Sustainability and Sustainable Tourism for Generation Z: Perspectives of Communication Students

Abstract

In this study, the Generation Z undergraduate communication students' understanding of sustainability and sustainable tourism was analyzed. Five focus groups were conducted with students from a university in Turkey (3) and the United Arab Emirates (2). This study reflected on these students' personal travel experiences and their observations of sustainable tourism from their domestic and international experiences. Issues in sustainable tourism and opportunities for achieving both sustainability and sustainable tourism were also discussed in these focus groups. The findings offer implications for teaching and learning about sustainability. The participating students were generally aware of sustainability, but in a limited scope. In sum, Generation Z students, as future travellers, are sensitive to the concepts of sustainability and sustainable tourism. These students are not entrepreneurs in this respect, that is, they do not waste the water and do not pollute the sea or the environment but are neither involved in any sustainability campaign nor initiate anything that will influence others.

Generation Z as a critical question mark for sustainable tourism – An exploratory study in Portugal

“…Although the hope placed on generation Z to change the designs of sustainability seems consensual, the truth is that so far few studies have investigated the effective compromise of members of Gen Z with pro-environmental habits, their involvement in achieving the UN SDGs, in general, and TS, in particular (Haddouche and Salomone, 2018;Globetrender, 2021;Hansen and Wyman, 2021;Parzonko et al, 2021;G€ orpe and € Oks€ uz, 2022). However the results of these studies are contradictory.…”