Recent developments in second home research: has the COVID-19 pandemic spurred a re-thinking of second home mobilities?

Abstract

This paper explores whether the COVID-19 pandemic has initiated a “re-thinking” of second home mobilities globally. For a long time, second homes have mainly been seen as a leisure space and part of tourism consumption in rural areas in contrast to more productive, entrepreneurial and residential functions and practices. We claim that the pandemic has pinpointed second homes’ increasingly integrated role in everyday life practices, including being spaces for productive and regenerative ends, such as work, safety and health. Furthermore, the importance of second homes within a wider mobility framework is also highlighted, where second homes should be seen as not only a type of tourism mobility. In this paper, we carry out a literature review that aims to expand from the well-established tourism, rural studies and geography perspectives on second home mobilities and connect second homes to identify new research pathways which have been highlighted during the pandemic. By doing so we will pinpoint the growing avenues and future directions for second home research.