Understanding cultural variations in outdoor tourism behaviours for outdoor sport tourism development: A case of the Blue Mountains National Park

A research note written by CTR Acting Director, Dr. Eiji Ito was published in Tourism Planning & Development.

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Title

Understanding cultural variations in outdoor tourism behaviours for outdoor sport tourism development: A case of the Blue Mountains National Park

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Authors

Eiji Ito, Faculty of Tourism, Wakayama University, Wakayama, Japan

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Source

Tourism Planning & Development, 2020

DOI: 10.1080/21568316.2020.1807401

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21568316.2020.1807401

*Indexed in Scopus

Journal details: https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/19900191973

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Abstract

Affect valuation theory holds that ideal affect differs from actual affect in that the former refers to a goal whereas the latter refers to a response. More importantly, this theory proposes that culture influences ideal affect, in which Westerners and East-Asians value high- (e.g. excitement) and low-arousal (e.g. relaxing) positive affect, respectively, more than their counterparts. Therefore, this research note aimed to examine the cultural variation in tourism behaviours proposed by the affect valuation theory among outdoor recreation tourists. Structured observations were conducted in Blue Mountains National Park, Australia. The author walked on six trails and recorded the number of walkers encountered by their cultural backgrounds. The results indicated that Western tourists actually walked on trails more than East-Asian tourists at an outdoor tourism destination, which supports the affect valuation theory. The theoretical and practical implications were discussed in light of these cultural differences in tourism behaviours.

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Key words

Affect valuation theory, culture, ideal affect, outdoor sport tourism development, Blue Mountains National Park