Adventures on two wheels – Comparative study of motorcycle adventure tourists in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Abstract

AbstractIn Western industrialized countries, the use of the motorcycle has changed from a means of transportation to a recreational device. As a result, this form of travel has gained more focus by destinations and specialized travel companies. In this context, the focus on adventure and experience is also increasingly used in customer communication. But there are only few contributions in the scientific literature which deal with motorcycle tourism in principle, a deeper consideration of the adventure character of motorcycle tourism is missing, except for a few travel reports. Based on these considerations, the relationship between adventure tourism and motorcycle vacations is shown and discussed with the help of an empirical study among German, Austrian and Swiss motorcyclists. Motorcycle tourism is a special form of drive tourism, which is connected with motorized tourism as well as with adventure and nature tourism. However, the landscape acts mainly as a backdrop, as the main feature that makes motorcycle tourism special are scenic and winding roads with little traffic. As a result, it can be stated that motorcycle travel can include elements that classify it as a subcategory of adventure tourism. As with other forms of adventure tourism, a distinction can be made here between soft and hard adventures, with the soft variety predominating.