“The Other Holidays”

Abstract

Traditional vacation decision-making theory takes it point of departure in decisions pertaining to the ‘one, annual vacation’. However, the tourist of today often take more vacations a year, thus suggesting that (s)he engages in more vacation decision-making processes; processes including both decisions on ‘main holidays’ and ‘other holidays’ which may have little in common. Drawing on qualitative interviews with families with dependent children, this paper discusses the nature of ‘the other holidays’ and illustrates that these holidays may differ profoundly from the ‘main holidays’, thus suggesting that traditional theories developed with the one, annual holiday in mind may need to be supplemented by theories pertaining to ‘other holidays’. Particularly, the paper discusses how ‘the other holidays’ differ from traditional holiday making and taking.