An Exploratory Examination of Serious Surfers: Implications for the Surf Tourism Industry

Abstract

Surf tourism is a multibillion dollar industry expected to continue expanding. Despite such economic significance, the surf tourism literature has gaps related to surf tourism segments. In response, this study applied the serious leisure framework to profile serious surfers and contrast their sociodemographic composition and travel behaviors. Although more serious surfers are more avid travelers in the quest for the perfect wave as compared with less serious surfers, preference for local attractions and conveniences did not vary between groups. In addition to contributing the scholarship of serious leisure and surf tourism, this study provides insights for the surf tourism industry. a This only includes those who have ever taken a surfing trip (n = 123; 90.4%). b Respondents were able to select multiple categories. c Originally measured on a five-point scale ranging from 1 (very unwilling) to 5 (very willing). d Only response categories with more than 10% are reported.

Factors Constraining International Growth in Nautical Tourism Firms

“…The evolution of the industry itself and the constant changes in tourist preferences and travel motivations have modified the initial definition towards a broader approach [16][17][18]. The concept most used today defines nautical tourism as a multifunctional tourist segment [12,19,20] where leisure, recreation, and the practice of sporting activities in the marine environment are the main motivations for travelling [21] and where tourists can do other activities, such as enjoying the beach, the coastal landscape or the cultural offer of the destination [22].…”

“…Thanks to its potential, nautical tourism stands out as a key sector for the sustainability of many coastal and island destinations highly dependent on the tourism activity, especially sun and beach tourism products [24,25]. While tourism development challenges of several destinations are aimed at the nautical sector, there is not enough available data, studies and information [17,26,27]. It is argued that research related to this segment is scarce when compared with the figures of actual and expected economic growth of the activity [28].…”

Ocio serio e identidad social. Elementos para un análisis sociológico de la participación popular en pruebas deportivas de fondo

“…Para intentar recoger la variabilidad de estos fenómenos se ha desarrollado una herramienta de medida, el Serious Leisure Inventory Measure (Gould et al, 2008), que intenta reflejar cada una de estas seis características. En una reformulación más reciente (Gould et al, 2011) esta herramienta se ha rediseñado para poderse utilizar como medida de en qué grado una persona está comprometida en una determinada actividad de ocio, y se ha aplicado al deporte del surf (Barbieri y Sotomayor, 2013;Sotomayor y Barbieri, 2016), jugadores de béisbol y voleibol (Liu et al, 2013) y a una muestra variada de deportistas federados (Romero, Iraurgi y Madariaga, 2017).…”

Untitled

“…Para intentar recoger la variabilidad de estos fenómenos se ha desarrollado una herramienta de medida, el Serious Leisure Inventory Measure (Gould et al, 2008), que intenta reflejar cada una de estas seis características. En una reformulación más reciente (Gould et al, 2011) esta herramienta se ha rediseñado para poderse utilizar como medida de en qué grado una persona está comprometida en una determinada actividad de ocio, y se ha aplicado al deporte del surf (Barbieri y Sotomayor, 2013;Sotomayor y Barbieri, 2016), jugadores de béisbol y voleibol (Liu et al, 2013) y a una muestra variada de deportistas federados (Romero, Iraurgi y Madariaga, 2017).…”