The lost rural idyll? Tourists' attitudes towards sustainability and their influence on the production of rural space at a rural tourism hotspot in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Abstract This study focuses on tourists' power in the production of space expressed by their travel attitudes when visiting a rural tourism hotspot that follows a growth ethos and is characterized by mass tourism. It aims to decode how these dynamics influence small-scale rural tourism, contesting sustainable rural change and the rural idyll as perceived by the tourists. For this purpose, a standardized survey amongst visitors at the Giant's Causeway, the most visited tourist attraction in Northern Ireland, was conducted. The results show that sustainability awareness decreases from individual trip tourists to coach trip tourists to cruise ship tourists, and thus segment-specific sustainability governance is desirable. By realizing this, a rural tourism hotspot should function as a hub that coordinates and promotes a network of regional tourism providers in order to enable its genuine integration in the rural community.