Adventure tourists on water: linking expectations, affect, achievement and enjoyment to the adventure

This exploratory study examined a range of factors that surround participants' experiences in adventure tourism activities. Participants (n=73) engaged in two water-based adventure tourism activities (white-water rafting and sea-kayaking) were categorised into either a low challenge or a high challenge group based on the discrepancy between ratings of post-adventure risk and competence. Significant differences were found between these challenge groups on their expectation of the likelihood of injury in both activities. Further differences were found between the rafting challenge groups on measures of affect (tense and threatened) and the sea-kayaking challenge group on sources of enjoyment (arousal and challenge). Based on these differences, and in consideration of the duration of each activity, adventure tourists are categorised into one of four categories: fearless thrill-seekers, daring thrill-seekers, ecotourists, and competence-testers.