Tourism

GlencoeRecreation, sport & leisure

More people can engage in recreation, sport and leisure in the UK than in the past due to:

  • rising incomes (as more people have entered higher education and proceeded to professional work) allowing people to spend more money on leisure pursuits (such as attending rock festivals e.g. Glastonbury)
  • greater amounts of free time at weekends (now that many industries - and schools! - no longer insist on Saturday working as they did in the recent past)
  • longer annual holidays for most workers (with a three-week legal minimum now in place in the UK)
  • the rise of self-employment and flexi-time working (where employees can take on extra workload at the start of the week and then take Friday off, in lieu)
  • government promotion and funding of leisure activities in areas receiving regional aid (e.g. Highlands region)
  • the rise of "short-break" tourist industries that promote all-year-round weekend leisure packages at spa resorts

With these changes, opportunities for sports and leisure services have ballooned, whether we are talking about snowboarding, music festivals, stamp collecting or paint-balling. Sports and leisure are now a particularly vital part of the economy of many post-industrial cities in the UK. Settlements such as Liverpool and Manchester have actively sought to re-brand themselves as sites of leisure and recreation. This is part of a response to the challenges of deindustrialisation (the decline of traditional industries based around docks and manufacturing). For instance, the huge contribution that football and music make to these cities' economies should not be under-estimated.

How will climate change impact upon patterns of recreation, sport and leisure?

Possible impacts of warmer temperatures upon patterns of recreation, sport and leisure could include:

  • Changes in the time of year when some sports can be played
  • An expansion in some sports, such as surfing and yachting, along the south coast and elsewhere
  • Changes in the places where some sports and games can be played (ski and snow-boarding resorts may not survive in Scotland if warmer temperatures mean that they no longer receive or retain enough snow)
  • Changes in working hours and leisure patterns, more in line with Mediterranean countries (perhaps the siesta will be adopted!)

However, it must be remembered that in some regions, warmer temperatures may also be accompanied by wetter weather. As a result, the changes described will not occur uniformly throughout the UK.

National Parks and SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest)- both of which are popular sites for weekend recreation for many families - could also be adversely affected by climate change. The Government agency Natural England has voiced concerns that nature reserves for protected species may not work in the future "because of climate change". Species may move elsewhere in search of a climate they prefer if conditions change where they currently live - how will that affect the status of currently protected areas? And their importance as areas of recreation and leisure?

Student Practice Question:

Why are some sporting activities concentrated in certain countries and not others? (for Edexcel B)

As well as explaining the environmental, social, economic and political factors that lead to some sporting activities being concentrated in particular places, this essay could also address how such patterns might now be modified as a result of climate change. In particular, the potential re-location of ski and snow-board activities could be investigated.