Searching for Well-being: Exploring Change in Tourist Motivation

Abstract

The relationship between tourism, health and well-being is a complex one based on interactions between the motivations of the travellers and the opportunities provided by the destinations. Much of the discussion to date has been dominated by descriptions of emerging opportunities and services, a focus on the provision of services such as health spas and wellness retreats and definitions based on this supply rather than demand. This paper argues that the focus on the supply side can distort our understanding of the phenomenon and therefore focuses on the demand side of wellness tourism and explores tourist motivation in a series of surveys conducted with tourists to Australia's Great Barrier Reef region over a seven year period. An analysis of the changing patterns of travel motivation to this destination provides some evidence that tourist motives to this region have moved towards incorporating a greater focus on aspects of well-being. More detailed examination of the recent surveys revealed the existence of two motive clusters with links to wellness -one focussed on family well-being and the other one emphasizing the restorative elements of being in a natural environment. The results support the existence of two different expressions of an interest in well-being reflecting an inner-outer directedness dichotomy common in psychology. The paper concludes with implications for understanding wellness tourism and tourism motivation in general.

The wellness tourist motivation scale: a new statistical tool for measuring wellness tourist motivation

“…Wellness has become a popular and sometimes overused label for products and services with questionable credentials or dubious health promises (Corbin & Pangrazi, 2001). The term wellness is often used by the media and marketers to emphasise tasteful, up-to-date and stylish products or as trendy marketing lingo to sell products or services that vaguely resemble anything related to wellness (Miller, 2005). There is an obvious lack of consensus on the very definition of wellness as well, as inconsistent usage of the term is likely to lead to misunderstandings, unrealistic expectations and unsuccessful tourism experiences.…”

Transformative travel as a sustainable market niche for protected areas: a new development, marketing and conservation model

“…Ramkissoon, Smith and Weiler (2013) discuss the strength of links between place social bonding and pro-environmental behaviour in their in-depth study of an Australian National Park. And the presence of a like-minded community can encourage individuals on a journey of reconnection with others (Moscardo, 2011;Smith & Kelly, 2006a). Parks therefore maintain healthy communities through their role as social places and through the formation of social capital (Barton et al, 2009).…”

Do Tourists Travel for the Discovery of “Self” or Search for the “Other”?

“…39, No.1, 2014 Do Tourists Travel for the Discovery of "Self': Moscardo et al 2011), and sanctions abrogation of personal responsibility for one's own behaviour (McKercher et al 2008). Research into spring break behaviours (Herold et al 1998;Josiam et al 1998) supports these ideas, where the perceived temporary abandonment of social norms coupled with the freedom from potential sanctions is used to justify a range of behaviours from excessive alcohol consumption to unsafe sex.…”

“…Firstly, it may be argued that travel could be motivated by the need to relax and escape the pressures of work and home life and this could be seen as a physiological need. This is said to be a core motivator for wellness tourism, although there is growing evidence that many of those who select labeled wellness tourism options may be more interested in luxury and social status than stress reduction and many wellness tourists may also be seeking to find themselves through activities such as yoga and meditation (Moscardo 2011). It also begs the question of why travel is seen as the best option to meet this need.…”

“…Maslow also added the dimension of inner versus outer directed personalities into his theory. Maslow (1970) Do Tourists Travel for the Discovery of "Self': Moscardo et al way in which individuals sought to deal with their needs, possibly because of its use in a number of different areas of psychology (see Moscardo, 2011 for a brief review). Innerdirected individuals are more autonomous, less aware of and influenced by social cues and conformity pressures, and more interested in judging and acting according to their internal standards.…”