Road trips in recreational vehicles (RVs) are popular ways to experience freedom, warmer climates and flexibility in the USA as well as Australia. Ownership of such vehicles is increasing in both markets. Nevertheless, very little is known about the individuals who engage in RVing activities and about the neo-tribes that they form and organise through clubs. Also, cross-regional comparisons of RVers are currently missing from the literature. This article conducted analyses of the text (words and images) of websites belonging to two RV clubs in the USA and two clubs in Australia as well as of the websites of the countries' respective RV advocacy groups. The goal was to examine the specific neo-tribes as they were represented on these websites. The results revealed similarities but also clear differences, with the USA RV clubs appearing to be much more focussed on delivering the defining aspects of neo-tribes, such as fellowship, organisation of online scenes, and the facilitation of an RVing lifestyle.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	recreational vehicles, neo-tribes, online representation, website analysis, comparative analysis
Research Division:	Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
Research Group:	Tourism
Research Field:	Tourist behaviour and visitor experience
Objective Division:	Commercial Services and Tourism
Objective Group:	Tourism services
Objective Field:	Tourism services not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Hardy, A (Associate Professor Anne Hardy)
UTAS Author:	Hanson, D (Dr Dallas Hanson)
ID Code:	80562
Year Published:	2012
Web of Science® Times Cited:	26
Deposited By:	Management
Deposited On:	2012-11-02
Last Modified:	2017-11-28
Downloads:	2 View Download Statistics