Consumer Tribes in Tourism: Contemporary Perspectives on Special-Interest Tourism

269 Pages·2021·6.684 MB·English

by  Christof Pforr, Ross Dowling, Michael Volgger

Christof Pforr
Ross Dowling
Michael Volgger   Editors
Consumer
Tribes in
Tourism
Contemporary Perspectives
on Special-Interest Tourism
Consumer Tribes in Tourism
Christof Pforr Ross Dowling
(cid:129) (cid:129)
Michael Volgger
Editors
Consumer Tribes in Tourism
Contemporary Perspectives
on Special-Interest Tourism
123
Editors
Christof Pforr RossDowling
Schoolof Marketing Schoolof Business andLaw
Curtin University Edith CowanUniversity
Perth, WA,Australia Joondalup, WA,Australia
Michael Volgger
Schoolof Marketing
Curtin University
Perth, WA,Australia
ISBN978-981-15-7149-7 ISBN978-981-15-7150-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7150-3
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We wish to dedicate this book to the memory
of the late Foundation Prof. Philip L. Pearce,
the first Professor of Tourism in Australia
and Distinguished Prof. at James Cook
University, Australia, one of our book’s
contributors, who sadly passed away on 11
August 2020.
Professor Philip L. Pearce
(21 January 1951–11 August 2020)
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Preface
Tourism stands as the largest industry in the world with 1.4 billion international
tourists in 2018 generating USD 1.7 trillion in total exports (UN World Tourism
Organization, 2019). Thus, humans are travelling more than ever before, and this
hasgeneratedarangeoftourismsegmentsknownas‘specialinteresttourism’.Two
to three decades ago, special interest tourism sectors were viewed as broader seg-
ments of the industry and included regional, urban, community, environmental,
cruise, heritage,culturalandeducational tourism(WeilerandHall,1992; Douglas,
Douglas and Derrett, 2001). However, today they are viewed much more specifi-
cally with examples including avitourism, cycling tourism, film tourism,
motor-cycle tourism and surf tourism to name a few. All of these and more are
included as case studies in this book.
Each of these segments is driven by consumer demand and is usually experi-
ential in nature. This book examines the various segments from the sociological
perspectiveofconsumergroups.Beginningfromthestandpointofconsumertribes,
agroupofpeoplewhohavechosentocometogetherforaparticularperiodoftime
and place, for a specific reason, we refine this further by examining the various
tourist groups as ‘consumption tribes’. Here, the emphasis is on groups of people
sharingtourismandtravelexperiencesaroundaspecificinterest.Byunderstanding
the passions, values and experiences of these ‘tribes,’ we can better understand
them as tourism consumers and hence better market to them and provide tourism
experiences for them.
With this book, we try to break new ground in relation to understanding con-
sumers of tourism in defined shared groups. In this regard, we have constructed a
book so the reader can learn more about tourism’s consumer tribes, and we have
illustrated this with a number of international case examples, which bring new
experiences, problems and perspectives into focus.
vii
viii Preface
Accordingly, we want this book to serve three functions:
1. Provide an introductory discourse on consumer tribes in tourism.
2. Profile a range of international perspectives and case studies.
3. Act as a teaching and learning resource for students of tourism and associated
disciplines.
Perth, Australia Christof Pforr
February 2020 Ross Dowling
Michael Volgger
References
Douglas, N., Douglas, N., & Derrett, R. (2001). Special interest tourism: Context and cases.
Milton,Queensland:JohnWiley&SonsAustralia.
UNWTO(2019).UNWTOinternationaltourismhighlights,2019edition.Madrid:UnitedNations
WorldTourismOrganization.
Weiler,B.,Hall,C.M.,(Eds.)(1992).Specialinteresttourism.London:Belhaven.
Contents
Part I Introduction
1 Consumer Tribes: A Tourism Perspective on Shared
Experiences, Emotions, and the Passion for a Specific
Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Christof Pforr, Michael Volgger, and Ross Dowling
2 Special Interest Travel: Reflections, Rejections
and Reassertions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Betty Weiler and Tracey Firth
3 Cross-Disciplinary Applications and Conceptualisations
of Theory of Neo-Tribes: An Investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Anne Hardy
Part II International Case Examples
4 Black Travel Tribes: An Exploration of Race and Travel
in America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Alana K. Dillette
5 Film Tourist Tribes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
W. Glen Croy, Ina Reichenberger, and Stefanie Benjamin
6 The Coalescence of the LGBTQI+ Neo-Tribes During
the Pride Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Oscar Vorobjovas-Pinta and Clifford Lewis
7 Dark Tourism Tribes: Social Capital as a Variable . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Hugues Seraphin and Maximiliano E. Korstanje
8 Avitourism Tribes: As Diverse as the Birds They Watch . . . . . . . . 101
Rochelle Steven, Nicolas Rakotopare, and David Newsome
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x Contents
9 Geological Tourist Tribes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Ross Dowling, Mamoon Allan, and Nicole Grünert
10 Freedom Campers: A New Neo-Crowd (-Tribe) Breaking
Tradition with Planning Boundaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Rodney W. Caldicott
11 Enjoying Sunset: Successful Ageing and the Grey Nomad
Community. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
PhilipL.Pearce,HeraOktadiana,JohnR.Pearce,andTingzhenChen
12 The Cycling Tourism Tribe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Michael Volgger and Manuel Demetz
13 Cruising and Clanning: The Motorcycle Tourism Tribal
Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Diane Sykes
14 Water-Sport Tribes in Multi-Sport Destinations: The Case
of the Lake Garda, Italy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Anna Scuttari, Giulia Isetti, and Philipp Corradini
15 Searching the Seven Seas: Investigating Western Australia’s
Cape Naturaliste Surfing Tribe as a Surf-Tourism Paradigm. . . . . 219
Robert A. Holt
16 Offshore Sailing: Subcultures and Neotribes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Jim Macbeth
Part III Conclusion
17 Tribes in Tourism: A Socio-Cultural Perspective on Special
Interest Tourism Consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Michael Volgger, Christof Pforr, and Ross Dowling
Editors and Contributors
About the Editors
Prof. Christof Pforr is Discipline Leader (Tourism,
Hospitality & Events) and Course Coordinator for
Tourism & Hospitality with the School of Marketing,
FacultyofBusiness&Law,CurtinUniversity(Western
Australia).
PriortojoiningCurtinUniversityin2003,Prof.Pforr
held academic positions at three other Australian
universities and has been a Visiting Professor at
universities in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
ProfessorPforr’spastandcurrentresearchisinter-and
multidisciplinary. In essence, his activities have con-
centrated on four interconnected research areas, sus-
tainability, tourism public policy, destination
governance and special interest tourism, all fields he
has frequently published in. Professor Pforr has
contributed to more than 150 publications (including
10 books) and numerous national and international
research projects.
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