The genesis of a new body of sport tourism literature: a systematic review of surf tourism research (1997–2011)

Abstract

Surf tourism is a rapidly expanding market segment of the wider sport tourism industry and the purpose of this study is to provide an analytical interpretation of surf tourism research. Published and unpublished literature from 1997 through to 2011 was collected through searching a variety of academic databases and communicating directly with the authors themselves. A systematic review was employed to identify and analyze the types of research emerging from international journals, universities, governments, and the not-for-profit sector. The study indicates a genesis in sport tourism literature, representing a new and available body of surf tourism research. We find that this new area of research has arisen mainly from the grey literature through the works of graduate students and consultants. Surfing events, artificial surfing reefs, and the sustainability of surf sites and host communities are among the most prolific areas under discussion and key arguments include socioeconomics, coastal management, and sustainable tourism. Approximately 10% of countries in the world with coastal surfing resources have been studied, and this and other findings indicate the potential for new areas of research in domestic and international tourism. A bibliography provides 156 documentary materials compiled for the systematic review.

Keywords:

• surfing
• surf tourism
• literature review
• sustainability
• coastal management

Acknowledgements

We thank everyone who shared and assisted in locating related materials and offered suggestions and critiques to our study. We gained much from the scholarship and personal communications with Ralph Buckley, Neil Lazarow, Danny O'Brien, Jess Ponting, and Raymond Ritchie. Although we have drawn upon the collective knowledge of the authors found herein, any errors are our own. We also thank the Faculties of Environmental Management, Hospitality and Tourism, and International Studies at Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. Given the limitations of locating the gray literature from around the world, and despite the best efforts of the authors, we apologize to any researchers whose works were not incorporated into our study. Please send questions, comments or mention of any research not included in this review to the authors at: [email protected].

Notes

Includes two journal articles (Dolnicar, 2005; Dolnicar & Fluker, 2003a) not authored by graduate students and based on primary data from a graduate report by Ponting (2000).

Includes two conference papers (Dolnicar & Fluker, 2003b, 2004) not authored by graduate students and based on primary data from a graduate report by Ponting (2000).

Note that the discrepancy between 33 non-refereed studies (from Table 1) and the 32 commissioned studies indicated here is due to subtracting two non-commissioned studies (non-refereed ENCORE reports) by O'Brien (2006, 2007a) and adding the commissioned study by Ryan and Cooper (2004) which appeared in an international journal.

Neil Lazarow completed his PhD in 2010 and Chad Nelsen in 2012.