مقاله انگلیسی رایگان در مورد تاثیر انسجام خانواده بر رضایت از تعطیلات – امرالد 2017

According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), family vacations remain a priority for millions of families in the USA. These vacations include Spring Break, summer vacations and long holiday weekends throughout the 2017 calendar year for more than one third (35 percent) of American families; numbers consistent with 2016 and indicative that family vacations are not wavering. AAA reports that 70 percent of American families will take one or two family vacations, but also points out that 38 percent of American families plan to take three or more vacations this year; a 13 point increase from 2016. AAA’s Vice President of Travel and Publishing attributes the popularity of family vacations to the fact that “families continue to see the value of traveling as a way to bond and reconnect in today’s busy world.” Road trips with the family, as well as visits to national parks and theme parks remain the most popular domestic vacations, flooding hotel accommodations with millions of room nights annually. According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, more than $250 billion is spent by family leisure travelers annually on lodging accommodations. Family leisure travel continues to be a sizeable segment within the USA. However, it is unclear whether current product positioning and marketing strategies are correctly focused on this enduring target market. Popular trade news suggests that evolutions in leisure travel are focused on experiences as a way to differentiate resort accommodations. More commonly resorts seek to create a unique experience by leveraging the unique aspects of the local environment. Guests are immersed in scents, menus, excursions, and activities that are representative of the local area and that incorporate local communities and cultures (e.g. Hayward, 2005; Hotel News Now, 2016, p. 52). Market segmentation approaches have typically grouped individuals according to age, marital status, affiliation, travel purpose, and so on. However, recent research suggests that travelers within age groups have different needs and make different choices in vacation activity selection (Torres, 2015). Families, comprised of individuals of varying ages, are the primary visitors to resorts and due to the extended nature of resort vacations, individuals look to the resort to entertain their family and to provide experiences that reflect the local environment (Mill, 2011). Therefore, it is incumbent upon the resort to provide activities that are enjoyable and varied throughout the duration of the guests’ stays. Activities enhance vacations and satisfaction (Kim et al., 2012), however, the guest composition, as well as the strength of the guests’ interrelationships, may provide an alternate explanation for vacation satisfaction (Lehto et al., 2009) through family system theory. In addition, the cohesiveness of the various travel parties may be enhanced by activities; thereby leading to improvements in the overall guest experience, and by extending findings of prior research, perhaps improvements in societal outcomes. The phenomenon of family cohesion has been investigated in a variety of sociological contexts, with recent extension into the experiential context of family vacations (Lehto et al., 2009). However, current literature is limited in that it describes the factors of family cohesion and relates that to overall vacation satisfaction, but does not delve further into cause or explanation. To that end, this research examines the phenomena of family cohesion and its effect on overall vacation satisfaction. In addition, as an extension of existing research, this study delves into the moderating effect that travel party size may have on the aforementioned variables. Current research on family cohesion, leisure activity participation, and overall vacation satisfaction are devoid of investigation into travel party; despite identifying stronger relationships among larger travel parties (Lehto et al., 2012). In fact, on a larger scale, research appears to apply travel party as a descriptive term rather than an operative variable that when investigated may further inform academic inquiry and practical application.