Tourism Planning & Development

Sustainability of the Tourism, Hospitality, and Event Industries: Turning Children into Fully Fledged Stakeholders

 Proposal for Special Issue: Sustainability of the Tourism, Hospitality, and Event Industries: Turning Children into Fully Fledged Stakeholders

For some considerable time, academic research in tourism (and cognate disciplines) has totally overlooked children as stakeholders of the tourism industry with minimal reference to them in research (Koščak et al, 2021). Yet, children play a major role in the industry, which is often hidden due to assumptions they are passive and powerless (Canosa & Schänzel, 2021). Because of this, Grande and Séraphin (2025) referred to children as a ‘left behind’ group. Publications between the mid l980s and early 2000s were rather marginal (Gaines et al., 2004). From the early 2000s, children started to become a group of interest for academic research in tourism. Recent research in tourism has bridged the gap between children and sustainability (Mandic et al, 2023; Koščak et al., 2021). As a result of this new paradigm, academics have suggested many approaches to empower children as cornerstones of the long-term sustainability of the industry. Indeed, Séraphin et al. (2020) explained that when children are empowered, they can become sustainability thinkers, actioners, and transformers, and therefore contribute to the long-term sustainability of the tourism industry. Potential stakeholders involved in the empowerment of children include parents, schools and NGOs, to name a few (Séraphin, 2023). Other stakeholder examples, such as anti-tourism movements, the hospitality industry via resort mini-clubs, and the event industry via children and/or family festivals, could be involved, but they are not (Séraphin, 2023).

Empowering children to be sustainable thinkers, actioners and transformers is important from a tourism planning and development perspective as children experiences are playing a significant role on adult behaviours. Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) have so far neglected to fully engage with children despite their influence, potential (Séraphin et al., 2021; Séraphin & Grande, 2025) and impacts on destinations planning and marketing (Du Cros & Jingya, 2023).  Indeed, they are considered to be central for a sustainable approach of diaspora tourism (Corsale & Vuytsyk, 2015; Séraphin et al., 2021), and more broadly speaking for cultural tourism (Boukas, 2013).

This call for papers goes beyond the study of how Tourism, Hospitality and Event (THE) could empower children to be sustainable agents of change. We want to better understand the process through which the inner specificities of each industry within THE influence children’s behaviour. For instance, ‘cultivating playful methods of discovery are crucial for creativity, novelty, and progress in any field of inquiry’ (Wadhwani & Sorensen, 2023: 12). This special issue aims to explore the untapped potential of integrating children into the sustainability (Triple Bottom Line) strategies of THE. It seeks to address questions regarding the role of children in facilitating the ability of THE to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, the special issue seeks investigation into how THE perceive the role of children in sustainable development, how children perceive the role they can play in the sustainable development of THE, and how perceptions can be converged for the benefit of both children and THE. Sustainability is a major topic of investigation when it comes to tourism planning and development (Trupp et al, 2024; Zifkos, 2014). This might be due to the ‘code red’ on sustainability in tourism (Higham et al, 2022).

The special issue has a particular interest in work that interrogates assumptions about childhood and raises important questions about the relationship between THE sustainability and children’s lives. Indeed, the development of THE has directly impacted the life of children (Yang et al., 2019) etc, and with the emergence of a trend towards pro-environment behaviour that has plunged children into adopting a Doublethinking attitude (Carr, 2011). Ethics is an important topic to consider when exploring children in THE (Canosa & Graham, 2016).

We especially encourage the submission of papers that develop a critical approach to children and childhood(s) based on empirical and theoretical work. The scholarship in this special issue aims to inform all those who research and work with and for children and their families with regards to THE. We welcome high quality academic papers on these and other topics for submission to our panel of peer reviewers. Equally important is to note that in this special issue, children is to be understood as anyone falling under one of the following categories (Poria & Timothy, 2011): Infancy (birth to 2 years old), early childhood (3 to 6 years old), middle childhood (7 to 10 years old), and adolescence (11 to 18 years old).

List of Topic Areas

Theoretical, conceptual, empirical and practical studies related to the below are encouraged: 

• ·       Implications (theoretical, ethical and methodological) of involving children in sustainable strategies in THE
• ·       Children movements and activism: Creating a more sustainable THE environment
• ·       Ethical factors to take into consideration by THE when developing products and services for children
• ·       Conducting research with children in THE with regards to sustainability
• ·       Children, sustainability and THE performance
• ·       Childism perspective of sustainability in THE: Benefits and limitations
• ·       Children play and the sustainability of THE
• ·       The role of family in children perception of the sustainability of THE
• ·       The role of school (college, and high school) in children perception of the sustainability of THE
• ·       The impacts of THE ethical consumption on the wellbeing of children and their families
• ·       Children: Homogeneous or heterogeneous group when it comes to sustainability in THE?
• ·       Children, AI and the sustainability of THE
• ·       Sustainability thinkers, actioners and transformers in THE: What are the triggers for children?
• ·       Experiences of children and their families/carers living in sustainable tourism destinations (or) staying in sustainable accommodation (or) attending sustainable events
• ·       The role of culture, religion, ethnicity and socio-economic status in empowering/disempowering children
• ·       What are the motivations, barriers and possibilities for children to participate in sustainability processes in low-income destinations?
• ·       Role of social media and role models in the empowerment of children
• ·       Empowerment of children in THE context and the long-term impacts on the adult inner child
• ·       Other original topics relevant to the call for papers are welcomed

Submission Information and Key Deadlines for Open Call for Papers

Guest Editors

 Dr Hugues Séraphin (Oxford Brookes University, UK) hseraphin@brookes.ac.uk

Dr Simon M Smith (Oxford Brookes University, UK), simonsmith@brookes.ac.uk

Dr Kevin Grande (Excelia Business School, France) grandek@excelia-group.com

References

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Canosa, A., & Schänzel, H. (2021). The Role of Children in Tourism and Hospitality Family Entrepreneurship. Sustainability, 13(22), 12801. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212801

Canosa, Antonia & Graham, Anne, 2016. Ethical tourism research involving children, Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 219-221. 

Carr, N. (2011) Children’s and families’ holiday experiences. Routledge: Abington: UK.

Corsale, A., & Vuytsyk, O. (2015). Long-distance attachment and implications for tourism development: The case of Western Ukrainian diaspora. Tourism Planning & Development, 13(1), 88–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568316.2015.1074099

du Cros, H., & Jingya, L. (2013). Chinese Youth Tourists Views on Local Culture. Tourism Planning & Development, 10(2), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568316.2013.783732

Gaines, B. L., Hubbard, S. S., Witte, J. E., & O'Neill, M. A. (2004). An analysis of children's programs in the hotel and resort industry market segment. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 5(4), 85-99. 

Grande, K., & Séraphin, H. Children as a ‘Left Behind’ Group by Outdoor Hospitality Businesses: A Human Resources Management Perspective, International Journal Hospitality Management, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2024.104001

Higham, J., Font, X., & Wu, J. (2022). Code red for sustainable tourism, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, doi: 10.1080/09669582.2022.2008128

Koščak, M., Knežević, M., Binder, D., Pelaez-Verde, A., Işik, C., Borisavljević, K., & Šegota, T. (2021). Exploring the neglected voices of children in sustainable development: A comparative study in six European tourist destinations. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1–20

Mandić, A., Pavlić, I., Puh, B., & Séraphin, H. (2023). Children and overtourism: an experiment in cognitive neuroscience to reflect on exposure and behavioural consequences, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, doi: 10.1080/09669582.2023.2278023 

Séraphin, H (ed.) (2023). Events Management for the Infant and Youth Market. Emerald Publishing 

Séraphin, H, Gowreesunkar, V., & Canosa, A. (2021). Destination Marketing Organisations: The Need for a Children Centred Approach, Tourism Planning & Development, doi:  10.1080/21568316.2021.1903983

Séraphin, H., & Grande, K. (2024). Developing play for children: an untapped competitive advantage tool for destinations. Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights, doi: 10.1016/j.annale.2024.100154 

Trupp, A., Salman, A., Stephenson, M. L., Chan, L. F., & Gan, J. E. (2024). A Systematic Review of Challenges Faced by Micro and Small Enterprises in Tourism Destinations: Producing Solutions through Resilience Building and Sustainable Development. Tourism Planning & Development, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568316.2024.2307970 

Wadhwani, D., & Sørensen, A.R. (2023) Methods of musement: Cultivating serious play in research on business and organization, Management & Organizational History, 18(1), 1-15, DOI: 10.1080/17449359.2023.2187032 

Yang, M. J. H., Yang, E. C. L., & Khoo-Lattimore, C. (2019). Host-children of tourism destinations: systematic quantitative literature review. Tourism Recreation Research, 45(2), 231–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2019.1662213 

Zifkos, G. (2014). Sustainability Everywhere: Problematising the “Sustainable Festival” Phenomenon. Tourism Planning & Development, 12(1), 6–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568316.2014.960600