IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/toueco/v27y2021i7p1375-1397.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are mass tourists sensitive to sustainability?

Author

Listed:
  • Cristina Bernini

    (University of Bologna, Italy)

  • Silvia Emili

    (University of Bologna, Italy)

  • Laura Vici

    (University of Bologna, Italy)

Abstract

Transition management to tourism sustainability is fundamental for mature and mass tourism destinations. While the literature has largely focused on residents’ evaluations of tourism sustainability, little attention has been devoted to investigate tourists’ perceptions and relevance of environmental practices at the destination. This study fills this gap by analyzing tourists’ evaluations of environmental sustainability experienced during their holiday at a mass and mature tourism destination, by focusing on both tourism-based and complementary products. Mapping and cluster analysis are carried out on a sample of tourists who have chosen an Italian mass and mature tourism destination for their holidays. Findings show that sustainability is a less relevant factor and provides less satisfaction with respect to other aspects. Tourist expectations on environmental sustainability are not met; different perceptions and priorities on environmental sustainability are detected in the different tourist clusters. Managerial and policy strategies can be derived from these results.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristina Bernini & Silvia Emili & Laura Vici, 2021. "Are mass tourists sensitive to sustainability?," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(7), pages 1375-1397, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:27:y:2021:i:7:p:1375-1397
    DOI: 10.1177/1354816620923212
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1354816620923212
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1354816620923212?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Capacci, Sara & Scorcu, Antonello E. & Vici, Laura, 2015. "Seaside tourism and eco-labels: The economic impact of Blue Flags," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 88-96.
    2. Fernando J. Garrigos-Simon & Yeamduan Narangajavana-Kaosiri & Ismael Lengua-Lengua, 2018. "Tourism and Sustainability: A Bibliometric and Visualization Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-23, June.
    3. Waligo, V. & Clarke, J. & Hawkins, R., 2015. "Embedding stakeholders in sustainable tourism strategies," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 90-93.
    4. Michelle Mycoo, 2014. "Sustainable tourism, climate change and sea level rise adaptation policies in Barbados," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 0(1), pages 47-57, February.
    5. Michelle Mycoo, 2014. "Sustainable tourism, climate change and sea level rise adaptation policies in Barbados," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 38(1), pages 47-57, February.
    6. Andrea Collins & Andrew Flynn, 2008. "Measuring the Environmental Sustainability of a Major Sporting Event: A Case Study of the FA Cup Final," Tourism Economics, , vol. 14(4), pages 751-768, December.
    7. Crouch, Geoffrey I. & Ritchie, J. R. Brent, 1999. "Tourism, Competitiveness, and Societal Prosperity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 137-152, March.
    8. Figini, Paolo & Vici, Laura, 2012. "Off-season tourists and the cultural offer of a mass-tourism destination: The case of Rimini," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 825-839.
    9. Pike, Steven & Page, Stephen J., 2014. "Destination Marketing Organizations and destination marketing: A narrative analysis of the literature," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 202-227.
    10. Torres-Delgado, Anna & Palomeque, Francesc López, 2014. "Measuring sustainable tourism at the municipal level," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 122-137.
    11. Tom Kuhlman & John Farrington, 2010. "What is Sustainability?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(11), pages 1-13, November.
    12. Markard, Jochen & Raven, Rob & Truffer, Bernhard, 2012. "Sustainability transitions: An emerging field of research and its prospects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 955-967.
    13. Mellon, Vicky & Bramwell, Bill, 2018. "The temporal evolution of tourism institutions," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 42-52.
    14. Chanin Yoopetch & Suthep Nimsai, 2019. "Science Mapping the Knowledge Base on Sustainable Tourism Development, 1990–2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-17, July.
    15. Manuel Rodríguez Díaz & Tomás F. Espino Rodríguez, 2016. "Determining the Sustainability Factors and Performance of a Tourism Destination from the Stakeholders’ Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-17, September.
    16. Long-Fei Chen, 2013. "Research Note: A Sustainable Hypothesis for Tourist Hotels: Evidence from International Hotel Chains," Tourism Economics, , vol. 19(6), pages 1449-1460, December.
    17. Amaro, Suzanne & Duarte, Paulo & Henriques, Carla, 2016. "Travelers’ use of social media: A clustering approach," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-15.
    18. Iniesta-Bonillo, M. Angeles & Sánchez-Fernández, Raquel & Jiménez-Castillo, David, 2016. "Sustainability, value, and satisfaction: Model testing and cross-validation in tourist destinations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 5002-5007.
    19. Angels Niñerola & Maria-Victòria Sánchez-Rebull & Ana-Beatriz Hernández-Lara, 2019. "Tourism Research on Sustainability: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, March.
    20. Nuria Rodríguez-López & M. Isabel Diéguez-Castrillón & Ana Gueimonde-Canto, 2019. "Sustainability and Tourism Competitiveness in Protected Areas: State of Art and Future Lines of Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-32, November.
    21. Weaver, David B., 2012. "Organic, incremental and induced paths to sustainable mass tourism convergence," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 1030-1037.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elena Prodi & Vincenzo Fasone & Marco R Di Tommaso, 2024. "Does industry resilience matter for postshock industrial policy? A focus on tourism-related industries," Tourism Economics, , vol. 30(2), pages 389-416, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pahrudin Pahrudin & Li-Wei Liu & Shao-Yu Li, 2022. "What Is the Role of Tourism Management and Marketing toward Sustainable Tourism? A Bibliometric Analysis Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Nuria Rodríguez-López & M. Isabel Diéguez-Castrillón & Ana Gueimonde-Canto, 2019. "Sustainability and Tourism Competitiveness in Protected Areas: State of Art and Future Lines of Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-32, November.
    3. Elizabeth C. Teixeira & Victor E. L. Silva & Nidia N. Fabré & Vandick S. Batista, 2020. "Marine shrimp fisheries research—a mismatch on spatial and thematic needs," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(1), pages 591-606, January.
    4. Beatriz Palacios-Florencio & Luna Santos-Roldán & Juan Manuel Berbel-Pineda & Ana María Castillo-Canalejo, 2021. "Sustainable Tourism as a Driving force of the Tourism Industry in a Post-Covid-19 Scenario," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 991-1011, December.
    5. Mihai F. Băcilă & Raluca Ciornea & Luiza M. Souca & Alexandra M. Drule, 2022. "Content Analysis on Sustainability Dimensions in DMOs’ Social Media Videos Advertising the World’s Most Visited Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-25, September.
    6. Stacy‐ann Robinson, 2020. "Climate change adaptation in SIDS: A systematic review of the literature pre and post the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(4), July.
    7. Angels Niñerola & Maria-Victòria Sánchez-Rebull & Ana-Beatriz Hernández-Lara, 2019. "Tourism Research on Sustainability: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, March.
    8. Villamediana, Jenely & Küster, Inés & Vila, Natalia, 2019. "Destination engagement on Facebook: Time and seasonality," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Adeline Cristina Cozma & Monica-Maria Coros, 2018. "The Locals’ Opinions And The Development Of Sustainable Tourism In Rodna Commune," JOURNAL STUDIA UNIVERSITATIS BABES-BOLYAI NEGOTIA, Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Business.
    10. William Quezado de F. Cavalcante & Arnaldo Coelho & Cristela Maia Bairrada, 2021. "Sustainability and Tourism Marketing: A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications between 1997 and 2020 Using VOSviewer Software," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-21, April.
    11. Sara Silva & Luís Filipe Silva & António Vieira, 2023. "Protected Areas and Nature-Based Tourism: A 30-Year Bibliometric Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-25, July.
    12. Ivan Paunović & Verka Jovanović, 2017. "Implementation of Sustainable Tourism in the German Alps: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-15, February.
    13. Geng, Yuqing & Zhang, Xiaorui & Gao, Juan & Yan, Yan & Chen, Lingyan, 2024. "Bibliometric analysis of sustainable tourism using CiteSpace," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    14. Aurelian Sofica & Smaranda Cosma, 2018. "Extended Marketing Mix (7ps) And Hrm Recruiting. How To Sell A Job," JOURNAL STUDIA UNIVERSITATIS BABES-BOLYAI NEGOTIA, Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Business.
    15. Cristina Bernini & Augusto Cerqua, 2020. "Are eco‐labels good for the local economy?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(3), pages 645-661, June.
    16. Getz, Donald & Page, Stephen J., 2016. "Progress and prospects for event tourism research," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 593-631.
    17. Weisheng Chiu & Thomas Chun Man Fan & Sang-Back Nam & Ping-Hung Sun, 2021. "Knowledge Mapping and Sustainable Development of eSports Research: A Bibliometric and Visualized Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-17, September.
    18. Laura Grassini & Alessandro Magrini & Enrico Conti, 2023. "Formative-reflective scheme for the assessment of tourism destination competitiveness: an analysis of Italian municipalities," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 3523-3548, August.
    19. Ilaria Foroni & Patrizia Modica & Mariangela Zenga, 2019. "Residents’ Satisfaction with Tourism and the European Tourism Indicator System in South Sardinia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-18, April.
    20. Miguel Ángel Moliner-Tena & Diego Monferrer-Tirado & Juan Bautista Ferreres-Bonfill & Rosa M. Rodríguez-Artola, 2021. "Destination Sustainability and Memorable Tourism Experiences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-12, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:27:y:2021:i:7:p:1375-1397. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.