What motivates consumers to engage in ecotourism?

Abstract

This study examines motivations of consumers to partake in ecotourism. The global ecotourism sector has grown faster than any other tourism sector as people are becoming more aware of the damage they are causing to their planet. Thus, it is crucial to understand the reasons why consumers want to undergo an ecotourism experience. Through distributing and collecting 223 questionnaires from individuals that have previously been on an ecotourism holiday, the study confirms ecotourist characteristics and motivations. The findings identified an emerging market of younger ecotourists aged between 21 and 30. Their motivations to go on an ecotourism holiday were then examined and presented in the form of recommendations for ecotourism businesses enabling them to better penetrate their market. Additionally, the motivations of ecotourists as a population were identified and the findings found that they correlated with previous findings, indicating that a combination of push and pull motives were essential, specifically focusing on self-development influences, such as ‘to have an authentic experience’, or ‘to gain a new perspective’, as well as natural and cultural attributes of the destination, such as ‘to feel close to nature’, ‘to experience the environment whilst causing minimum damage’ and ‘to interact with different cultures’.