SPENDING MONEY FOR LEISURE: THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE

CONTENTS

How much money is spent for leisure

The scope of leisure spending

Leisure-related jobs

Economic significant of free time

The more central role of leisure in the economy

Commercial leisure services organization

leisure components for business and commerce

Leisure as a commodity

Leisure and materialism

DOES LEISURE COST MONEY?

Today, leisure costs money, almost one fifth of total household expenditure.

The household incomes have grown during the last 30 years, so the proportion of spending on some nonessential items has increased.

Spending on leisure goods and services has increased in the past decade.

Spending on transportation also increased over this period, especially, transportation for travel.

LEISURE DOESN’T HAVE TO COST MONEY

Children’s games-hopscotch, climbing trees, running, cost little or nothing.

Contemplation, political dialogue, writing poetry, voluntary community service also cost little or nothing

HOW THE COMMERCIALIZE LEISURE ACTIVITIES EVOLVE?

In many ways, leisure emerged in the modern world due to commercial enterprise:

Beginning in the 18th century with magazines, coffeehouses, and music rooms, and continuing throughout the 19th century, with professional sports and holiday travel, the modern idea of personal leisure emerged at the same time as the business of leisure.

HOW MUCH MONEY IS SPENT FOR LEISURE?

It’s difficult to determine how much money we spend for leisure.

For example, many things we may buy have connections between work and leisure. We may buy a car to get to work and drive to tourism resorts

during weekend.

Some sports clothing is also worn to work.

Many expenditures are illegal and thus are never reported.

While it is difficult to precisely determine how much is spent for leisure, if one examines the favorite leisure activities, it mostly involves spending lots of money.

THE SCOPE OF LEISURE SPENDING

The US department of Commerce, which measures consumer spending, defines recreation spending to include home electronics, radio and television, music, entertainment, sporting goods, home gardening, toys, books and magazines, and recreation equipment like boats, motor homes, and bicycles.

Reasons for increased leisure spending is the growth in GDP

spending 1990 2004

recreation 209.2 billion 702.4 billion

Wildlife’s watcher 37.5 billion 44.7 billion

LEISURE SPENDING IN SOME COUNTRIES

In South Korea, annual leisure spending has risen to an average of US$1047 per adult.

Popular leisure activities in Japan

Eating out with family or friends

Going for drive or trips during holidays(include hot spring, cherry blossoming)

karaoke

Martial arts

Renting videos

Visiting theme park

pachinko

Leisure activities

Trip and outing

Improvement activities

Cultural activities

% of total spending

50% 15% 6%

LEISURE RELATED JOBS

Leisure industry are generally far more labor-intensive than the auto industry and manufacturing

Which means that leisure industries provide more jobs than the auto and manufacturing industry

ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF FREE TIME

Most consumer spending occurs during free time.

A few leading industrialist long ago understood that if people did not have enough free time to shop, they could not buy up all the new products coming on the market.

Holidays and Festivals account for large upswings in retail sales.

Shopping for pleasure has become our most popular leisure activity.

Shopping centers have become a gathering place for teenagers after school, a place for seniors to get exercise, a location for various community events and fairs, and a place to just browse and pass the time.

Businesses sell to us during our leisure and in most cases directly use our interest in leisure to help sell product.

Television, internet, radio, new papers, magazines are sources of advertising platform to support for commercial sales.

ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF FREE TIME

THE MORE CENTRAL ROLE OF LEISURE IN THE ECONOMY

The products and services used during leisure constitute an increasingly important part of our economic well-being.

Leisure activity has become the primary economic base for many large cities.

Leisure also plays an increasingly important role in efforts at local economic development.

For many companies, whether or not they decide to expand into or move to a new community depends largely on whether or not the type of employee they need for their company to prosper would want to live in that community.

This sometimes referred to as the “quality of life” issue. (e.g. parks, the arts, sport, entertainment, opportunities for tranquility, the qualities of the natural environment)

The realization has caused many communities to regard their recreation, parks, and leisure services as an economic investment.

COMMERCIAL LEISURE SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

RESORT

Over 1/3 of all receipts in the lodging industry come from pleasure travel.

These caused many hotel/motel to add their properties such features as electronic games and pinball centers, tennis, handball, fitness rooms and arrangement s with nearby golf courses, ski areas, or theaters.

Arrangements for single’s weekend for members to meet the opposite sex

Participate in various recreation activities is more important than the room itself.

THEME PARKS

Disneyland and Disney world, very famous around the world.

Theme parks provide several hours to several days of recreation.

Such parks provide passive entertainment in which customers are seated in a ride or an auditorium.

Entertainment and thrill rides are the essence of such parks.

Waterslide, innertube courses and wave-making swimming pools, and those that offer imaginative playground equipment, such as huge climbing nets, go-carts, bumper boats, and miniature golf.

THEME PARKS

Theme parks often cannot rely on making a profit by changing admissions for rides, but must sell patrons other products or services.

Remaining revenues come from food, gift items, souvenirs, and other merchandise.

Today, theme parks are beginning to provide recreation programing, such as special events, and to institute daily and weekly changes in their operation.

SPORT FACILITIES

Commercial enterprise that offer specialized sport facilities are becoming increasingly popular.

Many commercial sport centers have found it to be in their best interest to diversify their offerings with aerobic dance classes, karate lessons, sauna or steam baths, weight lifting, exercise machines, and other equipment or activities.

LIFE STYLE CENTER

The international council of shopping centers defined a lifestyle center as “an open-air, higher-end, leisure-oriented development of 150,000 to 500,000 square feet that included a mix of stores from conventional mall tenants to specialty fashion retailers and home-goods outlets.

They are also likely to include dining and entertainment options.

Such centers represent the reinvention of the mall with more emphasis on leisure activity as well as shopping.

LEISURE COMPONENTS OF BUSINESS AND COMMERCE

Many business and commercial ventures may be said to have an important component.

Mass media, such as television, radio and prerecorded music, have transformed our use of leisure in fundamental ways.

Television viewing continues to be the most time-consuming form of leisure behavior, and the videorecorder and cable networks revolutionized how television is used and how much it costs.

Gambling also constitutes a huge business.

One study concluded it should be the major American business.

One out of three Americans gamble at least once a month. They are more likely athletic teams and sporting events than

anything else.

Lotteries

Arts

STUDY QUESTIONS

What are some popular leisure activities in the following countries? List at least 5 and describe one in details we are not familiar with.

UK Germany Finland Spain France

Turkey Israel Iran India Thailand

Indonesia China Malaysia Singapore Australia

Egypt Brazil Mexico Mongolia Russia

HOEMWORK

Please select a famous theme park in the following country and introduce the major activities in the theme park.

UK Germany Finland Spain France

Japan Taiwan Canada India Thailand

Indonesia China Malaysia Singapore Australia

South Korea

Brazil Mexico Hongkong Dubai