Tourism Pedagogy and Visitor Responsibilities in Destinations of Local-Global Significance: Climate Change and Social-Political Action

Abstract

This paper examines the issue of climate change pedagogy and social action in tourism, with particular interest in globally-significant destinations under threat from climate change. Little is understood of the role and responsibility of visitors as key stakeholders in climate change-related action or the potential of such sites to foster environmental learning, as well as social and political action on climate change. Drawing on insights from Aldo Leopold and John Dewey, it is argued here that destinations that are valued intrinsically for their ecological and cultural importance are (or ought to be) sites of enjoyment and pedagogy, facilitating experiential learning, care, responsibility and civic action towards their conservation. An exploratory case study of visitors to the Great Barrier Reef offers corroborative insights for such a "reef ethic" as described in this paper, related to visitor experience, learning and action in this World Heritage Area. The results of this paper support the need for a stronger pedagogic role to be adopted by tourism experience providers and site managers to facilitate climate change literacy and responsible action (hence facilitating global environmental citizenship). Their responsibility and that of reef visitors is discussed further.

Exploring Environmental Awareness and Behavior among Guests at Hotels That Apply Water-Saving Measures

“…Such strategies, however, require the collaboration of hotel guests and to date very little is known about how guests use water during their stay [11,12]. Guests can contribute to reducing water consumption in the hotel industry first by choosing a hotel with a sustainable water management system [13] and second by helping to save water during their stay [14][15][16]. These steps are directly related to two key concepts: environmental awareness and pro-environmental behavior.…”

Tourism Actors’ Responsible Behavior: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Filimonau et al, 2018) as pro-environmental action determinants, while climate-friendly behavior focuses, according to Qiao and Gao (2017), on tourists’ mitigation behavior regarding climate change. In this regard, Jamal and Smith (2017) emphasize social-political actions, finding that tourists demand strong pedagogic roles from providers. Cheng and colleagues (2018) examined the impact of tourists’ perception, self-efficacy, and attitudes on green tourism behavior, as well as for environmental conservation, research particularly focused on exploring the ingredients of tourists’ environmental responsibility, with waste reduction intention, water conservation behavior (i.e.…”

“…Hu & Sung, 2022; Lee et al, 2017). Corresponding to tourists demanding pedagogic roles by tourism providers (Jamal & Smith, 2017), tourism practice is recommended to provide information in particular about the environment, to enhance tourists’ ERB (King-Chan et al, 2021). Second, tourism practice can build on market segmentation based on developed sustainability criteria (i.e.…”

Evolving Narratives in Tourism and Climate Change Research: Trends, Gaps, and Future Directions

“…Coral reefs face multiple threats from global warming and subsequent sea surface temperature increases [87]. Several articles focussing on the impact [88,89], adaptation [90], mitigation [89], and resilience of this World Heritage Site have been produced during the period of study from a tourism and climate change perspective.…”