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Abstract
In spite of various attempts at defining and identifying ecotourists – both in comparison with general tourism and within the ecotourism sector itself – most research studies examining ecotourists lack a generalisable approach and raise issues of reliability and validity. Most troublesome research in this area lack a theoretical foundation for what it means to be an ecotourist and, instead, relies on geographical location or behavioural markers to identify ecotourists. In this study, a multi-dimensional scale is proposed for identifying travellers' predispositions to qualify as ecotourists. Following a comprehensive review of literature on definitions, conceptual frameworks, and typologies associated with ecotourism, six foundational dimensions were identified – ethics, education, culture, nature, specialisation, and contribution – that provided the conceptual basis for the development of the Ecotourist Predisposition Scale. The scale was pre-tested and has undergone reliability and construct validity testing for each dimension and overall. The scale could serve to extend our understanding of ecotourists on a deeper conceptual level and, in application, serve to identify various types of travellers based on their predisposition for basic aspects of ecotourism with the advantage of a temporal, geographical, and behavioural generalisability.