Wildlife Tourist Archetypes: Are All Polar Bear Viewers in Churchill, Manitoba Ecotourists?
Ecotourists have largely been defined in the literature a priori based on their geographic location (e.g., visitors to designated natural areas) and/or exhibited behaviors (e.g., engagement in nature viewing such as bird watching or camping). However, such definitions fail to consider
whether these individuals do indeed embrace the psychological makeup that would qualify them as "real" ecotourists based on ecotourist ideal types. This study derives a profile of wildlife tourists based on their psychographic characteristics as suggested by conceptual definitions of ecotourists
and wildlife tourism in particular. Essentially, the question underlying the study was to determine if all wildlife tourists do, in fact, share those characteristics typically assumed in the literature to be inherent to ecotourism.
Keywords: ARCHETYPES; ECOTOURISM; POLAR BEARS; VIEWER EXPERIENCE; WILDLIFE TOURISM
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 June 2007
- Tourism in Marine Environments is an interdisciplinary journal dealing with a variety of management issues in marine settings. It is a scientific journal that draws upon the expertise of academics and practitioners from various disciplines related to the marine environment, including tourism, marine science, geography, social sciences, psychology, environmental studies, economics, marketing, and many more.
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