Working out who you are: Identity formation among fitness tourists

Abstract | Abstract

For several years, fitness has been a popular form of leisure activity due to people’s concern for their health and for displaying a healthy image. Recently, fitness activities have also started to permeate holidays. With point of departure in theories on consumption and identity and the increasing dedifferentiation of holiday activities, this study shows that fitness tourists use holidays mainly as an extension of their everyday lives. Certain differences between every-day and holiday consumption, however, also appear, as experimenting with new fitness activities as well as bonding with friends and getting acquainted with strangers appear to be defining aspects of fitness tourism. This underscores the usefulness of understanding identity formation in a fitness tourism context within a continuum of differentiation-dedifferentiation.