ABSTRACT
In addition, the spirit of professional dedication is also widely cited, where work in this part of the tourism industry is more akin to a vocation. Encounter Overland refer to their trips as ‘projects’ and talk of their leaders in glowing terms: ‘ordinary men and women – often previous trip members – who have elected to put promising careers on hold and devote half a dozen years or more to what they like doing best’. And, of course, with greater flexibility in the service sector a higher proportion of new middle-class employees are able to take longer periods off between jobs or contracts, or are able to negotiate relatively long periods of absence. All in all a more dedicated, professional, and avaricious tourist class has emerged.
