Knowledge development in adventure tourism businesses – the influence of serious leisure

ABSTRACT

The development of high quality adventure tourism products requires continuous knowledge development. This development is challenged by the short seasons and the low wages of the adventure tourism industry. Eight case studies of adventure tourism businesses in Norway and New Zealand identified blurry borders between work and leisure in the adventure tourism industry. Through interviews and participant observation, characteristics of serious leisure [Stebbins, R. A. 1982. “Serious Leisure: A Conceptual Statement.” The Pacific Sociological Review 25: 251–272] were identified, as entrepreneurs and employees of adventure tourism businesses were involved in specific leisure activities taking place in the same natural environments as the commercial activities. The findings suggests that knowledge and motivation related to serious leisure can benefit the adventure tourism industry by motivating employees to stay with the industry and invest in training, through international work mobility and the creation of knowledgeable milieus. The study is intended to increase awareness on how knowledge developed through serious leisure can benefit the tourism industry.

KEYWORDS:

• Adventure tourism
• knowledge development
• serious leisure

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dr Kristin Løseth Research interests: Knowledge development and innovation in tourism, small business research, adventure tourism.