Sole surfers?: exploring family status and travel behaviour among surf travellers

ABSTRACT

Surf tourism is a growing industry making an impact on many countries around the world. Research on surf tourism has increased exponentially in the past 15 years. Previous research indicates surf travellers have spending power and will travel often for surfing. Segments among surf travellers have been explored, but demographics related to family life cycle have been overlooked. An online survey was used to capture a global sample of 198 surfers regarding surf travel habits and preferences. This study explores the relationship between certain demographics, such as age and family life cycle, on six surf travel behaviours. Results showed significant relationships between partnership and parenthood and certain surf travel behaviours. The findings are discussed in light of their relevance for the surf tourism industry and future surf travel research.

KEYWORDS:

• Surf tourism
• family life cycle
• surf travel habits
• accompanied surf travel
• parenthood
• surfing

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Correction

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to extend their appreciation to their friends, colleagues and the numerous organizations who aided in the distribution of the original survey. In addition, the authors would like to thank Heike Schänzel for her input and comments on this manuscript as well as the reviewers whose suggestions have improved the quality of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

ORCID

Brooke A. Porter http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8183-9662

Correction Statement

This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2021.1986963

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brooke A. Porter

Brooke A. Porter is a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Hospitality and Tourism at Auckland University of Technology. Her current work investigates the human dimensions of coastal environments exploring tourism as a development and conservation strategy in lesser-developed regions.

Lindsay E. Usher

Lindsay E. Usher is an assistant professor of Park, Recreation and Tourism Studies at Old Dominion University. Her research interests include surf culture and tourism, sustainable tourism development, and climate change and coastal tourism.