Promoting Green Behavioral Intentions of the Tourists for the Growth of Sustainable Tourism Development in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh

The Sundarbans, the single largest mangrove forest of the world is one of the prime tourism destinations of Bangladesh. Due to lack of awareness and proper planning, tourism is causing severe threat to the ecosystem of the Sundarbans. It is therefore utmost important to ensure that the natural environment of the Sundarbans doesn't deteriorate further. Promoting green tourism may be a viable way to achieve it. This study was designed to identify the ways to promote green (environment-friendly) behavior among the stakeholders, especially the tourists – traveling into the Sundarbans. A convenience sampling technique was used in the study that included both domestic and foreign tourists. A structured questionnaire was developed that incorporated 30 Likert-scale questions based on four variables, namely 'awareness program', 'incentive programs', 'interpretation' and 'government interventions'. The four variables and their corresponding items were developed in the light of extant literature and adopted based on the socio-cultural atmosphere of Bangladesh. The survey was conducted from October 2019 to February 2020 and 320 valid responses were obtained. Multiple regression analysis was employed to test the proposed research model. The result shows that out of four independent variables, government intervention and incentive programs are significantly influential factors in achieving the green behavior of the tourists. The study findings are aligned with the previous studies. The findings will provide guidelines to the tourism service providers, destination hosts, local communities, government bodies and policy makers in achieving green behavior of the tourists that in turn will yield sustainable tourism in the Sundarbans.