Recently, adventure travel has become a high-growth segment of tourism. In Thailand, Chiang Mai is argued as the gateway to some of Thailand’s best inland adventures destination. Therefore, this study is conducted in adventure tourism field in Chiang Mai, since its unique destination attributes has potential to develop as the central of adventure tourism, and to understand tourists’ behaviour as well as to fulfil the gap of the research area. This study employed the Push and Pull motivation theory to identify the motivation factors and also aim to investigate on tourism experiences of tourists who participate in adventure activities in Chiang Mai. A quantitative research approach was used and a total of 400 participants participated and completed questionnaire surveys in this study. Among the push motivation factors, self-esteem development, socialize, fulfillment in the wish to do activities, novelty seeking, and gain excitement and relaxation, the need of fulfillment and novelty seeking are the most important motives which trigger the need to travel. The pull attributes demonstrate that Chiang Mai has a variety of adventure activities and affordable offerings which could potentially extend visitors’ stay and expenditures and promote repeat visits. Besides, Chiang Mai is also seen as a safe destination with friendly image and hospitable local people. Regarding to their tourism experiences, participants mostly had experiences that related to novelty and they tended to experience new things during the trip. Hedonism and refreshment experience was also the second common experience that participants gained from participate in adventure activities in Chiang Mai. Participants tended to enjoy and have a thrill during participating in adventure activities and the natural environment at the sites they visited. The result also indicated that the participants were likely to have a loyalty intention since they were willing to recommend adventure activities in Chiang Mai to others.

Keywords: Adventure tourism, Adventure tourist, Push and Pull Motivation, Tourism Experiences Components, Adventure tourism in Chiang Mai