Special Interest Tourism: Motivation, Types of Tourism Activities and Tourist Behaviors

Abstract

This academic article aims to explore the underlying motivations that drive demand for special interest tourism by integrating three core theoretical frameworks. The first framework is Maslow’s eight-level hierarchy of human needs, which had been progressively developed during 1954 and 1970. These needs include: physiological needs essential for survival; safety needs related to personal security, family, and property; needs for love and a sense of belonging; needs for esteem and recognition from significant others and society at large; self-actualization - the realization of one’s full potential; cognitive needs, encompassing perception, understanding the process of analytical thinking, information management, reasoning, and intellectual development; aesthetic needs - the appreciation of beauty and profound emotional experience; and self-transcendence - the pursuit of a meaningful life beyond the self and a sense of connection to the sacred or spirituality. The second framework concerns individual travel motivations and deep personal interests proposed by Agarwal, Busby, and Huang (2018), namely: psychological motivation, emotional motivation, cultural motivation, and personal development motivation. The third framework relates to types and behaviors of special interest tourists, also proposed by Agarwal, Busby, and Huang (2018), which include: novelty-seeking tourists who are bored with routine experiences and seek change; active tourists who have clear and specific interests; expert tourists who possess a high level of knowledge and skills derived from their special interests; and enthusiast tourists who are highly devoted and deeply committed to their interests. To achieve the research objective, an in-depth integrative synthesis of the three frameworks was conducted. The findings indicate that needs and motivations at levels 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Maslow’s hierarchy are key drivers of special interest tourism. Such tourism is characterized by creative forms of activities, and tourist behaviors vary across multiple dimensions according to economic status, social and cultural backgrounds, local contexts, and government tourism promotion policies.