Motivation of equestrian tourists to travel to a horse-based event

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Tourism, grade: 2,6, Heidelberg International Business Academy, language: English, abstract: Despite the fact that horse-based tourism is popular as a high-impact recreational activity, this research field has received little attention. Although motivation theories have been related to jobs and tourism in general, little is known about the target groups of equestrian tourists. The purpose of this study is to investigate, how the Landsmót affect the motivation of the German Icelandic Horse community regarding their decision to travel to Iceland. Special focus was put on their individual motivation to visit the Landsmót and the resulting impact on their final travel decision.To identify correlations between tourist motivation and destination choice, the study is based on a cross-sectional explanatory research purpose, using a mixed-model research method which consists of a survey and an archival research.Responses from 222 German Icelandic Horse community members were used in order to answer the research questions. The results illustrate, regardless of gender, that equestrian tourists of the German Icelandic Horse community were mostly motivated by entertainment and aesthetic needs, rather than escape or self-esteem. However, comparisons based on the colonial cup race study by Daniels and Norman (2005) show significant differences in the motivation need of group affiliation. No direct correlation exists between the travel motivation of the Icelandic Horse community of Germany and the Landsmót. Despite its significant publicity among the German Icelandic Horse community, it is not part of the process of choosing this destination because of this special horse-based event. According to that the Landsmót it is not the determining factor for choosing Iceland as a travel destination. Nevertheless, this study provides a background and status quo for further specific investigations, regarding the travel behaviour of Icelandic Horse Community of Germany.