Tourism, Mobility and Second Homes

Between Elite Landscape and Common Ground

By C. Michael Hall, Dieter K. Müller

Multilingual Matters

Copyright © 2004 C. Michael Hall, Dieter K. Müller and the authors of individual chapters
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-873150-80-1

Contents

Acknowledgements,
Contributors,
Part 1: Context,
1 Introduction: Second Homes, Curse or Blessing? Revisited C. Michael Hall and Dieter K. Müller,
2 Second Home Tourism Impact, Planning and Management Dieter K. Müller, C. Michael Hall and Donna Keen,
Part 2: Mobilities, Encounters and Meanings,
3 The 'Cottage' Privilege: Increasingly Elite Landscapes of Second Homes in Canada Greg Halseth,
4 The Cottage and the City: An Interpretation of the Canadian Second Home Experience Stephen Svenson,
5 Place Attachment of Vacation Residents: Between Tourists and Permanent Residents Lars Aronsson,
6 Mobile Migrants: Travel to Second Homes David Timothy Duval,
7 British Second Homes in Southern Europe: Shifting Nodes in the Scapes and Flows of Migration and Tourism Allan M. Williams, Russell King and Tony Warnes,
8 Dwelling Through Multiple Places: A Case Study of Second Home Ownership in Ireland Bernadette Quinn,
Part 3: Patterns and Issues,
9 Recreational Second Homes in the United States: Development Issues and Contemporary Patterns Dallen J. Timothy,
10 Recreational Second Homes in the South West of Western Australia John Selwood and Matthew Tonts,
11 A Hidden Giant: Second Homes and Coastal Tourism in South-Eastern Australia Warwick Frost,
12 Second Homes in New Zealand Donna Keen and C. Michael Hall,
13 Second Homes: Reflections on an Unexplored Phenomenon in South Africa Gustav Visser,
14 Second Homes in Spain Maria Angeles Casado-Diaz,
15 Second Homes as a Part of a New Rural Lifestyle in Norway Thor Flognfeldt Jr,
16 Second Homes in Sweden: Patterns and Issues Dieter K. Müller,
Part 4: Future Issues,
17 Second Home Plans Among Second Home Owners in Northern Europe's Periphery Bruno Jansson and Dieter K. Müller,
18 The Future of Second Home Tourism Dieter K. Müller and C. Michael Hall,
References,
Index,

CHAPTER 1

Introduction: Second Homes, Curse or Blessing? Revisited

C. MICHAEL HALL AND DIETER K. MÜLLER

Second homes are an integral part of contemporary tourism and mobility. In many areas of the world, second homes are the destination of a substantial proportion of domestic and international travellers, while the number of available bed nights in a second homes often rivals or even exceeds that available in the formal accommodation sector. For many destinations, particularly in more peripheral areas, second homes are a major contributor to regional economies, while they may also represent a significant heritage resource because of their use of vernacular architecture and the ongoing use of buildings that may otherwise have fallen into disrepair. At the level of the individual, second homes may also be important for concepts of identity and sense of place, particularly as they may represent a connection to family and/or childhood place affiliations. All this is not to say that second homes are universally welcomed. In some areas, second homes are seen as putting further pressure on existing housing stock and forcing up prices, thus making it harder for permanent residents to obtain housing. Similarly, where there are substantial seasonal variations in second home use, these may be perceived as exacerbating seasonal patterns in employment and economic demand, rather than assisting with regional development strategies. Finally, in some circumstances second home households may be seen as outsiders and even as invaders, which at times has created substantial resentment, even leading to destruction of the second home property. The various dimensions of second home development point to both the complexity and significance of the subject. This book therefore aims to explore such complexities with the aim of providing an informed contribution to the debate as to the value and significance of second homes.

The present chapter provides an introduction to the concept of second homes and discusses its historical and spatial characteristics as well as some of the motivations of second home ownership. One notable point in examining second homes is that, in comparison with some other areas of tourism and leisure mobility, they have a relatively long history of scholarship, often within particular national traditions. In the case of Scandinavia Ljungdahl (1938) was reporting on second homes in the Stockholm archipelago before the Second World War. This study was followed up in the 1960s and early 1970s by such researchers as Aldskogius (1968, 1969), Finnveden (1960) and Bielckus (1977). In North America second home research was pioneered by the work of Wolfe (1951, 1952, 1962, 1965, 1977) in Canada (see also Lundgren, 1974), with substantial early research also being undertaken in the United States (Ragatz, 1970a, 1970b; Ragatz & Gelb, 1970; Burby et al., 1972; Clout, 1972; Geisler & Martinson, 1976; Tombaugh, 1970). Continental Europe also witnessed a significant amount of early research (Barbier, 1965; Cribier, 1966, 1973; David, 1966; David & Geoffroy, 1966; Clout, 1969, 1971, 1977; Grault, 1970). Nevertheless, it was the publication of Coppock's (1977a) book Second Homes: Curse or Blessing that was to provide a benchmark for second home research, reflecting as it did contemporary debates over the value of second homes, especially bearing in mind the substantial opposition to second homes in some parts of the United Kingdom, Wales in particular (Coppock, 1977b; Rogers, 1977). Yet despite the significance of Coppock's (1977a) publication, somewhat ironically, relatively little was published on second homes in the late 1970s and early 1980s, leading Whyte (1978) to enquire, 'Have second homes gone into hibernation?' Indeed, it was not until the later part of the 1980s and the 1990s that a substantial number of publications on second homes once more began to emerge. There may have been several reasons for this re-emergence:

(1) the growth in inter-regional and international second home related retirement migration;

(2) increased recognition of the economic, environmental and social implications of tourism by government;

(3) the deliberate use of second homes as an economic development tool; the re-emergence of conflict between second home development and permanent populations in some localities, making second homes a significant policy issue.

The present book takes stock of much of this second wave of second home research, but the contributors to this volume are mindful of much of the pioneering work of Coppock (1977a) and contributors, and the substantial insights that they demonstrated on tourism, which we now have the opportunity to revisit.

Defining Second Homes

There is a great variety of terms that refer to second homes: recreational homes, vacation homes, summer homes, cottages, and weekend homes. In the context of this book, the term 'second home' is used as an umbrella for these different terms, which all refer to a certain idea of usage. It should be noted that the term 'cottage' which is also used in this book (Halseth, Chapter 3; Svenson, Chapter 4) does not primarily address the physical form but the function of the second home, usually referring to small houses...