DISSERTATION REPORT- BACKPACKERS: THE NEXT GENERATION?
INTRODUCTION
Since the mid-1990s, the tourism industry has become aware of the economic
‘phenomenon’ of backpacker tourism and the extent to which it contributes financially to both developed and developing countries. To date, most backpacker research has focussed on reviewing the experiences and choices in travel of the 18-29 year olds who constitute the bulk of the market. Future research should move away from assuming that backpacking is a homogenous phenomenon and should instead review its diverse manifestations, in terms of differences in age, gender, origins, and particular subcultures.

Who is a tourist? Who is a backpacker? These two apparently simple questions have been discussed and debated for years by academics.
The tourist is a voluntary, temporary traveller, travelling in the expectation of pleasure from the novelty and change experienced on a relatively long and non-recurrent roundtrip. Tourists were sub-classified into four travel roles:organized mass tourists, individual mass tourists, explorers, and drifters.
The definition of backpackers included a preference for budget accommodation and emphases on meeting other travellers, flexible itineraries, longer rather than shorter holidays and informal and participatory holidays. Most studies of backpackers have indicated that more than 80% of backpackers are less than 30 years of age.

PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTION * What are the specific needs and requirements of a backpacker in backpacker accommodations? * Environmental setting * Price * Social interaction * Facility and services * Quality of space * Communal living * Sustainable tourism

SECONDARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS * How do backpacker accommodations promote ‘Sustainable Tourism’? * How does the concept of ‘Communal