The effect of personality characteristics on behaviors regarding adventure tourism: The case of cappadocia hot air balloon

Tourism is a set of activities and industries that provide a travel experience consisting of transportation, accommodation, catering businesses, entertainment businesses and etc. Adventure tourism activities have gained momentum in recent years. The aim of this study is to examine the behaviors of individuals participating in hot air balloon tourism, which is one of the adventure tourism activities, in terms of personal characteristics. During the study, 500 questionnaires were applied and 59 of them were eliminated. Analysis were made on the remaining 441 questionnaires. The statistical significance of the differences in behavioral intention and sensation seeking behavior according to the five factor traits in terms of demographic characteristics was tested with the "Independent Samples T-test" and "One-Way Analysis of Variance" (ANOVA). The relationship between sensation seeking behavior and behavioral intention and five factor traits was tested using the Pearson correlation test. The effect of five factor traits on sensation seeking and behavioral intention was analysed by path analysis which is an sub-part of structural equation modeling. In the results of the analysis, it was observed that all parameters of the five factor traits, sensation seeking, behavioral intention scales were statistically significant. When the effect of the five factor traits scale sub dimensions was examined, it was determined that the highest effect belonged to the extraversion. The neuroticism had a negative effect on the model. When the effect of the behavioral intention scale sub dimesions was examined, it was seen that the highest effect belonged to the behavioral intention towards the destination. When the path coefficients were examined, it was observed that the five factor personality traits had a positive and significant effect on the sensation seeking and behavioral intention.