Exploring Nudist Festival Attendance at a Mexican Beach: a Tourist Motivation Approach
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Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing ISSN: 1054-8408 (Print) 1540-7306 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wttm20 Exploring nudist festival attendance at a Mexican beach: a tourist motivation approach Carlos Monterrubio To cite this article: Carlos Monterrubio (2019) Exploring nudist festival attendance at a Mexican beach: a tourist motivation approach, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 36:5, 583-594, DOI: 10.1080/10548408.2019.1604295 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2019.1604295 Published online: 14 Apr 2019. Submit your article to this journal View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=wttm20 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL & TOURISM MARKETING 2019, VOL. 36, NO. 5, 583–594 https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2019.1604295 ARTICLE Exploring nudist festival attendance at a Mexican beach: a tourist motivation approach Carlos Monterrubio Texcoco Campus, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, Estado de México, Mexico ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Motivations to attend nudist festivals and their association with tourist motivation factors have Received 18 December 2018 been largely unexplored. Based on qualitative interviews with nudist tourists, this study explored Revised 23 February 2019 these individuals’ motivations for attending a nudist festival in Mexico. The findings reveal Accepted 1 April 2019 a complex amalgamation of both festival and tourism motivation constructs. Based on the KEYWORDS escape-seeking dichotomy and push-pull framework, data analyses revealed that the interperso- Festival motivation; tourist nal festival motivations are more significant than personal factors are and the pull factors of the motivation; nudism festival; event-hosting destination can dominate over festival factors. The findings have important prac- nudism; naturism; nudist tical implications for nudism festival organisers. motivation; escape-seeking; push-pull; Zipolite; Mexico Introduction events for local communities, so these events should be studied inwardly, that is from these communities’ per- Motivations can be understood as internal factors that spectives. The cited authors suggest that analyses of fes- arouse, direct and integrate individuals’ behaviours, so tival motivations should consider the varied social they are the starting point for decision processes environments of individuals, festival diversity and the (Crompton & McKay, 1997). Tourists’ decisions involve sociological, psychological and anthropological character- multiple motivations (Crompton, 1979; Mansfeld, 1992), istics inherent in festival motivations. Thus, in addition to and, according to Crompton and McKay (1997), these psychological factors, festivals involve the social and cul- decisions may take place at both the individual and tural aspects of both local communities and visitors. These aggregate levels of analysis. Various specific require- aspects, therefore, need to be considered in any analysis ments such as a need to escape from personal routines of visitors’ motivations. Because festival attendees quite are significant at the individual level, while diverse likely are seeking cultural enrichment and socialisation needs and experiences derived from interpersonal (Crompton & McKay, 1997), identifying their motivations interactions are important at the aggregate level. for going to festivals and events with cultural components Crompton and McKay (1997) argue that gaining can also enhance the social interactions between – and a better understanding of festival motivations is neces- cultural dimensions shared by – visitors and locals. sary for three main reasons. First, understanding why Chang and Yuan (2011) argue that motivations may people visit an event and what their expectations are not be homogenous across different types of festivals, informs the choice of services and products to be which requires differentiation in marketing strategies. developed. After identifying motivations, practical set- This could be the main reason why research on festival tings and contexts of events can be adjusted to ensure motivation has focused on a wide variety of festivals, they fulfil attendees’ needs. Second, knowing visitors’ including religious celebrations and cultural, commu- motivations helps to ensure their satisfaction since, if nity, aboriginal, wine, food, music, art, regional and their needs and motivations are addressed, satisfaction experiential festivals (Maeng et al., 2016). However, little will naturally follow. Last, identifying motivations is is known about motivations for festivals in which essential to understanding visitors’ decision processes, socially condemned behaviours and lifestyles are the which facilitates marketing efforts. core theme or attraction. Research on festival and event motivations has pro- In particular, attendance motivations for nudism festi- duced findings of sociological relevance. Maeng, Jang, vals have remained largely ignored by tourism, festival and Li (2016) report that festivals are inward-looking and event motivation studies. More specifically, the CONTACT Carlos Monterrubio, [email protected] Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, Texcoco, Mexico, Av. Jardín Zumpango S/N, Fracc. El Tejocote, Texcoco, Estado de México, 56259, Mexico © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group 584 C. MONTERRUBIO existing literature does not appear to include research Tourism and festival motivations exploring the underlying reasons for attending nudist Most studies of festival and event motivations have festivals and events. As a social and personal practice, been undertaken within the theoretical framework of nudism has unique physical, psychological, emotional, travel and tourism motivation research. This has been medical, moral and social benefits (Barcan, 2015; West, rationalised on the basis of the leisure, escape-seeking, 2018). However, this practice has been socially con- mobility and sociocultural dimensions shared by both demned by many individuals who consider it a deviation tourism and events. Maeng et al. (2016) thus observe from societal norms, as well as consisting of erotic acts of that, in empirical research, most motivation factors for immodesty associated with sexuality (Andriotis, 2010). festival attendance have been borrowed from tourist From a benefit versus social disapproval binary per- motivation studies. The earliest contributions to spective, some questions remain unanswered: a sound understanding of tourist motivations were pro- vided by Crompton (1979), Dann (1977) and Iso-Ahola ● How significant are festivals and holidays for (1980). These and later investigations (Snepenger, King, nudists? Marshal, & Uysal, 2006) identified individuals’ motiva- ● What are the personal and interpersonal factors tions for tourism and concluded that these include both that lead individuals to attend nudist festivals? psychological and social domains. Beginning with the ● How closely related are nudist festival motivations earliest studies, the search for escape, self-exploration, to more general tourism motivations? relaxation, prestige, regression, kinship-enhancement, social interaction, novelty and education has been Exploring both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation factors viewed as major motivation factors for tourists. in nudist festival attendance and their relationship to Travel and tourism motivation research has been tourism motivations can help develop a more contex- conceptually grounded on both the escape-seeking tually diversified understanding of festival motivations. dichotomy and push-pull framework (Uysal, Li, & In addition, this can provide practical implications for Sirakaya-Turk, 2008). With regard to the former dichot- festival developers regarding nudist tourists’ satisfac- omy, escape elements refer to intrinsic rewards and tion and product design. This study, therefore, sought opportunities to break away from routines and every- to contribute to answering these questions. day environments. Both escaping and seeking can be Based on their review of festival motivation studies, experienced simultaneously, and they can include per- Maeng et al. (2016) observe that these have been lar- sonal and interpersonal components. Through tourism, gely derived from studies related to tourism motiva- individuals thus seek recreational opportunities in order tions rather than from indicators exclusive to festivals. to escape from routine activities, leave behind personal The cited authors thus argue that tourist motivation and/or interpersonal difficulties and gain personal and/ studies have not been suitably adjusted to examine or interpersonal rewards. Previous research applying festival attendance patterns effectively. This could be the escape-seeking dichotomy has identified four true for small festivals in which travel and escape- dimensions in leisure and tourism motivations: personal seeking motivations are not particularly important com- search, personal escape, interpersonal search and inter- ponents. However, this limitation may not be applicable personal escape (Iso-Ahola, 1982). to research on festivals with a quite substantial tourism Tourist motivations have also been explained based dimension, especially when this is combined with the on individual needs and destination attributes. The tourist pull factors of the event-hosting destinations. In push-pull framework’s main premise is that individuals these cases, both the festival and destination