Visitors’ behavior in nature parks and protected areas

Keywords: Nature-based tourism, parks and protected areas, sustainable, behavior, experiment
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 64

Abstract

Nature-based tourism, especially visitation to parks and protected areas has increased considerably in recent times. This hike is due to the realization that exposure to nature provides significant enduring benefits to visitors. This increment in traffic has adversely impacted the sustainability of parks and protected areas, especially their environment. Among several ways to address the environmental issues generated by tourism on parks and protected areas, the pro-environmental behavior of tourists is considered as an appropriate approach in promoting a tourists attractions’ sustainability. However, data shows that visitors are not behaving sustainability in parks and protected areas. This study intends to investigate this issue using a quantitative experimental study. It has three main goals, which are a) to investigate the influence of loss/gain message frame, b) to examine the impact of individual/collective consequences, and c) to explore the interaction effects of loss/gain message frame and individual/collective consequences on the pro-environmental behaviors of visitors of parks and protected areas. This study can provide valuable insights to the managers of parks and protected areas to influence visitors to behave in a sustainable manner.