Exploring Yoga Tourists' Profile, Motivations and Behaviour

Yoga tourism is a niche within the wellness tourism market and a form of special interest tourism that has attracted global interest in recent years as it is considered that it can contribute to the sustainability of destinations. This paper focuses on the island of Lesvos in Greece, a rising yoga destination, and seeks to investigate and identify yoga tourists’ profile, motivations and travel behavior, providing a better understanding of this segment of the wellness market. Survey was conducted via a structured questionnaire in a sample of 73 yoga tourists. The findings of the study revealed that yoga tourists have quality characteristics (highly educated, high income, long stay at the destination) that make them desirable tourists for any destination. Moreover, the three most important criteria when choosing a yoga destination are: (1) the yoga instructor, (2) the yoga programme, and (3) the safety in the destination. In addition, the main motivations for yoga practitioners to engage in yoga tourism are: (1) to acquire new knowledge, (2) to enhance mental well-being, and (3) to seek an authentic yoga experience. Findings and discussion of this study are useful to Destination Management Organizations (DMOs), tourism professionals and academic researchers interested in wellness and yoga tourism.