Risk and responsibility in tourism: promoting sun-safety

Concerns about tourist health and safety are growing amongst tourists, and also amongst managers, academics and public policy-makers with an interest in tourism. Sunburn, particularly amongst children, is one of the most severe tourism health risks due to the likelihood of ultimately developing skin cancer. This is a difficult issue for the tourism industry to confront. Partly this is due to the long delay which can separate a serious sunburn incident from the onset of skin cancer. Perhaps, more importantly, it is a difficult issue because the "sunshine holiday" is the mainstay of the entire industry. This article uses insights from UK and Australian focus group research into promoting child sun-safety to discuss the industry's responsibility to better protect tourists from the known risks of skin cancer, and the steps that could be taken to improve its response. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.