Samenvatting

http://cts.som.surrey.ac.uk/publication/lets-say-goodbye-the-moralising-practices-of-gap-year-organisations-in-the-netherlands/wppa_open/Responding to the growing appeal of the gap year amongst young people, thehigher education sector, governmental institutions and, perhaps foremost, the tourismindustry are increasingly starting to realise the potential of promoting tourism as an arenawith moral status and codes, influencing society and individual lives in ‘new’, different andpowerful ways. Due to this burgeoning global and identifiable gap year industry, the networkof public and private organisations, support services, practices and beliefs has becomeincreasingly open to scrutiny. This paper aims to contribute to a new research agendaexploring the broader cultural influence of the gap year industry in the Netherlands through adiscourse analysis of online resources targeting young people. In particular, the paperexplores the moralising practices of gap year organisations involved in promoting,negotiating and regulating new moral values and meanings of, and through, tourism. Thepaper concludes with a critical impression of how these organisations claim to offer a moredistinctive way of reflection, and thereby contribute to negative and narrowed views on masstourism and, in all likelihood, a distorted sense of global citizenship amongst young people.