Influencing tourists' pro-environmental behaviours: A social marketing application

Tourism, whilst delivering economic benefits, can deliver environmental harm. Although several measures to mitigate tourism's environmental effects have been documented, a shared responsibility that encompasses the tourism industry and tourists themselves is needed to limit environmental damage. This paper demonstrates how social marketing can be applied to gain insights that can be used by the tourism industry to promote pro-environmental behaviours of targeted tourists to contribute positively to the environment. Social benchmarks that were applied resulted in the identification of two segments, one of which was examined in more detail using a follow-up interview format to gain insights for intervention planning, design and implementation. Implications for the role that tourism may play in delivering changes that benefit our planet are outlined and opportunities for future research are provided.