Correspondence: Margaret Deery, Centre for Tourism and Services Research, Victoria University, PO Box 14428, Melbourne City, Victoria 8001, Australia E-mail: marg.deery@vu.edu.au

¹is in the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Marketing and is the Professorial Research Fellow in the Centre for Tourism and Services Research at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia. She has substantial experience in research management having been the Professorial Research Fellow with the Australian Government-funded Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre. Her research interests and expertise are in the areas of work–life balance and well-being in the tourism industry, the social impacts of tourism on communities, volunteer management and event evaluation.

²is a Professor in Tourism and the Director of the Centre for Tourism and Services Research at Victoria University, Australia. He was formerly the Deputy CEO and Director of Research for the national Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre. His research interests include event management and evaluation, small enterprise management and social impact assessment.

Received 2 November 2008; Revised 2 November 2008.

Abstract

This paper examines the key issues associated with work–life balance (WLB) with a particular focus on practices within the tourism industry. It provides an overview of the general literature and then the research that relates specifically to WLB in the tourism industry. It builds on previous research in this area to present an adapted framework for addressing the key variables of WLB that can be tested in subsequent research.