Micro Perspective of

the Tourism and

Hospitality
Chapter 7 – Determine the Varied Views of Recreation and
Leisure
Metalanguage
The essential terms that will be used in this section are defined below for our
collective understanding.
1. Leisure. It is the productive, creative, or contemplative use of free time.
2. Recreation. It is the process of giving new life to something, of restoring
something.
3. Sports. Physical activities demanding exertion and skill, involving
competition, carried on with both formal rules and general standards of
etiquette and fair play.
4. Theme Parks. Parks that concentrate on one dominant theme.
5. Water Parks. These are specialized themed parks that offers water
activities.
1. Recreational Activities
Recreational activities include all kinds of team and individual sports.
Examples of active recreations:
• Hiking
• Jogging
• Aerobics
• Rock Climbing
Examples of passive recreations:
• Reading
• Fishing
• Playing and listening to music
2. Varied Views of Recreation and Leisure
Recreation means the network of public agencies that provide parks,
playgrounds, swimming pools, sports fields, and community centers in
several cities, towns, counties, or park districts. Recreation may be
found in a senior center, a sheltered workshop for mentally disabled
individuals, or a treatment center for physical rehabilitation. The
government in both developed and developing countries has accepted
the responsibility of providing and assisting leisure opportunities
through extensive recreation and park systems.
3. Recreational Participation
Recreational actually includes an extremely broad range of leisure
activities including:
• Travel and tourism
• Cultural entertainment
• Participation in the arts
• Hobbies
• Membership in social clubs or interest groups
• Nature-related activities
4. Motivations for Recreational
Participation
A recreation is a form of relaxation and release from the pressures of
work and other tensions. Need to express creativity, expose hidden
talents, or pursue excellence in various forms of personal expression.
Active recreation offers a channel for releasing hostility and aggression.
Recreation provides them the opportunity to make new friends or
cooperate with others in group activities. Recreational activities involve
community service, leadership in fraternal or religious organizations,
health and physical fitness, forms of elite culture, exploration of new
environments through travel and tourism, or seeking self-discovery or
personality enrichment through continuing education or religious
activity.
5. Factors Promoting the Growth of
Recreation
1. Increase in discretionary time – various factors such as the development of
automated machines that lessen people's workloads have contributed to
increased leisure and recreation time for people.
2. Influence of Technology – new technological advancements lead to new forms
of recreational activities.
3. Public interest in health and fitness – people are now particular with their
health and physical appearance.
4. Commodification of leisure – profit-seeking businesses is developing various
forms of recreation.
5. Therapeutic recreation service – another important aspect of the growth of
recreation is the increased awareness of the recreation needs of persons with
physical, mental, or social disabilities.
6. New leisure roles for women – at present, women have a strong drive to play
an equal role in recreational opportunities.
6. Types of Organized Recreation
1. Government recreation agencies – these are federal state, provincial
agencies, and local departments that provide recreation and leisure
services as a primary function.
2. Voluntary non-profit organizations are non-governmental, non-profit
agencies, both sectarian and non-sectarian, which serve the public
with multiservice programs that often include a substantial
recreational opportunity element.
3. Private membership organizations provide recreational and social
activities for their own members and sometimes to the community.
4. Commercial recreation enterprises – these are privately owned
businesses that operate to make a profit.
5. Employee recreation programs – they serve those who work for
companies or employers by providing recreation as a part of a total
personnel benefits package.
6. Armed forces recreation – it is unique in its setting and purpose.
7. Campus recreation – it includes intramural athletics or sports clubs,
social activities, travel programs, and the like.
8. Therapeutic recreation services – these include any program
designed to meet the needs of persons with disabilities.
7. Two Major Recreation Service
Components
(1) Sports as Popular Recreation. Sports are a major area of recreational
involvement, which commands the highest degree of personal interest and
emotional involvement for participants and spectators.
(2) Tourism as a Major Recreation Service Component. Major elements in
tourism enterprise which are closely linked to the growth of tourism as a form of
recreation are:
1.Theme Park – creates an atmosphere in which the visitor is likely to experience
fantasy, glamour, escapism, prestige, and excitement. The most popular theme
park is Disneyland in Anaheim, California, which was built by the late Walt
Disney around the theme of Disney characters.
a. Water Parks – features wave pools, slides, chutes, shows, and other forms
of water-based play and entertainment.
2. Fun Centers – offer a combination of computer and video games,
billiards, miniature golf, entertainment by clowns and magicians,
music, and popular fast food refreshments.
3. Sports Tourism – some people travel to participate directly in sports
or attend sports events as a spectator. Before, only the team
members travel,, but now, both the team and the spectators travel
to the game, especially where championship games are involved.
The World Olympics is the biggest sports event.
8. The Need for Professional Leadership
The professional’s assignment in the organized recreation field teams to
be more complex and difficult than that of the volunteer leader or coach.
It must involve carefully studied goals and objectives and sophisticated
planning techniques. Recreation professionals should possess the skills
needed for direct leadership and supervision, group dynamics, and client
assessment. They must have the ability to carry out basic research and
write meaningful reports.
9. Emerging Professional Identity
Millions of men and women are employed in various specialized sectors
of recreation and leisure services. Many hold professional-level jobs as
recreation leaders, supervisors, planners, managers, and resource
specialists. Through the efforts of national, state, and provincial
societies, higher standards for practice were developed, and the first
steps of certification and accreditation were undertaken.
10. Challenges Facing the Recreation and Leisure
Service Field in the Twenty-First Century
Recreational professionals must be able to deal effectively with the following
challenges:
• Serve diverse society (race, age, gender)
• Emphasize key social purposes of recreation in working with at-risk youth,
serving persons with disabilities, and promoting community development
• Archive fuller public understanding of the value of recreation and parks and the
leisure-service profession
• Upgrade recreation and park programs and facilities, particularly in inner cities
and for minority populations
• Adopt a benefits-based management approach, researching, proving, and
publicizing positive outcomes of recreation
• Promote recreation’s identity as a health-related field
• Develop partnerships with environmental organizations to protect and restore
wildlands, waterways
• Employ marketing approach to achieve fiscal sufficiency and gain public respect
and support
• Expand and improve family-centered programs and facilities
• Promote higher values and ethical practices in youth sports competition
• Strive for fuller mainstreaming of persons with disabilities in community
recreation programs
• Plan for the long-term role of recreation and leisure in a potentially job-scarce
economy
• Develop higher levels of professionalism through accreditation, certification,
continuing education, or program standards
• Unify separate branches of recreation and leisure service fields (public, non-
profit, commercial, therapeutic) in common programs and projects