Garden Tourism in Ireland: an Exploation of Product Group Co-operation, Links and Relationships

A garden is a space developed for the purpose of consumption and pleasure. Gardens open to the the public form part of the tourism resource of a destination. Those involved in provision within the gardentourism sector are continuously seeking ways of ensuring that both their businesses are successful and give value to the visitor i.e. sustainable. Developing and using co-operative approaches, linkages and relationships within the tourism supply sector is one way towards a more sustainable path of provision. This book explores the garden tourism sector in Ireland identifying such approaches, and concludes that a multiplicity of identities exist. Constructs that influence the multiplicity of identities include history and social systems; qualificiations and experience; ownership, and conflicting objectives and spatiality. These in turn influence the development and management of the product, the level of involvement with provision, with other gardens and with the visitor. Acknowledging and working with the constructs that create these identities can help to greater sustainable provision

Community Learning Project

Primarily this assessment involves a poster, a reflective report before they start and at the end where they address specific questions, and a final short report. These are primarily first years and the objective is to bring them into the community and for them to think about tourism in this context. Students are encouraged to look at a community’s needs and wants and depending on the particular project they develop ideas of how to increase tourism in these particular areas. Catherine Bates from Community Learning is very helpful in identifying appropriate communities. It is very important that there is feedback to the community at the end of the project. Linking in with the community can also have a positive side effect as people from these communities become more aware of what programmes we offer. The reflection does not get a mark but if it is not done the project won’t be marked so it is a required element

Tourism: Destination and Product Marketing Planning: Glasnevin Trust Museum, Glasnevin, Dublin.

The objective of this project was to produce a tourism marketing plan for Glasnevin Trust Museum, Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland. Tourism students worked with the Trust to develop possible plans.https://arrow.tudublin.ie/civpostbk/1004/thumbnail.jp

Tourism Heritage and Culture Trains in Kilmainham and Inchicore, Dublin.

Students on this project liaised with local community members in order to develop a number of themed posters and two videos focusing on their ideas for the development of Heritage and Cultural trails in the Inchicore and Kilmainham areas of Dublin.https://arrow.tudublin.ie/civpostbk/1005/thumbnail.jp

Active Leisure and Ageing in Rural Ireland: Exploring Perceptions and Motivations to Facilitate and Promote Meaningful Physical Activity

The life expectancy of the world population is increasing and the art of aging well is of global interest (European Commission, n.d.). In Ireland, the number of people over the age of 60 will increase from 1.1 million currently, to 2.44 million by 2041, constituting nearly one third of its total population (Institute of Public Health, 2018). Despite the benefits of regular physical activity (pa), particularly with the frail (≥65 years and requiring a walking aid), rates of participation remain low (Colley et al., 2011). Health concerns raised, such as smoking and weight issues, are more prevalent in this cohort (Witcher et al., 2016). Currently, when they reach a certain age, pa is not seen as beneficial and older adults refrain from participating in pa (Witcher et al., 2016), particularly post-retirement (Chaudhury and Shelton, 2010). Education of the older population concerning the benefits of pa is critical, and pa perceptions and behaviours must be examined both contextually and historically (Witcher et al., 2016) to provide greater clarity and understanding. In order to develop a more comprehensive, inclusive policy for active ageing in Ireland, particularly rural Ireland, we need to reflect on the research to date. This conceptual paper develops a framework of meaning-making to active leisure, focusing on perceptions and motivations of a rural based population. It also examines the impact of being physically active on participating in tourism in this population and how Ireland is targeting this growing older market for various forms of tourism activity. An unhealthy population brings a financial burden to the country. Encouraging a healthier lifestyle which includes more meaningful active leisure, facilitating an engagement with tourism, is required to enable this cohort to age healthily and well and thus reduce the cost associated with an ageing population

Getting ‘in’ and ‘out of alignment’: some insights into the cultural imagery of fitness from the perspective of experienced gym adherents

While the identification of risks associated with sedentary lifestyles provided a strong foundation for what we understand by ‘fitness’ today, research across the social sciences and humanities has been rather more ambivalent about the term. One important cause for concern here is the cultural proximity of ‘fitness’ to consumer culture by means of the ‘fitness industry’. It has been shown, for example, that the pursuit of fitness has become increasingly, if not exclusively, a matter of attending to the body as a marker of social status: something to be consumed for; something to be consumed by others. In this paper, findings from a study on the meaning of fitness are presented in order to explore how consigning fitness to consumption activity can also overlook complex self-understandings that accrue on the basis of ongoing activity and increased experience. Specifically, findings from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 12 experienced gym-goers indicate the importance of a more generalised understanding of fitness (than has been explored in previous research), one that focuses more on the alignment of intention and action in everyday life situations than on the alignment of bodies with normative physical ideals. The paper concludes by acknowledging that, while consumption activity has become a critical component within the cultural imagery of fitness, there is a great deal of nuance yet to be drawn out when examining the relationship between biopolitical discourse and everyday practice in this context