Backpackers or Working Holiday Makers? Working Tourists in Australia

This article looks at a potential divergence of characteristics between backpackers and working holiday makers in Australia. While both are often lumped together within academic study, working holiday makers have a legal right to pursue employment and are entitled to rights and standards of work tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Qualitative sociology review : QSR 2014-07, Vol.10 (3), p.94-114
Main Author: Brennan, Christopher
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Australia
Employment
Employment policy
Fieldwork
Holidays
Holidays & special occasions
Job seekers
Legal System
Right to work
Rights
Tourism
Tourist policy
Workers
Working hours
Youth
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Summary:This article looks at a potential divergence of characteristics between backpackers and working holiday makers in Australia. While both are often lumped together within academic study, working holiday makers have a legal right to pursue employment and are entitled to rights and standards of work that come with paid employment, whereas backpackers, as young budget travelers, do not. Drawing on data from autoethnographic fieldwork, qualitative interviews, and empirical analysis of previous studies, this article identifies a conceivable divergence between backpackers and working holiday makers in Australia: the activity of paid employment. The investigation highlights empirical factors and circumstances that contribute to a separation as compared to previous discussions and studies. The paper concludes by suggesting that more emphasis should be given to working holiday makers as a distinct group of working tourists who, in fact, have rights as workers, disjoining them from the label “backpacker,” which is more commonly understood as a form of young budget tourist.
ISSN:1733-8077
1733-8077
DOI:10.18778/1733-8077.10.3.05