Environmentally sustainable tourist behaviour in the function of sustainable development

Transcription

1 Environmentally sustainable tourist behaviour in the function of sustainable development EXPRES 2017 ISBN M. JELAČA STRUGAR a, A. BOLJEVIĆ b, S. BOLJEVIĆ c Department of Management, Faculty of Economics in Subotica, University of Novi Sad, Subotica, Segedinski put 9-11, Srbija a m.strugar.jelaca@ef.uns.ac.rs b aboljevic@ef.uns.ac.rs c Rapid tourism growth, along with irrational use of natural resources, leads to negative effects and multiple-growing crisis in the field of applying the principles of sustainable development and especially environmental preservation of tourist destinations. Therefore, within this paper s framework is the focus on future propagation of tourists environmentally responsible behavior in order to minimize the destruction of the environment. The initiative for conducting research in this area stems from the present gap between theoretical activities to be implemented in order to successfully realize this way of tourist behavior and the actual actions being carried out, that are often completely absent or present just on a small scale. Previous theoretical base on this subject had put its emphasis on planning phase of the concept of sustainable tourism development with some slight looking back at its implementation. It should be noted that the topic was dealt with from a macro point of view more than from a point of view of the role of individual participants, where tourists have the most important role as agents of environmental impacts on the tourist destination and are also potential agents of change in the light of benefits of ecologically responsible behavior. As a result of the paper, the proposal of activities to be implemented during all phases of tourists travel organization is pointed out, starting from the analysis and selection of the tourist product to implementation of activities during realization of the selected travel arrangement. Keywords: sustainable development concept, sustainable tourism development, environmentally sustainable behavior 1. Introduction Given that tourism is described as the largest human migration in history, which annually represents 10% of the world's population [1, p. 499], one of the most important issues being raised is the impact of such a large movement of people on the cultural and historical heritage of a tourist destination and the possibility of its long-term preservation. Therefore, it is necessary to observe tourist destination through the prism of sustainable development, in order to analyze strong effects of tourists on all elements of sustainability, namely economic, social and environmental, which can lead to preservation vs erosion of a tourist destination. Emphasis is placed on the ecological side, because previous researches indicate and prove evident negative impact of tourism trends in the ecological sphere [2, 3, 4]. The need for observing this problem with a high degree of seriousness stems from the fact that travel becomes more and more accessible and therefore more common and can be seen as a social norm of modern life. Studies indicate exponential growth in the number of tourists in the future and therefore greater negative environmental effects caused by irrational use of natural resources, environmental pollution and endangering natural heritage. Thus, popular tourist destinations are faced with water shortage, high emissions of carbon dioxide, excessive amounts of garbage, dirty coast and numerous other problems [5]. Research suggests that particular destinations around the tourism industry need to find a sustainable way of doing business in order to achieve stable long-term development of the tourism sector [8]. Mediterranean are already close to the ecological risks that threaten natural environment and population, and finally the entire society [6]. Negative effects of mass tourism developments on environment can be classified as follows [7]: Mechanical effects, such as destruction of vegetation, soil erosion, etc.; Impacts caused by intensive use of surfaces and changing the landscapes; Impacts due to the increase of harmful substances in the air, water and soil due to higher combustion of fuel, vapor emissions and waste; Hindering effects, such as increased noise. In the long run, uncontrolled tourism growth and neither taking into consideration this problem nor resolving it will lead to future decline in tourism demand and hence tourism revenues, which currently record significant foreign exchange effects. Therefore, timely planning tourism s future development and the need for increased environmental awareness of tourists will minimize or completely eliminate potential damage that destroys the environment of tourist destinations crucial for its sustainable development. The aim of this paper is to interpret ecologically responsible tourist behavior and identify instructions for its improvement. However, this is just one link on the path of solving the diagnosed problem, since it is necessary to involve all participants of the tourism industry. All actors in 83

2 2. The concept of sustainable tourism development Application of the principles of sustainability has been lately, and in most cases by a large number of scholars, the topic in the field of tourism that was dealt the most with. However, despite the aforementioned statement there is no generally accepted unique definition of the concept of sustainable tourism development. According to Milenković [9], sustainable development and sustainable tourism can be seen through the balance of production and consumption of environmental elements in all intervals. Thus, the principle of sustainable development, if applied in a controlled tourist activity, involves the development of from economic, social and environmental angle followed by meeting the needs of present tourists along with the preservation and improvement of tourist potential for the future generations of tourists. In order to explain the difference between unsustainable tourism development as a source of accumulated environmental problems of most tourist destinations and the concept of sustainable tourism development, the table 1. lists the main characteristics. Crucial tourism potential that creates tourist offer is nature of tourism activities, which should be protected and intact in order to offer a unique experience and it was a constant generator of income. Since the nature of tourist destinations is characterized by non-renewable natural resources, it is necessary to simultaneously focus on both economic and environmental objectives and their mutual alignment so that each additional night would result in less energy consumption and lower environmental pollution [10]. Tourism potential in the form of natural landscapes of a tourist destination is under direct influence of the largest mass movements of tourists and therefore the most important area for ecological principles. However, current practice has put more emphasis on the application of this principle on a macro level - by the state, in creating tourism development policy; while at the micro level it was applied only by tourist organizations which have drawn up plans for the development of sustainable tourism and the principles on which the same should be based [11] without taking into account tourists as an important category in the process. To date, this issue is being considered theoretically, but in practice the positive effects are often absent. Emphasis is placed on planning how to implement sustainable development of tourism activities, but the proposed actions have still not been transformed into practical realization. Thus, one can say that in most cases actual implementation of previously formulated plans for sustainable tourism development is missing. Therefore, the following practice of all participants in the tourism industry should be minimizing the gap between the proposed theoretical and practical criteria of conduct. Also, little accent has been placed on environmentally responsible tourist behavior, as they are the main stakeholders in tourism movement that produce the actual environmental impact on tourist destinations. There are indications that travel behavior can be improved from the perspective of ecological principles in the use of tourism resources, management of waste which remains at the tourist destination after mass tourist visits and optimizing transport [12, 13]. However, when analyzing this topic, tourists as an interest category are less interested in application of environmentally responsible behavior because it limits them to a smaller number of tourist destinations to visit as well as the use of a smaller range of tourist services during the journey than in case of other participants, such as public authorities and tourism organizations. The above statement is confirmed also by the author Martens and Spaargaren, [14], indicating that tourists response to the required application of environmentally sustainable behavior is still small and does not lead to matching their goals with the goals of tourism for further development. In order to ensure general acceptance of the concept of sustainable tourism development one should apply a holistic approach, which advocates inclusion of direct and indirect participants in the tourism sector at micro and macro level. Previously mentioned speaks in favor of developing initiatives to create partnerships in this area at both national and global levels in order to achieve positive results and multiply their influence as soon as possible. Table 1. Characteristics of sustainable and unsustainable tourist development [15] Characteristics Unsustainable tourist development Sustainable tourist development Emphasizes three key elements of Basic elements Focuses on economic factors of tourism tourism development, such as trends economic, social and ecologic development Speed of development Aggressive and rapid development, which often leads to uncontrolled growth Result time determinants Short-term results Long term results Result type Spatial observation Tourism product Focuses exclusively on quantitative results The emphasis is on the local access to tourism Focus on the price of the tourism product Cautious, slower development based on spatial planning and controlled growth Focus is given to qualitative results, based on the principle of balancing qualitative and quantitative observation Global impact of tourism is gaining in significance Focus on the quality of the tourism product based on the principle of the 84

3 Tourists profile Mass tourists who have no sense of sustainable development and the need to preserve natural sites for future generations true value for money Tourists who are educated and aware of the importance of tourism s sustainable development 3. Environmental dimension of tourist behaviour Environmentally responsible behavior of tourists is considered that "behavior that does not adversely affect the environment or even leads to positive effects globally and locally viewed through tourist destination" [16, p. 31]. In order to promote previously explained behavior, a significant step is recognized in adequate education of tourists and establishment of ethical and eco-system values that determine their behavior. Norms of his behavior, in terms of whether or not to behave environmentally responsible, derive from the system of values adopted by the tourists [17]. Their ecological awareness derives from the existing problems caused by current tourist activities as well as their sense of responsibility that they should affect the reduction of this problem [16]. Tourists who have developed environmental awareness and responsibility aimed at ecologically acceptable behavior belong to the group of so-called "green" or eco-tourists. However, in order to be categorized as a "green" or eco-tourist, it is not enough just to have a correct belief and sense of responsibility - it is a precondition - but in addition, to practically transform ecologically desired norms of behavior into actual behavior. In environmentally responsible behavior of tourists we categorize those tourists who have intentions to act in this way and who conduct such actions during vacation, affecting the environment in a minimized way or even have a positive impact on the environment of the tourist destination. The following table summarizes definitions of various authors who have dealt with the environmental dimension of tourists behavior. In order to implement the analysis of the existence of the above mentioned categories of tourists in practice, empirical research was conducted by the authors Juvan and Dolnicar [16]. The results indicate that 31% of respondents possessed only good intention to behave environmentally responsible, but such behavior was absent; also the same percentage of respondents (31%) stated that they possess pro-environmental values and standards, but still do not behave environmentally responsibly as tourists. Thus, 62% of tourists does not behave environmentally responsibly in practice. The remaining 38% emphasizes application of such behavior in practice, so that 22% of them did not have intention to behave environmentally responsibly, but they still acted this way, while only 15% of tourists identified intention and real environmental responsibility during the trip. It is pointed out that tourists who are environmentally responsible, as shown in paying the registration fee for carbon dioxide, choosing transport which is more environmentally friendly, they were housed in environmentally responsible hotels and used services of providers that operated by the principle of ecological sustainability [16, p. 36]. A small percentage of tourists who identified the desired environmental responsibility can be attributed to mass tourists lower awareness of the importance of it, as well as the result of application of such behavior that leads to narrowing tourist choice onto using only those services that are not inconsistent with ecological principles. On the other hand, research conducted by the author Martin (2001), which deals with the tourists from Great Britain only, showed that majority of about 90% of tourists said it was very important to behave in an environmentally responsible while traveling. However, contrary to these empirical results, authors Goodwin and Francis [18] point out that there is a difference in intent of British tourists and their actual behavior during their visit to a tourist destination, noting that only 32% of tourists from the UK choose package tours which are especially formed for the purpose of minimizing harmful effects of tourism on the environment destination. Number Author Definition Poon (1993) Dolnicar (2004) Swarbrooke & Horner (1999) Table 2. Environmentally responsible tourist [16, p ] A group of new tourists includes those tourists that take into account natural environment and tend to its preservation in a tourist destination. There are three groups of "green tourists": 1) completely "green" tourists are those who do not go on tourist trips because they do not want to destroy the environment of the tourist destination in any way; 2) "Green tourist" is a tourist who does not accept and does not visit hotels that do not point to the importance of preserving the environment from the perspective of tourists; 3) Partially "green tourist" considers environmental issues of tourism activities and strives to minimize negative effects. 3. Dinan & Sargeant (2000) Sustainable tourist is understood to be the one who appreciates the possibilities of visits to certain tourist destinations with respect to 85

4 cultural, social and environmental norms and the uniqueness of a destination. 4. Dolnicar & Matus (2008) 5. Stanford (2008, str. 270) Bergin-Seers & Mair (2009, str. 117) Mehmetoglu (2010) Wehrli and others (2011) Perkins & Brown (2012) "Green tourists" behave environmentally responsible while traveling and during implementation of all activities that are associated with tourism context. Responsible tourists should have the following dimensions: respect, awareness; involvement; excellence and reciprocity. "Green tourist" is interested in behaving environmentally responsibly towards the environment while on vacation. Also, one is ready to pay a higher price in order to be the user of goods and services obtained by environmentally responsible tourist agency. A tourist who advocates the principle of sustainable development and is concerned with the issues of sustainability and economic benefits for the local population of the tourist destination. A tourist who is aware of the importance of tourist destinations sustainable development and when booking a holiday takes into account sustainability factor. The real eco-tourist travels guided by the values of the biosphere, on one s way supports environmental responsibility and avoids the use of resources just for entertainment, while taking into account the impact of that usege on the environment. 4. Proposal for action in implementation of environmentally responsible tourist behavior The impact of tourist behavior on social, economic and ecological system is essential for tourist destination and follows all the stages of tourist travel - from its planning, through selection and realization of the selected packages, as shown in the Figure 1. While planning a tourist travel, tourists choose individual elements of the tourist package tour, such as travel itinerary, or the path to arrive to the selected travel destinations and accommodation capacities. Decisions about the elements mentioned should be based on principles of environmentally responsible behavior, so that the tourists choose: such a product of a tourist agency or a package deal, consisting of a set of tourist services that are in line with the concept of sustainable development of tourism in a chosen tourist destination. This criterion may reduce available tourist offer and narrow the choice. Since the demand for these packages is still not large and massive, they cannot be considered the usual tourist outfit, so agencies often do not have them in mind when forming advertised arrangements, but only order and create those individually, if there are interested tourists. The above situation leads to differentiation and individualization of tourist offer, which carries a higher price; transport by railways, since it has the smallest contribution to the greenhouse effect compared to road and air transport [19], which are, when observing the European Union, the most common choices of tourists. Selection of rail transport reduces the possibility of going to destinations that are not connected by rails, as well as tourist destinations that are spatially very far from the potential tourists place of residence; accommodation in such facilities which have lower consumption of water and energy, the so-called eco-efficient accommodation facilities. The attractiveness to these properties is present with tourists from Denmark, who are even willing to allocate more funds for such accommodation. Most Italian tourists also prefer this type of accommodation, while tourists from Germany are minority here [1, p. 500]. Observing from the perspective of mass tourists who focus on the cost of the service provided, it is unlikely that they will choose such accommodation facilities, which are often offered at a higher price. Also, tourists and their stay at the selected tourist destination must be accompanied by preservation of the welfare of local population and the existing ecosystem, from the point of activity to be performed [1]: natural area should not be over-used, in order to avoid the crowds (skiing in the Alps) activities targeted towards party, that lead to consumption of high amount of energy, such as diving, should be carried out to a lesser extent; use of alcohol should be limited in order not to upset local population and infringe upon their well-being; the differences in culture, social values and religion should not be highlighted, in order to reduce tensions between the tourists and residents. 86

5 Fig. 1. The impact of the choice of tourism product on environment [1, p. 501] 5. Final consideration Placing emphasis on the environmental dimension of tourist trips will allow better control of negative impacts of aggressive growth of mass tourism trends which they have on the environment. Further growth in the tourism activities should be followed by the course of transformation of the traditional economic Trinity, such as profit, power and prestige into elements of sustainable economic Trinity - efficiency, economy and ecology. In order to implement the aforementioned transformation into practice and lead to tangible results, it is necessary to include not only participants of the tourism supply, but also those on the side of tourist demand, it est tourists. Today there is a mismatch between the preferences of modern tourists and their motivation for selecting certain tourism products and services, as well as expectations from them on one hand and environmental principles on the other. Therefore, it is necessary to develop awareness on tourists side of the need for ecologically responsible behavior during tourist visits. However, in addition, it is necessary and direct tourists to form a group of eco-tourists, or so-called green tourists who apply such tourist behavior. Parallel support and implementation of such behavior will lead to positive long-term effects, both in terms of natural resources of tourist destinations and their residents, through minimizing tensions and other social problems. With regard to environmental and social problems accumulated at the most famous and most visited tourist destinations, it is necessary to implement the proposed course of action in a short period of time, which is possible only through radical changes on the demand and supply side. It is necessary to correct common tourist behavior through application of more rigorous criteria and initiatives in favor of ecology preservation (such as introduction of taxes, fees, etc.), as well as the expansion of the tourist offer in terms of a large number of variants of tourist services, along with satisfying principles of economy. In this way, obligation for environmentally responsible behavior will be created for all the tourists, who will be able to find pro-ecological tourist services in accordance with their preferences, expectations and purchase power. References [1] Budeanu A. (2007), Sustainable tourist behaviour a discussion of opportunities for change. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 31, [2] Gössling S. (2002), Global environmental consequences of tourism. Global Environmental Change, 12(4), [3] UNWTO & UNEP (2008): Climate change and tourism: Responding to global challenges. last accessed: Decembre 20, [4] World Wide Fund For Nature (2012). Living Planet Report. Switzerland, WWF. [5] European Commission (2004), Feasibility and Preparatory Study Regarding Multi-stakeholder European Targeted Action Sustainable Tourism and Transport. European Commission, DG Enterprise, Hague. [6] Schmidt H.W. (2002), How Europeans go on holiday, Eurostat. [7] Hahn P. (1989), Analyse des Konflikts umwelt, Tu Berlin, Berlin. [8] Štetić S. (2009), Značaj I uloga turoperatora za razvoj održivog turizma, Zbornik radova naučnog skupa: Savremene tendencije u turizmu, hotelijerstvu i gastronomiji, Novi Sad: Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, PMF. [9] Milenković S. (2009), Monografija: Turizam i ekonomija, Kragujevac: Univerzitet u Kragujevcu, Ekonomski fakultet. [10] Daly E. H. (1999), Beyond growth: the economics of sustainable development, Beacon Press. [11] Sharpley R. (2000), Tourism and Sustainable Development: Exploring the Theoretical Divide. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 8(1), [12] Upham P. (2001), A comparison of sustainability theory 87

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