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The willingness to accept risk: value creation in unconventional tourism

Vaitkus, Simas LU and Striuchkova, Elizaveta (2026) SMMP40 20261
Department of Service Studies
Abstract
The contemporary tourism industry operates within a market-oriented and rationalised logic where risk and uncertainty are primarily perceived as sources of value destruction. While such an approach provides safety and convenience, it simultaneously reduces the spontaneity and unpredictability associated with the unknown. At the same time, the opposite end of the tourism spectrum — unconventional tourism — where risk is an inherent property of the experiential, stays overlooked. To address this gap, this thesis explores how experiential value is created, negotiated, and realised through the practices of hitchhiking and couchsurfing.
The thesis develops the MARS→V theoretical model, which is based on a distinction between institutionalised... (More)
The contemporary tourism industry operates within a market-oriented and rationalised logic where risk and uncertainty are primarily perceived as sources of value destruction. While such an approach provides safety and convenience, it simultaneously reduces the spontaneity and unpredictability associated with the unknown. At the same time, the opposite end of the tourism spectrum — unconventional tourism — where risk is an inherent property of the experiential, stays overlooked. To address this gap, this thesis explores how experiential value is created, negotiated, and realised through the practices of hitchhiking and couchsurfing.
The thesis develops the MARS→V theoretical model, which is based on a distinction between institutionalised and unconventional forms of tourism. Acknowledging that ‘pure’ forms of market-based and non-market travelling can be rarely found, this binary framework is used to highlight the differences between these two modes of travel to examine the roles of risk, trust, uncertainty, and agency beyond the logic of the market.
The empirical material of the thesis consists of fourteen semi-structured, in-depth interviews with individuals who engage in hitchhiking and couchsurfing. Recognising that interview accounts are shaped by narrative construction, a rigorous thematic analysis was conducted. To complement these ‘frontstage’ narratives and reduce potential bias, the researchers also undertook a ten-day autoethnographic journey, hitchhiking 1,024 kilometres across four countries. The comparison of theoretical insights, interview data, and lived experience provided methodological triangulation.
The findings demonstrate that, within unconventional tourism, risk and uncertainty are viewed as dynamic catalysts of value creation. In the absence of financial transactions, travellers rely on emotional work and communication as forms of social currency to secure mobility and accommodation. When managed through trust and intuition, risk and uncertainty become central to the generation of social bonds, hyperreality, and personal resilience outside commodified market relations. (Less)
Popular Abstract
The contemporary tourism industry operates within a market-oriented and rationalised logic where risk and uncertainty are primarily perceived as sources of value destruction. While such an approach provides safety and convenience, it simultaneously reduces the spontaneity and unpredictability associated with the unknown. At the same time, the opposite end of the tourism spectrum — unconventional tourism — where risk is an inherent property of the experiential, stays overlooked. To address this gap, this thesis explores how experiential value is created, negotiated, and realised through the practices of hitchhiking and couchsurfing.
The thesis develops the MARS→V theoretical model, which is based on a distinction between institutionalised... (More)
The contemporary tourism industry operates within a market-oriented and rationalised logic where risk and uncertainty are primarily perceived as sources of value destruction. While such an approach provides safety and convenience, it simultaneously reduces the spontaneity and unpredictability associated with the unknown. At the same time, the opposite end of the tourism spectrum — unconventional tourism — where risk is an inherent property of the experiential, stays overlooked. To address this gap, this thesis explores how experiential value is created, negotiated, and realised through the practices of hitchhiking and couchsurfing.
The thesis develops the MARS→V theoretical model, which is based on a distinction between institutionalised and unconventional forms of tourism. Acknowledging that ‘pure’ forms of market-based and non-market travelling can be rarely found, this binary framework is used to highlight the differences between these two modes of travel to examine the roles of risk, trust, uncertainty, and agency beyond the logic of the market.
The empirical material of the thesis consists of fourteen semi-structured, in-depth interviews with individuals who engage in hitchhiking and couchsurfing. Recognising that interview accounts are shaped by narrative construction, a rigorous thematic analysis was conducted. To complement these ‘frontstage’ narratives and reduce potential bias, the researchers also undertook a ten-day autoethnographic journey, hitchhiking 1,024 kilometres across four countries. The comparison of theoretical insights, interview data, and lived experience provided methodological triangulation.
The findings demonstrate that, within unconventional tourism, risk and uncertainty are viewed as dynamic catalysts of value creation. In the absence of financial transactions, travellers rely on emotional work and communication as forms of social currency to secure mobility and accommodation. When managed through trust and intuition, risk and uncertainty become central to the generation of social bonds, hyperreality, and personal resilience outside commodified market relations. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Vaitkus, Simas LU and Striuchkova, Elizaveta
supervisor
organization
course
SMMP40 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Hitchhiking, couchsurfing, risk, uncertainty, edgework
language
English
id
9233552
date added to LUP
2026-06-10 09:10:53
date last changed
2026-06-10 09:10:53
@misc{9233552,
  abstract     = {{The contemporary tourism industry operates within a market-oriented and rationalised logic where risk and uncertainty are primarily perceived as sources of value destruction. While such an approach provides safety and convenience, it simultaneously reduces the spontaneity and unpredictability associated with the unknown. At the same time, the opposite end of the tourism spectrum — unconventional tourism — where risk is an inherent property of the experiential, stays overlooked. To address this gap, this thesis explores how experiential value is created, negotiated, and realised through the practices of hitchhiking and couchsurfing.
The thesis develops the MARS→V theoretical model, which is based on a distinction between institutionalised and unconventional forms of tourism. Acknowledging that ‘pure’ forms of market-based and non-market travelling can be rarely found, this binary framework is used to highlight the differences between these two modes of travel to examine the roles of risk, trust, uncertainty, and agency beyond the logic of the market.
The empirical material of the thesis consists of fourteen semi-structured, in-depth interviews with individuals who engage in hitchhiking and couchsurfing. Recognising that interview accounts are shaped by narrative construction, a rigorous thematic analysis was conducted. To complement these ‘frontstage’ narratives and reduce potential bias, the researchers also undertook a ten-day autoethnographic journey, hitchhiking 1,024 kilometres across four countries. The comparison of theoretical insights, interview data, and lived experience provided methodological triangulation.
The findings demonstrate that, within unconventional tourism, risk and uncertainty are viewed as dynamic catalysts of value creation. In the absence of financial transactions, travellers rely on emotional work and communication as forms of social currency to secure mobility and accommodation. When managed through trust and intuition, risk and uncertainty become central to the generation of social bonds, hyperreality, and personal resilience outside commodified market relations.}},
  author       = {{Vaitkus, Simas and Striuchkova, Elizaveta}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The willingness to accept risk: value creation in unconventional tourism}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}