Abstract
Lifestyle water-sports share a common escapist aim and were traditionally characterized by very specific—and sometimes closed—community groups. Initially framed within the discourse on adventure tourism, they are increasingly assessed in literature as forms of nature tourism, where the risk-taking attitude is combined with the desire to learn, achieve individual goals, and improve skills. Moreover, water-sports are also suitable to be analysed using the novel theoretical framework of consumer tribes, since they are constituted by heterogeneous groups of persons sharing a common passion and similar social practices, independently of a demographic- or class-based segmentation. The practice of multiple water-sports during one holiday for purposes of multifaceted experiences, the development of multiple water sports practices across a lifetime as well as a the co-existence of multi-optional and singular sporting practices are the main phenomena analysed in this chapter on water-sports neotribes. To analyse these phenomena, this case study focuses on the well-known destination Lake Garda, Italy. Based on semi-structured interviews to local and international stakeholders and a sample survey to local tourists, this work aims at analysing the tribes of water-sport practitioners of the Lake Garda. Results show that water-sport tribes are micro-tribes with blurring boundaries and transient memberships. They develop at destination level embedded in bigger outdoor sports tribes, having a common attitude towards eudaimonic experiences. Multi-sports destinations work both as ‘tribe generators’ and as ‘anchoring places’, because they evolve in a never ending dialogue with tribe members, that in turn improve their skills and challenge themselves in multiple sport adventures.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Atkinson, M. (2010). Entering scapeland: Yoga, fell and post-sport physical cultures. Sport in Society, 13, 1249–1267.
Bastian, M., Heymann, S., & Jacomy, M. (2009). Gephi: An open source software for exploring and manipulating networks. In International AAAI conference on weblogs and social media
Beaumont, E., & Brown, D. H. K. (2015). ‘Once a local surfer, always a local surfer’: Local surfing careers in a Southwest english village. Leisure Sciences, 37(1), 68–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2014.952462
Booth, D. (1996). Surfing film and videos: Adolescent fun, alternative lifestyle, adventure industry. Journal of Sport History, 23(3), 313–327.
Booth, D. (2001a). Australian beach cultures: The history of sun, sand and surf. London: Frank Class.
Booth, D. (2001b). From bikinis to boardshorts: Wahines and the paradoxes of surfing culture. Journal of Sport History, 28(1), 316–336.
Buckley, R. (2007). Adventure tourism products: Price, duration, size, skill, remoteness. Tourism Management, 28, 1428–1433.
Buckley, R. (2012). Rush as a key motivation in skilled adventure tourism: Resolving the risk recreation paradox. Tourism Management, 33, 961–970.
Buckley, R. C. (2006). Adventure Tourism. Oxford: CAB International.
Canniford, R. (2011). How to manage consumer tribes. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 19(7), 591–606. https://doi.org/10.1080/0965254X.2011.599496
Canninford, R., & Shankar, A. (2007): Marketing the savage: appropriating tribal tropes. In: B. Cova, R. V. Kozinets & A. Shankar (Eds.), Consumer tribes (pp. 35–48). Abington, UK: Routledge.
Carvache-Franco, W., Carvache-Franco, M., Carvache-Franco, O., & Hernández-Lara, A. B. (2019). Segmentation of foreign tourist demand in a coastal marine destination: The case of Montañita, Ecuador. Ocean and Coastal Management, 167, 236–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2018.10.035
Collins, L., & Brymer, E. (2018). Understanding nature sports: A participant centred perspective and its implications for the design and facilitating of learning and performance. Annals of Leisure Research, 1(3), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2018.1525302
Cova, B., & Cova, V. (2002). Tribal marketing: The tribalisation of society and its impact on the conduct of marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 36(5–6), 595–620.
Cova, B., Kozinets, R. V., & Shankar, A. (2007). Consumer tribes. Abington, UK: Routledge.
Dolnicar, S., & Fluker, M. (2003). Behavioural market segments among surf tourists: Investigating past destination choice. Journal of Sport and Tourism, 8(3), 186–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/14775080310001690503
Ducato, R. (2015). Windsurf versus Kitesurf: una “tragedia del vento comune”? In Law of tourism sport working paper series (vol. 1).
European Tourism Futures Institute. (2012). Jeugd and Watersport. Vier schetsen voor de watersportsector in Fryslân in 2020. Edited by European Tourism Futures Institute. Leeuwarden.
Flynn, P. (1989). Waves of semiosis: Surfing’s iconic progression. American Journal of Semiotics, 5(3), 397–418.
Garda Trentino S.p.A. (2018). Dati statistici ambito Garda Trentino. Gennaio-Dicembre 2018. Retrieved from https://www.gardatrentino.it/upload/files/Datistatistici2018.pdf
George, S. (1991). California: Land of sun, sand and surf. In N. Carroll (Ed.), The next wave: A survey of world surfing (pp. 58–81). London: MacDonald.
Haddock, C. (1993). Managing risks in outdoor activities. Wellington: New Zealand Mountain Safety Council.
Hallmann, K., Feiler, S., & Breuer, C. (2012). Sport motivation as driver for segmenting sport tourists in coastal regions. Tourism Review, 67(2), 4–12. https://doi.org/10.1108/16605371211236097
Hardy, A., & Robards, B. (2015). The ties that bind: Exploring neo-tribal theory’s rele-vance to tourism. Tourism Analysis, 20(4), 443–454.
Hennigs, B., & Hallmann, K. (2014). A motivation-based segmentation study of kitesurfers and windsurfers. Managing Leisure, 12(6), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13606719.2014.979554
Hough-Snee, D. Z., & Sotelo Eastman, A. (Eds.). (2017). The critical surf studies reader. Durham: Duke University Press.
Jennings, G. (2007). Water-based tourism, sport, leisure, and recreation experiences. Oxford, New York: Elsevier.
Knobloch, U., Robertson, K., & Aitken, R. (2016). Experience, emotion, and eudaimonia: A consideration of tourist experiences and well-being. Journal of Travel Research, 56(5), 651–662.
Langer, R. (2007). Marketing, prosumption and innovation in the fetish community. In B. Cova, R. Kozinets, & A. Shankar (Eds.), Consumer tribes (pp. 243–256). Oxford: Elsevier.
Larson, L. R., Usher, L. E., & Chapmon, T. (2018). Surfers as environmental stewards: Understanding place-protecting behavior at cape Hatteras national seashore. Leisure Sciences, 40(5), 442–465. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2017.1305306
Law, A. (2001). Surfing the safety net—“dole bludging”, “surfies” and governmentality in Australia. International Review for the Sociology of SPorts, 36(1), 25–40.
Maffesoli, M. (1996). The time of the tribes. London: Sage.
Morgan, D., Moore, K., & Mansell, R. (2005). Adventure tourists on water: Linking expectations, affect, achievement and enjoyment to the sports tourism adventure. Journal of Sport and Tourism, 10(1), 73–88. https://doi.org/10.1080/14775080500101593
Physical Activity Council. (2019). Overview report on U.S. participation. Retrieved from https://www.physicalactivitycouncil.com/pdfs/current.pdf.
Pine, B. J., & Gilmore, J. H. (1999). The experience economy. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business Review Press.
Prayag, G., & Jankee, M. (2009). Exploring the relationship between motives and perceived risks in windsurfing: The case of ‘Le Morne.’ Mauritius. Tourism Recreation Research, 34(2), 169–180.
Priest, S. (1992). Factor exploration and confirmation for the dimensions of an adventure experience. Journal of Leisure Research, 24(2), 127–139.
Rantala, O., Rokenes, A., & Valkonen, J. (2016). Is adventure tourism a coherent concept? A review of research approaches on adventure tourism. Annals of Leisure Research, 21(5), 539–552.
Sung, H., Morrison, A. M., & O’Leary, J. T. (1997). Definition of adventure travel: Conceptual framework for empirical application from the providers’ perspective. Ottawa. Canada: Paper presented at Annual Society of Travel and Tourism Educators Conference.
Swarbrooke, J., Beard, C., Leckie, S., & Pomfret, G. (2003). Adventure tourism—the new frontier. Sydney: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Thomas, S.J., & Potts, J. (2015). How competitive evolutionary dynamics first created then ruined windsurfing. Retrieved from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2569408 or https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2569408
Wheaton, B. (2004). “New lads”? Competing masculinities in the windsurfing culture. In B. Wheaton (Ed.), Understanding Lifestyle Sports: Consumption, Identity and Difference (pp. 131–153). London: Routledge.
Wheaton, B. (2017). Surfing through the life-course: Silver surfers’ negotiation of ageing. Annals of Leisure Research, 20(1), 96–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2016.1167610
Young, N. (1983). The complete history of surfing. Australia: Palm Beach Press.
Zelger, J. (2000): Twelve Steps of GABEKWinRelan. A procedure for qualitative opinion research, knowledge organization and systems development. In R. Buber & J. Zelger (Eds.), GABEK 2. Zur qualitativen Forschung (pp. 205–220). (On qualitative Research), Studien-Verlag, Innsbruck.
Acknowlegments
This study was conducted in the framework of a wider research project funded by the tourism board Garda Trentino S.p.A.
The authors would like to thank the editors of the book for their constant support and are especially grateful to Harald Pechlaner and his team of the Center for Advanced Studies - Eurac Research for their collaboration in the project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Scuttari, A., Isetti, G., Corradini, P. (2021). Water-Sport Tribes in Multi-Sport Destinations: The Case of the Lake Garda, Italy. In: Pforr, C., Dowling, R., Volgger, M. (eds) Consumer Tribes in Tourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7150-3_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7150-3_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-7149-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-7150-3
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)