Recreating the Workplace: Leisure, Lifestyle and Work-Life Balance for Micro-business Tourist Accommodation Operators

Abstract This paper explores leisure, lifestyle and work-life balance for a group of business people working in the tourism industry through a qualitative study of the experiences of microbusiness accommodation operators. Thematic analysis was used to investigate the nature of leisure, lifestyle and work-life balance in the context of involvement, commercial success and sustainability. Results indicate that lifestyle is a key factor in decisionmaking,being constructed around the four themes of: people; way of life; work-life; and control. In the construction of lifestyle, leisure plays a role, but this is never defined and is interwoven throughout the everyday. This study suggests that combining work and leisure can be a dangerous activity, and that leisure needs to be nurtured if burnout is to be avoided. The study also suggests that leisure and work cannot truly be separated in such workplaces, and have a highly complex and interconnected relationship that deserves further study.