Abstract

As tourism research has paid limited attention to children, this study investigates children’s reactions to tourism development, focusing on their unique viewpoints on the World Heritage Site of Dubrovnik, Croatia. It employed cognitive neuroscience methods with 397 participants, revealing that, despite their preference for sustainable tourism scenarios, children exhibit a notable fixation on images emblematic of overtourism and associated challenges, particularly overcrowding. When exposed to sustainable tourism photographs, there was an observable increase in physiological arousal, albeit not as pronounced as when confronted with an overtourism scenario. Intriguingly, regardless of the scenario, children predominantly expressed neutral emotions. Within the sustainable tourism context, gender differences manifest as girls exhibiting lower levels of place attachment. Furthermore, inner-city residents exhibit diminished levels of nature connectedness, and emotions are indirectly linked to nature connectedness, place attachment, or pro-environmental behaviour. Conversely, in the unsustainable scenario, older children and inner-city residents exhibited a heightened sense of neutrality towards overtourism-related concerns, whereas those outside the inner city displayed a stronger affinity for nature connectedness. Positive emotions were negatively associated with nature connectedness and pro-environmental behaviour but positively associated with place attachment. Accordingly, this study advocates a more inclusive and sustainable future through children’s empowerment in tourism development.

Full Text
Paper version not known

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.