Dance culture and tourism – the healthy option?

Alethea Sellars

University of Hertfordshire, Department of Tourism, Business School, Mangrove Road, Hertford, SG13 8FQ, UK. Phone no: +44 (0)1707 285 447 Fax no: +44 (0)1707 285 548 E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

There are a variety of issues associated with tourism health such as vaccinations when visiting areas that are problematic with typhoid and malaria, sexual health awareness and accidents. There is a wide publicity for ‘holidays from hell’, highlighting the many things that can go wrong on holiday. These include tourists falling from balconies, jumping into swimming pools that are too shallow, and motorbike and car accidents. The associated risks with ‘youth tourism’ are sun tanning, sexual health and accidents - often related to alcohol and drug use. This paper will consider whether the drug issue is a major consideration or whether it is just hysteria.

One segment of the ‘youth tourism’ market generally ranges from 15 to 30 years old, with the associated product mainly selling sex and dance music. In brochures there are lots of plug pages with big name DJs. In Ibiza the ‘super’ clubs are very well known and are big attractions. Hedonism is very much sold, the idea of having a great time, relaxing and socialising with lots of beautiful, glamorous people. The images are of models laughing, smiling and drinking, with nothing of the resort. Dance music and drugs have been overtly linked and so the Managing Director of ‘Club 18-30’ believes it is important to be pro-active on the issue of drugs. He says that "we have no wish to set ourselves up as moral guardians but it is our responsibility to take up the initiative on our clients behalf". They are not preaching but realise the need for education and awareness.

Prolonged exposure to the sun (especially for northern Europeans) is problematic because of its ageing effects and long term skin damage. In 1999 there were 4000 deaths in the UK from skin cancer and 40,000 more people were diagnosed. The Imperial Cancer Fund states that in the UK 50 - 60% of annual sun exposure results from peoples’ summer holidays, and short sporadic sun exposures are more dramatic than gaining a sun tan over a long time. Sun-tanning for the youth package tourist is all part of the experience. The images flaunted in the pages of brochures are of sun-tanned beautiful bodies so it is problematic for the UK’s white tourists who feel they have to get a sun tan as quickly as possible by lying on the beach all day. After going out clubbing a lot of people sleep on the beach to get a sun tan as skin colour is like a fashion accessory along with other clothing that we are seeing through the growing commercialism surrounding club culture. The practical nature of clubbing in general means that people wear skimpy outfits and white ‘cornbeef’ legs do not look too good in hot pants.

There are some changes in sexual behaviour on holiday, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are another health problem. In the brochures there are prolific images of sexual liaisons and holiday romances. The UK tabloids latch on to this with headlines such as ‘Innocents abroad’, ‘What English girls really get up to when they leave mum and dad for a holiday in the sun’, the preamble being ‘A Fortnight in the Mediterranean has become a fortnight in bed for thousands of girls’. There was a 5-page ‘shock investigation’ with images of girls in regulation black leather boots with strappy tops actually being interviewed by people and having to say, "I have slept with twenty men in my two week holiday". Surveys in the UK discovered that only 45% of men and 36% of women used a condom in 1996 compared to 64% of men and 50 % of women in 1991. So as the fear of AIDS fades, so does condom use. Almost 80% of heterosexuals in the UK who have contracted AIDS, did so abroad. Mostly this is due to people travelling to exotic locations, as opposed to youth package tours, but still we need to consider STDs and these kinds of issues for young people.

Alcohol abuse and its effects are a problem in later life as well as in causing accidents, violence and coma. Michael Birkett, the former Vice Consulate to Ibiza who resigned in 1998 said in an interview, "We have 70 deaths a summer. Many were the direct result of too many drugs and drinks; people got knocked down or drowned in their own vomit". Alcohol is a major part of the youth tourist experience and there is an increase in alcohol consumption as well as the mixing of it with other drugs. There are also the sexual consequences of being too drunk to know who you are sleeping with.

Accidents are a premier cause of death among young tourists abroad but many of them are avoidable. People on mopeds can protect themselves by wearing clothing and crash helmets. People should observe swimming pool depths before diving in. It is important to remember traffic signal indications, especially when driving on the other side of the road. They should be aware of safety standards in and around buildings and balconies, and aware of safe destinations and not wander off into areas where there may be a lot of crime or violence, some of which may be alcohol induced.

There are four main parties that should be responsible for informing young package tourists: the tour operator, travel agents, the government and other tourists themselves. Travel agents could give advice about risks, although at the end of the day we cannot get them to accept too much responsibility because they are selling an ideal and a dream. Disciplinary approaches are not the way forward. It is all well and good developing policies but if the tourists have not taken them on board then they are not going to work.

In conclusion, there are lots of issues surrounding youth tourism and health, of which illegal drugs are only one. Accidents are the premier cause of death among young tourists, so drugs are really over-exaggerated and hyped up as far as the risk to life is concerned. "Diarrhoea is by far the most common cause of ill health in travellers". Education and responsibility are words that are thrown around, and possibly over-used in some cases, yet these are the things that need to be promoted through established tour companies to the youth tourists so that they can have an enjoyable and a safe time on holiday.