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.