Phraseology and Culture in English

pool, sea view room, budget, (number)-star hotel, resorts, transport, 
mini-bus, meals, fare reduction, concession>.
4.
Although the product comes in different categories of price and com-
fort, there are similar stereotypes about the groups of consumers who 
buy package holidays. Somehow, it seems to be of superior value to 
plan our holidays ourselves. In doing so, one immediately reverts to 
the expression TRAVEL and collocations of <independence, wealth, 
status, education, adventure>.
5.
The package holiday market, as a branch of the tourism industry, is a 
highly regulated market, with its legal framework firmly institutional-
ised in contemporary western culture: <international / (worldwide) 
agreement, facilities, minimum, maximum, reduction, representative, 
office, insurance, appointed, approved, WTO, WTTC, ABTANTB 
9
>.
This is also visible in the naming practice for the travel options that 
can be purchased. Every organised form has its own label, such as: 
<Senior Citizen Railcard, Rail Europe Senior Card, Student card, Su-
persavers, Savers, Non-savers, APEX ticket, PEX ticket, excursion 
ticket, pre-paid ticket, bound, non-refundable>.
Of course, there are also dangers and anxieties related to package holidays, 
not very different to the contexts of TRAVEL: <death, murder, pickpock-
ets, false arrest, prostitutes, beggars, robbery, accident/s, security, AT-
TACK, TERROR, vaccination, AIDS, disease, epidemics>. The fear of 
terrorist attacks has spread dramatically in the last few years. A search in 
up-to-date internet data (KWIC-Finder) documents an almost exploding 
frequency after September 11, 2001, with temporarily detrimental effects 
on the tourism industry. 
It is important to realize that these are the common and agreed-on 
ways of representing the topic of a package holiday. Although we do 
have the possibility to frame the events differently, the majority of lan-
guage users chose the above documented expressions that, therefore, be-
came visible as high frequency occurrences in the concordance data. We 
probably have not very widely differing expectations about a <2 night 
weekend package> or a <14 day beach package tour>. Such expectations 
are perpetuated by the respective, shared discourse in the speech com-
munity.

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The phraseology of tourism 
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We see this in stereotypes coming to the fore: Majorca and Costa del 
Sol are still the most frequently bought destinations for European (Brit- 
ish) package holiday travellers. These are almost the “default” destinations 
for the stereotypical 14-day beach package holiday. A certain status is at-
tached to this choice. Collocates indicate that it is predominately a lower 
middle class choice. A few concordance lines, exemplifying other clichéd 
uses are: 
ʊ
<In a tragic testimony to the commercial success of the package holi-
day business over the last 30 years, melanoma now ranks as Britain’s 
fastest growing cancer…>
ʊ
<Row upon row of sunburnt bodies, oiled like sardines, covered the 
beaches of Spanish resorts. The package holiday market had grown …>
ʊ
<All the women have kinky underwear and perms. They are package 
holiday tourists>
ʊ
<… very easy to purchase>
ʊ
<you will be able to hold the package holiday organiser responsible for 
any shortcomings in the facilities and standards of the foreign hotel>.
While the beach package is obviously restricted in its offers mostly to beach 
and water sports, the occasional excursion and the obligatory catering, the 
weekend package is usually marked by relatively high activity levels of the 
holiday-makers. Some of the more popular pastimes seem to be: 
ʊ
<