Sustainable tourist behavior: A systematic literature review and research agenda

Abstract

Sustainable tourist behavior is a rapidly growing field within sustainable tourism. This study contributes to this emerging body of knowledge through a systematic literature review combining bibliometric and qualitative analysis of 331 publications. Key themes in sustainable tourist behavior research, including intended and actual behaviors, were identified with scholarly debates in this field discussed critically. Sustainability topics widely studied in other disciplines have been overlooked from a tourist behavior perspective, including waste classification and recycling, as well as applications of sustainable design to the management of the visitor economy. Additionally, this analysis revealed imbalances in sustainable development practice and research related to the visitor economy and gaps in theory development. This study builds on these findings and discusses an agenda for future research in sustainable tourist behavior. The findings contribute to shaping the conceptualization of sustainable tourist behavior, recognizing its dynamic nature, providing an overview of theories and antecedents, and underscoring the significance of considering diverse factors in future research. They also suggest that decision‐makers in tourism should prioritize understanding tourist sustainable behavior through market segmentation, incorporate design and technology into sustainable initiatives, and align strategies with the specific needs and requirements of tourists for effective and sustainable tourism development.