Expression of Behavior and Attitudes toward Sustainable Tourism in the Youth Population: A Search for Statistical Types

Diana Šaparnienė,Rasa Rupulevičienė,Vita Juknevičienė,Oksana Mejerė,Jurgita Raišutienė

doi:10.3390/su14010473

Abstract

Youth attitudes and behavior in tourism activities are crucial for sustainable tourism development. This study aims to identify the statistical types of youth according to their expressed behavior in sustainability and attitudes toward sustainable tourism development. Survey data were collected from 1085 respondents representing different Baltic Sea countries—Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia. A unique research instrument, constructed by the authors, was developed for the empirical research, responding to the latest theoretical insights and models and was empirically validated by statistical methods (the factor validity of the scales was tested with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, etc.). Attitudes towards sustainable tourism development were measured with the SUS-TAS scale. The factor clustering method used in the study identified the statistical types of the youth included, according to the expression of sustainable behavior and the attitudes toward sustainable tourism development. The results indicated that the majority of youth belong to the “oriented toward sustainable behavior” type (50.6%), while the analysis of youth attitudes showed that 71.5% belong to the socioeconomic type, indicating that young people prioritize the long-term socioeconomic wellbeing of the region, which can be achieved through efficient management, tourism planning, and active public participation in the implementation of tourism policies.

Highlights

Until the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism significantly contributed to various global regions’ wellbeing and socioeconomic growth and was in line with the main global trades [1].According to the World Tourism Barometer [2], before the pandemic, the tourism industry contributed 10.4 % to the global GDP and 1/10 jobs were supported by the tourism sector worldwide
The aim of the present article is to disclose the statistical types of youth according to their expressed behavior in sustainability and attitudes toward sustainable tourism development
The graphic expression of the responses (Figure 1) shows that the expression of sustainable behavior of the respondents is mainly related to daily routine, i.e., when buying food products the seasonality and the availability of local products are taken into account, the purpose of using household appliances is to use them effectively, to save water, and to increasingly use the reusable bags in the shops, etc

Summary

Introduction

According to the World Tourism Barometer [2], before the pandemic, the tourism industry contributed 10.4 % to the global GDP and 1/10 jobs were supported by the tourism sector worldwide. It was considered as one of the fastest-growing industries, where at least one job vacancy out of every four new jobs globally belonged to the tourism sector. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the tourism sector to shift toward domestic tourism in the short term, with the direction of safety and sustainability in the long-term perspective, as the need to balance its economic, social, and environmental impacts is self-evident [7]. While the priority given in the past was mostly directed towards the economic benefits of tourism, nowadays, the greater concern is given to sustainability in

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