Mass tourism underwater: a segmentation approach to motivations of scuba diving holiday tourists

Scuba diving is an increasingly popular activity in resort destinations worldwide, providing tourists a more active experience in their holiday. By following the Push and Pull Theory, this study examines the scuba diving motivations of holiday tourists. Whilst of substantial importance for the practice of the activity, host marine destinations and broader ocean literacy, this an under-researched topic in the tourism literature. Data were collected from a comprehensive data set of holiday tourists who participated scuba diving in Kemer, Antalya-Turkey. Exploration & excitement, personal development, and socialisation & challenge were identified as the push motivations, while tourism & diving offerings, safety & accessibility, ancillary attributes, new area, and unspoiled diving destination were determined as the pull motivations. Moreover, cluster analysis revealed four groups who had various motivations to participate scuba diving, namely Enthusiastic Positivists, Youthful Hedonists, Amateur Explorers, and Single Regulars. Findings of the research were discussed along with their theoretical and managerial implications

Y Wladfa Gymreig:Outbound diasporic tourism and contribution to identity

Diasporic tourism is acknowledged as a powerful force in travel, but there has been more focus to date on inbound forms. Significant outbound Welsh diasporic tourism takes place to the colony known as Y Wladfa Gymreig in Argentinean Patagonia, founded in 1865. The Welsh Patagonian example is interesting because it is a settlement-based phenomenon, which has had less academic focus than those centred on ‘homecoming’. Travelling to a place of dispersion may also generate strong cultural attachment and emotional connection, particularly where identity politics in the origin has become diluted through globalisation. Using Bond and Falk’s tourism and identity-related motivation theoretical framework, we examine tourists who have visited this unusual destination. Questionnaires with potential tourists as well as interviews with visitors are combined with a research visit to the region to investigate the framework aspects of identity development; identity maintenance and identity moderation and reconstruction. Attributes that framed identity construction were experiencing Welshness, personal connections, events, nostalgia, novelty, language, and loyalty. We also found the potential for such visits to unsettle identity, so that ultimately articulation of ‘home’ is far from being fixed or permanent in the tourism context. These findings illustrate the dynamic and hybrid nature of identity, and the importance of tourism in its negotiation