If not now, then never’

Conceptualising the grad trip

Bibliographic Data

ID12697789
AuthorsYinn Shan Cheong (0000-0002-3665-0617, National University of Singapore, Singapore), Hye Lim Sin (0000-0001-7850-993X, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore, corresponding author), Tou Chuang Chang (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
Year2023
Volume23
Issue4
Pages272-292
Publication date2023-10-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTourist Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-7976 • E-ISSN: 1741-3206
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14687976231203751
OpenAlexW4387578218
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited65

The grad trip entails travelling overseas with one’s closest group of friends to commemorate the completion of tertiary and formal education and is bookended by the carefree freedom in one’s youth and the commencement of an adulthood defined by formal employment. This article conceptualises the grad trip as a phenomenon in youth tourism, based on empirical study of how it is experienced in Singapore. Our conceptualisation of the timing and duration that defines a grad trip demonstrates the dominance of time productivity reflective of Singapore’s work culture. Drawing on a precedence of studies based in the Western concept of the gap year, we reveal commonalities in employment society’s influence on time for youth tourism. While the gap year seeks to maximise the length of time offered by a ‘gap’, the grad trip contrarily minimises the culturally perceived wastefulness of a prolonged break

Demographic economics · Dominance (genetics · Duration (music · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economics · Epistemology · Phenomenon · Political science · Productivity · Sociology · Tourism · Hospitality and Tourism Education · Law · Socioeconomic Development in Asia · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development