Physically Active Leisure and Tourism Connection: Leisure Involvement and Choice of Tourism Activities Among Paddlers

Abstract

Leisure and tourism activities may be integrally related for some. This study examined the relationship between the preferred leisure and tourism activities and psychological involvement in paddling of a group of paddlers. Participants were surveyed at the completion of a paddle tour. Data were analyzed using frequencies, confirmatory factor analysis, cross-tabulations, and ANOVA. Four types of leisure-tourism connection (LTC) were identified. People more highly involved with paddling tended to paddle while on vacation compared with other LTC types. The findings provide empirical evidence for previous assertions proposing a connection between involvement in leisure activities and subsequent tourism behaviors.

Keywords:

• involvement
• leisure-tourism connection
• paddling
• physically active leisure
• active sport tourism

Acknowledgement

Heather J. Gibson thanks Bournemouth University, UK, for their hospitality enjoyed during the development of this article.

Notes

^a: 5 point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, and 5 = strongly agree).

^a: Low (ranging from 2.08 to 3.66) and high (ranging from 3.67 to 4.83) involvement group (cutoff is the 50th percentile based on the frequency distribution of the overall involvement mean score, M = 3.66).