Voyage Through Numinous Space: Applying the
Specialization Concept to New Age Tourism

Wellness tourism involves satisfying the body, mind and spirit. Through this holistic approach it overlaps with a sector intimately concerned with matters spiritual – New Age tourism. This paper examines New Age Tourism and New Age Tourists in New Zealand, through discussion of a specialization index. Data on tourists were gathered via questionnaires. A methodology permitting the development of a specialization index was then employed. This method has predominantly been used in the tourism arena to study outdoor recreation activities such as canoeing, fishing or sailing. Here, specialization based on tourists’ skills, knowledge and involvement was measured, resulting in respondents being categorized as low, medium or highly specialized individuals with respect to three aspects of New Age Tourism — spirituality, motivation, and consumer needs. People at different levels of specialization travel to sites for different reasons; their specific interests, their knowledge, involvement and investment in wellness/New Age helps shape their consumer needs. Noteworthy profile characteristics emerged, showing differences in levels of preference for organic food, alternative healing treatments, and religious beliefs. The survey also showed that people who participate in the New Age phenomenon should not be homogenized into one group as some respondents saw themselves as New Agers but also as Christians. Thus generalizations such as ‘New Agers believe they are part of one God’ are false. Different levels of specialization means different market segments exist. Along a New Age continuum, different people will look for different tourism products and attractions. The specialization index, therefore, provides managers with an understanding of participants’ differences and preferences at each level; the index can serve as a useful tool for targeting the needs of each group. The results of this study have managerial implications, which can be applied in Wellness/New Age tourism management. This paper improves the understanding of wellness tourism and wellness tourists by understanding New Age tourism in general and New Age tourists in particular.

Keywords: New Age, New Age tourism, New Age tourist, specialization index, spirituality, wellness tourism, quantitative methods.