The Extent and Role of Domestic Tourism in a Small Island

What is it about?

This research uncovers and outlines how residents living in a small island (the Isle of Man) act as tourists within their own island. This includes day-trips and overnight stays. Escaping from the mundane and routine, exploring and learning more about their island, and sharing social activities, are what motivate such tourism.

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Why is it important?

Because it is a small island it would be easy to assume that local residents must travel overseas if they want to act as a tourist. It could be expected that familiarity would make local landscapes uninteresting. However this is not the case. Research demonstrates that residents can and do enjoy highly local forms of tourism. This tourism is supported by the variety of island landscapes and highly localised attitudes towards space and time (travelling for more than forty minutes can seem like a significant task to Manx residents - many interviewees have not traveled from the north to the south of the island, and vice versa, for many years as it takes too long to do so!). It is important to draw attention to unconventional and less well known forms of tourism such as this. Potentially this type of highly local tourism might be of significant economic value. Local tourists spend money in and support tourist facilities and attractions. Tourism planners might therefore be able to take advantage of a new tourist niche.

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