Report Outline
Special Focus
Introduction
In Europe, workers take extensive vacations, and their time off is often guaranteed by law. In the United States vacations are viewed as a privilege, a cost of doing business that should be minimized. America's “vacation gap” with Europe is not new, but circumstances are. As one economist put it, “it used to be we had the living standard, they had the leisure. Now they have both.”
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Overview
Leisure, In the 1950s, it seemed to loom before American like a gigantic sci-fi monster, menacing an unprepared populace. Historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. in 1957 warned that the anticipated increase in leisure was “the most dangerous threat hanging over American society.” Novelist and social critic Harvey Swados agreed. “The problem of what 200 million of us will do with our increasing leisure time …is so awesome in its magnitude as to be terrifying,” he wrote.
In retrospect, the threat seems to have been more than a bit exaggerated. The 40-hour workweek remains the standard for U.S. workers, and annual vacations average little more than two weeks. Americans are scheduled to work more hours than workers in most other industrialized countries and get far less vacation time. In fact, as a result of the increase in the number of working women in recent years, many American families now enjoy less real leisure than in the past. |
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Nov. 09, 2018 |
Global Tourism Controversies |
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Oct. 20, 2006 |
Ecotourism |
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Jun. 17, 1988 |
America's ‘Vacation Gap’ |
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May 04, 1984 |
Tourism's Economic Impact |
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Jul. 21, 1978 |
Tourism Boom |
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May 14, 1969 |
Summer Camps and Student Travel |
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May 18, 1966 |
Tourist Dollar Gap |
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Apr. 19, 1961 |
Two-Way Tourism |
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Jul. 20, 1955 |
Competition for Passenger Travel |
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Jul. 03, 1946 |
Travel Boom |
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Jun. 17, 1930 |
Foreign and Domestic Tourist Traffic |
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