Participatory film: Capturing the lived experiences of young people growing up in a tourist destination

In this research we set out to develop synergies between three areas of research, beyond their disciplinary boundaries, to create new ways of understanding the lived experiences of residents of host communities. Drawing on Tourism Studies, Childhood Studies and within a broader anthropological approach to research, this study explores how a marginalised and previously under-represented group in tourism studies understands and experiences life in a tourist destination. Being largely absent from tourism community studies, children and young people have often been referred to as a ‘silent’ population. In this study we explore how children and young people actively and creatively construct their own experiences of childhood in the iconic seaside tourist destination of Byron Bay in Australia.