Understanding preferences for nature based and sustainable tourism. The role of personal values and general and specific environmental attitudes

This paper reports the results of a study which investigated the social psychological correlates of people’s preferences for sustainable and unsustainable tourism activities. Two-hundred-eighty-two participants from two Italian cities responded to a questionnaire which recorded their tourism preferences, their general pro-environmental attitudes and values, and their specific attitudes towards sustainable tourism. Results showed positive correlations among the constructs considered. Groups of participants differing in their tourism preferences were also identified and the paper discusses the way in which the social psychological variables considered here may be used to plan adequate strategies and management instruments able to address crucial issues of sustainability in tourism, including, for example, tourists’ ecological behaviors “on site” and their educational needs.