Article

Surf travel behavior and destination preferences: An application of the Serious Leisure Inventory and Measure

April 2013
Tourism Management 35:111-121

DOI:10.1016/j.tourman.2012.06.005

Authors:

Carla Barbieri

North Carolina State University

Sandra Sotomayor

Journal of Tourism&Management Research Original Scientific Paper Quadros

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This paper helps to understand that there is still a long way to go in relation to the organization of surfing in the Azores. The aim of this paper is to develop a strategic framework, considering the main keywords collected through interviews with experts and leaders of the surf industry. The approach of this research is qualitative and inductive based on the specific Azores's Surf as a tourist activity region. The sample was selected among experts in surfing area as well as people specialized in the management of surfing as a tourist activity. The information collected in the interviews was encoded by key terms. According to the respondents, it was possible to verify that the tourist offer of surfing in the Azores is not integrated, that tour operators are not organized and that many of the surf schools are not properly certified. The experts know quite well the region and the activity of surfing in Portugal and abroad. Their opinions are certainly a great contribution to the sustainability of surfing in the Azores and a call to action for the needed changes.

Surfing as Tourist Product integrated in the Azores Destination, Portugal

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Can surf culture foster loyalty towards surf destinations?

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The sport of surfing is gaining increasing importance in the context of tourism. Surf tourism has emerged as one promising product of certain regions worldwide. Surfing, as a sport and as a lifestyle, has been grounded in surf culture, which is recognized as a potential attraction factor for certain surf destinations. Although previous research has been undertaken in the field of surf tourism, the impact that the visitors’ perceptions of a destination’s surf culture have on the overall destination image and on loyalty towards that destination is not represented in the peer-reviewed literature. Therefore, a research model is proposed and tested, aiming to contribute to the advancement of knowledge regarding the relevance and influence of surf culture. A survey questionnaire was carried out among visitors to a surf destination in Portugal – Peniche (N = 430). The model was tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Results reveal that the perceptions of surf culture contribute to a better overall destination image and a higher loyalty towards the destination, with the overall image also having a positive impact on loyalty. However, different components of surf culture have distinct impacts on overall image and loyalty. The study provides important theoretical contributions in terms of surf culture and the components of a surf destination image, as well as offers useful insights for the development of effective management strategies for surf tourism destinations.

Turismo de Surf: Estudo exploratório do perfil e motivações dos consumidores da modalidade em Escolas de Surf no Litoral Alentejano [Surfing tourism: Exploratory study of the profile and motivations of the consumers of the sport in surf schools in Alentejo coast]

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Mar 2019

Assessing the Potential for Tourism Development: Northern Portugal as a Surf Destination

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Jan 2022

Increasing awareness of the relevance of natural resources for the practice of outdoor leisure and recreation purposes has contributed to the increasing attention upon the assessment and monitoring of the quality of sports spots. As such, evaluating the existing natural conditions and leisure-related infrastructures is crucial, helping public and private stakeholders in decision-making processes. This chapter aims at examining the conditions for surf tourism in the north of Portugal, enabling the monitoring and positioning as an international flagship destination for surf practitioners. This is done through a mixed-methods approach comprising the demand and supply perspectives and supported by an assessment tool developed to evaluate the conditions for the practice of surfing activities within a framework of sustainable tourism development. The relevance of assessing the potential and monitoring of the existing conditions for sport and outdoor activities, namely surf tourism, according to a defined set of attributes, is also discussed.

Extending the notion of customer value to surfing camps

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This study applies the germane principles of service-dominant logic by investigating how different dimensions of service value impact customers’ satisfaction and related behavioral intentions in the surf camps context. An empirical model was developed and tested via survey responses from 300 Portuguese surf camps tourists who profiled their experience. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling, specifically Partial Least Squares (PLS-PM). Results highlight the respective impact the numerous value dimensions (functional, emotional, social, epistemic, experiential, and contextual) have on the overall level of perceived value as well as its resultant impact on satisfaction and repurchase intentions.

Exploring the Travel Behavior and Experiences of Norwegian Surfers: Cold-Versus Warm-Water Surfing

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May 2021
Tourism Mar Environ

More affordable travel opportunities have facilitated a swift rise in surf tourism, which is a growing multi-billion dollar global business niche within the broader sport tourism industry. It is argued that a growing number of surfers who are searching for the perfect wave without the crowds found in well-established surfing destinations are shifting to cold-water surfing. Previous research on surf tourism has largely focused on warm-and temperate-water surfing and related travel. However, an exploration of and an attempt to comprehend cold-water surf tourism and how it compares to similar activities in warm-water has been overlooked. This study focuses on understanding the travel behaviour and related experiences of Norwegian surf tourists domestically and internationally, to cold-and warm-water destinations. Data were collected using a phenomenological approach and semi-structured in-depth interviews with 18 experienced Norwegian surfers. Results show that these surfers are highly mobile, visiting warm-water surf destinations such as Morocco, Bali, Australia and Hawaii and also cold-water surf destinations such as Norway, Iceland, Scotland and Canada. They travel to surf at least once a year, staying between 10days to three months, preferably in cheap accommodation. The longer the travel distance, the longer the stay. Their experiences of “localism”, where local surfers behave aggressively toward visiting surfers, were more common in crowded warm-water destinations. In addition to the enjoyment of surfing, these Norwegian surf tourists valued opportunities to create new social relationships, experience new and different cultures and expand their “world-view” via their surf travel. They appreciated unique natural environments and experienced a deep connection to nature. This research presents the first empirical data on the travel behaviour and related-experiences of surf tourists from a non-traditional surfing nation in Scandinavia.

Spor Bilimleri Fakültesi Öğrencilerinin Ciddi Boş Zaman ile Rekreasyon Farkındalıklarının Mutluluk Düzeyleri Açısından İncelenmesi

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Bu çalışmanın amacı; spor bilimleri fakültesi öğrencilerinin ciddi boş zaman, rekreasyon farkındalık ve mutluluk düzeyleri arasındaki ilişkinin araştırılmasıdır. Araştırmaya; uygulanan anket formunu, gönüllü olarak doldurmayı kabul eden, 18-40 yaş arası spor bilimleri fakültesinde öğrenim gören 201 (Xyaş=24,88±5,57) öğrenci dahil edilmiştir. Araştırmanın verileri “Kişisel Bilgi Formu”, “Ciddi Boş Zaman Ölçeği”, “Rekreasyon Farkındalık Ölçeği” ve “Oxford Mutluluk Ölçeği” kullanılarak Google Doc çevrim içi anket yolu ile toplanmıştır. İstatistiksel analizler, IBM SPSS 26.0 ve JASP 16.2 istatistik yazılım programları kullanılarak yapılmıştır. Verilere normallik testleri uygulanmış ve normal dağıldığı tespit edilen verilerin ikili karşılaştırmalarında Independent T-Testi, üç ve üzeri grupların karşılaştırılmasında One-Way Anova testleri kullanılmıştır. Sürekli veriler arasındaki ilişkinin ve etkinin incelenmesinde Pearson Korelasyon testi ve Lineer Regresyon analizi kullanılmıştır. Aracı etki analizinde ise Baron ve Kenny yöntemi temel alınmıştır. Aracı rolünün ne kadar etkili olduğunu belirlemek için ise bootstrap güven aralığı değerlerinden faydalanılmıştır. Analizler, cinsiyet açısından anlamlı farklılıklar olmadığını gösterdi (p>0,05). Spor yapma yılı açısından ciddi boş zaman ciddiyet, sosyal fayda ve kişisel fayda alt boyutlarında, rekreasyon farkındalıklarında ve mutluluk düzeylerinde anlamlı ilişkiler olduğunu gösterdi (p

Exploring the personal benefits of surfing: Insights from cold-water surfers in Jæren, Norway

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Introduction: Surfing has grown since the 1960s to become a global marine leisure activity. Traditionally, surfing is associated with tropical and temperate climates and a sea, sand, and sun setting. However, surfing's geographical spread now includes polar and sub-polar regions, areas where the cold and sea-conditions provide challenges to human survival. Methods: This study uses a phenomenological approach to identify and explore the personal benefits gained by experienced surfers in the Jæren region, south of the city of Stavanger in Norway. Data were obtained from semi-structured in-depth interviews with 13 experienced surfers who surf year-round, but primarily in winter, in extreme conditions. Additional secondary data were derived from written and video material published in online surfing blogs/vlogs and surfers' private video footage. Results and discussion: Participants gained a wide range of benefits including experiencing strong positive feelings, inclusion, and social cohesion with other members in the surfing subculture, a deep connection to nature, physical and mental health benefits, and an overall enhanced quality of life. While international surf travel was constrained by the COVID-19 pandemic, local surfing was reinforced. This resulted in surfing becoming an opportunity to safely socialize with others outside of one's family, thus increasing the social benefits of the sport. This study presents the first empirical data on the personal benefits of surfing from a non-traditional cold-water surfing nation in Scandinavia.

Past echoes and modern pressures : on the changing ethics of hunting in Sweden

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Lara Tickle

What do hunters consider an ethical hunt? Ethics are a central part of hunting as it concerns the killing of wildlife. Modern developments are exerting pressures on hunting affecting its practice and ethics. Normative ideals, such as animal welfare and sustainability, are growing in signi-ficance and questioning the legitimacy of hunting, pushing the question of ethical conduct. This research explores how modern developments shape contemporary hunting ethics and examines hunters’ concerns about the emerging dilemmas from various pressures affecting hunting. Exploring the prescriptions that hunters voice in relation to these developments reveals broader ethics and values held by hunters beyond communicated principles of ‘fair chase’ and ‘quick kill’. An applied ethics approach is taken, utilizing qualitative empirical data to analyse hunters’ perceptions of their own and other hunters’ ethical conduct in the face of modern developments, specifically technological innovation, commercialisation, demographic change and centralisation. The thesis thus sheds light on how hunters accommodate, reflect on, or resist these developments, providing insight into held values among hunters and their relationship with wildlife. Each of these developments are investigated, focusing on ethical issues and the emergence of dilemmas for hunters involving trade-offs between moral principles around fair chase, animal welfare and ecology. Results show that these developments affect how hunting is and should be practiced, causing tensions between different values and perspectives on the purpose of hunting and its continued role in society. The research concludes that ethical principles alone are not enough to guide modern hunters and that the hunting process, which is essential to ethical conduct and experience, is being compromised by modern pressures. Finally, three elements of hunting consisting of effort, knowledge, and purpose, are proposed as a complement to ethical principles to buffer against modern pressures and guide hunters towards an ethical hunting process.

Surfing the Creative Wave: Designing Surfing as a Creative Tourism Experience

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Creative tourism experiences constitute clear examples of the experience economy principles. They address new tourists' necessities. They can activate tangible and intangible resources, contribute to the development of local skills while offering the chance to engage with the overall social agents of the tourism system addressing key tourism challenges of the 21st century. Over the past few years, surf tourism has aroused the interest of many people, and surf tourists are increasingly more experienced, demanding and seeking a wide range of engaging experiences. To connect surf tourism to creative tourism, the authors developed a model focused on a creative surf experience. The chapter presents several contributions to the development of creative experiences of surf tourism where surf destinations can focus on and develop a greater audience that searches for such experiences.

Relationship between Leisure Involvement, Voluntary Simplicity, Leisure Satisfaction, and Experiential Consumption

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This study aims to analyze leisure involvement and voluntary simplicity as antecedents of leisure satisfaction and the relationship with experiential consumption. To this end, we conducted a survey with 815 Brazilian runners and cyclists, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Age, education, and income were also investigated as moderators in the relationship between leisure involvement and leisure satisfaction. The main results showed that leisure involvement positively influenced leisure satisfaction and voluntary simplicity of its practitioners. Voluntary simplicity positively influenced leisure satisfaction and experiential consumption. The moderation test showed that the relationship between leisure involvement and leisure satisfaction is stronger for higher age, education, and income. We concluded that leisure involvement could be a path to a simple living choice, one source for a more sustainable world. The findings provide theoretical and practical implications for practitioners, policymakers, and society.

Cost-effective monitoring of the recreational use of coastal areas using drones and digital imagery

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Euan Provost

Tourism Competitiveness and Sustainability Indicators in the Context of Surf Tourism: The Case of Cape Town

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Sport tourism has experienced considerable growth in the last decades, either from the sport events perspective or considering an active sport tourism approach. Therefore, some emergent market niches like surf tourism have been developed in numerous coastal destinations to attract sustainability-sensitive tourists due to the ongoing environmental challenges and the socio-economic crisis. Cape Town is positioned in a prominent place in terms of competitiveness, with a considerable variety of beaches and surf spots facing multiple issues. The aim of this study is to try to identify the most competitive beaches and subdistricts in terms of sustainability and to suggest criteria for surf-tourism-related indicators to obtain an overview about this space, using weighting indicators, and applying geography and political economy lenses. The results reveal that Strand, Table View, and Surfers’ Corner are the most competitive beaches. Additionally, beaches located in some underprivileged areas such as Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha are potentially interesting from a socio-economic development point of view, although they show a lack of accommodation infrastructures. These results seem to indicate that those areas should be closely monitored, and destination managers should focus their attention and finance there to obtain a more sustainable surf tourism development.

The structural relationships of destination image, satisfaction, expenditure and loyalty in the context of fishing tourism

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The importance of fishing tourism for destinations is often analysed through the expenditure levels of tourists, with image, satisfaction and loyalty being under-researched areas. This article empirically tests a structural equation model to assess the relationship between the satisfaction, expenditure and loyalty of fishing tourists. Two dimensions were considered in each case: 1) overall and catch-related satisfaction, 2) expenditure on tourist and fishery products and services, and 3) behavioural and attitudinal loyalty. The study also examines destination attributes that are relevant in explaining the overall satisfaction of fishing tourists. By using data collected from 482 anglers visiting the Canary Islands (Spain) and Cape Verde, the study finds that overall satisfaction increases with the perception of a healthier and less polluted environment at destinations. This was found to be a dominant factor in the context of other attributes that also impact anglers’ satisfaction. Besides, satisfaction was found to be an antecedent of spending, but only on the components of the destination’s nautical offer. Finally, satisfaction with the catch was the only factor with a direct and positive relationship to loyalty. The study provides recommendations aimed at being useful in planning the sustainable development of fishing tourism at several destinations.

Surf Tourism in Cold Water Destinations: Discovering destinations impacted by changing waterfront usage through VGI mapping

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Tracy Michaud

Surf destinations have been ascribed to tropical locations in the past but are moving into more cold-water climates, such as the Maine coast. In order for sustainable policy to be created in places like this. understanding which beaches are impacted by increased surf tourism is the place to start. This was accomplished through an analysis of social media photos using Voluntary Geographic Information mapping techniques. Density maps were created using Flickr/SmugMug photos from Maine with surfing tags in five-year increments from 2004-2024. The analysis indicates an increased spread of surfing throughout the coast with a concentration in certain locations indicating these destinations should be the focus of future research.

Surf Memorable Experience

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The concept of a ‘surf memorable experience’ involves identifying the dimensions of a surf experience using the ׳Four Realms model׳ proposed by Pine and Gilmore (1998, 1999), which categorizes experiences based on their level of participation and involvement. For this purpose, surf experience dimensions were identified in terms of surf participation (active vs passive), surf involvement (absorption vs immersion), and then four types of surf experiences were delineated: educational, entertainment, esthetic, and escapist, leading to a ‘sweet spot’- a surf Memorable Experience. The "sweet spot" of a surf memorable experience lies in finding a balance between active and passive participation, absorption, and immersion. It could be a moment when a surf tourist is fully engaged in riding the waves, mentally captivated by the experience, and embracing the surf culture and environment, leading to a truly memorable and fulfilling surf experience. Such memorable experiences may help tourism professionals improve their business.

desarrollo del turismo de surf en el Concello de Valdoviño (Galicia, España)

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Carmen Ollero Novo

El surf es un deporte, un estilo de vida y un producto turístico. En la actualidad, se ha convertido en una industria turística global que convierte la naturaleza en recurso turístico, identifica la búsqueda de las mejores olas como la principal motivación de los viajes y genera un impacto directo en los territorios. Asimismo, el turismo surf se ha entendido como un producto capaz de revitalizar los destinos maduros de sol y playa, con potencialidad para generar una oferta turística específica. La propuesta de este trabajo consiste en estudiar del desarrollo del turismo de surf en el Concello de Valdoviño (A Coruña) donde este deporte se practica desde los años 70, adquiere proyección internacional a finales de los 80 gracias al campeonato Pantín Classic y, recientemente, conforma el producto turístico A Costa das Ondas. A través de un análisis cualitativo, se abordan aspectos como su evolución, los recursos endógenos, las características de la oferta y la demanda, los agentes implicados en su gestión y planificación y el papel del campeonato. Para, finalmente, mostrar que el surf se está convirtiendo en uno de los motores del crecimiento económico del municipio con capacidad para desarrollar un turismo especializado y sostenible.

The contribution of serious leisure qualities to passion in the context of collegiate sport club participation

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Tourscape role in tourist destination sustainability: A path towards revisit

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The tourscape concept is recently coined to represent the general atmosphere experienced by tourists in a destination and includes four dimensions (stimuli): physical, social, socially symbolic, and natural dimensions. Tourist perception of these stimuli is relevant for the development of a tourist destination. This study proposes for the first time that tourscape can also be an important element of the environmental sustainability of a tourist destination when it is in harmony with the environment, since tourscape can play a key role in the tourist experience by eliciting positive intentions and behaviors towards a destination. Based on the stimuli-organism-response (SOR) model, this study analyzes how tourscape elements influence tourists’ revisit intention when they are perceived to be in harmony with the care of the environment through identification with the tourist destination and trust. The results of a sample of 872 tourists show that each dimension of the tourscape is positively related to destination identification. Furthermore, destination identification is directly related to revisit intention, and indirectly related to revisit intention through trust. This study highlights the implications for destination management organizations, with strategic suggestions on how to increase tourist perception regarding the sustainability of the destination and promote revisit intention.

Propuesta de diversificación de productos en destinos consolidados: El turismo de surf en la Costa del Sol occidental

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Este artículo resume la propuesta de un producto turístico de surf en la Costa del Sol Occidental, analizando los deportes implicados y los recursos turísticos necesarios para su creación. La comarca se encuentra inmersa en un proceso de búsqueda de segmentos emergentes y productos sostenibles, que ayudan a la desestacionalización y la diversificación del destino en consonancia con la estrategia del Plan Qualifica. Este espacio posee numerosos recursos básicos para el turista deportivo soft, caracterizado por bajos niveles de exigencia acordes con sus aptitudes y preferencias. En un área que posee además un sistema turístico complejo y completo y una accesibilidad adecuada. Por tanto, la propuesta desarrollada cuenta con toda una serie de aspectos beneficiosos y algún que otro hándicap, por ejemplo la oferta resulta completa aunque algo dispersa y poco coordinada con los diferentes agentes, a lo que se une el hecho de ser un segmento emergente en el área de estudio, escasamente atendido por la administración competente. Estos estrangulamientos justifican la creación de un club de producto específico de surf en la zona, sustentado en una actividad sostenible en la vertiente ambiental, social y económica.

Empire at Play: The United States’ Cultural Influence on Nicaragua’s National Sports’ Identity

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Jun 2023

Jason R. Old

"Empire at Play" seeks to contextualize the inception of a Nicaraguan surfing subculture in the first decade of the twenty-first century by situating it within the broader scope of the United States’ influence on Nicaragua’s sporting history. By weaving together primary and secondary sources, as well as oral histories from expatriate surfers, Nicaraguan nationals, and members from the local indigenous communities, this article shows how international actors from the United States introduced Nicaragua to three of their major sports: baseball, boxing, and surfing—all of which became part of Nicaragua’s cultural identity. As these three sports grew in popularity domestically, so too did the infrastructure capable of hosting major international events, subsequently garnering international recognition as authentically Nicaraguan sports. While these activities are merely extracurricular in and of themselves, examining their proliferation as part of the expansion of American empire in the twentieth century helps to underscore the varying forms of American imperialism that facilitated each sport’s introduction and popularization—surfing being the most recent of the three.

Travel behaviour differences among Indonesian youth in Generations Y and Z: pre-, during and post-travel

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2022

Purpose This study aims to explore the differences in the travel behaviour of Indonesian youth of Generations Y and Z in the pre-, during and post-travel stages and their associated use of information and communication technology. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered through a questionnaire that was distributed via the internet for six weeks; 569 people provided their full responses. Chi-square tests and linear regression were used for data analysis. Findings These generations use digital media and word of mouth differently when searching for travel information. The differences are also apparent in the pre-, during and post-travel stages. Generation Z tends to use digital media and share travel experiences through a certain social media platform more frequently than Generation Y. Research limitations/implications This study covers the travel history prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic and equalises the situation in these two periods. The number of samples was relatively small to capture the current population of both generations. Practical implications This study promotes a new understanding of the travel behaviours of the two generations based on the stages of the travel examined. The findings suggest that the travel industry can distinguish between promotional media and types of services to serve each of the generational cohorts more effectively. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to reveal differences in travel behaviour between Generations Y and Z in Indonesia.

Organized Lifestyle Sports in Southern California: Social Facts, Collective Consciousness, and Solidarity Among University Surfers

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2022

Jérémy Lemarié

Leisure among university students can take place on campus or out-of-campus. It can be spontaneous or organized under the umbrella of a fraternity, a sorority, or a club. While there is an important body of literature on fraternities and sororities, less is known about recreational activities occurring in a sports club. To deepen our understanding of leisure in universities, this article seeks to answer the question: how is the practice of surfing made possible by students within a university sports club? Within the positive sociology of leisure framework, this work uses Durkheim’s theoretical contribution to sociology and posits that partaking in lifestyle sports may promote solidarity, social bonding, and acceptance of norms and traditions. In demonstrating that social laws and rules do structure lifestyle sports, this research challenges the idea that surfers tend to be individualistic and condemn institutions. Based on a 20-month fieldwork conducted between 2009 and 2013 at two public universities in Southern California, this analysis indicates that university surfers enrolled in a sports club are community-based, tied by social facts, and show solidarity.

Thickening serious leisure: a review of studies that employed the Serious Leisure Inventory and Measure (SLIM) between 2008 and 2019

Article

Aug 2022
Leisure Stud

Gould et al.'s (2008) Serious Leisure Inventory and Measure (SLIM) and its short version were widely used to quantify dimensions of serious leisure for more than a decade. The purpose of this paper is to inform future research directions by reviewing studies employed SLIM to identify diverse SLIM practices and summarise present research findings. A total of 34 journal articles published in English between 2008 and 2019 were reviewed. Results revealed a large variety of applications of SLIM. Of the 34 studies examined, ten studies used SLIM scores to classify participants into groups using researcher-determined criteria or cluster-related analytical approaches; 24 studies explored individual characteristics, activity experiences, or life outcomes associated with variables derived from SLIM. The results provided insights of selecting between original and short SLIM. Additionally, while studies employed SLIM have supported how serious leisure contributes to leisure experience and life outcomes, some other areas would benefit from future research, including more efforts on understanding individual characteristics associated with the process of becoming serious, negative aspects of serious leisure and its impact on participants' activity engagement, and overall life experience. ARTICLE HISTORY

From shades of grey to Web of Science: a systematic review of surf tourism research in international journals (2011–2020)

Article

Mar 2022

Steven Andrew Martin

Previous research outlined the genesis of a new body of surf tourism research based on a wide array of gray and published literature (Martin, S. A., & Assenov, I. (2012). The genesis of a new body of sport tourism literature: A systematic review of surf tourism research (1997–2011). Journal of Sport and Tourism, 17(4), 257–287). The aim of this paper is to further investigate the development of the field through an evidence-based informetric analysis of international journal articles listed in Web of Science or Scopus databases. Employing a systematic review of journal papers published from 2011 to 2020, the study addresses the previous gray literature problem of accessibility and eligibility criteria for citation. Findings are drawn from explicit and tangential studies which capture an up-to-date overview of the evolution of surf tourism research. The study identifies active journals, authors, field locations, and leading areas of research, suggesting that the field has entered a period of ‘academic professionalization’. A bibliography of 96 journal articles presents academics and readers with a corpus of accessible research.

Surfing the waves: Environmental and socio-economic aspects of surf tourism and recreation

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2022
SCI TOTAL ENVIRON

Marine ecosystems contribute to human well-being, e.g. through the promotion of nature-based recreational activities such as surfing, which is a benefit obtained from Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES). Our research objective is to identify the benefits and impacts associated to surfing, and who are the main affected subjects and/or objects, achieving a better understanding of the sustainability status of this recreational activity. To this end, a bibliometric study and systematic review was carried out for the period 1965–2021. Benefits and impacts were collated and grouped according to their dimensional focus and type of effects in 6 groups (3-dimensional focus × 2 type of effects). The results revealed that since the beginning of 21st century surfing research topics are growing and diversifying. This review shows that implications of surfing go beyond direct users (i.e., surfers) and has consequences in diverse dimensions (environmental, socio cultural and economic), involving many stakeholders (e.g., scientific, and local communities). Most of the pieces of evidence collated in this research were related with the people who practice the activity and its social implications (psychological benefits as main benefit and injuries as main impact). Following an interdisciplinary approach, we obtained a holistic understanding of the surfing activity, not only in terms of the different dimensions addressed but on the sectors of the society that obtain benefits or are impacted by the activity. All of them should be considered and integrated to guarantee the sustainable management of this CES benefit.

Leisure Cycling Entrepreneurialism in Johannesburg, South Africa

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021

It is estimated that by 2050 as many as five billion bicycles could be in use globally. Reasons for this growth vary, with utility cycling strong in Europe and Asia; while in the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand cycling is a sport and leisure activity, with cycling deemed the ‘new golf’. Within this context, there is a rise in community or local bike shops (or LBS) which sell bicycles, related equipment and services. This qualitative study explored LBSs in greater Johannesburg, focusing on who the entrepreneurs are, how they service their clients, and what links the sector has to serious leisure. It was found that the owners demonstrated high levels of serious leisure cycling engagement and passion for the sport. A sense of being part of a bigger cycling community strongly influenced their entrepreneurial practices. This included how they ran their businesses, the employees they hired, as well as how they viewed cycling in general. The research also yielded insights into operational and sectoral realities, trends and challenges. Generally, it was found that the local bike shops in greater Johannesburg are key players in the supply, growth and development of sport and leisure cycling, thereby making a positive contribution to the cycling community. This is important in the light of the COVID-19 challenges experienced by the sport and leisure sector, as a loss of these shops will likely have a negative impact on cycling in Johannesburg.

Quantifying human use of sandy shores with aerial remote sensing technology: The sky is not the limit

Article

Oct 2021
OCEAN COAST MANAGE

Understanding the use of sandy beaches underpins strategies for effective management of this valuable ecosystem. In this context, remote-sensing platforms and aerial imagery could, theoretically, provide novel and cost-effective solutions to identify and map beach visitor use. Recreational beach use patterns were examined using data collected via an established drone-based method and from commercial orthomosaic images collected via crewed aircraft to assess the practicality of these methods. Our study encompassed ~780 km of east Australian coastline and assessed 73,021 beach visitors to find similar participation rates in sunbathing (46.3 vs 47.7%), walking (21.8 vs 18.6%), swimming (20.9 vs 19.5%), surfing (10.7 vs 14.0%) and fishing (0.3 vs 0.1%) when measured by drones or crewed aircraft, respectively. The larger spatial coverage of crewed aircraft was a distinct advantage that allowed mapping of geographic patterns in beach use for thirteen sites separated by 100s of kilometres. Beach visitation was significantly influenced by season, weekend/public holidays, temperature, solar radiation, beach area, size of households adjacent to beaches, and time of day. Both drones and crewed aircraft are practicable tools for sandy shore management, providing complementary solutions to generate visitor-use data at multiple scales that can be used to optimise recreational service provisions and better support environmental conservation strategies.

Conservation Opportunities Arise From the Co-Occurrence of Surfing and Key Biodiversity Areas

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2021

Conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services requires diverse models that empower communities to steward and benefit from resources. Here we investigate the potential of surfing resources, a new conservation asset class, and the surfing community, an underutilized conservation constituency, to conserve marine biodiversity. We conducted a spatial analysis of the overlap among Key Biodiversity Areas, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), and 3,755 surf breaks globally. We find that 62.77% of surf breaks are not within MPAs and that 25.81% of all surf breaks are within 5 km of a Key Biodiversity Area, but are not within a MPA, suggesting that strategic conservation opportunities arise from the co-occurrence of surfing resources and biodiversity priorities. Establishing or extending protections to surfing ecosystems could increase protection for biodiversity at one-quarter of surf breaks. Sustainable management of these resources ensures their ability to provide for the character, economy, and development of coastal communities worldwide.

The role of smart recommendations in shaping tourists’ emotional arousal and destination preferences: the case of TikTok among Chinese tourists

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Mar 2025

Exploring the influence of dispositional factors on travel behaviour in Accra Metropolis, Ghana

Article

Jan 2025

Understanding how people travel in urban areas is essential for effective policy planning and infrastructure development to achieve sustainable mobility. While external factors such as infrastructure are frequently emphasised, the influence of psychological and social dimensions on travel choices remains underexplored. This study examines the impact of dispositional factors on travel behaviour in Accra, Ghana, based on data collected from 615 participants through a questionnaire. A combination of Chi-square and Cramer's V tests, factor analysis, and K-means cluster analysis was employed to analyse residents' travel patterns and preferences. The factor analysis identified key determinants of travel behaviour, including reliability and comfort, security and safety, affordability, and the quality of public transport systems. The K-means cluster analysis further revealed that security and safety were consistently high across all clusters, emphasising their universal significance in transportation preferences. Additionally, efficiency, as reflected in shorter travel times, emerged as a critical factor across all clusters. Cluster-specific findings highlighted a lower reliance on car ownership in Cluster 2, suggesting a preference for shared or public transportation. In contrast, traffic congestion was a notable concern in Clusters 1–3, while it was less critical for Cluster 4. These findings offer actionable insights for policymakers and stakeholders. Enhancing the reliability and comfort of public transport, improving safety measures, and addressing affordability can proactively influence travel demand, reduce congestion, and promote sustainable transportation options. Tailoring policies to the specific dispositional factors of Accra's residents ensures more effective urban mobility solutions aligned with local needs.

Personal development of marathon tourists: Scale development and validation

Article

Dec 2024

Factors shaping spectators’ consumption patterns: controversial arisings from an international sport tourism event

Article

Dec 2023

Purpose Sport events’ contribution to the destinations’ local economy implies in-depth knowledge of the economic benefits generated by non-resident spectators (NRS). Thus, this study aims to answer: What is the profile and shaping factors of the consumption patterns of the several types of NRS in international surf tourism events? Design/methodology/approach A total of 263 questionnaires applied to the NRS of an international surf event were collected and analysed. The identification of the NRS profile and the predictive factors of their total expenditure were performed through the correlation of factors and multiple linear regression, respectively. Findings Mostly, the event attracted generation Y NRS, with a high level of education and regular sport practice. The results showed differences among the NRS: the “casuals” included more women than men; the “extensioners” integrated the NRS whose surfing practice is higher; the “event visitors”/”time switchers” mostly integrated the domestic tourism flows; the “casuals” and “extensioners” spent the most at the destination, and those whose intention to recommend/revisit the destination, respectively, was higher; and the shaping factor that most influenced the increase in NRS expenditure was the overnight stay, added by older age, higher education level and foreign origin. Originality/value Regardless of the initial motivation that led to the trip to the destination, the results verified that the event’s attributes are capable of contributing to the recommendation/visitation of the destination. Consequently, the study of economic benefits (tangible and intangible) provided by sport events in destinations should be guided by an integrative analysis of NRS.

The Emerging Sport Tourism Destination of Sardinia

Chapter

Jun 2024

Nicoletta Fadda

Sardinia is one of the most ancient lands in Europe, located in the western region of the Mediterranean basin, the second-largest island of the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily and before Cyprus. The island is currently a renowned destination for sea-sun-sand tourism segments, although, in recent years, various tourist attractions have been developed. Thanks to its geology and variety of territories, Sardinia is suitable for practising different types of sports and consequently, for hosting sport events. An emerging tourist segment is related to the practice of water boardsports: kitesurfing, windsurfing and surfing. An exploratory study, focusing on supply and demand, has been presented. According to the supply analysis, facilities offering boardsports are widespread along the island’s coasts, which confirms an increase in the growth of these activities. An investigation into the demand reported interesting pieces of tourism-related evidence, such as travel behaviours and the perception of surfing spot conditions. Finally, findings suggested that this emerging tourism segment could attract tourists during the low season and improve tourism in an environmentally sustainable manner, in light of the respect for the natural environment shown by surfers and the importance of the quality of the natural environment for surf tourists.

Surf Tourists Typologies

Chapter

Full-text available

Jan 2024

The popularity of surfing has given rise to a unique category of travelers known as surf tourists. These individuals seek dynamic and harmonious interactions with the ocean and their natural surroundings in search of memorable surf experiences. This has led to the growth of surf tourism, a segment that has become progressively significant within the travel and leisure industry. Surf tourists can be categorized into four typologies: professionals, enthusiasts, casuals, and sympathizers. Each typology represents a different level of motivation, participation and engagement related to surf tourism, from dedicated professionals and passionate enthusiasts to more casual participants and sympathizers. Classifying surf tourists is essential for destinations and businesses. It enables tailored marketing, efficient resource allocation, customized experiences, infrastructure development, and community engagement. Ultimately, it optimizes the surf tourism experience, maximizing its economic and social benefits while promoting sustainable practices.

Effects and functional mechanisms of serious leisure on environmentally responsible behavior of mountain hikers: Mediating effect of place attachments and destination attractiveness

Article

Mar 2024

Understanding the authenticity of surf tourism: evidence from Chinese tourists

Article

Jan 2024

The influence of serious leisure, training, and consumption on subjective well-being for sport event participants

Article

Jan 2024

Motivations for domestic overnight travel by Finnish disc golfers: a serious-leisure perspective

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2023
Leisure Stud

This study examines the domestic overnight travel motivations of Finnish disc golfers, with a specific focus on the concept of serious leisure. Data gathered from 989 Finnish disc golfers were divided into clusters based on the serious leisure inventory and measure model. The results indicate that disc golfers are generally interested in travelling domestically to participate in disc golf, and that they tend to share common push and pull motives. Preferences for general destination attributes and specific disc-golf-related destination attributes tend not to vary significantly between the clusters. Although the relationship is not strictly hierarchical, disc golfers who are more serious tend to report higher mean values than their more-casual counterparts. Disc golfers travelling to play their sport expect well-maintained and versatile courses and tend to prefer courses they have not previously visited. Factors related to the quality of courses are significantly more influential in disc-golfers' motivations to travel than those associated with the destination in general, such as accommodation or nightlife. This knowledge is vital to inform marketers as participation in this relatively new sport continues to grow. ARTICLE HISTORY

Home-Destination Spillover Effects in Health-Related Spa Activities: The Case of Thermal Baths

Article

Oct 2023

Serious leisure imaginaries: The construction of tourists, locals and localities in scuba diving tourism

Article

Aug 2023

Hans Tunestad

Scuba diving is a global leisure activity today often undertaken as a form of tourism, counting millions of practitioners. Drawing on my experience of diving in different parts of the world, as well as on various forms of documentation, this article focuses on the structural characteristics of this form of purposeful tourism. As a sport, scuba diving follows certain routines and regulations and can thus be seen as a form of serious leisure; that is, leisure involving plans and demands. As a form of tourism, it is a particular way of imagining the world, based on a specific form of cartography and mass mediated images and stories of the vast blue and its inhabitants. My argument is that when undertaking scuba as a form of tourism, whether guiding or being guided, divers submit to the structures of both the sport and the touring. These then determine both how they dive from a technical point of view and how they come to think about diving and indeed, in a sense, the world. Divers are thus guided by ‘serious leisure imaginaries’. Altogether, scuba diving tourism here emerges as a transformative social force where tourists, locals and localities are constructed simultaneously in a dynamic interplay.

Opportunities in Identifying and Marketing Windsport Tourism Destinations: High-Resolution Wind Analysis

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2022

Windsports (e.g., windsurfing, kiteboarding) can contribute to important tourist experiences at destinations with suitable natural resources. In the context of future tourism decarbonization, it is expected that many distant locations will become less accessible to Europeans, which will increase the attractiveness of nearby destinations. This study provides an analysis of the natural resources of European and nearby windsport destinations, which proves to be important physical evidence for windsport experiences. The high-frequency output of a long-term, high-resolution numerical atmospheric reanalysis (COSMO_REA6) was thoroughly analyzed using a method specifically tailored to windsports. This gives us unprecedented insight into the geographical distribution of wind resources in the period from May to September. The wind and temperature analysis recognizes the most known windsport locations and identifies several potential locations for possible windsport development. The trend analysis identifies potential changes in future wind conditions. Detailed wind analyses are of great importance to destination managers and marketers, as these could support strategic planning at the destination level, which is necessary for sustainable development. Furthermore, the study can guide windsurfers and kiteboarders in their future destination choices.

The post-COVID-19 tourism recovery led by crisis-resistant tourists: Surf tourism preferences in the Canary Islands

Article

Oct 2022

The post-COVID-19 tourism recovery is most likely to be led by crisis-resistant tourists (Hajibaba, Gretzel, Leisch and Dolnicar, 2015). The surf tourism market is highly crisis resistant (Dolnicar and Fluker, 2003a) and has potential to expand during the pandemic (Mach and Ponting, 2021), especially with the advances in technologies for remote workers. In an attempt to answer Hritz and Franzidis' (2018) call for further research on this niche market in order to ascertain the significance of surf tourism in a particular community, we provide a baseline for surf tourism in terms of these niche preferences and satisfaction levels in Gran Canaria (Spain). The study is based on a discrete choice model that relies on preferences elicited through best-worst scaling methods. Our research demonstrates that the BWS scores can be used to develop a destination attribute quality index based on importance and satisfaction scales and provides important information to destination managers.

Côtoyer les sommets, coexister avec l'animal sauvage. Contribution à la sociologie des pratiques sportives en milieu naturel

Thesis

Full-text available

Nov 2021

Léna Gruas

La thèse part d’un double constat sur les pratiques récréatives de montagne. D’une part, il se développe un intérêt croissant pour les sports de nature, qui amène chaque année un nombre de plus en plus élevé de pratiquant·es dans le milieu naturel (Lefèvre et Thiery 2015). D’autre part, malgré des conséquences négatives avérées sur les milieux et notamment sur la faune (Boyle et Samson 1985, Steven et al. 2011, Sato et al. 2013, Larson et al. 2016), les usager·ères récréatif·ves ne sont pas toujours conscient·es des conséquences que peut entrainer leur présence dans la nature (Gruas et al. 2020). Ce travail a donc pour objectif d’interroger le rapport des amateur·rices d’activités hivernales (ski de randonnée et raquette) et estivales (randonnée pédestre et trail), à la faune sauvage de montagne. L’analyse est basée sur quatre terrains (massifs des Bauges, Belledonne, Aiguilles Rouges et Vanoise) et sur des données récoltées par questionnaires (n = 2559) et par entretiens (n = 33). Quatre axes de recherche sont développés. Le premier concerne l’origine sociale des pratiquant·es. Contrairement à l’idée communément répandue, les données quantitatives de l’enquête excluent l’hypothèse d’une réelle démocratisation de la montagne tant lespratiquant·es sont homogènes dans leurs origines sociales. Le deuxième axe vise à analyser les modalités de pratique différenciées au sein de chaque sport ainsi que leurs éventuelles affinités avec les groupes sociaux dont sont issu·es leur pratiquant·es. Si chaque sport hébergebien différents styles de pratique, ceux-ci ne sont pas reliés de manière aussi évidente que l’on aurait pu le penser aux origines sociales des sportif·ves. Ces deux premiers axes mettent également en évidence de fortes inégalités d’accès aux sports de montagne, et à leurs modalitésde pratiques les plus engagées, pour les femmes. Le troisième axe porte sur les attitudes et comportements éco-responsables propres aux individus en dehors de leur pratique sportive, dans la vie quotidienne. Les pratiquant·es interrogé·es dans le cadre de cette enquête sonten effet plus soucieux·ses de la question environnementale que leurs concitoyen·nes. Des différences marquées apparaissent cependant au sein de l’échantillon, notamment en fonction du genre et du milieu social. Le quatrième axe est dédié à la question du rapport à la faune sauvage. Si le genre et le domaine d’étude influencent en partie le lien affectif à la faune et sa connaissance, ils n’expliquent aucunement la perception du dérangement et le respect des zones de quiétude qui sont davantage liés aux valeurs environnementales.Cette analyse structuraliste des sports de montagne vise in fine à proposer une approche de la sociologie des pratiques sportives en milieu naturel sous le triple rapport de la pratique sportive, de la relation au milieu de pratique et de la perception du dérangement de la faunesauvage.

Liquid lifestyles, mobile dreams. The threefold liquidity of a surfer-traveller lifestyle

Article

Dec 2021

Mikko Piispa

This article studies three key liquidities of a surfer-traveller lifestyle. The first liquidity is mobility, or the ‘fluid’ nature of the lifestyle, following Bauman’s analysis of liquid modernity. The second liquidity is water: waves and sea. The third liquidity refers to oil, the ‘lifeblood’ of mobility. The analysis is based on 20 thematic life story interviews with Finnish surfer-travellers who lead a highly mobile lifestyle, one that often involves flying to distant surf locations. The results reveal that the three liquidities intertwine and blend in complex ways. Surfing deepens surfer-travellers’ relationship with water, which enhances their understanding of ecological issues. Surfer-travellers largely desire to continue travelling, and their relationship with ecological issues is ambivalent, but they often also seek ways to compensate for their individual ecological footprint. Furthermore, many of them engage in various forms of environmental activism. The findings are connected with issues of sustainability in surfing and mobilities.

Understanding Chinese Independent Travel Market To South Korea: a Segmentation Approach

Article

Nov 2021

The rapid growth of the Chinese travel market has gained attention in the tourism industry. However, very few studies have been conducted to examine travel constraints that prevent Chinese outbound travelers from going somewhere quite accessible to their major destination from a multidestination perspective. Drawing upon the leisure constraint model (LCM), this study explored Chinese independent tourists' perceived travel constraints in selecting second-tier destinations in their destination choice and analyzed the market segments. A self-administered survey was collected from 393 Chinese travelers who did not visit Gyeonggi Province close to Seoul during their travels in South Korea. Based on the findings, four distinct groups were formed. The findings provide important insights into destinations that desire to attract more Chinese independent travelers.

Técnicos de Desporto de Natureza: Contributos para o Entendimento das Problemáticas do Setor

Article

Jan 2021

The purpose of this article is to present the sociodemographic and professional profile of nature sports technicians who work in the Region of Coimbra, to identify the main problems of the sector and the profession felt by these technicians, and to present strategic recommendations for the improvement of the setor. For this, a case study was developed, whose data collection was carried out through the application of 30 semi-structured interviews to a sample of technicians who collaborated with touristic animation companies based in the Region of Coimbra, complemented with six months of participant observation in one of these companies of the referred region. The interviewed technicians are young, single, male individuals, with high academic qualifications, who collaborate in part-time in the companies with which they collaborate, with low remuneration resulting from the performance of the various functions they perform (technical, logistical, secretarial, and management), therefore working on other professional activities throughout the year. When analyzing the main problems identified in this study, the creation of an association of sports technicians of nature and tourist entertainment, the introduction of a training scheme, the production of legislation related to the regulation of access to the profession, and the implementation of a system for monitoring and evaluating the competence and performance of technicians are suggested.

In Search of Waves: A Life Course Analysis of the Mobile Lifestyle of Finnish Surfer-travellers

Article

May 2021

Mikko Piispa

Surfing is often a mobile lifestyle, centred around the search for waves. This article analyses Finnish surfer-travellers through a life course perspective. The data consists of 20 thematic life story interviews, conducted in 2016–2017. Surfer-travellers are representative of highly mobile cosmopolitan youth. This analysis focuses on how they have engaged with surf-travelling, what networks and capital they have utilized in doing so, and how their active agency and choices have influenced their lifestyles. Through their individual agency, surfer-travellers organize their lives to prioritize their travels. For surfer-travellers, mobility is a goal in itself, and this leads to a life ‘lived differently’. The results are connected to wider discussions on lifestyle mobilities, youth mobilities, mobile transitions, and changing conceptions of adulthood.

The Covid-19 Crisis and the ‘new’ Normality of Surf Tourism in Cape Town, South Africa

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2021

Tourism has been one of the sectors that has suffered the greatest impact by the Covid-19 virus, which has created an unprecedented context with thousands of tourism-related companies closing with an unclear future. International tourism was recovering from the previous financial crisis achieving historical milestones regarding international tourist arrivals. Simultaneously, tourism niches like active sport tourism have experienced significant growth which has been developed to achieve more sustainable tourism as is the case of surf tourism in Cape Town. This article aims to investigate the surf tourism socio-economic competitiveness of Cape Town beaches to provide solutions and alternatives for a return to the ‘new normality’ due to the Covid-19 crisis. Political economy and geography, as well as tourism systems’ approach, are employed for the theoretical background. A mixed-method approach was utilised in this study including a qualitative, narrative method for the literature review, and a quantitative weighted set of indicators. The results suggest that active sports and domestic tourism have potential to help short-term tourism recovery. Three beaches showed the best potential for socio-economic development, while two beaches in underprivileged neighbourhoods were found potentially interesting for boosting surf tourism development. This study could inform government policy to determine the main areas for surf tourism development.

The Carolina Shaggers: Dance as Serious Leisure

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2007

Carroll Brown

The concept of serious leisure (Stebbins, 1992) was used to investigate the social world of shag dancing to determine the reasons for long-term involvement and commitment to the dance. Data were collected over a three-year period through in-depth interviews at regional shag festivals. A method of ethnographic analysis was used to analyze the data (Spradley, 1979). Two types of dancers, casual and serious, were identified and differentiated into five subtypes. Results confirm Stebbins (1992) six qualities of serious leisure. Friendship was cited as the most important reason for long-term involvement and commitment to the dance. Findings indicate the shag world is a combination of serious leisure and casual leisure. Participants choose their level of involvement based on changing lifestyle needs.

Development of the Serious Leisure Inventory and Measure

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2008

In this investigation, the serious leisure inventory and measure (SLIM) was developed from convenience and target samples. The multidimensional framework of serious leisure contains six qualities from which 18 operations were employed. With the use of a q-sort, an expert panel, and confirmatory factor analysis, the 72 item SLIM demonstrated acceptable fit, reliability and equivalence across samples. Mean differences and correlation patterns found between samples demonstrated preliminary evidence for the predictive ability of the new measure. The SLIM short form (54 items) demonstrated good model fit and construct validity. Future replications are needed to adequately address the psychometric complexities of the SLIM within the network of interrelated leisure constructs.

We’re Gators not just a Gator fan:” Serious leisure and University of Florida football

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2002

The concept of serious leisure (Stebbins, 1979; 1992) was used to examine the meanings, rituals, and practices associated with being a University of Florida Football fan. We contend that Gator football fans typify the serious leisure category of the hobbyist. Face to face in-depth interviews were conducted with four female and sixteen male fans. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using constant comparison and grounded theory methods (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1998 a & b). Themes emerging from the data confirmed Stebbins' six characteristics of serious leisure. The results suggest that being a Gator football fan provides both a source of identity for the fan as an individual and a sense of belonging in an increasingly fragmented postmodern society.

Serious Leisure: A Conceptual Statement

Article

Full-text available

Apr 1982
Pac Socio Rev

Robert Stebbins

Many social scientists believe the future will offer significantly fewer opportunities for most adults to gain and maintain a job in the way they are used to doing today. A smaller number of jobs and a substantially reduced number of work hours are in store for many employees in the postindustrial society. Whether or not their jobs ever provided such things, they will increasingly be searching the world of leisure for ways to express their abilities, fulfill their potential, and identify themselves as unique human beings. Serious leisure is a main route open to people with these goals. Its three types--amateurism, hobbyist pursuits, and career volunteering--are defined, described, and interrelated. They are contrasted throughout with unserious or casual leisure, on the one hand, and work, on the other. The intermediate position of serious leisure between these two extremes relegates its current participants to the status of marginal men and women of leisure.

Adaptive Sport as Serious Leisure: Do Self-Determination, Skill Level, and Leisure Constraints Matter?

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2008

The therapeutic use of sport has received attention as a viable and effective modality to address various client needs (Dattilo, Loy, & Keeney, 2000). Kinney, Kinney and Witman (2004) found that sports were within the top 10 most frequently employed modalities in a national study of therapeutic recreation practitioners. In addition, a wide variety of therapeutic outcomes have been identifi ed as a result of sports participation. Researchers (Montelione & Davis, 1986; Sherrill, 1986) have suggested that individuals with disabilities often view sport as a means of affi rming competence as well as reifying a focus on ability rather than disability. Two important motivational forces in sport participation for people with disabilities include demonstrating skill or competence to others and bringing oneself in contact with others (Page, O'Connor, & Peterson, 2001). While individuals with dis abilities are also motivated to remain fi t, participation in sports is an important source of self-esteem, provides opportunities to gain feelings of self-effi cacy (Taub, Blinde, & Greer, 1999) and affi rms one's identity (Groff & Kleiber, 2001). In addition, many athletes with disabilities tend to adopt a new sport for competition and exert themselves to learn new techniques, skills, and approaches in order to pursue high levels of competition (Asken, 1991). Participants in community-based adaptive sports have also reported their involvement in sport to have had a positive infl uence on their overall health, quality of life, quality of family life, and quality of social life (Zabriskie, Lundberg, & Groff, 2005). There are important conceptual similarities between sport participation of individuals with disabilities and serious leisure. Serious leisure is characterized as the systematic pursuit of amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer activity that is substantial and interesting for the participants involved (Stebbins, 1992). Stebbins identifi ed six defi ning characteristics of serious leisure: (a) perseverance, (b) signifi cant

Volunteering: A Serious Leisure Perspective

Article

Full-text available

Jun 1996

Robert Stebbins

A handful of observers have suggested that volunteering can be defined and described as a leisure activity. Extending this reasoning, it is argued that many kinds of volunteering, because they foster the acquisition and expression of a combination of special skills, knowledge, and experience, can be looked on as serious leisure. The serious leisure perspective not only defines and explains volunteers and volunteering as self-interested leisure bur also opens the way to a more comprehensive theoretical statement of leisure volunteering than was heretofore available. In this article, the author explores the leisure components of all volunteering to learn where the serious leisure model applies. Distinctions are drawn between types of volunteering: career and casual, formal and informal, and occupational and nonoccupational. The perspective fails to fit each type equally well. It fits best the types of volunteering classifiable as formal and nonoccupational, types in which volunteers normally find substantial leisure careers.

Surf tribal behaviour: A sports marketing application

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2007
Market Intell Plann

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate “tribal” consumption behaviour and its relationship to branding, in the particular context of the surfing community in Portugal. Design/methodology/approach Two focus group meetings with “surfers” and “fans” respectively, in April 2006, were enriched by computerised projective techniques and program‐assisted design (PAD) technology, backed by high quality video prompts. Qualitative data analysis was enhanced by quantified data collected in the PAD phase. The design was expressly directed at future quantification and model building. Findings Four research propositions, derived from an extensive literature review, were mostly confirmed: surfing does exhibit characteristics of a cult. There are three distinct types of adherent, their associative behaviour characterized by affiliation, social recognition, socialization and symbolism. Surfers and fans exhibit strong brand awareness and less strong preferences for surf‐linked brands, in different ways. Research limitations/implications Interpretation is limited by the scope of the study: two focus groups in one country. There is some compensation in the richness of the data. Practical implications Marketers involved with cult consumers and tribal brands need a body of knowledge on which to base their marketing intelligence gathering and strategic planning. Originality/value This paper provides exploratory research findings related to one classic example of the tribal brand‐consumption behaviour that accounts for significant consumer spending around the postmodern world.

Hedonic and Eudaimonic Experiences among Wellness Tourists: An exploratory enquiry

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2010

This paper contends that recent developments in the field of positive psychology, particularly in the area of psychological well‐being, in combination with Stebbins's framework of casual versus serious leisure, may provide a new perspective for the understanding of tourism experiences. Based on the experience accounts of three different groups of wellness tourists (i.e., visitors to beauty spas, lifestyle resorts, and spiritual retreats), the aim of this paper is to explore whether tourism experiences can be classified into hedonic or eudaimonic experiences. Aggregated experience accounts were collected through individual, semi‐structured interviews with 27 wellness tourists. Thematic analysis deductively applied Stebbins's characteristics of casual/hedonic and serious/eudaimonic experiences to the data. The results found that the three wellness tourism experiences can be placed along a continuum between hedonic and eudaimonic end‐points. Accordingly, beauty spa visitation was perceived as a purely hedonic tourism activity and spiritual retreat experiences were considered as almost purely eudaimonic. Lifestyle resort experiences were also seen predominantly as eudaimonic, however they sit more towards the middle of the continuum because hedonic outcomes can sometimes be recognised as important ‘by‐products’ of eudaimonic experiences.

Surf Tourism and Sustainable Development in Indo-Pacific Islands. I. The Industry and the Islands

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2002

Ralf Christopher Buckley

Commercial surf tourism is recent in origin but is now a significant component of the worldwide adventure tourism sector. There are over 10 million surfers worldwide and a third of these are cash-rich, time-poor and hence potential tour clients. Most travel- ling surfers visit mainland destinations and are not distinguished from other tourists. Specialist surfing boat charters and lodges are most prevalent in Indo-Pacific islands. In the smaller reef islands, growth in tourism carries risks to drinking water and subsis- tence fisheries. There risks are easily overcome, but only if appropriate waste and sewage management technologies are installed. In the larger rock islands, nature and adventure tourism may provide an economic alternative to logging and plantation agri- culture. Cultural impacts can occur in either type of island. As with most types of adventure tourism, the commercial surf tourism industry in the Indo-Pacific is strongly linked to the clothing, fashion and entertainment industries, and marketed through specialist surfing magazines and surfing media. From a tourism development perspec- tive, the trend is towards integrated ocean sports destinations which attract entire families as well as individual surfers. Currently, however, marketing crossovers with other specialist ocean sports such as diving are far smaller than with other boardsports such as snowboarding.

Segmenting participation in wildlife watching: A comparison of casual wildlife watchers and serious birders

Article

Full-text available

Dec 1999

The purpose of this study was to examine participation patterns of two different segments of the wildlife watching population: casual wildlife watchers and serious birders. We used Texas Conservation Passport holders and members of the American Birding Association to represent the views of these two groups of wildlife watchers. Consistent with the recreation specialization framework, these two groups were defined in terms of their skill at identifying birds, frequency of participation, yearly expenditures, and birdwatching behaviors close to home. Further analysis revealed many significant differences in participation characteristics between casual wildlife watchers and serious birders. Specifically, there were differences in the types of information sources used for trip planning and differences in desired setting preferences. The implication of this study is that managers and planners will be able to more effectively target casual wildlife watchers and/or serious birders with the appropriate promotional strategy and provide the desired products and services.

What Is Coefficient Alpha? An Examination of Theory and Applications

Article

Full-text available

Feb 1993

Jose Cortina

Psychological research involving scale construction has been hindered considerably by a widespread lack of understanding of coefficient alpha and reliability theory in general. A discussion of the assumptions and meaning of coefficient alpha is presented. This discussion is followed by a demonstration of the effects of test length and dimensionality on alpha by calculating the statistic for hypothetical tests with varying numbers of items, numbers of orthogonal dimensions, and average item intercorrelations. Recommendations for the proper use of coefficient alpha are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Behavioural market segments among surf tourists: Investigating past destination choice

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2003

Surf tourism is of major importance to the tourism industry. Nevertheless, very few investigations of the surf tourism market exist. This paper extends the work by Fluker (2003) and Dolnicar and Fluker (2003) by investigating surf tourists from a behavioural perspective with the main aim of the study being to gain an insight into the travel patterns of the surf tourism market. This is achieved in an empirical way by using unsupervised neural networks to partition a group of surfers into homogeneous segments based on their past surf destination choice. This binary information was gathered by means of an online survey, which asked respondents questions indicating whether or not they have ever surfed in particular places. In addition, descriptive information is included in the data set and is divided into “surf related questions”, “personal characteristics” and “travel behaviour”. It was found that based on past destination choice, six market segments could be described, each with significantly different ages, surfing ability, length of stay, preferred wave type, and regularity of undertaking surf trips. The results of these finding have implications for both surf destinations and the tourism industry that facilitates the experience.

Who’s Riding the Wave? An Investigation Into Demographic and Psychographic Characteristics of Surf Tourists

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2003

Surfing has grown from its beginnings as a western civilisation sport in the early 1900’s to a stage where it is now an industry worth an estimated $8 billion dollars and involves surfers travelling to both domestic and international destinations as surf tourists. However, there is a dearth of empirical academic research that has been conducted into this segment of the sports tourism market. This study makes a contribution towards understanding surf tourism behaviour by analysing the demographic and psychographic characteristics of 430 surf tourists. The most lucrative segments of the five identified, from the tour operators perspective, are the price conscious safety seekers and the luxury surfers, while the lack of crowds at surfing destinations is a common preference with all groups. Areas of future research include surf destination image and the ratio of surf tourists choosing package tours compared to being free independent travellers.

The Symptomatic Nature Of Past Destination Choice Among Surf Tourists

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2004

Surfing has developed to become a major industry, both within the leisure and the tourism sector. While surfers themselves can be viewed as a homogeneous segment characterised by their common interest for the sport, there clearly exists a wide variety of surfers with very different demographic characteristics, lifestyles or even motives for surfing. The aims of this paper are (1) to review past attempts to profile the surfer segment in general and to determine existence and describe the nature of surfer segments, and (2) to suggest a novel approach of segmenting the surfer market, by analysing the pattern of past destination choices, where so far pure profiling was conducted.

Surf Tourism and Sustainable Development in Indo-Pacific Islands. II. Recreational Capacity Management and Case Study

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2002

Ralf Christopher Buckley

Recreational capacity is a function of the natural and social environment, the activity concerned, and the management regime. Indo-Pacific surf destinations with cheap and open access and no capacity management have experienced crowding, crime, pollution and price collapses. Many island surf breaks can handle only a few surfers at once because of the shape of the reefs. A crowding factor may be conceptualised as the proportion of rideable waves each surfer is forced to cede to another boardrider. Quota management systems using operator permits need to incorporate the complexity of the environment and the industry, but be equitable enough to gain general acceptance, and simple enough to enforce without dispute. Siberut Island in the Mentawai chain near West Sumatra, Indonesia, is covered by dense tropical rainforest which supports a number of endangered species and has been proposed as a Biosphere Reserve. It is also home to indigenous village communities with traditional social and religious practices. This island is subject to commercial logging and plantation agriculture, and tourism seems to be the only politically realistic economic alternative at present. To provide infrastructure for long-term growth in nature and cultural tourism, an immediate source of tourism revenue is needed. The most immediate option seems to be surf lodges on some of the smaller Mentawai Islands, which have already been largely cleared and are already visited by boat-based surf tour operators. Operators will only invest in lodges if they can acquire preferential rights to particular surf breaks. Hence the recreational capacity of the islands for surf tourism must be determined, and allocated between operators through a management system. Relevant data and one management option are presented here. Yes Yes

Adventure Tourism and the Clothing, Fashion and Entertainment Industries

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2003

Ralf Christopher Buckley

In its practical operations on the ground, adventure tourism is very closely allied to ecotourism, and under some definitions may even be considered as part of the ecotourism sector. But from a financial perspective, adventure tourism is also tightly tied to the clothing, fashion and entertainment industries. Particular clothing companies use sponsored athletes and specialist lifestyle entertainment media to sell clothing and accessories at both a high volume and a high mark-up to nonsporting, but fashion-conscious urban consumers, and adventure tourism is one of the links in the marketing chain. The surfing industry provides a particularly good example, but the same process applies for skiing and snowboarding, rock-climbing and other outdoor adventure activities. The process is directly comparable to the sale of sports shoes and sports utility vehicles in cities and suburban markets. Yes Yes

The Link between Successful Aging and Serious Leisure

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2008

The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine whether engagement in a serious leisure activity provided older adults opportunities for successful aging. Data were collected through in-depth interviews at shag dance festivals in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. To provide structure for the interview, a general interview guide consisting of open-ended questions was used. A total of 31 interviews were conducted with 25 individuals and 6 couples, between 60 and 82 years of age. During the analysis stage, the constant comparative method was used to analyze the data. Themes that emerged support the idea that shag dancing is a form of serious leisure for older adults and support the role of serious leisure in successful aging. The narratives provided by the informants illustrate the powerful role serious leisure can play in an individual's life and point toward the value of serious leisure as an approach that holds promise for recreators working to help older individuals experience successful aging.

Exploring the Dimensions of Serious Leisure: “Love Me—Love My Dog!”

Article

Mar 1999

This study examines the meaning of the serious leisure experience for American Kennel Club (AKC) activity participants. Particular attention is given to issues of the centrality of leisure participation as it relates to personal identification with the leisure pursuit and adopting a “dog person” lifestyle. This serious leisure pursuit differs from others previously examined because amateurs and professionals compete together. Hobbyists and amateurs support the formal AKC activity pursuit by fulfilling multiple club roles. This volunteer action serves to diversify the nature of the pursuit and supports intense levels of involvement. Costs and benefits associated with the pursuit are interpreted from a lifestyle orientation and serve to justify the intense time and monetary commitment invested by the participant.

Advanced and multivariate statistical methods: Practical application and interpretation: Sixth edition

Book

Oct 2016

Ideal for non-math majors, Advanced and Multivariate Statistical Methods teaches students to interpret, present, and write up results for each statistical technique without overemphasizing advanced math. This highly applied approach covers the why, what, when and how of advanced and multivariate statistics in a way that is neither too technical nor too mathematical. Students also learn how to compute each technique using SPSS software. New to the Sixth Edition Instructor ancillaries are now available with the sixth edition. All SPSS directions and screenshots have been updated to Version 23 of the software. Student learning objectives have been added as a means for students to target their learning and for instructors to focus their instruction. Key words are reviewed and reinforced in the end of chapter material to ensure that students understand the vocabulary of advanced and multivariate statistics.

Psychometric Theory

Article

Jan 1994

Leisure Value Systems and Recreational Specialization: The Case of Trout Fishermen

Article

Jul 1977

Hobson Bryan

A conceptual framework of trout fishermen is developed around the concept “recreational specialization.” This refers to a continuum of behavior from the general to the specialized. It is reflected by equipment, skills used, and preferences for specific recreation setting. Two hundred sixty-three on-site interviews with fishermen in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, supplemented by participant observation, yielded four types. They range from sportsmen with minimal interest and skill in the sport to those highly committed and, specialized members of a leisure social world. Resulting propositions are: (1) Fishermen tend to become more specialized over time, (2) the most specialized comprise a leisure subculture with unique minority recreationist values, (3) increased specialization implies a shift from fish consumption to preservation and emphasis on the activity's nature and setting, and (4) as specialization increases, dependency on particular resource types increases. Management implications of these propositions are discussed.

Surfing films and videos: adolescent fun, alternative lifestyle, adventure industry

Article

Jan 1996

D. Booth

Good to the last drop: Understanding surfers' motivations

Article

Jan 2001

Steve Butts

What Is Coefficient Alpha? An Examination of Theory and Applications

Article

Feb 1993

JM CORTINA

Amateurs, Professionals, and Serious Leisure

Book

Jan 1992

Robert Stebbins

This book explores the relationship between amateurs and professionals within the framework of serious leisure.

A qualitative exploration of female surfers: recreation specialization, motivations, and perspectives (Master's thesis)

Article

Dec 2008

Tiyanya Anna Nourbakhsh

This current study utilized recreation specialization and leisure motivation theory to explore the meanings, perspectives, and behaviors among female surfers. Despite numerous studies previously published regarding recreation specialization and leisure motivation related to activity participation, little research has been conducted on the activity of surfing from a female perspective. Data for this study were collected using in-depth, semi- structured interviews of nine women surfers from the California Central Coast. Content analyses of the data involved coding and identifying key themes, patterns, and categories. The dominant themes significant within recreation specialization included past participation (e.g., preceding activities to eventual participation and wave/swell conditions), perceived skills (i.e., skills important to surfing, perceived skill level), commitment (e.g., central to life activity, central leisure activity, affective attachment, and adoption of social/cultural values), and enduring involvement (e.g., attraction and sensory enjoyment). The major themes that emerged from data specific to leisure motivation included initial attraction (e.g., observing others), initial motivation to participate/actively pursue (e.g., desirable setting and sensory enjoyment) and enduring motivation (e.g., achievement/stimulation, sensory enjoyment, anticipation, attraction and flow). Major themes emerged from the results of this study identify the varying styles of involvement in the participants. Additionally, results revealed the behaviors and feminine perspectives of participants that identified the meanings and experiences associated with these categories. Participants identified the pre-activity routines they engage in to prepare for surfing addressed how surfing provides them opportunities for relational leisure and self-determined leisure. Lastly, participants’ revealed factors that constrain participation and opportunities for relational and autonomous experiences.

Reasons for Participating in a Serious Leisure Career: Comparison of Canadian and U.S. Masters Swimmers

Article

Mar 1995

For Canadian and United States Masters swimmers we examined how career contingencies (age, sex, familial status, and stage of swimming experience) were linked to benefits derived (personal and social rewards - importance of reasons for participation) from their pursuit of this serious leisure sport career. From questionnaire data on convenience samples of Masters swimmers, Canadian (337) and U.S. (363), we identified reasons for adult participation in competitive swimming, measured the relative importance of reasons, and ascertained whether the relative importance of reasons varied by age, sex, familial roles, or swimming experience. A factor analysis of 25 reason statements extracted six factors (sociability, achievement, fitness, skill development, enjoyment, and tension release). A series of regression models specified which career contingency variables were linked to each reason and whether differences existed across samples. In sum, Canadian and U.S. swimmers generally endorsed similar reasons for participation. U.S. swimmers assigned greater importance than Canadians to achievement, fitness, and tension release. For the career contingencies: fitness, sociability, and enjoyment were important to females; all ages viewed fitness, achievement, skill development and sociability as important; and stage of swimming experience was linked to relative importance assigned to skill development and achievement.

Serious Leisure, Health Perception, Dispositional Optimism, and Life Satisfaction Among Senior Games Participants

Article

Jan 2010

This study investigated factors that explain the life satisfaction of Senior Games participants. One 193 older adults from the 2005 Michigan State Senior Games and the 2005 New York State Senior Games participated in the study. The results of the study show that one of the indicators of serious leisure (affective attachment) was positively correlated to optimism (.16, p.05), age (.28, p.01), and the number of years participated (.28, p.01). Regression analysis was also used to identify which variables contribute to predicting life satisfaction. It was found that dispositional optimism (=.308, p.001) and perceived health (=.185, p.05) were significant predictors of life satisfaction.

Serious Leisure

Article

May 2001
SOCIETY

Robert Stebbins

An evaluation of priorities for beach tourism: Case studies from South Wales, UK

Article

Apr 2009
TOURISM MANAGE

Seven Welsh beaches with environmental designations were assessed, using an established beach rating checklist comprising 50 physical, biological and human use factors. Weightings were subsequently established in response to priorities of three tourism markets: surfing, eco-tourism and family. Assessments showed physical factors scored significantly lower (p < 0.01) than both biological and human use factors and were seen as a specific location consequence. Physical factors dominated surfer responses; biological factors reflected conservation priorities and human use factors, especially safety, were family concerns. Common concerns related to beach litter and outfalls. However, there were some contradictions in interpretation, such as high numbers of waves in the breaker zone, being seen as positive for surfing but negative for family safety. Results showed weighting had changed overall ranking and assessment range in response to beach factors favoured by user group priorities. Analysis identified motivating factors behind the decision to visit and highlighted resource protection aspects for specific user group needs. The methodology supports development of sustainable beach management strategies, based on local characteristics and different tourism markets.

Youth Sports as Serious Leisure: A Critique

Article

Aug 1997

It has been suggested that serious leisure can reduce problems resulting from meaningless leisure because serious leisure requires sustained and committed involvement. Youth sport participation has traditionally been viewed as a positive leisure involvement because of its contribution to healthy lifestyles and character development. These benefits can be compromised when parents and coaches engage in youth sport as their own serious leisure. This article examines the positive and negative implications of youth sports as serious leisure for children and adults. Stebbins's six qualities of serious leisure—personal effort, perseverance, career, subculture, identification, and long-lasting benefits—are discussed, as well as the role of parents and coaches. Suggestions for improving the youth sports experience are also provided.

A model of serious leisure identification: The case of football fandom

Article

Oct 2000

Ian Jones

Stebbins (1992) has suggested that the 'profit hypothesis', whereby the perceived benefits of taking part in an activity exceed the perceived costs, can be used to explain continued engagement in serious leisure activities. This argument, however, fails to explain the continued participation in such activities where the costs to the individual seem to exceed the rewards. This paper adopts a social identity perspective to identify and demonstrate the role of four compensatory behaviours in-group favouritism, out-group derogation, unrealistic optimism, and voice in ensuring continued participation in serious leisure. Such behaviours are described in the context of one particular serious leisure activity that of football fandom to explain why engagement in such an apparently unrewarding activity is maintained. A model of serious leisure participation is presented based upon these behaviours

Projecting Paradise: The Surf Media and the Hermeneutic Circle in Surfing Tourism

Article

Mar 2009

Jess Ponting

Imagery of perfect uncrowded surf in paradisaical tropical destinations has been the dominant theme in the surf media since its inception. The hermeneutic circle of representation in tourism has been explored in the context of tourism industry advertising material with tourists reproducing iconic images of destinations through their own photographic choices (Butler & Hall, 1998; Crawshaw & Urry, 1997; Hall, 1997; Jenkins, 2003; Urry, 1990a, 1990b). This article extends such research by exploring the media's role in driving a hermeneutic circle in the absence of tourism industry marketing. The article employs grounded theory method in an instrumental case study investigating the role of the surf media in the social construction of an idealized surfing tourist space. As well as providing the first empirical evidence of the relationship between the surf media and tourism demand, the article explores the symbolic elements of surfing tourist space, imagery of which drives a multi-billion-dollar global surf industry. The article expands the notion of the hermeneutic circle by looking beyond impacts on marketing and tourist behavior and questioning the implications of a tourism industry that continues to develop in remote, less-developed regions as an ad hoc response to demand fueled by media imagery of commercially created symbols designed to sell fashion items and consumer goods.

Women, climbing and serious leisure

Article

Apr 2010

In this paper, the notion of serious leisure is critically explored in relation to women's climbing careers and identities. It draws upon findings from an in‐depth qualitative study of 19 women climbers and explores the concept of serious leisure from a gender perspective, arguing that in order to develop a more sophisticated understanding of serious leisure, it is important to situate participation in the social, cultural and political contexts that frame experience. Drawing on the theoretical work of Aitchison, Shaw and Wearing, we use a feminist theoretical approach that recognises both collective experiences of gender, focusing on inequality, as well as a post‐structuralist engagement with difference and identities. The data identified the central significance of physicality, social relationships and motherhood in the experiences of, and motivations for, the women's participation in climbing as a form of serious leisure. It is argued that understanding the relationship between climbing and the women's wider lives, specifically their work, attitudes to childbearing, sexual relationships, gender identities and motherhood is central to understanding their commitment to climbing.

Volunteering as Serious Leisure

Article

Jan 2000

Stanley Parker

In this paper, the meaning of volunteering and related concepts are discussed first, and then a brief history of volunteering in Australia is given. The notion of volunteering as serious leisure is examined and the paper concludes with a few case studies of people who volunteer in various ways as part of their leisure.

Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method

Book

Jan 2000

Don A. Dillman

Sport tourism as the celebration of subculture

Article

Apr 1998
ANN TOURISM RES

Tournaments designed to attract sport participants to a destination have become significant elements of tourism marketing. This study examines participants' motives for traveling to a women's flag football tournament. In addition to collection of observational data, participants were interviewed, tournament communications analyzed, and tournament records reviewed. It is shown that participants seek opportunities to share and affirm their identities as football players. It is the occasion to celebrate a subculture shared with others from distant places, rather than the site itself, that attracts them. Implications for marketing and for theories of sport tourism are discussed.RésuméLe tourisme sportif comme célébration d'une subculture. Des tournois qui sont conçus pour attirer des participants à une destination sont devenus un élément significatif du marketing du tourisme. Cette étude examine les motivations des participantes pour voyager à un tournoi pour femmes d'une variante du football américain. En plus de rassembler des données d'observation, on a interviewé les participantes, analysé les communications du tournoi et examiné les archives du tournoi. On voit que les participantes cherchent des occasions pour communiquer et affirmer leur identité comme joueuses de football. C'est l'occasion de célébrer une subculture partagée avec d'autres personnes qui habitent loin, plutôt que le site même, qui les attire. On discute les implications pour le marketing et pour les théories du tourisme sportif.

Effects of Long-Term Recreational Surfing on Control of Force and Posture in Older Surfers: A Preliminary Investigation

Article

Dec 2009
J EXERC SCI FIT

Surfing has become a popular sport activity in Australia and many other countries since 1960's. The first generation of surfers is now older than 60 years of age while many of them still surf regularly. Limited information is available in respect of the long-term physiological adaptations of participating in surfing. The aim of this study was to provide evidence on the effects of long-term surfing on neuromuscular function as compared to age-matched non-surfers. Eleven male surfers who had participated in surfing for at least 40 years volunteered for the study. A group of the age-matched and physically active men (n = 11) were recruited as the control. The physiological variables measured included maximal isometric voluntary contraction force (MVC), rate of force development, steadiness in muscle force production (knee extensors and flexors, and ankle dorsi- and plantar flexors) at 5, 15 and 25%MVC levels, joint position sense, and body sway in standing position under four different conditions: eye open or close and on hard or soft surface. The results indicated that older surfers had significantly lower muscle force fluctuations than the control subjects in the steadiness tests. The surfers also showed less postural sway in standing position with eye closed and on soft surface. The findings from this preliminary investigation suggest that long-term recreational surfing may cause specific adaptations that benefit participants by maintaining or improving their neuromuscular function which would ultimately lead to improved quality of life.

The effect of serious leisure and leisure experience on leisure commitment of bike participants in central Taiwan (Master's thesis)

Jan 2008

C Lin

Lin, C. (2008). The effect of serious leisure and leisure experience on leisure commitment of bike participants in central Taiwan (Master's thesis). National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China.

Surfing at Bombora controlled beaches Castles made of sand: The 'Nirvanification' of the Mentawai Islands

Jan 2006

A Pitt

Pitt, A. (2009). Surfing at Bombora controlled beaches. In 5th Western Australian State Coastal Conference, Fremantle. Ponting, J. (2006). Castles made of sand: The 'Nirvanification' of the Mentawai Islands. In International Tourism and Media (ITAM) Conference.

Serious leisure Leisure studies: Prospects for the twenty-first century (pp. 69e78). State College

Jan 1999

R Stebbins

Stebbins, R. (1999). Serious leisure. In E. Jackson, & T. Burton (Eds.), Leisure studies: Prospects for the twenty-first century (pp. 69e78). State College, PA: Venture Publishing.

Sustainability issues facing the Costa Rica surf tourism industry (Master's thesis) University of Hawaii Survey research and analysis: Applications in parks, recreation, and human dimensions

Jan 2004

P Ha Tantamjarik
J J Vaske

Tantamjarik, P. (2004). Sustainability issues facing the Costa Rica surf tourism industry (Master's thesis). University of Hawaii, HA. Vaske, J. J. (2008). Survey research and analysis: Applications in parks, recreation, and human dimensions. State College, PA: Venture Publishing.

Work routines in the serious leisure career of Canadian and American masters swimmers

Jan 1996
73-92

D Hastings
S Kurth
M Schloder

Hastings, D., Kurth, S., & Schloder, M. (1996). Work routines in the serious leisure career of Canadian and American masters swimmers. Avante, 2, 73e92.

Home brewing and serious leisure an empirical evaluation (Master's thesis)

Jan 2009

D Murray

Murray, D. (2009). Home brewing and serious leisure an empirical evaluation (Master's thesis). Auburn University, Alabama.

Survey research and analysis: Applications in parks, recreation, and human dimensions

Jan 2008

J J Vaske

Vaske, J. J. (2008). Survey research and analysis: Applications in parks, recreation, and human dimensions. State College, PA: Venture Publishing.

Serious leisure Sustainability issues facing the Costa Rica surf tourism industry (Master's thesis)

Jan 2004

R P Stebbins

Stebbins, R. (2008). Serious leisure. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. Tantamjarik, P. (2004). Sustainability issues facing the Costa Rica surf tourism industry (Master's thesis). University of Hawaii, HA.

Castles made of sand: The 'Nirvanification' of the Mentawai Islands

Jan 2006

J Ponting

Ponting, J. (2006). Castles made of sand: The 'Nirvanification' of the Mentawai Islands. In International Tourism and Media (ITAM) Conference.

Surfing at Bombora controlled beaches

Jan 2009

A Pitt

Pitt, A. (2009). Surfing at Bombora controlled beaches. In 5th Western Australian State Coastal Conference, Fremantle.

Consuming Nirvana: An exploration of surfing tourist space (Doctoral dissertation)

Jan 2008

J Ponting

Ponting, J. (2008). Consuming Nirvana: An exploration of surfing tourist space (Doctoral dissertation). University of Technology, Sydney.

Everyday information organization practices in the pursuit of leisure: The information organization, management, and keeping activities of amateur art photographers

Jan 2008

K Spurgin

Spurgin, K. (2008). Everyday information organization practices in the pursuit of leisure: The information organization, management, and keeping activities of amateur art photographers. UNC Chapel Hill: School of Information and Library Science.

Surf travel behavior and destination preferences: An application of the Serious Leisure Inventory and Measure

No full-text available

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