Examining sensation seeking of adventure tourists by activity preferences in Turkey

Adventure tourism is a type of tourism which take place in destinations with specific geographical features and landscapes, cultural exchange, integration with nature and associated with physical activities. On the other hand, adventure tourists are tourists, whose behaviors are constantly changing as part of the adventure tourism experience and are constantly seeking for more experienced and risky travel experiences. These tourists are sensation seekers for a sense of accomplishment and continuous improvement and optimal level of arousal, rather than moments of temporary happiness. Therefore, they travel activity-based to participate in high-risk adventure activities. The relation between adventure tourist's sensation seeking with their activity preferences which are paragliding, scuba diving, surfing, rafting, canoeing, camping, skiing/snowboarding, rock climbing, trekking and tour bike in Turkey were examined. Thus, sensation seeking, level of arousal, personality characteristics, recreational behaviors and demographic characteristics of adventure tourists participating in adventure activities were revealed. Quantitative research method was preferred in the research, and the data were collected by survey technique. 1246 data were obtained from adventure tourists who were selected by convenience sampling method by conducting of sensation seeking and allocentric personality scales. As a result, it has been determined that adventure tourists differ in terms of their sensation seeking, level of arousal, personality, demographic and recreational characteristics within the context of their preferred activities. Therefore, in the study, each activity was evaluated separately, and activity-based typologies were tried to be created.