The Child Tourist: Agency and Cultural Competence in VFR Travel
In this article, we meet a seven-year-old boy, Matti, who was adopted from his birth country in Africa by a family in Sweden. We meet him together with his family as they are planning a family adoption return trip to his birth country and again after their return. We argue that an adoption return tr...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Tourism and Hospitality |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/3/2/29 |
| _version_ | 1797481860730716160 |
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| author | Johanna Annerbäck Anna Sparrman |
| author_facet | Johanna Annerbäck Anna Sparrman |
| author_sort | Johanna Annerbäck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this article, we meet a seven-year-old boy, Matti, who was adopted from his birth country in Africa by a family in Sweden. We meet him together with his family as they are planning a family adoption return trip to his birth country and again after their return. We argue that an adoption return trip is a form of family travel and/or visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel. By methodologically using a so-called children’s perspective we are primarily focusing on Matti and how he talks about the return trip. We explore some key concepts from child studies through Matti’s relational encounters in the world. By presenting agency and cultural competence as something that is enacted in practice, we show how they are enacted through the dependencies between Matti, his mother and his sister. The analysis shows that cultural competence and agency are fluid in the sense that they can be changed by how topics of discussion are woven through one another. Staying with Matti’s lived practices makes it possible to elaborate on and demonstrate different forms of competence and agency that are important for understanding children as tourists and children’s roles in family travel. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:20:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d38b5b7e70ed4c76bdd739cc9cb34c5f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-5768 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:20:35Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Tourism and Hospitality |
| spelling | doaj.art-d38b5b7e70ed4c76bdd739cc9cb34c5f2023-11-23T19:15:25ZengMDPI AGTourism and Hospitality2673-57682022-05-013245146510.3390/tourhosp3020029The Child Tourist: Agency and Cultural Competence in VFR TravelJohanna Annerbäck0Anna Sparrman1Department of Thematic Studies—Child Studies, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, SwedenDepartment of Thematic Studies—Child Studies, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, SwedenIn this article, we meet a seven-year-old boy, Matti, who was adopted from his birth country in Africa by a family in Sweden. We meet him together with his family as they are planning a family adoption return trip to his birth country and again after their return. We argue that an adoption return trip is a form of family travel and/or visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel. By methodologically using a so-called children’s perspective we are primarily focusing on Matti and how he talks about the return trip. We explore some key concepts from child studies through Matti’s relational encounters in the world. By presenting agency and cultural competence as something that is enacted in practice, we show how they are enacted through the dependencies between Matti, his mother and his sister. The analysis shows that cultural competence and agency are fluid in the sense that they can be changed by how topics of discussion are woven through one another. Staying with Matti’s lived practices makes it possible to elaborate on and demonstrate different forms of competence and agency that are important for understanding children as tourists and children’s roles in family travel.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/3/2/29childtouristagencycultural competenceadoption return tripVFR |
| spellingShingle | Johanna Annerbäck Anna Sparrman The Child Tourist: Agency and Cultural Competence in VFR Travel Tourism and Hospitality child tourist agency cultural competence adoption return trip VFR |
| title | The Child Tourist: Agency and Cultural Competence in VFR Travel |
| title_full | The Child Tourist: Agency and Cultural Competence in VFR Travel |
| title_fullStr | The Child Tourist: Agency and Cultural Competence in VFR Travel |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Child Tourist: Agency and Cultural Competence in VFR Travel |
| title_short | The Child Tourist: Agency and Cultural Competence in VFR Travel |
| title_sort | child tourist agency and cultural competence in vfr travel |
| topic | child tourist agency cultural competence adoption return trip VFR |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/3/2/29 |
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