The impact of the Great War of 1914-18 on tourism in the UK: Implications for tourism research

Abstract

This paper examines an overlooked feature of tourism management – the relationship between the state, the population and their holidaytaking habits and behaviour during World War One in the UK. The paper provides a series of important insights into a period of traumatic social and economic change to illustrate how a state anti-tourism policy evolved, utilising various policy sanctions and tools to try and limit the demand for holidays and leisure travel. The research is paradigm shifting in terms of addressing a major research gap and misconceptions that the war led to a cessation of tourism, or constitutes a period of limited research interest. As a study of tourism management and policy, it demonstrates the protracted problem of seeking to change tourist behaviour, even in periods of major crises and global upheaval that offers important lessons for governments and other policymakers in addressing issues such as overtourism and sustainable tourism