Barriers to Responsible Tourist Behaviour

Abstract

Responsible tourism is an increasingly observed phenomenon. This study offers new insights into the factors that prevent tourists from travelling responsibly. In particular, a sample of 837 Italian travelers was profiled based on the main impediments toward responsible tourism. Findings of the study suggested that impediments toward responsible tourism are related to five main categories: ‘lack of accessibility', ‘unwillingness', ‘lack of trustworthiness', ‘stress', and ‘price'. Cluster analysis revealed the existence of four tourist segments: the ‘existential pessimists', the ‘distrustful and accessibility seekers', the ‘mindless', and the ‘accessibility and time-saving seekers'. Furthermore, a series of distribution tests (χ2) showed that significant differences exist between the segments only based on the level of education, whereas no differences were found related to gender, age, marital status, employment status, monthly household income, or association membership. Finally, managerial implications of the study are discussed, along with recommendations for future research.