When You Holiday at Home Is It Really a Holiday?
The pandemic reduced our travel footprint and invited us to redefine “holiday”.
by Iratxe Landa-Mata, Debbie Hopkins, Eivind Farstad, James Higham & Jens Kr. Steen Jacobsen
Is it necessary to travel far from home for a ‘real’ holiday?
Holiday-making (vacationing) is associated with travel to places (far) away from home. So much so that we know little about the holidaying-at-home.
Tourism travel is mostly dependent on high carbon modes of transportation. These include private cars, which offer flexibility, and airplanes, which get us to places fast. But the current carbon dependence of these forms of transportation makes them incompatible with a climate-safe future.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced holidaying-at-home for many people. Government restrictions limited travel at both national and sometimes local levels. People started to adopt new ways of holidaying in early 2020.
The restrictions and new practices offer an opportunity for us to rethink the connection between travel and holidaying. Does holiday-making need to include travel? And, is long-distance travel necessary to receive the benefits of a tourism and leisure experience?
Researchers have long studied the various factors that contribute to a “real holiday experience.” Our research contributes to this. But we also challenge the status quo on what holidaying is and is not.
We looked at holiday practices in Oslo, Norway during Easter 2020 (early April) lockdown. That was when the global pandemic was in full swing. Norway’s restrictions included border closures for all travel and a ban on overnight stays outside of one’s hometown. Only strictly necessary travel was permitted. Most Oslo restaurants and bars and many shops were closed. And advise to maintain a one to two metres distance from others limited social gatherings in people’s homes.
Vacationing (without travel)
Just under half of our 501 survey respondents had already organized a trip for the Easter holidays. And 150 more had intended to travel at that time. The COVID-19 travel restrictions prevented all these trips from happening. As a result, there was a forced ‘holidaying-at-home’.
The destinations people planned to visit included trips:
- Within Norway (70%)
- To a different Scandinavian country (7%)
- To a European country outside of the Nordic region (16%)
- To a destination outside of Europe (6%)
- Undecided (1%)
The main ways of getting to their intended destinations were:
- Private cars (60%)
- Airplanes (6% domestic and 22% international)
The most common purposes of the planned trips were to:
- Go to a second home (60% domestic and 6% international)
- Visit friends and relatives (34% domestic and 11% international)
— (some respondents listed more than one trip purpose)
New Recreation Activities
Some people discovered new recreational activities near their homes because of the change in their travel plans. They also gained a greater appreciation for their home environment.
This holidaying-at-home was taking place under exceptional circumstances. Even local travel was curtailed by strict COVID-19 regulations, such as proximity to home rules.
Restrictions on mobility — both near and far — contributed to feelings of boredom. Half of the respondents said that holidaying-at-home was “not a real holiday”.
Those with international trips were more disappointed to have to cancel their travel than those with domestic plans. That was especially so for those who wanted to visit a warm country and those planning to see friends or relatives in other countries.
So, what makes a ‘real’ holiday experience?
There is little agreement on this. For some, it is time away from the stresses and strains of everyday life. For others, it is spending time with loved ones. New experiences, special activities, and good meals are also prominent features of good holiday-making.
Our study found differences in how people judge whether holidaying-at-home is a ‘real’ holiday. Those who had planned a domestic second-home trip were more likely to feel that home holidaying was not a ‘real’ holiday.
We also saw this difference in people’s holiday behaviour and viewpoints. Some found home-based recreation convenient, beneficial for family and couple togetherness, and stress-reducing. But others said they needed physical distance from their daily surroundings to relax.
Tourism Travel Futures
The Easter and spring 2020 travel experiences were unprecedented due to the wide-ranging restrictions. That situation forced holidaying-at-home. It also challenged our understanding of what is ‘normal’ or ‘real’ holidaying.
The likelihood of this experience reshaping how we travel remains to be seen. There were different views on this in our survey. People who enjoyed bonding with family and appreciating their neighbourhood were more willing to rethink how they holiday in the future. Women were also more likely to accept holidaying-at-home as an alternative.
Many survey respondents expressed disappointment, boredom, and frustration with the travel constraints. But most felt they were able to make the best of the situation. Some saw a silver lining in the unexpected home stays. They felt stronger domestic relations, discovered or re-discovered local recreational opportunities, and felt less stress.
That is good news for those seeking to reduce the carbon impact of holiday travel.
Yet barriers to making low-carbon vacations more common persist. In Norway, there is a deep-rooted second home breaks tradition. There are also obligations to visit close family and friends in distant places. And the assumption and emphasis on freedom of movement as a sign of modernity.
Changing the accepted norm that holidaying must include travel offers a pathway to reduce carbon dependence. The pandemic presented an opportunity to try out holidaying closer to home. That enabled low-carbon modes of transportation (walking and cycling) to take the place of long-distance car and air travel. At the same time, people still experienced some benefits of Easter holidaying at home.
We are now adjusting to a post-, but not gone, COVID-19 world. Now is a good time to counter the negative and elevate the positive aspects of local and regional holiday-making. That would include the development of more and better local and regional leisure opportunities to encourage vacationing near home. Promotion efforts would also inform people how outdoor activities and casual meals at home enrich our social relationships with family, friends, and local communities.
This article is based on:
Jacobsen, J. K. S., Farstad, E., Higham, J., Hopkins, D., & Landa-Mata, I. (2021). Travel discontinuities, enforced holidaying-at-home and alternative leisure travel futures after Covid-19. Tourism Geographies, https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2021.1943703
About the Authors
Iratxe Landa-Mata is Researcher at the Department of Mobility, Institute of Transport Economics — Norwegian Centre for Transport Research, Norway
Debbie Hopkins is Associate Professor at the School of Geography and the Environment and Sustainable Urban Development Programme (Department of Continuing Education), University of Oxford, UK.
Eivind Farstad is Senior Researcher at Department of Mobility, Institute of Transport Economics — Norwegian Centre for Transport Research, Norway
James Higham is Professor at the Department of Tourism, University of Otago, New Zealand
Jens Kr. Steen Jacobsen is Professor at the Department of Mobility, Institute of Transport Economics — Norwegian Centre for Transport Research, Norway
Disclosure Statement
This study was funded by the Research Council of Norway through the programme Klimaforsk, project no. 303589.
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