implications in terms of the relevance of strategies deployed by the industry stakeholders.

Perspectives on short break destinations and their contribution to local-regional economic development: a literature review

“…The number of days is a key determinant in the description of the short break stay (Sharma, 2010). However, researchers do not agree on the number of days that define a "short break".…”

“…Other determinants of short breaks include the following: a) distance (Bao & McKercher, 2008;Yang & Zhang, 2015), which is often limited to a restricted geographical region, to domestic destinations (Boerjan, 1995;Herington et al, 2013;Huybers, 2003;Lohmann, 1991;Martinez-García et al, 2008;Murphy et al, 2010;Schmidhauser, 1992), to trips of between 3 and 6 hours by car (Murphy et al, 2010), or to close places (Bao & McKercher, 2008); b) sociodemographic characteristics like age, educational level, type of education, gender, family income, and nationality (Alegre & Pou, 2006;Alegre et al, 2011;Davies, 1990;Dunne et al, 2007;Huybers, 2003;Lohmann, 1991;Martinez-García & Raya, 2008;Williams & Shaw, 2009;Yang & Zhang, 2015); and c) the attributes of the attractiveness of the destination (Barros & Machado, 2010;Gomes de Menezes et al, 2008;Herington et al, 2003;Murphy et al 2010;Sharma, 2010;Smith, 1994).…”

“…They are not business trips (Murphy et al, 2010;Pike, 2002). They are not the travelers' main annual vacation (Downward & Lumsdon, 2003;Dunne et al, 2007;Murphy et al, 2010;Pike, 2002;Sharma, 2010;Tsiotsou & Vasioti, 2006). Tra-velers many times have previously visited the destination (Alegre et al, 2011;Barros & Machado 2010;Kozak & Rimmington, 1998;Yang & Zhang, 2015).…”

“…Davies (1990) indicates that it is difficult for scholars to frame a definition of "short breaks" due to the tourism industry's inability to come to a consensus regarding the definition. There is no common definition of "short breaks," and this causes difficulties when describing and planning this type of vacation (Moll-de-Alba et al, 2017;Murphy et al, 2010;Sharma, 2010). However, as happens with the term "city break" (Dunne et al, 2010), for which there is no commonly recognized definition, there is one definition that is used rather more frequently: that proposed by Trew and Cockerell (2002), who refer to a trip for relaxation to a city or town, without taking into consideration the number of days, that is just to the city itself; that is to say, travelers do not spend the night at any other destination during the trip.…”

“…In the current tourism context, evidence suggests a progressive reduction in the length of stay at tourist destinations (Alegre & Pou, 2006;Moll-de-Alba, Pratts, & Coromina, 2017;Williams & Shaw, 2009), and, based on this, the concepts of "short break" and "city break" are used for short trips. Authors like Davis (1990); Murphy, Niininen & Sanders (2010); Sharma (2010); Dunne, Flanagan & Buckley (2007); and Moll-de-Alba et al (2017) indicate that a consensus has not been reached regarding the definition of short breaks or of city breaks; current definitions place these two types of trips within a range of stays varying from 1 to 6 nights. This difference in definitions presents difficulties for strategically planning the development of these destinations.…”