Achieving Sustainable Tourism: Analysis of the Impact of Environmental Education on Tourists’ Responsible Behavior

Jinming Wang (), Jialu Dai (), Weijun Gao, Xingbo Yao, Bart Julien Dewancker, Jiawei Gao, Yuhan Wang and Jiayi Zeng
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Jinming Wang: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 808-0135, Japan
Jialu Dai: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 808-0135, Japan
Weijun Gao: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 808-0135, Japan
Xingbo Yao: School of Art and Design, Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an 710054, China
Bart Julien Dewancker: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 808-0135, Japan
Jiawei Gao: Faculty of Environmental Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 808-0135, Japan
Yuhan Wang: Department of Architectural Design, The University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 808-0135, Japan
Jiayi Zeng: Department of Environmental Life Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu 808-0135, Japan

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: Environmental challenges like resource depletion, climate change, and biodiversity loss require human action. Environmental education influences individuals’ understanding and motivates responsible behavior, making it a real solution to address current problems. In this study, we examine the impact of situational environmental education and daily environmental education on tourists’ responsible environmental behavior by incorporating them as covariates into an integrated tourist behavior model. In total, 2381 valid questionnaires were obtained. The results showed that (1) daily environmental education mainly affects tourists’ responsible environmental behavior through attitude (0.467) and habits (0.634); (2) tourists’ responsible environmental behavior is mainly affected by situational environmental education through habits (0.534), subjective norms (0.504), and intention (0.614); and (3) personal factors, including attitudes toward environmental behavior, subjective norms, and perceptual behavior control, positively influence tourists’ responsible environmental behavioral intention and their responsible environmental behavior. This research will help to improve sustainability indicators and frameworks and to promote the adoption of sustainable tourism practices.

Keywords: behavioral interventions; environmental education; sustainability indicators and frameworks; sustainable tourism; tourists’ responsible environmental behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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