Individuals’ intentions to engage in last chance tourism: applying the value-belief-norm model

Abstract

For tourism to be entirely sustainable, one cannot travel. This is impossible. This paradox is particularly evident within last chance tourism (LCT), where tourists, seeking experiences with vanishing animals and land/seascapes, can accelerate the decline of those very attractions. Though recent studies hint that those with the highest intentions to visit LCT destinations are also some of the most concerned with climate change, no study has assessed the psychological drivers that may help explain why individuals are increasingly engaging in this paradox. Drawing on the VBN model, this research examines a theoretical framework to assess the psychological drivers behind individuals’ intention to engage in environmentally responsible behavior while traveling and, ultimately, their desire to participate in LCT. Results reveal that a set of environmentally referent cognitions (i.e., values, environmental worldview, awareness of consequences, and ascription of responsibility) lead to personal norms activation, which then influence tourists’ intent to behave in pro-sustainable ways and, ultimately, individuals’ intentions to engage in LCT. Findings are important as they further confirm the benefits of using VBN theory within an LCT context. For practitioners, this research strengthens the appeal of sustainable tourism operations to secure business and receive positive word-of-mouth from potential LCT tourists.

Keywords:

• VBN model
• environmental worldview
• ascription of responsibility
• awareness of consequences
• personal norms
• eco-friendly travel behavior

Acknowledgements

The researchers acknowledge that this study was not funded by any organization.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tara J. Denley

Tara J. Denley, M.S., is a Doctoral Student in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia, USA. Most recently, Tara completed her M.S. in Tourism Management at the University of Georgia. Her research interests concern Last Chance Tourism, residents' perceptions of social-cultural impacts of tourism within local communities, and educational travel.

Kyle Maurice Woosnam

Kyle Maurice Woosnam, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia, USA. Kyle’s research interests concern social-cultural and economic impacts of tourism, resident-tourist interactions within tourist destinations, and sustainable tourism development and planning. Over the course of the last 15 years, he has undertaken numerous research projects focusing on community-level tourism impacts, in more than 25 countries.

Manuel Alector Ribeiro

Manuel Alector Ribeiro, Ph.D., is a Lecturer in Tourism Management at the University of Surrey, UK. His research focuses on applied quantitative methods and modelling of community support for sustainable tourism development, consumer behaviour, gender, and entrepreneurship in tourism and related services. His work is published in leading international journals in the field of tourism and he is currently the editor of the Methodology section of The Service Industries Journal.

B. Bynum Boley

B. Bynum Boley, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor within the University of Georgia's Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management program. Dr. Boley’s research focuses on sustainable tourism development and how the unique natural and cultural resources of communities can be protected, packaged and marketed to jointly increase sustainability, resident quality of life and a community’s competitiveness as a tourism destination.

Christy Hehir

Christy Hehir, is a Ph.D. Researcher and Teaching Fellow at the University of Surrey, UK. Her interdisciplinary research brings together environmental psychology and tourism. Her key research themes include the role tourism plays in (re)connecting people to nature and understanding the correlations between tourists’ experiences at last-chance destinations and their subsequent pro-environmental behaviour.

Jesse Abrams

Jesse Abrams, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Policy and Sustainability at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, USA. His research focuses on environmental governance in complex social-ecological settings across the Americas. His key research themes include multiple-use public lands, ecological disturbances such as fires and insect outbreaks, land use change, community-based natural resource management, and rural community dynamics.