Mass tourism underwater: a segmentation approach to motivations of scuba diving holiday tourists

Scuba diving is an increasingly popular activity in resort destinations worldwide, providing tourists a more active experience in their holiday. By following the Push and Pull Theory, this study examines the scuba diving motivations of holiday tourists. Whilst of substantial importance for the practice of the activity, host marine destinations and broader ocean literacy, this an under-researched topic in the tourism literature. Data were collected from a comprehensive data set of holiday tourists who participated scuba diving in Kemer, Antalya-Turkey. Exploration & excitement, personal development, and socialisation & challenge were identified as the push motivations, while tourism & diving offerings, safety & accessibility, ancillary attributes, new area, and unspoiled diving destination were determined as the pull motivations. Moreover, cluster analysis revealed four groups who had various motivations to participate scuba diving, namely Enthusiastic Positivists, Youthful Hedonists, Amateur Explorers, and Single Regulars. Findings of the research were discussed along with their theoretical and managerial implications.水肺潜水（Scuba diving）如今在全球度假胜地愈发流行，为游客带来更具主动性的假日体验。本研究基于推-拉理论（Push and Pull Theory），探讨假日游客参与水肺潜水的动机。尽管该主题对于水肺潜水活动的开展、滨海旅游目的地运营以及提升全民海洋素养均具有重要价值，但在旅游学研究领域中却尚未得到足够关注。研究数据采集自土耳其安塔利亚省凯梅尔地区参与过水肺潜水的假日游客综合数据集。研究识别出三类推力动机：探索与刺激、个人成长、社交互动与挑战；同时确定了五类拉力动机：旅游与潜水服务供给、安全与可及性、附属配套属性、全新潜水场地以及未受破坏的潜水目的地。此外，聚类分析结果显示，参与水肺潜水的游客可依据动机差异划分为四组，分别为热情正向者（Enthusiastic Positivists）、年轻享乐派（Youthful Hedonists）、业余探索者（Amateur Explorers）以及固定单人参与者（Single Regulars）。本研究最后探讨了研究发现的理论价值与实践管理启示。