Domestic Tourists’ Unethical Behaviors in Package Tours

Abstract

Today, ethics has become extremely remarkable almost in all areas. Many studies have been conducted especially on consumer ethics. Minimizing consumers’ unethical behaviors is essential for tourism sector, just as for other sectors. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine unethical behaviors of domestic tourists participating in package tours. For this purpose, 8 package tours were participated and by using participatory observation method, it was aimed to reveal unethical behaviors of domestic tourists. With unethical behaviors revealed in observations, it is thought to facilitate the work of travel agencies and tourist guides, help tourists behave more consciously and avoid behaviors that will disturb other tourists or local people. While determining unethical behaviors, Ethical Codes of World Tourism Organization, museum-archeological site rules, laws and ethical values were taken into consideration. The most repeated unethical tourist behaviors in the research were; throwing litter in museums-archeological sites or gas stations, interfering, not listening or doing something else while tour guide was narrating. Besides, those who left the group during the tour without considering the need to act together and informing, and those who made other tourists and tour officials wait by being late for the meeting time constituted a remarkable amount.