Exploring the Role of Tourists: Responsible Behavior Triggered by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sarah Eichelberger, Manuela Heigl, Mike Peters and Birgit Pikkemaat
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Sarah Eichelberger: Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism, SME & Tourism, University of Innsbruck, Karl-Schönherr-Straße 3, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Manuela Heigl: Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism, SME & Tourism, University of Innsbruck, Karl-Schönherr-Straße 3, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Mike Peters: Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism, SME & Tourism, University of Innsbruck, Karl-Schönherr-Straße 3, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Birgit Pikkemaat: Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism, SME & Tourism, University of Innsbruck, Karl-Schönherr-Straße 3, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: Responsible tourism implies that all actors involved in tourism take responsibility for their actions. The concept of responsible tourism has been extensively addressed in tourism research and practice. However, studies analyzing the tourists’ contribution to responsible tourism have been neglected. Considering that tourists have the potential to contribute to economic, environmental socio-cultural, and institutional sustainability, this study focuses on the role tourists can play in responsible tourism. It also examines how responsible behavior among tourists has been triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, drawing on a planned behavior perspective by concentrating on the tourist contribution to sustainable tourism, responsible tourism behavior is investigated by means of 19 semi-structured interviews. The study found that tourists are not only sensitive to sustainability but that they also behave responsibly both on site and in their travel choices. At the same time, tourists pass the buck to suppliers and providers by requesting rules, information and opportunities for responsible tourism to be created. In this regard, implications for theory and practice can be derived by informing suppliers and providers about their requested responsibilities, as well as by adding a crisis perspective to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB).

Keywords: tourist responsibility; environmentally responsible behavior; tourist behavior; sustainable tourism; environmental awareness; theory of planned behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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