Environmental consciousness in mass tourism: Awareness of mass tourists regarding environmental impacts and alternative forms of tourism?
A dissertation submitted by Julien Mairesse
MA European Tourism Management University of Högskolan Dalarna, Borlänge, Sweden Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain
Bournemouth University 2007/2008
Abstract Tourism became the world’s largest industry during the twentieth century and now represents a major source of income for most countries.
One of the major
phenomena in the history of tourism was the birth of mass tourism in the nineteenth century. Mass tourism was first born in the nineteenth century in England but really started to grow and extend to the rest of Europe in the 1950s. The concept was created to represent large scale tourist flows spending their holidays at the same destination.
Soon, during the 1960s, mass tourism began to be the subject of
criticism for its negative impacts, especially on the environment. However, many mass destinations such as Lloret del Mar in Spain, have achieved such reputations that they continue to attract millions of tourists each year. Global warming is the most important environmental issue for the twenty-first century and activities such as mass tourism are pointed out for their potentially destructive impacts on the environment.
Within this context, this paper aims at assessing environmental consciousness in mass tourism, especially that of mass tourists. It investigates the literature on mass tourism, identifies mass tourism’s environmental impacts and highlights the relation between mass tourism and alternative tourism. Moreover, the dissertation points out the elements that influence mass tourists’ decision-making process regarding their choice of holiday.
The primary data collection consists of an analysis of the environmental tourist behaviour in the mass seaside resort of Lloret del Mar via a questionnaire. Primary data have been collected and analysed with a systematic review of the literature. Results and findings from the analysis have shown that a shift in the mass tourists’ profile occurred during the last decade and mass tourists have new needs and expectations.
Moreover, due to the attractive price and the ease of organising
holidays in mass destination, mass tourism remains very attractive. Mass tourists do not seem to be aware of the environmental impact of their type of tourism and they are not really willing to change their behaviour.
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Declaration of authorship “I hereby declare that this dissertation is my own unaided work. I have not included any material or data from other authors or sources which are not acknowledged and identified in the prescribed manner. I have read the section in the Student Handbook on Assessment Offences and understand that such offences may lead the Examination Board to withhold or withdraw the award of Master of Arts.”
Julien Mairesse
MA European Tourism Management
Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to express my profound gratitude to the University of Högskolan Dalarna in Sweden, the University of Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid and Bournemouth University for giving me the opportunity to participate in the European Tourism Management Master Programme. The knowledge I have acquired during this year and the human experience that I have lived will have a continuous impact on my entire life and career.
Many thanks to my supervisor Dieter Ganter for his constant support and advice throughout the summer 2008. I would also like to thank Mike Morgan, coordinator of the ETM Master Programme in Bournemouth for his recommendations while working in my dissertation in Bournemouth. Thank also to my proof-reader, Derek Hibbert for his professional point of view who has given to my work.
Finally, I would like to point out the inestimable support of my ETM friends since the beginning of this experience in Sweden. A particular thank for two of them, Gaelle and Micha, who have shared my doubts during the last two months. Thank to my friend Amélie who gave me the opportunity to realize my research in Spain.
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Table of content LIST OF FIGURES
1
LIST OF TABLES
4
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
5
CHAPTER 1
6
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Research context
6
1.2
Research question and process
7
1.3
Rationale
10
1.4
Aim and objectives
10
1.5
Structure of the dissertation
11
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW ON MASS TOURISM AND MASS TOURIST BEHAVIOUR
2.1 Introduction
13
2.2 Concept of mass tourism 2.2.1 Origin of mass tourism 2.2.2 Mass tourism and Fordism 2.2.3 Definition of mass tourism 2.2.3.1 Spatial and temporal polarization of mass tourism 2.2.3.2 Europe: contemporary mass tourism destination 2.2.4 Growth factors of mass tourism 2.2.5 The mass tourist: typology of tourist 2.2.6 A shift in mass tourism
13 13 16 19 21 22 23 25 29
2.3 Impacts of mass tourism 2.3.1 Introduction 2.3.2 The different types of impacts 2.3.3 Environmental impacts: definition of the notion “environment” 2.3.4 Relation between environment and tourism 2.3.5 Benefits and costs of mass tourism on the environment 2.3.5.1 Negative environmental impacts of mass tourism 2.3.5.2 Positive environmental impacts of mass tourism 2.3.6 A solution to cope with mass tourism’s environmental impacts
30 30 30 31 31 33 33 37 37
2.4 Shift in mass tourism: from mass tourism to sustainable tourism 2.4.1 Introduction 2.4.2 Emergence of new forms of tourism: alternative tourism
39 39 39
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2.4.3 Shift in the tourist behaviour 2.4.4 Sustainability and mass and alternative tourism 2.4.5 Shifts in the mode of production; the end of the mass tourism pattern 2.4.6 Conclusion
43 45 46 48
2.5 Tourist behaviour and decision-making process; adapted to mass tourism 2.5.1 Introduction 2.5.2 The tourism demand 2.5.2.1 Factors influencing tourism demand 2.5.2.2 Factors influencing demand in the tourist destination area 2.5.3 Motivation and decision-making in tourism 2.5.3.1 The decision-making process 2.5.3.2 Push and pull factors 2.5.4 High involvement in purchase decision and high consumer commitment
49 49 49 50 53 54 54 56 58
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
60
3.1 Introduction
60
3.2 Secondary data collection 3.2.1 Secondary research 3.2.2 Secondary sources 3.2.3 Secondary analysis
60 60 61 63
3.3 Primary data collection 3.3.1 Survey method 3.3.2 Data collection 3.3.3 Survey design 3.3.3.1 Deduction: theories, concepts, variables and hypotheses 3.3.4 The sample
63 63 65 66 67 70
3.4 Limitations of the research 3.4.1 Limitations of secondary data collection 3.4.2 Limitations of primary data collection
72 72 73
3.5 Conclusion
74
CHAPTER 4
RESEARCH FINDINGS
75
4.1 Introduction
75
4.2 Results analysis 4.2.1 The mass tourist profile 4.2.2 Environmental consciousness of mass tourist 4.2.3 Alternative tourism in response to mass tourism 4.2.4 Mass tourist decision-making process
75 78 83 89 93
4.3 Conclusion
94
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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
96
5.1 Conclusion
96
5.2 Recommendations for the tourism industry
99
5.3 Recommendations for future research
99
REFERENCES
101
APPENDIX A
QUESTIONNAIRE
106
APPENDIX B
RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
107
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List of figures
Page number Figure 1.1:
The research process.
9
Figure 2.1:
International Tourist Arrivals, 1950-2020.
14
Figure 2.2:
The relation between mass tourism and Ford pattern.
19
Figure 2.3:
Cohen’s classification of tourists.
26
Figure 2.4:
Relationship between Tourism product and Environment.
32
Figure 2.5:
An overview of tourism.
41
Figure 2.6:
Major types of tourism and their variants.
42
Figure 2.7:
The new consumer.
44
Figure 2.8:
Factors influencing the holiday decision.
51
Figure 2.9:
Stages of the tourism demand process.
55
Figure 2.10:
The tourism decision-making process.
57
Figure 2.11:
The consumer involvement for a tourism product purchase.
58
Figure 3.1:
The structure of the hypothesis testing approach to research.
68
Figure 4.1:
Distribution of the respondents regarding their age and
76
nationality.
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Figure 4.2:
Distribution of the respondents according to who accompanied
77
them.
Figure 4.3:
Frequency with which mass tourists visit mass tourist
78
destinations.
Figure 4.4:
Motivations for visiting a mass seaside resort.
80
Figure 4.5:
Purchase of package holidays by mass tourists.
81
Figure 4.6:
Is mass tourism respectful to the environment?
85
Figure 4.7:
Respondents who think that mass tourism is respectful to the
85
environment, categorised by age.
Figure 4.8:
Why do holidaymakers continue to visit mass destinations
87
knowing that it is not respectful to the environment?
Figure 4.9:
88
Respect for the environment and the influence on choice of holiday.
Figure 4.10:
Does respect for the environment influence the choice of holiday
89
considering respondents’ opinions about mass tourism?
Figure 4.11:
“Have you ever participated in alternative tourism?”
90
Figure 4.12:
The reasons given by the respondents for never having
92
participated in alternative tourism.
Figure 4.13:
Have the respondents who state they are respectful to the
92
environment ever participated in alternative tourism?
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Figure: 4.14:
Which components do mass tourists regard highly important in the choice of their destination?
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List of tables Page number Table 2.1: The structure of free time.
24
Table 2.2: Main environmental mass tourism’s impacts.
36
Table 2.3: The major characteristics of alternative tourism.
40
Table 2.4: Comparison between mass and alternative tourism.
47
Table 4.1: Profile of mass tourists in Lloret del Mar, according to age group.
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List of abbreviations ICT
Information and Communication Technologies.
IET
Instituto de Estudios Turísticos.
TURESPAÑA
Instituto de Estudios Turísticos, Madrid, Spain.
UNWTO
United Nations World Tourism Organisation.
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Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Research context “It is impossible to ignore tourism” (Sharpley, R. 1999: ix). Indeed, tourism has become the world’s largest industry during the twentieth century. The number of tourists went from 25 million in 1950 up to 846 million in 2006 and, according to the forecasts; it could reach 1 billion in 2010 and 1.6 billion in 2020 (UNWTO 2007). For many destinations, tourism represents a vital source of income and employment.
In 2006, Spain occupied second rank regarding numbers of international tourist arrivals as well as for international tourist receipts (UNWTO 2007).
Tourism
demand for the traditional sea and sun destinations of Southern and Mediterranean Europe remained buoyant and Spain with its 5000 kilometres of coast have pride of place (88% of its boundaries is water).
Indeed, Spain is one of the main tourist destinations in Europe and is especially wellknown for its mass tourism destinations, for example, Benidorm, Torremolinos, and Lloret del Mar. Spain has become in a few decades the reference point regarding mass tourism destinations and large-scale resorts. All the holiday spots of the Costa del Sol, Costa Brava and Costa Blanca are fully booked during the high summer season by tourists, mainly English and German, looking for sun, warmth, sea and fun.
Mass tourism was first born in England with the emergence of seaside resorts and spas, before extending to the rest of Europe during the nineteenth century. Many authors (Mieczkowski 1990; Sharpley 1999; Urry, 2002) acknowledge that mass tourism is the most characteristic socioeconomic phenomenon of the present age. It has been the symbol and starting point of the democratisation of travel. An increase of free time available for leisure activities as well as disposable income and technological development (e.g. aircrafts) has been the major factors for the growth of mass tourism.
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Mass tourism involves the participation of a large number of people enjoying tourism in the same place, which is the first feature. The term “mass tourism” implies that the holiday is standardised, rigidly packaged and inflexible (Vanhove, N. 1997). Mass tourism has dominated the whole tourism industry for many decades yet, faced with the significance of the negative impacts of mass tourism, concern about the quality of the environment and the future of the tourism industry has begun to emerge. Thus, increasingly wide recognition of the negative environmental effects of tourism activity has led to a focus on alternative forms of tourism. Increased interest in alternative forms of tourism is perceived as a response to the exploitation associated with mass tourism.
The mass package holidays of the 1960s and 1970s are gradually being replaced by a more individual way to conceive tourism. Customer needs and expectations change and new forms of tourism, such as alternative tourism (e.g. adventure, cultural or ecotourism), have become more popular (Sharpley, R. 1999). This involves a change in customer demand and an emerging new tourism consumer culture.
While many authors state the stagnation of mass tourism, even the decline, authors like Vanhove (1997) do not agree: “Mass tourism is here to stay and has to be accepted”.
Mass tourism as a form of holiday remains very attractive for the
majority of tourists; thus, it appears interesting to analyse and understand mass tourist behaviour and the decision-making process regarding choice of holiday. Furthermore, the factors influencing decisions to take mass tourism when public opinion warns of the negative impact of this kind of tourism, especially on the environment and long-term on the whole planet, are worthy of examination.
1.2 Research question and process
This research is focused on mass tourism and especially the behaviour of holidaymakers who practice this form of tourism. The whole work aims to answer the research question: are mass tourists environmental friendly? In other words, are mass tourists aware of the negative impacts, especially the environmental impacts of
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such large-scale tourism?
To answer this main question, several sub-research
questions have to be dealt with and various fields of investigation have to be explored as follows: o What is the profile of the typical mass tourist today? o Which are the mains factors that influence the decision-making process regarding mass tourism destination? o Is alternative tourism considered a potential choice by tourists or will they definitely remain followers of mass tourism? o Would tourists be willing to change their travel habits (place, price, etc.) and behaviour to become more environmental friendly? o Indirectly, is sustainable tourism an elitist tourism?
To summarise, the subject under investigation encompasses the fields of mass tourism, definition and origin, both positive and negative environmental impacts of this kind of tourism, an approach to the concept of sustainability regarding mass tourism and, finally, tourist behaviour and the decision-making process.
The research process implies both literature review and primary data collection through a questionnaire in order to answer the research question, namely, the environmental consciousness of mass tourists (fig. 1.1).
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Figure 1.1: The research process
Research question Are mass tourists environmental friendly?
To investigate the concept of mass tourism.
To draw up a profile of the mass tourist.
Objectives
To identify the environmental
To assess the environmental
impact of mass tourism.
consciousness of mass tourists:
To associate sustainability with
are they willing to change their
mass tourism.
behaviour to become more environmental friendly?
Methods
Primary data collection
Secondary data collection
Survey of mass tourists
Literature review on the topic
Questionnaire in a mass
(books, annals, case study,
tourism destination of Spain:
etc.)
Lloret del Mar
Limitations Accessibility to some information, lack of information regarding the research question.
Limitations Time, money, language skills, availability of people, geographical location, etc.
Analyse of results
Analyses, comparisons and recommendations. Source: Author’s presentation
Answer to the initial research question
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1.3 Rationale
Climatic change or global warming has become the most important environmental issue of the twenty-first century. The environment, today, is a sensitive field for politicians to address with increasing concern regarding the risks incurred giving rise to many conventions, directives and international treaties (e.g. Kyoto Protocol). All the economic sectors are responsible for environmental damage, including the tourism industry, since tourism development in many places, and especially mass tourism, has led to deterioration in environmental quality.
The main question research has been motivated by is the need to understand why mass tourism remains so attractive if one considers all the negative impacts of such large-scale tourism activity on the environment. In other words, which factors push mass tourists to practice mass tourism despite knowing the consequences? Society is driven by information and communication technologies (ICT) or the so called mass media so it is difficult today to ignore such environmental issues. Hence, are mass tourists aware of the impact of their tourist behaviour? Are they willing to become more environmental friendly regarding their holiday choices?
All stakeholders within the mass tourism industry are responsible for damage, the tourists who consume the products or services as well as the professionals, namely, tour operators, travel agencies or tourism organisations who promote and sell mass tourism products. Thus, the present work could have assessed the responsibility of each stakeholders but the author acknowledged it is more interesting to focus on the main agent: the tourist.
1.4 Aim and objectives
The aim of this dissertation is to appraise the environmental consciousness of mass tourists. The main associated objectives are the following: •
To investigate the concept of mass tourism: origin and definition.
•
To point out the environmental impact of mass tourism.
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•
To highlight the importance of the shift from mass tourism to sustainable tourism.
•
To draw up as accurately as possible, a mass tourist profile: needs, expectations, holidaymaker behaviour. That means identifying the driving factors push individuals to choose mass tourist destinations and influence the decision-making process.
•
To assess awareness of the mass tourists regarding environmental issues, especially environmental impacts due to mass tourism. Are mass tourists willing to become more environmentally friendly?
1.5 Structure of the dissertation
The framework of the dissertation is divided into five chapters. A short description of the content of each chapter is given below:
Chapter 1: Introduction. This chapter gives a general overview of the dissertation and lays down the basis of the research. It starts with the background relative to the topic before presenting the research question, the rationale, the aim and objectives of the work and, finally, the structure of the dissertation.
Chapter 2: Literature review on mass tourism and mass tourist decision-making process. This chapter covers the literature review part of the study and it contains four roughly equal parts. It provides a theoretical approach and the points of view of various authors regarding mass tourism, environmental impacts, sustainability versus mass tourism and the tourist decision-making process. A critical view of the author is added to the previous research made by the different experts in each field.
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Chapter 3: Methodology. This chapter presents a detailed analysis of the methodology used to produce the dissertation.
The methodological approach of both primary and secondary data
collection is dealt with in this part.
Chapter 4: Research findings. This chapter discusses the results and findings of the primary research obtained through a quantitative approach.
The results obtained from administering a
questionnaire will be analysed and compared with a systematic review of the literature.
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations. This final part draws up conclusions about both primary and secondary research, quantitative method and literature review. The aim of this chapter is also to present some recommendations regarding the main research question.
References Appendices
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Chapter 2 Literature review on mass tourism and mass tourist behaviour 2.1 Introduction
The literature review will intend to explore in-depth the concept of mass tourism. The author will give a definition of mass tourism starting with the origin of the concept till the meaning that mass tourism involved today. Environmental mass tourism impacts will be highlighted and the author will compare mass tourism with those new concepts such as alternative tourism or sustainability.
Finally, the
literature review will focus on mass tourists and his decision making-process regarding mass tourism destinations.
2.2 Concept of mass tourism
2.2.1 Origin of mass tourism
Tourism experts place the start of the development of mass tourism roughly after the Second World War and the most important step of the development of this social phenomenon would have been developed during the half century since this period.
This development of mass tourism took place first in the Western World (mainly Europe and North America) with a change in the international tourism: it has been transformed from a luxury enjoyed by a minority a people into a leisure activity enjoyed by a large majority of the population (Sharpley, R. 1999). The growth of international arrivals between the 1950s and the end of the twentieth is representative of this trend, according to the figure 2.1.
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Figure 2.1: International Tourist Arrivals, 1950-2020.
Source: World Tourism Organization, 2007.
Development of seaside resorts; the beginning of mass tourism
At the beginning of the eighteenth, tourism opportunities were becoming more accessible to the lower classes of the United Kingdom and different parts of Europe (Weaver, D. and Oppermann, M. 2000). The Industrial Revolution is pointed out as the result, with England as starting point, from a rural and agricultural society to one more urban and industrial. It is at this period that seaside resorts emerge to fulfil a demand of the industrial working class to have access to more recreational activities. From that time, travels toward the coast started. Throughout Europe, a number of spa towns had developed in the eighteenth century. England was the pioneer in the European spa movement and then this movement extends in various European countries such as Germany, France or Italia (Swarbrooke and Horner, 1999). Another reason to explain the rapid and growing success of seaside resorts is the belief that sea bathing, combined with the drinking of sea water was an effective treatment for a variety of illness. Health tourism began to appear and the beach became a place of medicine rather than pleasure. Moreover, one could assist to the construction of seaside resorts such as Brighton, completely constructed for tourism and pleasure; and that was completely new at this time.
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The question of accessibility is also very important to explain this increasingly interest for seaside resorts. The primary factor that made the seaside resorts accessible to the working classes has been the construction of the railways connecting these spots to nearby large industrial cities.
United Kingdom, cradle of mass tourism
According to Urry (2002), the development of the first example of mass tourism took place amongst the industrial working class in England. This movement developed in the backstreets of the industrial towns and cities in the north of England. The first seaside resorts developed in England with spots such as Brighton or Scarborough dating from 1626 (Urry, J. 2002). Indeed, with an increase of rail travellers, more and more seaside resorts are born and a resort hierarchy developed: certain places such as Southend were seen as embodiment of mass tourism and were despised; others seaside resort like Bournemouth enjoyed of a high esteem (Page, S. J. and Connell, J. 2006). In the same time, working structures became more highly organized and rationalized leading to the reduction of working hours. This shift led to the emergence of the week’s holiday (Page, S. J. and Connell, J. 2006). The growth of such kind of tourism has been the symbol of the “democratisation” of travel. But this phenomenon would have been difficult without the development of mass travel by train occurred in England. According to Sharpley (1999), the growth and success of some individual resorts was dependent on the railways. Without doubt, Thomas Cook can be quoted as the “trend setter” for the travel democratisation in England. Indeed, he is always associated with the emergence of tourism as a modern, large-scale industry (Weaver, D. and Oppermann, M. 2000). It is thanks to him that mass tourism has known this rapid and growing interest: without Thomas Cook, “it would take another 150 years for mass tourism to be realised on a global scale” (Weaver, D. and Oppermann, M. 2000: 64). He was the first to have the idea of chartering trains and to propose package holidays for working class.
He applied the formal production principles of the Industrial
Revolution to tourism, with standardised, precisely timed, commercialised and high-
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volume tour packages. Weaver and Oppermann (2000) acknowledge that he industrialised the tourism industry. Mass tourism was born. He can be considered as the founding father of the package tour, the “taken-for-granted components of the modern tourism industry” (Weaver, D. and Oppermann, M. 2000: 64).
The nineteenth century was the starting point of the development of modern tourism, due most notably to the introduction of railways.
This, and the results of the
Industrial Revolution in Britain firstly and then in Europe, created the conditions for the growth of large scale forms of tourism such as mass tourism. Mieczkowski (1990) said “although modern tourism started in the middle of the nineteenth century, contemporary mass tourism is largely a phenomenon of the more recent decades following the end of the Second World War, and especially the 1950s.” He defines mass tourism as the most significant and characteristic socioeconomic phenomenon of the present age.
“The success of the tourism sector in the postwar period has resulted in an industry which is characterized not only by growth but also by rapid change” (Cooper, C. P. 1992).
2.2.2 Mass tourism and Fordism
For Sharpley (1999), the industrialisation of the societies in the nineteenth is the starting point of the development of mass tourism in those same countries and the author makes a correlation between Fordism and the social phenomenon of mass tourism. New forms of production and consumption characterize the “postmodern” societies, those societies which began to develop after the industrialisation period in the nineteenth. This change is marked by a growth in the tertiary service sector, including tourism industry, rather than in manufacturing industries and it occurred after the period of important economical upheaval due to the Fordism.
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Henry Ford has developed mass production techniques for the manufacture of motor cars and the term Fordism has been used to describe both the system of mass production leading to mass consumption (Sharpley, R. 1999). This concept was based on four main principles which have been applied to the production of most “mass-produced goods” of which package holidays in the tourism industry: •
Standardisation of the product - all the product are the same.
•
Standardisation of the production process - standardised tasks by machines.
•
Standardisation of the work team - one employee for one particular task.
•
Implementation of the production-line work - the product is moving, the people no - efficiency.
The driving force of this concept was to generate economies of scale.
A similar process but more simple has been highlighted regarding the development of mass tourism products, especially for the package holidays (Fig. 2.2). In the production line, tour operators combined different basic and standard products such as transport, accommodation or attractions and make a package. About transport is often charter travel with low cost companies and the standing of accommodations are limited.
But this enables one to minimise the unit costs by a high level of
production. So, package holidays are produced in high quantity that permits one to offer prices very competitive to the customer and to obtain a mass production of the tourist products. “As with all forms of mass production, the continued success of the mass, package holiday is dependent on the acceptance of the product by consumer. In other words, tour operators are only able to sell cheap, mass produced package holidays to a large number of tourists if the tourists themselves are willing to accept the lack of choice, the impersonal service, basic standards of food and accommodation, and cramped transport”. (Sharpley, R. 1999: 87) In package holidays, the relation with the final customer does not exist anymore. By standardising the production process, it often standardises the relations with the final customer.
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The package tour
The package tour, also called package holiday, package travel or all-inclusive package are often standardised and with limited flexibility.
According to Yale
(1995), the package refers to the purchase of a package of travel services including transport and accommodation. All other types of trips are non-package tours. When buying a package, the tourist feels sure to receive the service promised.
Each
components of his trip are dealt with previously by a tourism organisation (e.g. tour operators, travel agencies, etc.) such as transportation, accommodation, sometimes recreational activities. Few decades ago, only standardised products were offered. Today, the industry tourism has adapted its offer to the customer needs and expectations and proposes tailor-made packages where the customer can combine all the components of his trip. The idea of the package tour is the same but more flexibility is granted.
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Figure 2.2: The relation between mass tourism and Ford pattern. Manufacture production process
Standardisation
Product
Process
Low unit costs High quantity + low cost of production
Economies of scale
Package Holiday production process
Standardisation
Product
Process
Standard component of transport, accommodation or attractions. Lack of choice.
Tour Operators
Package Holiday Low unit costs High quantity + low cost of production
Economies of scale Mass Production
Low price
Mass Production Travel Agencies
Mass consumption
Low price
Mass tourism
Final Customer
Source: Author’s presentation
2.2.3 Definition of mass tourism
“Mass tourism is a notion in common use. But what does it mean exactly? Is it a package tour? Is it a concentration of tourists in a resort or in a region? Is it a tourist with a low profile?” (Vanhove, N. 1997). Actually, all these questions are only some aspects of the phenomenon.
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Mass tourism is frequently described as a phenomenon of modern society by some authors like Sharpley (1999). But it is not a phenomenon of the 1990s and started rather in the 50s and 60s (Vanhove, N. 1997).
Sharpley (1999) defines mass tourism as a social, economic, political and geographic phenomenon, describing the movement of large number of people who have holiday through the purchase of a standardised and all inclusive package. He reduces mass tourism as mass purchasing and mass consumption of product. Mass tourism is a distinctive type of tourism product that is “manufactured, marketed and sold” (Sharpley, R. 1999:117).
According to Vanhove (1997), mass tourism has two mains characteristics. Firstly, mass tourism involves the participation of large numbers of people in tourism. And then, it implies that the holiday is standardised, rigidly packaged and inflexible. Vanhove (1997) acknowledges that the key benefits of mass tourism are without doubt income and employment generation.
Moreover, the consumption of mass tourism is highly “spatially polarised”, involves a large number of participants and is segmented by nationality and concentrated in a relatively small number of areas. And all the tourism products of these destinations are often standardised and the price is usually their main point of competition. The price is a key element in the decision-making process of the tourist (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. 2002). Mass tourism, as form of mass consumption, is characterized by standardisation of production and products. (Michael Hall, C. and Lew, A. A. 1998).
Fink (1970) gives roughly the same definition, but adds some characteristics to the concept of mass tourism: •
It is mainly collective organisation of travelling.
•
Tourists are put up in a collective accommodation.
•
Awareness of holidaymakers to belong to a travelling group.
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For other author like Poon (1993), it is the large-scale packaging of standardized leisure services which defines the notion of mass tourism. Moreover, the holiday is produced through a mass replication process of identical product with economies of scale as the driving force. The product is promoted and sold to an undifferentiated clientele. Finally, the holiday is consumed “en masse” and the customers do not pay a lot of attention for local norms, culture, people or the environment of the tourist destinations.
2.2.3.1 Spatial and temporal polarization of mass tourism
Many different forms of mass tourism exist but the most common are mass beach tourism (sunshine/seaside tourism, sea and sun tourism, etc.) and mass winter sports tourism (Shaw, G. and Williams A. M. 2002). Mass winter sports tourism shares many features in common with mass beach tourism and the first relevant is that it is originated from Europe.
Shaw and Williams (2002) acknowledge that mass tourism tends to be highly spatially polarized. There is a link between this polarization of mass tourism and how the tourist gaze is constructed. Urry (1990: 47) argues that “the tourist gaze is increasingly signposted” and basically the tourist goes in holiday where one tells him to go. In the latter half of the twentieth century, tourist image creators in North America and in Europe have mainly promoted beach and ski holidays. For that, it is not surprising that today mass beach tourism and mass winter tourism both represent the most attractive forms of mass tourism. Moreover, Shaw and Williams (2002) state that the reason for what the Mediterranean has become one of the most important place of mass tourism is due to the fact that this place has been much more promoted as beach holiday than any other coastal. With this signposting system, developers and creators of image have favoured the concentration of tourists in small numbers of areas. The developers of mass tourism activities are the responsible of such spatial polarization. Moreover, the economies of scale in developing airports and other infrastructures, and in providing charter flight or low cost travels, holiday accommodations,
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entertainment and services have also led to the spatial concentration of tourists. (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. 2002).
In addition to be highly spatially polarized, mass tourism is also highly seasonal. Tourists do not only purchase a destination, a place to go in holidays but they purchase also an environment which include a seasonal component.
Shaw and
Williams (2002) use the term “space-time” package to refer to the traditional package holiday. The fact that mass tourism is highly seasonal can be explained that the mass tourist gaze, namely snow and beaches, are temporal attractions.
Temporal polarization and spatial polarization are clearly linked and temporal polarization reinforces spatial polarization.
2.2.3.2 Europe: contemporary mass tourism destination
In Europe, domestic coastal mass tourism activity took importance in the 1950s, in the same time that the phenomenon occurred in England.
But mass tourism
developed differently in Europe. International coastal mass tourism developed into a major industry and Europe has been the principal focus. Today, the Mediterranean represents the most highly developed form of mass coastal tourism (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. 2002). Tourist flows come mainly from the north of Europe to the Mediterranean countries, especially Italy and Spain. Spain is the reference regarding international coastal mass tourism in the Mediterranean region. Pearce (1987) has analysed the origins and destinations of air package holidays in Europe. The researches have shown that Spain was the main destination of the flights. The tourists were essentially English and German. This general craze for the Mediterranean tourism has been underpinned by the development of all-inclusive packages.
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2.2.4 Growth factors of mass tourism
The evolution of tourism in the twentieth century and this rapid growth of international tourism are mainly due to technological advance, the emergence of a “sophisticated tourism industry” and especially to the development of the package holidays. Sharpley (1999) refers to a sophisticated industry to speak about the tourism industry becoming more complex in its structure with vertical and horizontal integration: tour operators own their own airlines, their own chain of travel agents and, frequently, hotels in resorts.
Sharpley (1999) acknowledges that three factors have driven the rapid growth of tourism since 1950: money, time and technology. An increase in the household income available for leisure and tourism is the factor money. Then the second determinant factor is the time dedicated for leisure activities which has increased due firstly to the fact that people retire earlier and live longer and then to the new forms of employment such as job-sharing. Finally, technological advances have greatly contributed to the development of mass tourism and especially in transport with the introduction of jet airliners in the 1950s for example. Increasing wealth and time have played a significant role in the growth of tourism during this period. But those two components directly impact on the number of holidays that individuals take, rather than an increase in the number of holidaymakers.
Leisure time increase has been pointed out by many authors as the component which has permitted the growth of mass tourism. Shivers (1981) acknowledges that there has been an increase of the free time available in modern societies, and this has opened up the possibility of mass leisure. The author introduces an interconnected relation between free time and tourism, the “clear evidence of an increase in both free time and the enjoyment of leisure activities” (Shaw G., M. William A. 2002: 211).
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This way to consume leisure activities in mass appealed to mass tourism. A lot of developed countries consider tourism as an essential feature of modern life. And tourism has become mass tourism in such countries.
The origin of both mass leisure and mass tourism could be linked to the reorganization of production in the Developed Countries during the nineteenth and the twentieth century according to Shaw and William (2002). Mainly, this growth of leisure is closely linked with the increase of free time available for recreational activities. This increase of free time is mainly due to the reduction of working time. But Shaw and Williams (2002) acknowledge that this reduction has more generated a growth of short-break than affected traditional long-stay holidays. Indeed, this free time is distributed within days, weeks, years and lifetimes.
The table 2.1 shows the lifetime distribution which has been an important factor for mass tourism growth.
Table 2.1: The structure of free time.
Potential for
Distribution of free time
Local leisure
Shortbreaks
Daily
☼
weekly
☼
☼
Annually/lifetime
☼
☼
Long holidays
☼
Source: Shaw G., M. William A. 2002
Sessa (1983) has explained the increase of mass tourism by determining various social factors such as demographic transition, social progress, international peace, broader tourism consciousness and higher incomes. “The aging of the population, combined with changes in income and income distribution, and in welfare and social redistribution, have provided the means for extensification and intensification of the demand for tourism.”
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Baum (1995) joins the Sessa’s arguments and explains the growth of mass tourism as a consequence of: •
Economic growth.
•
More leisure time.
•
The lifestyle and work-related changes.
•
The technological shifts such as the development in transport like in aviation or the development of new ICT like Internet for online booking.
•
The changes in the demographic structure – people live more time and retired travel more and it is especially true in the Developed Countries.
•
Reduction of the barriers to travel like less bureaucracy involved to travel.
•
A growing interest in others countries and others cultures and a sense of belonging to “one world”, always according to the author.
2.2.5 The mass tourist: typology of tourist
A review of literature reveals a large number of typologies of tourists (Cohen, 1972; Plog, 1972; Smith, 1977) based on tourists travel characteristics and motivations. The first goal was to define the tourist and conceptualize the process of tourist behaviour (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. M. 2002).
It was Cohen (1972) who was the first to propose a typology of tourists. It was also the first to introduce this notion of “environmental bubble” to explain that the tourist is always affected by its home environment and culture when he travels. According to him, all tourists carry with them their values and behaviour patterns when they make a trip. He identified four different types of tourist: the organized mass tourist, the individual mass tourist, the explorer and the drifter.
This classification is determined by the attitude of individuals toward their trip, their expectations and the role of such experience within their lives (France, L. 1997). (Fig. 2.3).
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Figure 2.3: Cohen’s classification of tourists
The organized mass tourist
Institutionalised tourists
It is the stereotypical image of the tourist. He/she is not
Their tourism experience is
very adventurous and he/she is anxious to maintain his/her
planned,
“environmental bubble” on the trip. This kind of tourist has
provided by the mass tourism.
few or even no contact with the host country’s culture or
In other words, these tourists
local people.
deal with a professional of the
He/she purchases a ready-made package tour. Everything
tourism industry such as tour
is included to avoid all forms of decision-taking.
operators,
The individual mass tourist
hoteliers, etc. to plan their trip
Individual mass tourist is similar to the organized mass
and make proceed to the
tourist but he/she plans his/her trip with more flexibility and
purchase.
scope for personal choice.
Holiday
planned,
holidaymaker still deals with a professional of the tourism
and
predictable
industry for the purchase.
inauthentic version of local
He/she is able to escape from his/her “environmental
culture
bubble” but this bubble still shields him/her from the real
Look for familiarity
However, this kind of
controlled
travel
and
agencies,
packaged with
experience of the destination. The explorer
Non-institutionalised
The explorer can be considered like an independent
tourists
traveller. He/she deals with all the components of his/her
They have few or no contact
travel:
with the tourism industry.
transport,
accommodation,
catering-services,
attractions, etc.
Look for novelty
He/she is ready to escape the “environmental bubble” but only for a reasonable level of comfort and security. He/she tries to have contact with the local population and make everything to know the host culture, like speaking the language of the destination. The drifter He/she is totally the opposite of the organized mass tourist. All the connections with the tourism industry are spurned and all contact with the tourism system is avoided. This kind of tourist plans himself his trip and attempts to select it as far from home and familiarity as possible. The drifter attempts to merge into local communities and creates relations with local population. Source: adapted from Cohen, E. 1972 and Sharpley, R. 1999.
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“The various types of tourists influence the nature of holiday experience they demand and the opportunities available for the provision of more sustainable forms of tourism” (France, L. 1997: 4)
At one extreme there is a small number that Cohen name drifters and explorers who look for more authentic travel experience with a high degree of risk. In contrast, individuals and organized mass tourists prefer the security of a familiar environment to avoid any risk. Poon (1993) makes a distinction between the two categories using the term “old” tourists to refer to mass tourist and “new” tourists to speak about drifters and explorers. These characteristics of “new” and “old” tourists will be pointed out later in part 2.4.3. Alternative tourism determines new forms of tourism such as adventure tourism, nature tourism, etc. This new kinds of tourism are favoured by these “new tourists” (Poon, A. 1993) and it is often highlighted that it is precisely these forms of tourism that provide greater opportunities for sustainable development. It is also often suggested that traditional form of mass tourism are inherently sustainable (Shaw, G. and Williams A. M. 2002). Moreover, the rapid growth of global tourism industry, involving a high number of mass tourists and a relatively low number of alternative tourists (drifters and explorers), pose the problem to achieve sustainability in tourism (France, L. 1997). This point will be discussed later in this chapter, in the part 2.4.
This typology has its own limits and the categorisation of the tourists to belong to one group or another is sometimes unclear. Indeed, non-institutionalized tourists have normally no contact with the tourism industry, but if an explorer buys a specialist guide book to travel for example, he does not enter in this category anymore (Sharpley, R. 1999). The author assumes that this classification was maybe more right during the previous decades than now, where the tourism industry becomes over-developed and proposes always a new diversified offer for every kind of holidaymakers.
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Page and Connell (2006) acknowledges a weakness in this type of classification because it does not take into account the increasing diversity of holidays undertaken and the different locations chosen.
Plog (1972) recognizes three main groups of tourists: the allocentric, corresponding to the drifter and explorer define by Cohen (1972), the mid-centric referring to the individual mass tourist of Cohen and the psychocentric, the organised mass tourist of Cohen. Allocentrics are tourists who seek adventure on their holidays and are prepared to take risks. They prefer more exotic destinations and travel independently. At the other extreme are psychocentrics; they are not adventurous and would prefer destinations remaining to them their home environment.
In between those two
extremes, it exists categories such as near-allocentric, mid-centric or nearpsychocentric. Similarly, Plog’s typology has its own limits and can be difficult to apply considering that the tourist behaviour can change in time. In other words, a person can be allocentric at certain stages of his life and become more mid-centric at other stages.
According to Shaw and William (2002), such typologies remain useful in spite of their limitations. They enable one to highlight the broad diversity of tourists and intend to understand them regarding demand and consumption. Moreover, they are useful regarding the information about tourist behaviour and motivations. Finally, they provide information regarding “the relationship between tourist consumption and the socio-cultural fabric of destination areas” (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. M. 2002: 84).
Nowadays, tourists are becoming more quality conscious and are demanding for more specialized, tailor-made forms of holidays to satisfy their new needs and expectations. Therefore, the tourism market proposes today a wide range of different products aim to satisfy a broad target: adventure, sport, exotic trips for example have been added to the range of package holidays.
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Nevertheless, the package holiday production process following the Fordist model remains very popular and used. The price is the most important factor in mass market holiday purchasing. It remains the dominant factor in the decision-making process to purchase a package holiday. And customer doesn’t hesitate to pay less its trip to the detriment of its comfort. (Sharpley, R. 1999)
“The mass tourist is simply an individual who purchases the mass tourism product, a product supplied by the mass tourism industry” (Sharpley, R. 1999: 117)
2.2.6 A shift in mass tourism
The mass package holiday of the 1960s and 1970s is gradually being replaced by a more individual way to conceive tourism. The customer expects a tailor madeproduct which matches with its needs and expectations. Self-catering holidays, flydrive packages or special interest holidays (health, sport, nature, etc.) become more popular (Sharpley, R. 1999). This involves a change in customer demand and an emerging new tourism consumer culture. Faced with these arguments, the author makes assumptions: the mass tourism pattern has probably changed since the emergence of mass tourism in the 1950s. Mass tourists has been categorised as tourists who bought package holidays during a long time.
But today, their expectations have changed and they look for more
individualized type of holidays. So, can these tourists always be considered as mass tourists or no, if the only feature which categorised them disappears? It appears that nowadays, the only significant feature that characterizes mass tourism is the large scale-number of tourists in the same place.
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2.3 Impacts of mass tourism
2.3.1 Introduction
Since the 1960s, mass tourism is the subject of criticism for its negative impacts around the world. Many books point out mass tourism’s potentially destructive impacts on societies, culture and environment. Many authors condemned and still condemn this mass consumption and those who enjoy it. Actually the debate over the advantages and the disadvantages of tourism has raged incessantly and will continue. Tourism development in many places, and especially mass tourism, has led to deterioration in environment quality. In the 1960s, the effects of mass tourism and the increasing awareness of the human impacts on the environment led to a general state that nature is not an inexhaustible resource.
2.3.2 The different types of impacts
The diversity of tourism’s impacts can be grouped into three main categories: economical, sociocultural and environmental (Mieczkowski, Z. 1995). Afterwards, many other impacts exist but roughly, they can be included in those three categories.
Among the three impacts, it obviously the economical effects of tourism which played a dominant role until the 1960s. Tourism is often considered as a valuable component of economical development. The most important benefits are income creation and employment generation. For many regions or countries, tourism is the most important source of welfare. But with the focus on the economical benefits obtained by the tourism industry, the “noneconomic” impacts namely sociocultural and environmental where almost totally ignored until the two or three last decades.
“Environmental costs were
disregarded because nature was viewed as an inexhaustible renewable resource” (Mieczkowski, Z. 1995: 5).
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Since the 1960s, there has been a growing environmental and social consciousness leading to take more the costs on the environment into consideration: tourism causes not only positive impacts but some negative as well.
The author would like to point out that the present dissertation will focus only on the environmental impacts of tourism to fit with the aim and the research question of the dissertation.
2.3.3 Environmental impacts: definition of the notion “environment”
Before determining these environmental impacts, the notion of environment which the author refers to has to be defined. The notion of environment is very broad. Mieczkowski (1995:7) gives a general definition: it is “the totality of all external conditions, both physical and human, in which an organism, a person, a group of people, a society, or humanity as a whole, is living”. It is not the definition that the author will take into account to highlight the mass tourism’s environmental impacts. These impacts will be evaluated according to a scientific approach of the notion environment namely natural environment or nature.
2.3.4 Relation between environment and tourism
Today, one can assist to a high degree of sensibility for the natural environment. The reason is that tourism is the only economical sector that offers natural environment as a very important part of its product. In other words, the natural environment is a key element of the tourism activity. Krippendorf (1982:136) said “the landscape is the real raw material of tourism; it is the reason for the existence of tourism as well as its economic driving force”. It highlights the fact that tourist product quality is linked with environment quality. This highly dependence between tourism and environment is often used as basic argument to make the tourism industry aware about the negative impacts of mass tourism on the environment.
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The environment constitutes a tourism resource and has to be considered as a part of the tourism product because no other economical sector is so vitally and directly affected by environmental quality (Mieczkowski, J. 1995).
This close relationship or interdependence between tourism and environment, Mieczkowski (1995: 112) defines it as “the environmental part of tourism” (Fig. 2.4).
Figure 2.4: Relationship between Tourism product and Environment.
Tourism Product
human attractions, tourism infrastructure
Environment
environment as part of tourism product “environmental part of tourism”
environment not used as tourism resource
Source: Mieczkowski, J., 1995: 58.
Multiple surveys confirm the hypothesis that the quality of natural environment constitutes “the primary factor that attracted the present-day tourist” (WTO, 1983: 28). So, if tourism wants to survive, it seems imperative to reach this harmony between people and nature. It is the only way to minimize the costs of tourism on the environment and permit the tourist to enjoy undisturbed nature. (Mieczkowski, J. 1995) This “symbiotic relation”, term used by Budowski (1976) has a name, it is sustainable tourism, concept discussed later in part 2.4.
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2.3.5 Benefits and costs of mass tourism on the environment
All the environmental impacts due to tourism activity cannot be imputed only to mass tourism. Mass tourism is a distinctive form of tourism, concentrated in time and in space. In addition, the fact that mass tourism takes place by definition in small areas; it cannot be responsible of the whole tourism industry environmental impacts. Nevertheless, Shaw and Williams (2002) acknowledge that, as the environmental pressures and costs of mass tourism are temporally and spatially variable, they can be exacerbated by concentration in particular spaces and times. 2.3.5.1 Negative environmental impacts of mass tourism Mass tourism creates intense environmental pressures due to the fact that such activity involves a large number of tourists in small areas. Moreover, those pressures are accentuated by the temporal polarization of mass tourism (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. 2002).
Hudman and Jackson (2003) acknowledge that coastal resorts are a good example of changing preexisting forms associated with both the human and physical environment. In Spain, for example, several coastal villages have been changed rather dramatically in the past few years. Travel posters of the area usually highlight the area as it was before tourism. Yet, with the growth of mass tourism, the scattered villages of Torremolinos, Benidorm or Lloret del Mar, and other small villages are no longer recognizable.
Lloret de Mar, was among the first in Europe to be
developed for mass tourism (Telegraf.co.uk, 2001). More recently, the development of transport facilities such as airlines have permitted to those places to attract still more tourists.
For example, since the arrival of Ryanair, the low cost airline
company, at Gerona airport, the town of Lloret de Mar has become far more accessible, especially to those who maintain a strict travel budget (Shelteroffshore).
Mass tourism has a range of impacts of all types on natural environment (e.g. coastal, mountains or inland) but also on built environments (e.g. historic sites or cities).
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Mass tourism leads to the direct degradation, pollution, even destruction of elements (air, soils, geology, vegetation, water and wildlife) and ecosystems (coastal, mountains, inland and polar) (Mieczkowski, Z. 1995). The main causes are the construction of tourist facilities such as hotel complexes, theme parks and marinas and the concentration of tourists in the same place.
The simplest way to view such environmental impacts is to consider mass tourism within specific environments. Coastal areas are especially vulnerable to mass tourism because they represent the most desirable places to spend vacation. In some places such as the Mediterranean, there has been widespread destruction of the ecosystems. It is the marine ecosystem which supports and is affected by mass beach tourism, especially concentrated during the high season (from June to August). The summer months have most sun and they include the longest school holiday period when families take their main vacation. The marine ecosystems suffer from garbage disposal by hotels and littering by tourists, oil spills from cruise ships and other motorized boat traffic, etc. (Mieczkowski, Z. 1995). All the construction of tourism facilities required for mass tourism in coastal areas affects the beach in any ways. Infrastructures are required to cope with the large volume of consumers in a short period of time (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. 2002).
Mountain landscapes are the second major environment where tourism impacts tend to be especially prominent. After the coastal ecosystems which attract each year million of tourists, mountains are the second most popular ecosystem to tourist (Price, L. 1981). This is particularly true in the Alps where the exploitation of landscapes by infrastructures such as hotels, ski-lift or cable cars, for mass winter sport tourism has had many impacts. In Europe, two of the most popular regions attracting mass tourism are the Alps and the Mediterranean, both of which contain highly sensitive ecosystems (European Environment Agency, 1998).
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According to Eckholm (1976), mountains ecosystems have been ignored so long compare to others natural areas.
Tourism has played a significant role in the
development and the interest of these spaces. All the actors of winter tourism such as skiers, hikers or snowmobilers let the print of their visits on the natural environment. As in coastal areas, the problems of pollution and waste treatment are increasing as visitor pressures grow. In the Alps for example, there are difficulties in disposing of rubbish and improper disposal of human waste cause pollution (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. 2002).
Finally, it is important to point out that mass tourism’s pressures are not only exerted on natural environment but many sensitive built environment, such as historical places suffer of this mass activity. Places like Venice are often given as example because it represents probably one of the most sensitive urban environment as well as being a leading city tourism environment (Van der Borg, J. 1998). The authors would like to give his point of view according to his personal experience regarding the city of Barcelona or Granada in Spain. It could be also a good example of mass tourism activity on built environments. Some historical places of Barcelona such as monuments of Gaudi (the Güell Park, the Sagrada Familia or the Pedrera) are totally overcrowded most part of the year and suffer of the mass tourism activity. It is exactly the same for “the Alhambra” in Granada where tourist restrictions have had to be implemented to limit the impact of mass tourism on the spot.
When the volume of tourists exceeds the capacity of an environment, then the overcrowding occurs and it is a real problem.
Firstly, the impacts on the
environment are multiplied such as erosion (especially of the beaches). Then, the capacity of the visitor to appreciate the destination and enjoy the place might be spoiled.
But one of the main environmental issues at a world scale is global warming and climate change. In one hand, this destructive phenomenon affects greatly the tourism industry (e.g. the rising sea level). In other hand, tourism, including mass tourism, can be considered as a direct responsible of the climate change especially due to the
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negative impacts of tourist transportation. According to the current forecasts for tourism activity, by 2050 tourism is expected to see its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions rise from it current 3% to 7%. Climatic change appears as the most important environmental, economical and social issues to which the planet have to face with and it is very likely the most environmental problem of the twentieth-first century.
The table 2.2 summarizes the main mass tourism’s impacts on the environment.
Table 2.2: Main environmental mass tourism’s impacts.
Main environmental impacts of mass tourism: •
Air pollution due especially to vehicle emissions, air tourism traffic and use of fossil energies for heating by hotels and restaurants.
•
Damage to sites through trampling - soils compaction due to concentration of tourists in the same place, in small areas.
•
Erosion due especially to the construction of tourism facilities (vehicle movements or excavations).
•
Destruction of vegetation due to trampling (tourists and motorized transportation like snowmobiles) or deforestation for tourism facilities construction.
•
Water pollution through sewage or fuel spillage and rubbish from pleasure boats.
•
Water pollution through improper disposal of human waste by hotels and restaurants.
•
Littering.
•
Disturbance of wildlife or wildlife habitats destruction.
Source: adapted from Shaw and Williams (2002) and Mieczkowski (1995).
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2.3.5.2 Positive environmental impacts of mass tourism
The damaging aspects of tourism, including those of mass tourism are significant and deserved to be highlighted. However, one has to recognize that positive impacts may be gained from tourist activity. According to Doswell (1997), “tourism can focus attention on significant environmental issues and stimulate initiatives to conserve and enhance the environment” (Page, S. J. and Connell, J. 2006: 383). Tourism industry can contribute to the conservation of historical buildings for alternative uses. Indeed, former historical buildings can be modernized to form a new visitor attraction and tourism may provide the financial means to restore or maintain those historical buildings in an appropriate way.
2.3.6 A solution to cope with mass tourism’s environmental impacts
Weaver (1991) suggests three ways to cope with the negative impacts of mass tourism. Firstly, “staggering of holidays in time, space and product”. Stagger in time involves that each country has to start with a national solution to tackle the problem. Staggering in space suggests offering new areas and new destinations to the holidaymakers. Finally, staggering in product means to promote new tourist products such as alternative tourism (ecotourism, sport tourism, adventure tourism, smaller-scale tourism, etc.). People are becoming less and less interested in group tourism and look for a personalized product with high degree of novelty. Then, Weaver proposes to “educate” tourist to be more aware and respectful about environment and values. Much of the research into tourism tries to highlight some new ways in which tourism may be more sustainable. The problem is that many developing countries cannot afford to be environmentally aware because tourism represents a vital source of income (Sharpley, R. 1999). But it is not the case for European countries which are the references in term of mass tourism.
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Many environmental impacts resulting from tourism, and especially mass tourism, have been acknowledged. At the respect that environment is the foundation of the tourist industry (Farrell, B. H. and Runyan, D. 1991), it has to be preserved against all negative impacts. Faced with the significance of the impacts of tourism, concern about the quality of the environment and the future of the tourism industry begin to emerge. Increasingly wide recognition of the negative environmental effects of tourism activity has led to a focus on alternative forms of tourism.
But the word “alternative” poses the
question of “alternative to what” (Page, S. J. and Connell, J. 2006). Most of the authors agree that it refers to an alternative to mass tourism. The principle which underlies this focus is sustainable development; regarding to tourism, it is sustainable tourism. Nevertheless, mass tourism destinations continue to exist and still attract thousands of tourists each year. According to Page and Connell, (2006), alternative tourism does not have to be seen as “an alternative” to mass tourism but more as finality or a direction to evolve toward.
Faced with the high holiday participation rates in all Developed Countries and the increase in the journeys of different duration (short-break, long holiday, etc.), Vanhove (1997) concludes his chapter about the benefits and the costs of mass tourism by: “Mass tourism is here to stay and has to be accepted”. All the previous forecasts and the next give him certain credibility. The way which mass tourism can evolve toward a more responsible tourism will be discussed now with the support of Mieczkowski, (1995) who acknowledges that a balanced and sustainable environment is essential for the survival of tourism.
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2.4 Shift in mass tourism: from mass tourism to sustainable tourism “The crisis of the tourism industry is a crisis of mass tourism” (Poon, A. 1993: 3). 2.4.1 Introduction Faced with the negative impacts of mass tourism, tourism industry is today confronted with the emergence of new forms of tourism such as alternative tourism (adventure, nature, cultural, etc.) (Fig. 2.5). Many authors get along to say that mass tourism affects greatly the environment and suggest evolving towards new form of tourism more responsible and sustainable to preserve the environment. Control the volume of tourism in order to alleviate the situation, especially regarding the fragile environment such as mountains and coasts is one of the solutions suggested by Wheeler (1991).
Always to match as better as possible with the dissertation concern, this part will deal with the emergence of new forms of tourism, but a shift of tourist behaviour view is adopted here. Even if notions such as sustainability are relevant with the topic and would have deserved to be explained in-depth, the focus here is to point out the relation between mass tourism and alternative tourism.
2.4.2 Emergence of new forms of tourism: alternative tourism
Increased interest in alternative forms of tourism is perceived as a response to the exploitation associated with mass tourism. Indeed, the emergence of more sensitive form of tourism aims to minimize the environmental costs of tourism and maximise the benefits appears like the new way. It has been given many different names to these new forms of tourism: responsible, soft, green (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. 2002) but the most useful is “alternative tourism”. The major characteristics of alternative tourism are shown in Table 2.3 and contrasted with those of mass tourism (France, L. 1997).
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Table 2.3: The major characteristics of alternative tourism.
Mass Tourist Large Firms Large-scale Multinational hotel chains Rapid development often without planning Multinational decision making Effects/impacts ignored Fuel effective transport Resorts space-efficient
Alternative Travellers Independent, specific operators Small-scale Small-scale accommodation Slow and controlled development Local decision making Minimize negative effects Often ineffective fuelwise
sustainable
Appropriate scale
Planned-pace may not matter Local decision making Growth at agreed price
Source : Lane 1990, Wheeler 1990, Heritage Coast 1992 in : France, L. 1997:16.
Regarding alternative tourism, small numbers of individuals are preferred to group of tourists. Moreover, this form of tourism involves a slow and controlled growth of the activity to avoid damage on the natural environment. These factors contrast with the rapid growth of large-scale development of mass tourism.
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Figure 2.5: An overview of tourism. TOURISM Involves short term travel to and from a destination
MASS TOURISM
ALTERNATIVE TOURISM
Traditional or conventional tourism
Specific interest or responsible tourism
Large numbers of tourists usually in staged settings
Small numbers of tourists in authentic natural or cultural settings
Natural
Cultural
tourism in natural areas
heritage religions
adventure nature based wildlife ecotourism
Event
Other
farm educational
sports festivals
emphasis on activity primarily viewing on natural landscape primarily viewing on wildlife includes educative and conservation supporting elements
Source: Newsome D., et al. 2002 : 11.
Tourism in general, as shown in the figure 2.5, includes either mass or alternative tourism.
Mass tourism is characterised by a large number of people seeking
replication of their own culture in institutionalized settings with little cultural or environmental interaction in authentic settings. Alternative tourism is referred to a special interest tourism (cultural, event, adventure, etc) or responsible (natural tourism such as ecotourism). This form of tourism places emphasis on greater contact and understanding between hosts and guests as well as between tourists and
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environment (Smith and Eadington, 1992). Thus alternative tourism can be viewed as a synonymous of the concept of sustainable tourism.
To distinct these different forms of tourism can be complicated. An attempt to clarify this situation is made diagrammatically in figure 2.6, which shows the major types of tourism and their variants. Figure 2.6: Major types of tourism and their variants.
ALTERNATIVE
ADVENTURE
ECOTOURISM
NATURE COMMUNITY
MASS
Source: France, L. 1997:17.
Croall (1995) condemns the attitude of tourists who continue to demand traditional types of holidays in large numbers and all the actors engaged in this mass industry to support and encourage mass tourism by creating obstacles to the spread of alternative tourism. Nevertheless, tourists needs and expectations evolve and change and the growing interest for the environment and the awareness to preserve the future, together with a growing demand for different travel experience could let think that the growth of new types of “alternative” tourism and a search for more sustainable options is possible.
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2.4.3 Shift in the tourist behaviour
The notion of flexibility is very important in the emergence of these new forms of tourism more sustainable and responsible. It involves flexible consumers but also flexible holiday production process, including flexible services, flexible producers, etc.
According to some authors, more individualised and flexible forms of tourism are gaining in importance, and mass tourism itself tends to stagnate or even decline. These new forms of tourism represent a trend towards post-Fordist forms of consumption and production, where tourism products become specialised, individualised, flexible and small-scale. (Bramwell, B. 2004)
Bramwell (2004) defines this new tourist as post-Fordist tourist. They are considered as wealthier, better educated, and more interested in discovering new environment. Moreover the choices of holidaymakers become diversified and they pay more attention to their interests.
Alternative tourism can satisfy their expectations.
Internet and the development of ITC have encouraged more tourists to self-package their trip components according to their needs and their expectations. New consumers are very different from the old. These differences are summarized in figure 2.7. Old tourists, in other words mass tourists, were homogeneous and predictable.
Indeed, they purchased standardised product and felt secure when
travelling in numbers. Now, they look for novelty and a real individual specific travel experience. New tourists, including contemporary mass tourists, want to have the control of their holidays with a high decision power. Individuality becomes essential. Moreover, the motivations to travel have changed: for old tourists, travel was a novelty and the occasion to escape from the routinization of home and work; for new tourists, vacation is an extension of life. New tourists are better educated and more aware regarding the environment. Environment and host culture become key components of the trip. It was not the case for mass tourists. Sunbathing was a predominant activity for old tourists, among visiting attractions without real interests or dinning in the hotel room. For
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new tourists, sun is still a necessary factor in the vacation but it is not sufficient to satisfy their expectations. They have special interests, like adventure, to be active and meet local population (France, L. 1997).
Figure 2.7: The new consumer.
CONSUMERS
Old
New
Inexperienced
Mature
Homogeneous
Hybrid
Predictable
Spontaneous
Sun-lust
Sun-plus
Get sunburnt
Keep clothes on
Security in numbers
Want to be different
Superiority
Understanding
Escape
Extension of life
Source: Krippendorf 1987, Poon, 1987 in France, L. 1997:51.
Poon (1987) summarizes the features of news tourists in six key attributes: 1) They are more experienced: more travel experience, more quality conscious, better educated, more adventurous and special interests. 2) They have changed values. They look for real and authenticity, appreciate the different such as meeting foreign culture. 3) They have changed lifestyles: flexible work hours allowing short break, more disposable income, more free time and travel take part of the lifestyle. 4) They are products of changed demographics: changing age, status (single, couple).
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5) They are flexible: spontaneous, unpredictable, less holiday planning and changed booking behaviour. 6) Finally, they are independent-minded: to differ from the other and take risk.
To conclude, the development of new tourism has attracted new tourists and alternative tourism become popular. Many existing and new tourism destinations wish attracting a small number of high-spending tourists. Mass tourism is associated with low-spending, high-volume tourism. This raises the question “Is sustainable tourism for the elite only?” (Page, S. J. and Connell, J. 2006: 401). From here, other hypotheses can be pointed out: does alternative tourism economically affordable for traditional mass tourist?
Is the price a key element in the choice of a mass
destination? Or more generally, which are the mains factors that influence the decision-making process regarding mass tourism destination? Finally from another aspect, is not there a risk to attract low-spending high-volume tourism in promoting alternative tourism, which means promoting less exploited areas, environmentally sensitive, etc.?
2.4.4 Sustainability and mass and alternative tourism
A wide range of books confirm the fact that mass tourism is less sustainable than “alternative” tourism, especially regarding its negative environmental impacts. Alternative tourism matches more with the principles of sustainability if one considers the small-scale numbers of tourists required.
Poon (1993) makes a link between growth of tourism and sustainability and proposes a new form of tourism. “New tourism is a phenomenon of large-scale packaging of non-standardized leisure services at competitive prices to suit the demands of tourists as well as the economic and socio-environmental needs of destinations” (Poon, 1993: 85). And this kind of tourism can exist if the following conditions are combined: •
Holidays become a flexible product and can be purchased at prices that are competitive with mass-produced holidays.
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•
Economies of scales are not the driving forces of the travel production and tourism-related services anymore.
•
The customer becomes a key element in the tourist product production process that means that the production is now driven by customer’s requirements.
•
An evolution is operated from mass-marketed holiday for an undifferentiated customer towards individual-marketed holiday. The holiday is consumed on a large-scale, but from now, by tourists who are more experienced travellers. They are more educated and aware about environmental issues and they are independent and flexible regarding tourist destinations.
•
A change in the customer behaviour who consider now the environment and the culture as a key element of his journey.
Poon (1993) acknowledges that tourist destinations have to consider the environment as the main element for their strategies if they want to evolve toward the development of a new and more sustainable tourism. It is the most important step and involves building a responsible tourism, fostering a culture of conservation in developing tourist awareness regarding the risks incurred by the environment. Then it involves developing an environmental focus by tackling environmental problem, solving it and then exporting the solution, like ecotourism.
2.4.5 Shifts in the mode of production; the end of the mass tourism pattern
There has been a major shift in the tourism industry, especially in the nature of tourism consumption and production. In fact, mass tourism is stagnating, even declining while other new forms of tourism more individualised and flexible such as alternative tourism meet a growing interest and a rapid growth. The table 2.4 highlights this shift between mass tourism and alternative tourism.
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Table 2.4: Comparison between mass and alternative tourism.
Mass tourism
Alternative tourism
Power is in the hands of producers
Power is in the hands of consumers
High scale tourism flows in same places
Small scale tourism flows in different
“Massifacation” (Michael Hall, C. and places. Lew, A. A., 1998).
No “massifacation”.
Source: Author’s presentation – adapted from Michael Hall, C. and Lew, A. A. 1998.
This raises the question of the evolution from mass tourism toward sustainable tourism. Before concluding on this part, it is important to notice that new forms of tourism are not always alternative. In other words, some “new” forms of tourism represent sometimes new forms of mass tourism. One example can be given: mega-events such as Olympic Games which gather thousands of people. Regarding the coexistence between mass tourism and other forms of tourism, Hall and Lew (1998) assert that it has always existed, even in the 1960s and 1970s but mass tourism was often only marginally the dominant form of tourism in many or even most European Region at least. The supposed shift away from mass tourism could have been exaggerated according to the author’s in a way of the early demise of mass tourism is based on analyses of northern European markets where the phenomenon has started an half century ago. These analyses ignore the potential for the growth of mass tourism within the domestic markets of southern Europe and especially within Central and Eastern Europe (Hall, 1995). Moreover, Shaw and Williams (2002) add that for example Europe was the principal winter skiing focus in the 1980s but this market become static and there is also important mass winter tourism market in North America. If Europe was the first destination regarding mass tourism, things have changed since few years and there is today mass tourism destination as attractive as Spain all over the world.
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2.4.6 Conclusion
Mass tourism is seen as a destructive tourism and the volume, the huge numbers of people involved, is critical. Alternative tourism is seen as the solution not only to maximise the benefits and minimize the costs of tourism but simultaneously to ensure an equitable and just distribution of these costs and benefits. For that, the traveller is preferred to the tourist, the individual to the group, and independent specialist operators to large multinational hotel chains. Responsible tourism has grown as a reaction to mass tourism and its negative effects on the environment. According to Poon (1987), it remains to educate the tourist in destination awareness to reach the goal.
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2.5 Tourist behaviour and decision-making process; adapted to mass tourism
2.5.1 Introduction
The understanding of tourist’s motivations and decision-making process is very important for many reasons, especially to market and promote a destination (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. M. 2002). It enables the identification of market segmentation and target marketing. The authors acknowledge that the image of a destination and the manner in which this destination is promoted play an important role in the tourist decision-making process.
Moreover, the tourist travel market being extremely
competitive, especially within the area of mass tourism, and the market being highly segmented, to understand tourist’s motivations and how they choose a type of holiday and a destination remain crucial for the tourism industry sellers.
2.5.2 The tourism demand
According to Page and Connell (2006), to define the concept of “demand” is complex and often depends on the disciplinary perspective adopted by the researcher. Many perspectives exist but only two deserved to be pointed out in the case of the present work: the economical and the psychological approach. Indeed, while the economist examines the tourist propensity to buy tourism products or services, psychologist approaches tourism demand with a particular focus on motivation and behaviour. Those two approaches appear interesting to determine the reasons which can push individual to choose mass tourism instead of another form of tourism, often more responsible about the environment. It will probably permit one to draw up an accurate profile of the mass tourist providing that there is sufficient information regarding this topic in the literature review.
First of all, the influences on tourism markets can be divided into two groups according to Burkart and Medlik (1981).
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In one side, they talk about the “determinants”, which refer to the exogenous factors, in other words external factors, which shape the general demand for tourism: economical factors, social and demographical factors, environmental factors, technological factors, etc. In other side, the authors point out the “motivations”, which refer to the personal factor that directly affect the individual choice and needs regarding tourism. Those motivations are influenced by internal aspects (personality, perceptions, etc.) or external ones (culture, age, gender, etc.).
According to Sharpley (1999: 132), “tourism demand is the outcome of tourists’ motivation”.
2.5.2.1 Factors influencing tourism demand
Three main factors can be pointed out influencing demand from the touristgenerating area, out of motivation concern. They are economical, social and political determinants. From an economical point of view, disposable incomes represent the most obvious variable influencing tourism demand. There is a close relationship between incomes and tourism expenditures. Indeed, Page and Connell (2006) name this relationship “demand elastic” to refer to the sensitivity of the tourist about a price rise. It can be understood that when the price of a tourist product rises, the demand reduces, and similarly, if the income rises and the price remains the same, the demand increases. Moreover, the distribution of incomes according to the country (Developed Countries, less Developed Countries, etc.) influences also the tourism demand. Obviously, a country where there is few wealthy and many poor households is likely to limit the proportion of people who can afford to travel, especially internationally. (Page, S. J. and Connell, J. 2006).
Regarding social determinants, demographic variables affect demand. Indeed, the age of a tourist can influence the type of travel product he will purchase or the destination he will choose. One can assume that young people with low disposable
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income for tourism activity will tend to prefer all-inclusive package holiday, typically representative of mass tourism. Demographic variables such as level of education (directly connected with personal income), family status (single, couple) can also influence tourism demand. Moreover, another social determinant is the growth of leisure time due to the reduction of working time. It has led to more free time available for leisure and has greatly increased the amount of time available for tourism activities and encourages tourism demand.
Finally another determinant influencing the demand for tourism is political. It refers to politic regarding government tax policies and control on tourist spending. Political restrictions such as visa requirement, war and case of civil strife can greatly influence tourism demand (Page, S. J. and Connell, J. 2006).
The figure 2.8 gives a general outline of the most relevant factors, internal and external to the tourist, which influence the decision-making process.
Figure 2.8: Factors influencing the holiday decision. Internal to the tourist
External to the tourist
Personal motivators
Availability of suitable products
Personality
Advice of travel agents
Disposable income
Information obtained (destinations, tourism organizations, etc.)
Health Family commitments
DECISION
Recommendation of friends or family (word-of-mouth)
Work commitments
Political restriction of travel
Past experience
Special promotions and offers from tourism organizations
Hobbies and interests The climate/destination or region Lifestyle
Source : Adapted from Swarbrooke, J. and Horner, S. 1999 : 74.
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From a motivation concern, several factors motivate consumers to buy tourism products. Swarbrooke and Horner (1999) split these factors in two different groups, namely: •
Those which motivate a person to take holiday.
•
Those which motivate a person to take a particular holiday to a specific destination at a particular time.
All the tourists are different; they have different needs and expectations, and so are the factors they are motivated by.
The authors acknowledge several factors determining tourist’s motivations: •
The personality
The personality of a mass tourist will be probably different than one of a holidaymaker who chooses adventure tourism. One can assume that the typical mass tourist will be more cautious in the way to plan his trip. To know the personality of the individual is essential: is he adventurous or cautious? Is he confident or timid? etc. •
The lifestyle
It is all the elements which characterize the tourist: live alone, in family or with friends. He is fashion; he is concerned about his health; he is fond of sport? He wants to meet new friends or he just wants to have rest alone? Etc. The question here is how does the tourist live? •
Past experience
Which kind of holiday the tourist had had before; good experience or not? •
Past life
It refers to the motivations linked with the nostalgia of past events in the life of the tourist.
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•
Perceptions
How do tourists perceive their own strengths and weaknesses? Whether these relate to their wealth or their skills. •
Image
How do they wish to be viewed by other people?
Moreover, it is important to notice that motivations can change all the time, depending of many circumstances such as: - To have child, or meeting a new partner. - An increase or reduction in income. - Health problems. - A shift in the tourist expectations or experience.
To conclude with this part, it can be assumed that the economical determinant appears as the most significant factor regarding the choice of a mass product or a mass destination by an individual or a group. Nevertheless one cannot assume that it is the only factor to take into consideration. Personal motivations as part of tourist behaviour remain extremely important.
2.5.2.2 Factors influencing demand in the tourist destination area
Similarly, the level of demand regarding a tourist destination is influenced by economical and political factors (Page, S. J. and Connell, J. 2006). Nevertheless, the tourist product itself is important and plays a key role in the choice of the destination. Among all the factors influencing the demand for a destination, again the price of the tourism product is essential. Like it has been said previously, there is a close relationship between price and demand. Higher prices result in lower demand and vice versa. For example, low price in Spain, especially for the sea and sun tourism, caused huge demand. It has been the case for UK tourists in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s according to Page and Connell (2006). Besides, it can be stated that today tourism in Spain is characterised by a mass tourism with low cost destination.
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So, price seems to be a key element in the decision-making process to choose a travel destination. If it is really true, it can be assumed that mass destinations which offer very competitive price remain very attractive for tourists.
2.5.3 Motivation and decision-making in tourism
According to Mill and Morrison (1985: 4), “the key to understanding tourism motivation is to see vacation travel as a satisfier of needs and wants”.
The
satisfaction of needs and wants pattern is clearly linked with individual choice and personal motivations.
Moreover many factors influenced those choices such as
finance, time but also gender, age, employment and from a psychological point of view, the personality of the tourist. According to Hall and Page (2002), the factors operating in the tourist decisionmaking process to select a specific form of tourism is largely within the field of consumer behaviour and motivations. Nevertheless, the starting point to understand tourist’s motivations is to study the decision-making process in tourism that influences which products a holidaymaker purchases (Page, S. J. and Connell, J. 2006).
Sharpley (1999) gives roughly the same definition and said that unless a trip or holiday is the result of an impulsive purchase, tourist make a choice regarding their personal needs and wants and then, the extent to which they perceive those needs will be satisfied by a special holiday or destination.
2.5.3.1 The decision-making process
Basically, the decision-making process regarding a tourist product involves several different stages. This process is roughly identical to the purchase of any goods. Firstly the consumer or the holidaymaker identifies a need. To satisfy this need, he will look for information to find the product able one to respond to his expectations: the product itself, its cost and where it can be purchased. Then the tourist will make a comparison between different products or offers he is interested in and the potential
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suppliers.
Finally, the holidaymaker will consume the product, will make a
judgement on the experience and maybe will repeat his choice for a future purchasing decision-making. process.
The figure 2.9 represents diagrammatically this
According to Page and Connell (2006), most models of consumer
behaviour reflect this basic outline.
Figure 2.9: Stages of the tourism demand process.
Stage 1 Felt need or travel desire
Stage 2 Information collection and evaluation
Stage 3 Travel decisions
Stage 4
Stage 5
Travel preparation and travel experience
Travel satisfaction and travel evaluation
Source: adapted from Mathieson, A. and Wall, G. 1982: 28.
For Page and Connell (2006), in tourism, the notion of “experiencing a destination” is very important in the decision-making process (stage 4, Fig. 2.9).
Indeed,
regarding tourism industry, the tourist becomes a consumer of a place or a culture, as well as a tourist product purchaser.
For Ryan (1998), in his empirical studies of UK tourists, he makes the same comment about the importance of tourist experience. For many holidaymakers, the “past experience” is important in making decisions about holiday purchase.
Nevertheless, many other factors influence this process.
Some of which the
consumer is barely conscious of and some of which he is completely conscious such as advertising, word of mouth, etc. Marketing, for example, plays a significant role in the tourism decision-making process.
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2.5.3.2 Push and pull factors
A review of literature often associates the notion of “motivation” with the terms of push and pull forces. Indeed, the idea is that people travel because they are pushed by their internal forces and pulled by external forces of the destination attributes. Push factors are those that shape the desire to travel; pull factors are those that influence which destination is selected (Page, S. J. and Connell, J. 2006).
The notion of pull and push factors is fundamental to understanding the role of motivation within the demand for tourism (Sharpley, R. 1999). Push factors are the needs and wants of an individual and lead to the decision to purchase holidays. Afterwards, the nature of those needs will determine the kind of holidays the tourist wants. Then, once the decision to purchase a particular type of holiday has been made, pull factors will determine which destination the tourist will choose. All the knowledge, information, images or perceptions of a specific holiday or destination represent the pull factors. For Goodall (1991:59), pull factors may be described as “destination specific attributes”: facilities, accommodation, specific characteristics of the destination, etc.
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Figure 2.10: The tourism decision-making process.
Expression of a need/want
Tourism demand process Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Factors: money or time constraints, values and beliefs,
Stage 4
Stage 5
etc.
Tourism decison-making process Translation of the need into motivated behaviour Choice of holiday and purchase motivation
motivation
Push factors
motivation Pull factors
Source: Author’s presentation.
While the decision to go in holiday is an outcome of personal motivation, the choice of a destination or a type of tourism is likely influenced by a set of constraints that the tourist is totally aware. The choice of a final destination is often limited by some factors such as constraints of time and money (some holidays can be too expensive or no time available for vacation) or characteristics of the destination (specific activities there), etc. The figure 2.10 represents diagrammatically the decision-making process in tourism, involving those constraints and the push and pull factors influencing the process.
To summarize about push and pull factors, Sharpley (1999: 136) acknowledges that “the motivation to satisfy needs, combined with personal preferences, pushes the tourist into considering alternative products; the final choice depends on the pull of alternative holidays or destination”.
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2.5.4 High involvement in purchase decision and high consumer commitment
According to Swarbrooke and Horner (1999), the behaviour of consumers purchasing tourism products demonstrates a high involvement in the process and high levels of commitment due to the nature of the products or services. It refers probably to the intangible nature of the product and if the tourist is ready to take some risk or not. According to Shaw and Williams (2002), “the tourist product is an experience rather than a good, and there is consequently no tangible return on the investment”. The consumer is actively involved in the holiday buying-process and will compare many alternatives before to choice.
This will means that the decision-making
process could take a long time period. The figure 2.11 shows the complexity of consumer involvement regarding the purchase of a tourism product.
Figure 2.11: The consumer involvement for a tourism product purchase
High levels of insecurity linked to intangibility High level of information search Tourism product The provider
The consumer
Considerable emotional significance Long-term decision Strongly influenced by other people High involvement in purchase decision High consumer commitment
Source: Adapted from Swarbrooke, J. and Horner, S. 1999 : 72.
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The risk taking is highly considered by the tourist regarding the choice of a type of holiday or a destination. The high level of insecurity linked to the intangibility is highly taken into account. It can easily be assumed that risks taken by those tourists who choose mass tourism are minors than those taken by tourists choosing sport tourism for example. And similarly, mass tourism destinations attract because they do not involve a high level of involvement and commitment for the consumer. Each component of the trip is carefully packaged (transport, accommodation, activities, etc.). Therefore, by choosing mass tourism as form of holiday, the consumer does not take so much risk, and will probably obtain exactly for the service he has paid. Urry (1995:143) acknowledges that « mobility depends upon the development of trust in professional experts who have developed systems of mass travel and transport which limit the risk involved ». It can be assumed that mass tourists are people cautious in their choices and take care to dismiss any risks purchasing a tourism product. This profile matches with the typology established by Cohen (1972; part 2.2.5).
This chapter of the literature review has investigated the concept of mass tourism: definition, mass tourist profile, etc.
Moreover, this part of the dissertation has
exposed the environmental impacts of mass tourism and has dealt simultaneously with the principles of alternative tourism and sustainability in tourism. Finally, the field of tourist behaviour and decision-making process regarding tourism has been investigated. The literature part has intended to deal with all the concepts inherent to the main research question. In the next chapter the methodological approach of the research will be considered in detail.
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Chapter 3 Methodology 3.1 Introduction
The following chapter describes the research methods used by the author for the dissertation, which involves both the use of primary and secondary research techniques.
To conclude the chapter, the author points out the limitations
encountered during the data collection process.
3.2 Secondary data collection
3.2.1 Secondary research
Secondary data allow one to discover what work has already been carried out and what fields have already been investigated (Finn et al. 2000) and they should always be studied before primary data collection takes place. These sources have been named secondary data because the researcher becomes the secondary user of the data.
Secondary data are very important and have to be investigated before starting to collect primary data to avoid collected information that already exists. Thomas and Nelson (1990: 48) note, “The purpose of the review is to demonstrate that your problem needs investigation and that you have considered the value of the relevant past research in developing your hypotheses and methods”. This research enables the researcher to avoid time consuming data collection if he is aware of available data and, above all, where to look for it. These researches provide various existing ideas and concepts from authors who have already investigated fields of research relevant for the researcher.
For the author, secondary data allowed him to shape the framework of his literature review but, above all, to know what to focus on, which means how to define the aim and objectives regarding the dissertation and, later, the kind of research to investigate. Long
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(2007) acknowledges that the particular focus may be suggested by a review of the literature. Then, the researcher has to intend to find a gap in the literature review, which involves identifying what is available and how the author can contribute to enrich the field through his researches. Finally, a literature review will allow the author to have good knowledge of the main ideas people have written about his topic.
The field of mass tourism, as well as the field of environmental impacts from tourism activity, is well documented and many concepts and ideas have already been pointed out by a number of authors. The literature review stage has contributed to defining more accurately the dissertation research question by defining a “gap” regarding environmental awareness in mass tourism.
Regarding the dissertation, secondary research explores three main fields. Firstly, a literature review on mass tourism gives a general overview about the concept to the reader. The second field explored by the author regards the environmental impacts of mass tourism. By choice, the others impacts have been disregarded. Moreover, a link with the concept of sustainability is made.
Finally, a literature review on tourist
behaviour and the tourist decision-making process is the subject of the third field investigated.
3.2.2 Secondary sources
Firstly, the author has collected data in various places, mostly university libraries namely Dalarna University Library in Borlänge, Sweden; Rey Juan Carlos University Library in Madrid, Spain and Bournemouth University’s Library in England. The majority of the data that the author refers to in his literature review derives from those places. Each time, a library catalogue has been a useful start to focus directly on research of the topic. However, it has the disadvantage of not having referenced articles and journals or chapters in a book, for example (Long, J. 2007). Moreover, because the literature review stage took place when the author was in Madrid, other relevant places for the research were visited such as El Instituto de Estudios Turísticos and La Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid.
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For the dissertation, secondary data have been collected from various sources. Obviously, the main ideas or concepts discussed in the literature review have been gathered from books. By ‘books’, the author refers to academic written documents published by authors considered as expert in the selected field and accessed via university libraries in Bournemouth, Madrid and Borlänge.
Moreover, some
information centres such as El Instituto de Estudios Turísticos in Madrid have their own library, with books in various languages. Hence, the author has been able to read and collect some interesting data relevant to his topic.
Secondary data have also been collected through journals and annals regarding tourism or travel research (e.g. Annals of Tourism Research on the Bournemouth University Library Portal). According to Finn et al. (2000), annals and journals are a rich source of information, firstly to seek information for topics and then to carry out a literature search.
Another source of information has been reports, folders and documents, often published by governmental bodies and tourism organisations (e.g. WTO, Turespaña). Moreover, the WTO is based in Madrid where the author spent a few months. Information has been gathered at locations and online with the internet being used by the author to conduct his researches, especially during the first stage of investigation. Nevertheless, the usual lack of reliability of information gathered on the internet has led to the author not really basing his secondary data on it. Long (2007) refers to the unknown quality of what is placed on the Web and advises not believing everything one finds there.
The internet has been useful for the author mainly when using the online libraries of Bournemouth and Börlange universities where almost all the academic books in the university libraries are available for online consultation, which is the same for journals, annals, etc. The Internet has been used for access to Google Schoolar, which is always online; this web search engine identifies academic outputs that fit the author’s specification and it has been revealed as a very practical tool for secondary data collection.
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The author has chosen to write his dissertation in English because it appeared relevant for the author to write in English for the universality of the language. Nevertheless, due to the fact that the author was in Madrid during the information research process, many Spanish sources have been considered by the author as useful, even if the process of analysis and interpretation took more time.
3.2.3 Secondary analysis
Once the researches had been conducted and the data collected, the phase that Finn et al. (2000) calls “re-working” was started. What this means is that the author will not only collect information regarding his topic and reproduce it in similar form but the data will also have to be re-worked to match with the author’s research objectives. To gather all the information, concepts and ideas is not so difficult, although it is time-consuming finding where to look for it. Hakim (1982) acknowledges that the phase of interpretation is essential regarding the secondary data analysis and this rework of data was conducted by the author for the present dissertation. Moreover, because the author has spent time in different non English-speaking countries writing the dissertation, a part of the data has been translated before interpretation.
3.3 Primary data collection
In contrast with secondary data, primary data is original data generated by new research using techniques such as surveys, interviews or observation (Finn, M. et al. 2000).
3.3.1 Survey method
Finn et al. (2000) acknowledge that there are essentially three main styles of research in the social sciences that researchers in leisure and tourism can use: survey, experimental or ethnographic methods. For the present dissertation, the author used the survey method, which best matched with the aim and objectives defined by him previously. “The survey requires a
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sample of respondents to reply to a number of questions that have been previously determined as relevant to the research” (Finn et al. 2000:4). Moreover, the survey allows one to make comparison between all the respondents by using the same questions for the selected sample, collected through a questionnaire. This kind of survey has the advantage of enabling one to collect a lot of information in a relatively short period.
A quantitative approach
There are two ways possible to conduct the survey method: a quantitative or a qualitative approach. Punch (1998) refers to quantitative as empirical research where the data collected are in the form of numbers and qualitative research is where the data are not in the form of numbers. The method selected for this dissertation is the quantitative approach. Indeed, the characteristics of this method matched better with the results that the author wanted to obtain with the survey. Here are the characteristics of the quantitative approach, according to Henderson (1990): •
Design characteristics: Pre-ordinate design.
•
Data: Measurement using data.
•
Setting: Impersonal, controlled and manipulative.
•
Relationship with theory: Confirming theory.
•
Process and procedure: Rational.
According to Smith (1995), surveys represent the most important source of information for tourism analysis, planning and decision-making. The normal survey tool is the questionnaire or interview. The questionnaire does not usually involve an interviewer because the respondent can complete the questionnaire on his or her own. An interview necessarily involves an interviewer who asks the respondents a list of questions. The purpose of the questionnaire is to obtain reliable and useful data on the subject being researched (Finn, M. et al. 2000).
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3.3.2 Data collection
Questionnaires can be used in several ways. Firstly, it might involve oral questions with the answers being filled in directly by the interviewer; as is the case for face-toface interviews or questionnaires via the telephone.
Questionnaires might be
administrated by post or through the internet and, in these cases, the answers are completed by the person being interviewed.
For his research survey, the author has chosen to use the method of face-to-face interviews with mass tourists. The tourists have been interviewed in a mass seaside resort, directly on the beach and its surroundings over two days, 5 th and 6th of August, 2008. Finn et al. acknowledge that face-to-face contact between respondent and researcher is one of the reasons for such surveys generating high responses rates. Indeed, in face-to-face interviews, the interviewer does not read merely his questions but tries to obtain the answer wanted through a discussion.
For the dissertation, the author selected Lloret del Mar, as one of the most representative places regarding mass tourism in Europe, to administrate his questionnaires. One significant feature of this place is the high rate of different nationalities represented. To facilitate the contact and in order to be as representative of the population as possible with the sample selected, questionnaires have been administrated in three languages: English, Spanish and the author translated the questions directly into French when the situation occurred.
The face-to-face
interview as a way of administering the questionnaire has been revealed as more relevant regarding the structure of the questionnaire and the need for information.
Piloting the survey
To pilot the survey means to administer the questionnaire on a small-scale to assess suitability and if the respondents understand the questions. This stage has been carried out in Bournemouth, which is a seaside resort situated in the south of England. This place was first selected by the author for the survey because it has
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been a mass tourism destination for a few decades but the phenomenon seems to have passed. When the author piloted his survey there, he found out that the resort did not match with mass tourism destination features anymore. As a result, the decision was taken to collect more relevant data by administering the questionnaire in Spain, in the large-scale seaside resort of Lloret del Mar.
3.3.3 Survey design
First, it is important to know that every survey must have a focus, which depends of the purpose of the research. Remaining aware of this focus will allow the researcher to avoid generating unnecessary and useless data (Finn, M. et al. 2000). Before dealing with the survey design, it is important to know what kind of information is needed. Hence, the survey design pre-supposes that the research questions have been defined previously. Moreover, the design and implementation of the questionnaire should follow the structure and appropriate review of the literature (Finn, M. et al. 2000).
The author has selected a ten-question structure for his questionnaire (see appendix A), with four more questions to define the profile of the respondents (gender, age, profession and nationality).
The questionnaire has been created with French
software for marketing studies, Sphinx. This software allows one to gain time to shape the questionnaire and to analyse it but it has the disadvantage of not allowing question scaling such as the Likert scales. Anyway, scales are difficult to analyse and the author judged that it is more relevant to adopt only closed questions with the advantage that closed questions are easy to analyse and quick to answer (Finn, M. et al. 2000). Taking into account that people on holiday do not like to be disturbed, the author has opted for a questionnaire that is short and easy to administer. Moreover, the ten questions were sufficient to collect the data needed. The author calculated a maximum of five minutes per tourist would be efficient and minimise disturbance to the respondents.
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With regard to the analysis of the data, the researcher has used Excel because the free version of Sphinx does not allow for analysing data. Finally, the results presented in the findings have been rounded, so it is normal to find some totals of 99% or 101%. To avoid collecting data that is useless, the author has carefully formulated his questions to accord with his need for information related to the literature review. It was necessary to obtain information enabling the author to verify or reject arguments exposed in this part. For that, theories have emerged as concepts and from concepts, hypotheses have been formulated.
3.3.3.1 Deduction: theories, concepts, variables and hypotheses •
Theories, concepts, variables
The most important issue is to intend to transform concepts regarding theories into variables, which can be measurable (Finn, M. et al. 2000). For example, one can take the concept of “tourist typology” discussed in the literature review with the classifications of Cohen (1972) or Plog (1973). Cohen’s theory shows that tourists are divided into four sub-groups namely individual and organised mass tourists, drifters and explorers.
These sub-groups have been defined and now can be
measured. The author takes one sub-group, the “organised mass tourist” and creates variables to define it: an organised mass tourist is a tourist who buys a package holiday. This dimension can now be turned into a variable to measure, for example, the frequency with which a mass tourist buys a package holiday. Question to measure the variable: Do you purchase package travel for your holidays? o Never o sometimes o often o always It allows to the author to know if the mass tourist buying process has changed regarding the theory of Cohen and it is likely to actualise the mass tourist profile.
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•
Theories, concept, hypotheses
The survey will be used deductively by testing hypotheses rather than inductively by looking for patterns in the data (Finn, M. et al. 2000). With the deductive approach, the author begins with the theory and then collects empirical data to analyse before either accepting or refuting theory (fig. 3.1).
This approach is associated with
quantitative data. Figure 3.1: The structure of the hypothesis testing approach to research Theory
Hypothesis
Data collection
Accept or reject hypothesis
Data analysis
Research findings
Source: Adapted from Finn, M. et al. (2000: 17).
From theories derive concepts. These concepts have to be defined before setting up hypotheses.
It is the aim of the literature review to define and discuss those
concepts.
There is a shift from mass tourism toward alternative tourism, which seems to becoming more popular. The theory of Page and Connell (2006) is that alternative forms of tourism wish to attract a small number of high-spending tourists contrary to mass tourism, which is associated with low-spending, high-volume tourism. This raises the question “Are responsible forms of tourism for the elite only?” Once the
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concept of alternative tourism has been investigated, one hypothesis can be that tourists who normally participate in mass tourism cannot to practice alternative tourism due to its high price. This could explain why mass tourism remains so attractive to the detriment of more responsible forms of tourism. Collect empirical data to test hypothesis Have you ever participated in “environmentally respectful” tourism such as nature tourism, adventure tourism or ecotourism? Yes/No If the answer is ‘no’, please indicate the reason below. o Not interested; o Too expensive. o Lack of information about this kind of tourism. o Other. The data collected will confirm or reject the hypothesis according to whether price is a key element in the tourist product buying-process. Then, it will be possible to know if mass tourists are interested by environmental forms of tourism or not and so assess their “environmental consciousness”. Moreover this question can be useful by helping the author to formulate some recommendations regarding alternative tourism.
Page and Connell (2006) acknowledge that there is a close relationship between incomes and tourism expenditure. Indeed, when the price of a tourist product rises, the demand reduces and, similarly, if income rises and the price remains the same, the demand increases. It is similar for the level of demand regarding a tourist destination. For example, low prices in Spain, especially for the sea and sun tourism, caused huge demand. By definition and once the different relevant concepts are explored, mass tourism involves the participation of large numbers of people in tourism (Sharpley, R. 1999; Vanhove, N. 1999) and Spain is associated with largescale seaside resorts (Page, S. J. and Connell, J. 2006). The hypothesis is that the price is a key element of the mass tourist decision-making process.
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Collect empirical data to test hypothesis Which components are the most important to you regarding the choice of your holidays? o The place o The price o The activities o Other Another time, if the price appears as the most quoted element, it will help to confirm the hypothesis that price is a key element in the mass tourist decision-making process regarding the choice of a destination.
Questions have been formulated especially by the author to draw up a mass tourist profile. Why do you choose this type of place for your holidays? o For the beach o For the attractions o For the facilities o For the price o For the general atmosphere o Other (please specify) Finally, to assess the environmental consciousness of mass tourists, the author has formulated specific questions such as: Does respect for the environment influence the choice of your holidays? Yes/No Or Do you think that this kind of holiday is respectful to the environment? Yes/No
3.3.4 The sample
The most distinguishing feature of surveys is probably the size of the sample, in other words the number of participants involved (Finn, M. et al. 2000). The sample is very important in surveys because the data collected have to be representative of the population. Research based on surveys is generally used to generalise from the sample to a larger population.
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The author has chosen to administer his questionnaires in Lloret del Mar, in Spain because it is one of the most known places in Europe regarding mass tourism. This place is almost always quoted as a reference for large-scale seaside resorts. Moreover, the environmental impacts of mass tourism activity are much more visible in places like Lloret del Mar than elsewhere, which made it an obvious choice for the author to investigate in order to obtain reliable and valid data to analyse. Sampling strategy involves some key issues, such as: •
Selecting an appropriate sampling method
•
Determining sample size
Sampling is merely a process of selecting participants for a research work in order to obtain a sample. As previously stated, the principal objective in sampling is to obtain a representative selection of the sampling units within the population (Finn, M. et al. 2000). The first question to ask is who the survey is to be directed at. Finn et al. (2000) recommend determining sampling units defining the target population. Sampling units do not necessarily refer solely to respondents but could be an organisation, a business, a geographical area, individuals, etc. Afterwards, to target individuals, the authors recommend using a sampling frame that is a listing of all known cases in a population (e.g. households, students, youth, etc.).
In the case of the dissertation, the sample is composed of all the tourists who participate in mass tourism activity. The location chosen is the mass seaside resort of Lloret del Mar but the actual location is not significant so long as it has mass tourism activity, in other words, where there is a large number of tourists. It is impossible to use a sampling frame as suggested by Finn et al. (2000) because the aim of the author is to interview everybody, providing that the person is considered as a mass tourist. Therefore, a mass seaside resort can be considered to represent the sampling unit of the survey but the author did not use a sampling frame to target his respondents because the population cannot be listed as a sampling frame. Finn et al. (2000) recommend thinking about this last question of whether the population can be listed as a sampling frame. If the answer is negative, the sample will be based on nonprobability techniques, which is the case for the dissertation.
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Basically, non-probability sampling means that not all people have an equal chance of being interviewed, which is often the case when individuals are interviewed at sources such as holiday resorts. Different forms of non-probability sampling exist and the author has chosen quota samples from among the range.
Finn et al.
(2000:118) acknowledge that this method tends to ensure “proportionate heterogeneity” of the sample. For the dissertation, the author has sampled using two variable dimensions in order to be as representative as possible by interviewing people based on the variables of age and nationality. Since many nationalities are represented in a seaside resort such as Lloret del Mar, the author intended to interview an equal proportion of different nationalities (mainly French, English, German and Spanish). In addition, the entire age range has been interviewed.
Finally, the author has estimated that a sample of 120 respondents was sufficient if one refers to the nature of the survey and the need for information. Finn et al. (2000) assert that if the purpose of the survey is to collect descriptive information about specific attitudes of visitors as a whole, a small sample is adequate. The main aim of the research is to determine if holidaymakers opting for mass tourism are environmental friendly, and if they are aware of the environmental impacts of mass tourism. Thereafter, questions have been formulated in order to determine whether mass tourists are willing to change their tourist behaviour. The research did not have other objectives and only collected descriptive information regarding mass tourist behaviour and their views on environmental issues.
3.4 Limitations of the research
3.4.1 Limitations of secondary data collection
Collecting secondary data is time consuming but collecting relevant data is much more so. During the secondary data research process, the author found that the existing literature about his topic was too general, which meant that the author found little existing documentation specific to mass tourism. Of course, the concept itself is well-documented but, beyond that, finding information about the environmental
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impact of mass tourism rather than the whole tourism industry, for example, was much more complicated. Many authors have written about the tourist decisionmaking process but rarely have they focused on mass tourists. To summarise, mass tourism is a part of tourism that is difficult to assess, in the opinion of the author. Nevertheless the author agrees that environmental consciousness in mass tourism, as the main focus of the dissertation, can be difficult to assess.
3.4.2 Limitations of primary data collection
Three main limitations have been noticed by the author during the survey. Firstly, the term “mass” has a negative connotation and the author has had to formulate carefully his questions to not seem condescending. The aim of the author was to assess the environmental consciousness of mass tourists but it was impossible to use the term “mass tourism” or “mass consumption” firstly in the questions and then during the interviews because of the negative image of the activity. Therefore, it has been difficult to find the right formulation regarding the question to obtain relevant information. Hence, it raises the question: were the respondents aware that the kind of tourism to which the author referred was mass tourism?
Then, mass tourism as tourism activity has a bad image. Moreover, nobody will openly admit that they do not care about the environment. One objective of the author was to understand firstly, if mass tourists were aware of the environmental impacts of mass tourism and, secondly, if they are conscious of it, why they continued to participate in mass tourism. It has been difficult to find appropriate wording to obtain this kind of information. The author could not ask directly “if you think that this kind of tourism is not environmental friendly, why do you continue to participate?” The author has had to modify his questions to obtain similar answers such as “if you think that this kind of tourism is not respectful to the environment, why do you think that holidaymakers continue to visit this kind of tourist spot?” Moreover, nobody likes somebody telling them that their behaviour is not “environmentally respectful”. For this reason, it can be assumed that the answers
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collected for this question are not totally relevant due to a lack of real sincerity from respondents about this topic.
Finally, holidaymakers are not very disposed to fill in questionnaires when they are on holiday. They are not freely available and they often do not appreciate somebody disturbing them when they are on holiday since the main reason to have a holiday is to escape from the “boredom and routine of everyday existence” (Shaw, G. and Williams, A. M. 2002:82).
For this reason, the author felt very uncomfortable
disturbing tourists for interviews at their holiday destination.
All the limitations above have encouraged the author to be careful when approaching tourists.
3.5 Conclusion
This chapter has given an insight into the research methods used for this dissertation. Secondary data collection has allowed the author to define more deeply his aim and objectives regarding the way to collect primary data.
Original data have been
generated by new research through a survey that the author carried out in the mass seaside resort of Lloret del Mar. Regarding this research, the author wants to point out that the data collected can be considered as reliable and relevant regarding the topic because the survey was carried out in a seaside resort considered as a reference point for mass tourism, during the month of August when tourist activity is at its peak.
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Chapter 4 Research findings 4.1 Introduction
This chapter aims to analyse the results obtained from the research in which the author carried out a survey in the mass seaside resort of Lloret del Mar on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The researcher administered 120 questionnaires. The aim of this chapter is to assess, through analysis of the results, the environmental consciousness of mass tourists. Indeed, the main research question is: “Are mass tourists environmental friendly?”
To deal with this main question, other sub-
research questions have been investigated during the research survey such as: “What is the profile of the typical mass tourist today? Which are the mains factors that influence the decision-making process regarding a mass tourism destination? Is alternative tourism considered as a potential choice by them or are they definitely followers of mass tourism?”
Throughout the literature review and according to the ideas and concepts of various authors, the author has expressed hypotheses regarding the different topics investigated, namely mass tourism, mass tourism’s environmental impacts and mass tourists’ decision-making process.
This chapter will confirm or reject these
hypotheses.
4.2 Results analysis
As explained in the methodology, for his research survey, the author sampled using two variable dimensions to be as representative as possible of the population. He has interviewed people considering the variables of age and nationality. Since many nationalities are represented in a seaside resort such as Lloret del Mar, he intended to interview an equal proportion of different nationalities (mainly French, English, German and Spanish). Additionally, the entire age range has been interviewed. Figure 4.1 shows the distribution of the 120 respondents regarding their ages and nationalities. The variable of sex did not appear very relevant due to the fact that it
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was often women who answered to the questionnaire. Even when the researcher interviewed a family, it was the mother who answered the questions. Therefore, because the sex of the respondent did not have significance in the case of this survey, the sex of the respondents has not been taken into consideration during the interviews.
Figure 4.1: Distribution of the respondents regarding their age and nationality.
Age of the respondents 34% 24% 22%
Under 25
25-40 years
40-55 years
19%
55+
Nationality of the respondents
10%
24%
23%
23%
20%
Spanish
French
English
German
Other
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
Lloret del Mar, as a mass tourism seaside resort, is a destination that attracts a lot of young people. This holiday spot is well-known for leisure time and night-life with a wide range of restaurants, bars, nightclubs, etc. For that reason, the proportion of people interviewed who were less than 25 years is more important because the researcher found that most people on the beach and its surroundings, where the questionnaires were administered, were young people. These young people visit this kind of mass destination with their friends. There were few seniors and not as many
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families as young people.
Figure 4.2 gives the distribution of the respondents
according to who accompanied them.
Four age groups were determined by the researcher previously to be a s representative as possible and in order to obtain relevant information. According to the author, the first age bracket “under 25” represents young people such as students, the second one “25-40 years” represents young adults starting out in life, “40-55 years” generally characterises families and people with experience of professional life, and the “55+” contains seniors or retired people.
Regarding the nationality of the respondents, they were mainly Spanish, French, German and English (fig. 4.1).
Other nationalities have been taken into
consideration in the survey, such as Belgian or Polish, but they were a minority. This confirms Pearce’s (1987) analysis, which showed that Spain was the main destination chosen by English and German tourists. In the past twenty years, French tourists have also become regular visitors to this type of mass destination. The number of Spanish respondents does not appear very relevant considering that the survey was carried out in their own country. Nevertheless, they visit this kind of mass tourist spot and analysis of their tourist behaviours had to be taken into consideration by the researcher.
Figure 4.2: Distribution of the respondents according to who accompanied them. Who did you come with?
3%
10% 13%
43%
31%
alone
spouse/partner
family
friend
other
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
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4.2.1 The mass tourist profile
The author assumes that all the persons interviewed in Lloret del Mar can be considered as mass tourists. The survey has showed that there is a high rate of repetition regarding mass tourists’ behaviour in their choice of holidays, which means that mass tourists are holidaymakers who can be considered as regulars of mass destinations. For 74% of the respondents, it is not their first visit to a mass seaside resort such as Lloret del Mar and almost half (40%) of them have spent their holidays in mass destinations for more than 5 years (fig. 4.3).
The mass tourist travel experience is roughly the same each year. They often spend their holidays in the same kind of places, often in the same destination.
This
corresponds with the definition of mass tourists given by Cohen (1972) in his typology. Cohen stated that mass tourists looked for familiarity and their tourist experience was planned, controlled and provided by mass tourism.
It can be
assumed that, if the holidaymakers interviewed in Lloret del Mar are regulars of mass destinations, it is to meet the need for familiarity and the results found in figure 4.3 confirm this. Mass tourists prefer the security of a familiar environment to avoid any risks because, by definition, mass tourists are not adventurous. Urry (1995) acknowledged that mass travel limited the risks involved for individuals so it can be considered that mass tourists look to minimise risks or all forms of decision-making, which is why they always choose mass destinations as holidays.
Figure 4.3: Frequency with which mass tourists visit mass tourist destinations.
Is it the first time that you spend your holidays in this kind of seaside resort?
26%
74% Yes
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If no, how many years have you been visiting these kinds of tourist spots?
35% 40%
2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years More than 5 years
9% 9%
6%
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
To continue with the mass tourists’ profile, the next results (figure 4.4) give information regarding mass tourists’ motivations. There are three main reasons why mass tourists visit seaside resort such as Lloret del Mar; the first reason is the beach. Since the 1950s, mass beach tourism has been the most common form of mass tourism and it is not surprising that 30% of the answers give the beach as their main motivation. The second reason is for the attractions, by which the researcher means bars, restaurants, night-life, etc. Since almost 60% of the respondents are less than 40 years old (figure 4.1) and it is precisely this age group that enjoy this kind of activity most, it is normal to have 27% of the respondents’ answer by stating that attractions are one of the reasons they visit a mass seaside resort. The general atmosphere is given as the third motivation and, as has been said previously, Lloret del Mar is a tourist spot well-known for its attractions, especially its night-life. It seems that the price or the facilities (transport, accommodation, etc.) do not represent the main motivations for mass tourists, at least for the respondents less than 40 years old. Indeed, for 28% of the respondents who are between 40 and 55 years old, price is one of the main motivations as well as the beach and the general atmosphere. This category did not quote the attractions as motivations.
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Figure 4.4: Motivations for visiting a mass seaside resort. Motivations for the general atmosphere
24%
for the price for the facilities
14% 5%
for the attractions for the beach
27% 30%
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
For many authors (Poon 1993, Vanhove 1997, Sharpley 1999), a package holiday is one of the main characteristics of mass tourism. Mass tourism has been defined as the movement of large numbers of people who have holidays through the purchase of a standardised and all-inclusive package. Mass tourism implies that the holiday is standardised, rigidly packaged and inflexible.
According to the results shown in figure 4.5, this feature of the mass tourist seems to have been changed because 80% of the respondents have stated that they purchase package holidays only sometimes or never. Today, mass tourists deal with all the components of their travel separately and do not deal necessarily with a tourism industry professional (e.g. travel agency) to organise their trip. Package holidays characterised the tourist behaviour of the “old” tourist defined by Poon (1993). Those traditional mass tourists were homogeneous and predictable and they purchased standardised products and felt secure when travelling in numbers. Today, “new” tourists want to have control with high decision power. Poon (1987) defines those new tourists, including contemporary mass tourists, as spontaneous, unpredictable, less holiday planning and changed booking behaviour. The results shown in figure 4.5 tend to confirm this shift in mass tourist behaviour regarding package holidays.
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Figure 4.5: Purchase of package holidays by mass tourists. Package holiday
10%
9% 44%
37%
never
sometimes
often
always
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
The mass tourist of the twenty-first century is different from the one of the 1950s. Indeed, fifty years ago, the typical mass tourist was easily recognisable and has been categorised by many authors (Cohen 1972; Poon 1993 etc.). Basically, a mass tourist was an individual who purchased a package holiday.
He or she chose mass
destinations with a large scale number of tourists, travelled alone or in a group and was very cautious about maintaining a familiar environment.
However, the traditional mass tourist has changed over the same time that society has evolved. Today, the mass tourist merges with other kinds of tourists and the features characterising mass tourists are not as obvious as in the past. Mass tourists’ needs and expectations have changed and they do not consume holidays in the same way (Sharpley, R. 1999).
The author confirms that, regarding the results obtained by the survey, the profile of the mass tourist has changed. First of all, the feature that characterised the mass tourist, namely the consumption of package holidays, is no longer so obvious and the majority of mass tourists almost never consume traditional package holidays. Today, mass tourists deal personally with each component of their holidays. Cohen (1972) acknowledged that traditional mass tourists always asked a tourism industry professional to organise their trips. It appears that this is no longer the case and they now want to have control with high decision power (Poon, A. 1993).
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Although mass tourists can be any age, the authors points out that the age of mass tourists is likely to be linked with the kind of mass tourist destination. Mass tourist spots such as Lloret del Mar attract more young people than other age categories because the place is well-known for night-life activities.
Table 4.1 shows the
characteristics of the mass tourists according to their age, in Lloret del Mar.
Table 4.1: Profile of mass tourists in Lloret del Mar, according to age group.
These mass tourists are mainly students. They visit mass seaside resorts such as Lloret del Mar with friends. When they choose a Under 25
mass destination to spend their holidays, it is mainly for the beach
years
and then for the attractions such as bars, restaurants, and night-life. Mass destinations often offer a concentration of activities in a small area. Few of this age group purchase package holidays.
This group includes families with young children, young workers, especially young executives and managers. These young workers are often professionals with high disposable incomes and they travel alone or with friends. They choose mass destinations for their concern about ease of booking and probably to 25-40 years
avoid time spent looking for a destination. The beach, the attractions and the general atmosphere are their motivations. They sometimes purchase package holidays for the ease of booking. Families visit mass destinations such as Lloret del Mar mainly for the beach and also because they have many facilities for children. The fact that everything is concentrated in a small area is an advantage, above all with children. Few families have stated that they purchase package holidays.
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This age group mainly contains families.
For them, mass
destinations such as Lloret del Mar provide activities for each 40-55
member of the family. Moreover families can afford to spend their
years
holidays in this kind of seaside resort because the prices remain attractive and price is an important component of the trip. Similarly, few families purchase packaged travel.
More than 55 years
This group is mainly composed of seniors who are often retired and they choose mass destinations such as Lloret del Mar usually out of habit.
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
To conclude this part, the author would like to point out that the results found and the conclusions formulated concern mainly mass tourism on the Spanish coast. The kind of survey that the researcher has carried out normally aims to generalise results from a sample to the entire population, but in the case of the survey, the author has no other pretention than to analyse mass tourism in a well-known mass tourist destination like Lloret del Mar. It is acknowledged that the results could be different to results found in another mass tourist places.
4.2.2 Environmental consciousness of mass tourist
The main research question of the dissertation is to assess mass tourists’ environmental consciousness about mass tourism. One objective of the author is to understand, firstly, if mass tourists are aware of the environmental impacts of this kind of tourism and, secondly, why they continue to participate in mass tourism if they are conscious of the impacts.
For 63% of the respondents (fig. 4.6), mass tourism is not respectful to the environment. However, according to the experience of the author in Lloret del Mar during the survey administration, those tourists who think that mass tourism is not
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respectful to the environment do not consider themselves as mass tourists. Actually, for them, environmental impacts have to be visible. One example is that the beach is clean with nice sand, the water is clear and there is no environmental impact of tourism. They will not find the impacts of such tourist activity.
Environmental impacts can be qualified as long-term impacts and, for that, tourists, in general, are not aware of them. However, the fact that 37% of the respondents consider that mass tourism is respectful to the environment is surprising, even worrying. It appears that they are unaware of the environmental impacts of such kinds of tourism or they may not really care. According to the results shown in figure 4.7, it appears that it is young people (36%) who are less aware regarding environmental impacts, followed by those who are more than 55 years old. The author would like to point out that none of the authors referred to in the literature review have analysed mass tourist profiles according to age. In other words, age is never taken into consideration when determining a mass tourists’ profile. Hence, with the results identified in figure 4.7, the author cannot base his remarks on other authors’ statements but can just make his own assumptions.
One can think that people older than 55 years are merely not aware of these environmental impacts since environmental issues are problems of the 21st century. On the other hand, regarding young people, it can be assumed that they merely do not think or care about environmental impacts but they should be aware bearing in mind all the publicity given to the need for environment conservation.
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Figure 4.6: Is mass tourism respectful to the environment?
Do you think that mass tourism is respectful to the environment? Yes 37% No 63% Source: Author’s presentation and survey
Figure 4.7: Respondents who think that mass tourism is respectful to the environment, categorised by age. Age of the respondents who think that mass tourism is respectful to the environment more than 55 years
27%
40-55 years
18%
25-40 years
18%
less than 25 years
36%
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
To the question “why do you think that people continue to visit mass destinations such as Lloret del Mar?” (fig. 4.8), almost 70% of the respondents who think that mass tourism is not respectful to the environment give two main reasons: 37% think that mass tourist destinations are holidays that are easy to organise (transport, accommodation, activities, etc.) and 31% believe mass destination holidays offer attractive prices.
27% of the tourists interviewed who think that mass tourism is not respectful to the environment state that tourists continue to visit mass destinations because they are not aware about the environmental impacts of tourism activity. In this respect, there is a contradiction with the question “do you think that this kind of tourism is
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respectful to the environment?” and the results shown in figure 4.6. This deserves to be explained.
If one respondent answers “no” to the question “do you think that this kind of tourism is respectful to the environment?” and, after the researcher asks him “why do you think that people continue to visit this kind of tourist spot?”, he states “because the tourists are not aware about the environmental impacts of tourism activity”, that does not make sense. This respondent should have stated “yes” rather than “no” to the first question.
The author assumes that, since “mass tourism” was not mentioned by him during the survey, the respondents do not consider themselves as mass tourists. It is likely that, when the researcher asked “do you think that this kind of tourism is respectful to the environment?” they assessed their choice of holiday without thinking that it was mass tourism. Actually, the author’s decision not to use the term “mass tourism” has probably led to some misunderstandings.
Finally, only 4% think that mass tourism remains attractive due to the fact that such destinations are strongly promoted. Shaw and Williams (2002) state that the reason the Mediterranean has become one of the most important places for mass tourism is because it has been more heavily promoted for beach holidays than any other coastal areas. The author argues that it was probably the case thirty years ago but, today, mass seaside resorts such as Lloret del Mar are so well-known that they do not really need to be promoted.
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Figure 4.8: Why do holidaymakers continue to visit mass destinations knowing that it is not respectful to the environment? Motivations of the tourists to participate in mass tourism
holiday easy to organize 27%
destination very promoted 37%
attractive prices 31%
4% people are not aware about the environmental impact of tourism activity
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
Respect for the environment is not really a driving force for mass tourists regarding the choice of their holiday destinations. Just over half of the respondents (53%) (fig. 4.9) state they are concerned about respect for the environment when they choose to travel. Moreover, it can be assumed that some of the respondents who state they are worried by environmental issues when then choose their destinations were not being truthful.
Indeed, few people will admit openly that they do not care about
environmental respect and the author is dubious, especially when faced with the results given by figure 4.10. 73% of the respondents who said previously that their holidays, namely mass tourism, were respectful to the environment state that they are concerned about respect for the environment when they choose their destinations. So, it can be presumed that these tourists are definitely not aware that they participate in mass tourism. Then 63% of the respondents who stated previously that mass tourism is not respectful to the environment, state that respect for the environment influences their choices. Similarly, these persons do not seem to know what mass tourism is. Moreover, the author has doubt regarding the sincerity of the respondents about this topic.
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Faced with these results, the author allows himself to make assumptions regarding the environmental consciousness of mass tourists. According to what has been said previously, it does not seem that mass tourists have a lot of environmental consciousness.
In other words, whilst on holiday, mass tourists are not really
worried about environmental issues.
37% of the respondents (fig. 4.10) who
acknowledge that mass tourism is not environmental friendly state that respect for the environment does not influence their choice of holidays, which means that they are aware about the impacts but they do not care. Afterwards, many assumptions are possible. It is possible that those tourists merely do not care about the environment and they are not willing to change their habits or maybe they are aware about the environmental impacts of tourism activity but do not think that they are directly involved.
Finally, perhaps, they are aware but they do not know how to act
differently or cannot afford to act differently. Figure 4.9: Respect for the environment and the influence on choice of holiday.
Does the respect of the environment influence the choice of your holidays?
No 47%
Yes 53%
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
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Figure 4.10: Does respect for the environment influence the choice of holiday considering respondents’ opinions about mass tourism?
Does the respect of the environment influence the choice of your holidays? 73% 63%
37%
People who think that mass tourism is not respectful of the environment.
27%
Yes
People who think that mass tourism is respectful of the environment.
No
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
4.2.3 Alternative tourism in response to mass tourism
Increased interest in alternative forms of tourism is perceived as a response to the exploitation associated with mass tourism. Indeed, faced with the negative mass tourism environmental impacts, the tourism industry is today confronted with the emergence of new forms of tourism such as alternative tourism. Many authors (Wheeler 1990; Croall 1995; Shaw and Williams 2002) say that mass tourism affects greatly the environment and suggest evolving towards new forms of tourism that is more responsible and sustainable to preserve the environment.
One other way to assess the environmental consciousness of mass tourists is to know their views regarding alternative tourism.
To the question “have you ever
participated in environmentally respectful tourism?”, 66% of the respondents state “no” (fig. 4.11). The meaning of alternative tourism was explained in the interview, so a lack of understanding of the topic was not possible.
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Figure 4.11: “Have you ever participated in alternative tourism?”
Alternative tourism
Yes 34% No 66%
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
The author gave respondents the opportunity to explain why they had never participated in environmentally respectful forms of tourism such as alternative tourism (fig. 4.12). More than the half of the tourists interviewed (63%) state that they had never participated in alternative tourism due to the lack of information regarding this kind of tourism. The author found that the majority did not even know what “alternative tourism” or “sustainable tourism” is. Moreover, because most of the tourists consider their behaviours or their choice of holidays respectful to the environment, they seemed confused when the author spoke about other forms of tourism that are more environmental friendly.
Nevertheless the fact that 63% of the respondents who have never participated in environmentally respectful forms of tourism state that it is because there is insufficient information on the topic is both encouraging and worrying.
It is
encouraging because it can be assumed that, if alternative tourism is more promoted, it could attract some of the mass tourism customers and increase the mass tourists’ environmental consciousness. However, it is worrying because it can be supposed that, if those tourists have never participated in alternative tourism, it is merely because they consider their type of holidays as environmentally friendly and maybe they do not know about other forms of tourism such as alternative tourism.
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The second reason given by the respondents is merely that they are not interested in alternative tourism. A quarter of the tourists interviewed (26%) admit that they are not interested in such forms of tourism and they are probably not willing to change their tourist behaviours. By cross-referring the question “do you think that mass tourism is respectful to the environment?” and the question “have you ever participated in alternative tourism: no; why: not interested?”, the author found that 80% of the people who are not interested in alternative tourism stated that they did not think that mass tourism was respectful to the environment. To summarise, they are aware that mass tourism is not respectful to the environment but they do not care and they are not willing to change their tourist behaviour. Similarly, 62% of the respondents who stated that respect for the environment influenced their choice of holidays admit that they have never participated in environmentally respectful forms of tourism (fig. 4.13).
Finally, only 11% of the respondents who have never participated in alternative tourism state that it is due to the fact that it is too expensive. Page and Connell (2006, p.401) raised the question “is sustainable tourism for the elite only?” From here, the author had formulated another question namely “is the alternative economically affordable for traditional mass tourists?” The fact that only 11% of the respondents (representing 8 persons) think that alternative tourism is too expensive is not considered as relevant by the researcher to answer the question. Nevertheless, one can notice that the price does not represent the main reason why mass tourists have never participated in alternative tourism.
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Figure 4.12: The reasons given by the respondents for never having participated in alternative tourism.
Why did you never participate in alternative tourism?
not interested 26%
too expensive 11%
lack of informations 63%
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
Figure 4.13: Have the respondents who state they are respectful to the environment ever participated in alternative tourism?
Have you ever participated in alternative tourism? 71% 62%
38% 29%
Yes
The respect of the environment influences the choice of my holidays. The respect of the environment does not influence the choice of my holidays.
No
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
One of the ways that Weaver (1991) suggests coping with the negative impacts of mass tourism is by staggering the products, which means promoting new tourist products such as alternative tourism (ecotourism, sport tourism, adventure tourism,
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smaller-scale tourism, etc.). Moreover, Weaver proposes to “educate” tourists to be more aware and respectful about the environment and values.
Face with the results above, the most important response is to educate effectively the mass tourists to be more environmentally friendly or to take the environment more into consideration when they choose their destination. However, the main problem is that the mass tourist is not necessarily aware that their tourist behaviour is not respectful to the environment. Hence, he or she does not feel the necessity to change their tourist habits. There are two types of mass tourists. There are those who are not aware of the environmental impacts and they need to be informed and there are others who are totally aware about the impacts of mass tourism but they do not care and they are not willing to change their habits, as they do not really know what to do to become more environmentally friendly.
According to the results, it appears that mass tourists are not really informed regarding alternative tourism. Of course, it is possible that some respondents have preferred to admit that they did not know alternative tourism instead of stating that they were not interested. Nevertheless, a better information campaign about the environmentally respectful forms of tourism existing could turn out to be useful.
4.2.4 Mass tourist decision-making process
One of the aims of the author was to identify the driving factors pushing individuals to choose mass tourist destinations and influence their decision-making process. During the literature review stage, the author had assumed that, because mass destinations offered low prices, those destinations remained very attractive for tourists. Hence, he had supposed that the price could be a factor determinant for mass tourists regarding the choice of their destination. The results obtained by the survey (fig. 4.14) do not confirm the author’s hypothesis. Indeed, only 19% of the respondents state that the price is a component essential to choosing their destinations. Nevertheless, the price is the second most quoted answer with the first one being the place. 47% of the tourists interviewed in Lloret del Mar paid first
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attention to the place when they choose their destination so place appears as the driving factor in the mass tourist decision-making process.
Finally, equal numbers (11% or 12%) regard the attractions, the facilities and the contact with the local population as highly important. Authors such as Cohen (1972) and Sharpley (1999) acknowledged that mass tourists had little or no contact with the host culture and it seems that the results confirm their remarks.
Figure: 4.14: Which components do mass tourists regard highly important in the choice of their destination? Which components is the most important regarding the choice of your holidays?
the facilities 10% the attractions 13%
local population 11% the place 46%
the price 19%
Source: Author’s presentation and survey
4.3 Conclusion
This chapter has exposed the results obtained from the survey carried out in Lloret del Mar by the author. The aim of the survey was to obtain relevant results in order to answer the main research question and the sub-questions connected. The data collected through the questionnaire allowed the author to confirm or reject the hypotheses he had expressed previously regarding the mass tourist profile, and the decision-making process for destinations of mass tourists but, above all, it assessed the environmental consciousness of mass tourists. Moreover, as alternative tourism
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has been discussed at length as the solution to cope with mass tourisms’ environmental impacts, this topic has also been dealt with.
This chapter has disclosed results and findings from the primary research but further concluding remarks and recommendations about both the literature review and primary data collection follow.
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Chapter 5 Conclusion and recommendations
5.1 Conclusion
This dissertation has presented a literature review of the concept of mass tourism and the main fields inherent to this concept. The primary and secondary data collections have been driven by the aim to answer the main research question: are mass tourists environmental friendly? The purpose of this document is to assess the environmental consciousness of mass tourists. To achieve this, in addition to discussing the concept of mass tourism, other fields have been investigated, namely mass tourism’s environmental impacts, the principle of alternative tourism in response to mass tourism impacts and the decision making process of mass tourists regarding the choice of their destinations.
Primary data collection has allowed the author to
confirm or reject the hypotheses expressed throughout the secondary data collection stage, in accordance with other authors’ ideas.
It has been illustrated that the concept of mass tourism is well established in the literature. Nevertheless, the author found during his research that the concept of mass tourism is often difficult to dissociate from tourism in general, even if mass tourism is a full part of the tourism industry. Similarly, tourism’s environmental impacts are generally well-documented but those relating to mass tourism are more complicated to assess. Few authors have investigated the field of the mass tourist decision-making process in depth.
Mass tourism is a concept born in the 1950s, in England. This concept was first used to represent the increasing flows of tourists towards seaside resort. Increased free time available for leisure, increased disposable income and, more generally, the Industrial Revolution have driven the rapid growth of mass tourism since fifty years ago. Many authors (Fink 1970; Vanhove 1997; Sharpley 1999) have conceptualised mass tourism, which involves the participation of large numbers of people in tourism and implies that the holiday is standardised, rigidly packaged and inflexible.
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Defining a typology of mass tourist has also been the subject of many investigations. Cohen (1972) and Poon (1993) have classified tourists, including mass tourists, according to their tourist behaviour and their motivations to travel. They mainly point out that mass tourists take holidays through the purchase of packaged holidays and they look for familiarity rather than novelty when they choose their destination. They are not adventurous and they would prefer to avoid any risks or forms of decision-making, which is why they often deal with a tourism industry professional.
Since the 1960s, mass tourism has been the subject of criticism for its negative impacts around the world with many authors pointing out mass tourism’s potentially destructive impacts on the environment. Tourism development in many places, and especially mass tourism, has led to deterioration in environmental quality. In the 1960s, the effects of mass tourism and the increasing awareness of the human impacts on the environment led to a general realisation that nature is not an inexhaustible resource. Finally, one part of the literature review has highlighted the important factors regarding mass tourists’ choice of destinations. The research in this field has shown that the price could be the main factor that mass tourists take into consideration.
The data collected by the author through his questionnaire has allowed him to “up date” all the previous information and to answer the main research question. Mass tourists remain a particular type of tourist with a distinctive profile and proper features. However, the mass tourist of the 1950s, described by Cohen (1972) or Poon (1993), has definitely changed at the same time that his or her needs and expectations have evolved. Indeed, the tourist offer has developed and diversified in fifty years and mass tourists, as well as traditional tourists, have adapted. There has been a shift in the tourist behaviour of mass tourists. Nevertheless, mass tourism remains very attractive for millions of tourists but their profiles have changed. For example, they will not purchase systematically packaged holidays. Moreover they deal personally with each component of their holidays and connections with the tourism industry are limited. They look for novelty but they remain cautious by ensuring a certain degree of familiarity. Mass tourism embraces all age groups but
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the author assumes that the age of mass tourists depends mainly of the destination. A profile of mass tourists by age is limited due to the fact that no authors have investigated this field before. The author has made some assumptions about this topic in his findings and has tried not to use clichés or stereotypes.
It appears that mass tourists are not really aware of the environmental impacts of the kind of tourism they participate in. Mass tourism is a concept created by authors to define a phenomenon described as a large scale tourist flow but the concept itself does not have real meaning for people. Mass tourists do not consider they participate in mass tourism but merely one kind of tourism, which is why they do not fully realise the negative environmental impacts of such an activity. Nevertheless, beyond the fact that they do not consider themselves as mass tourists, most of them are totally aware about the impacts of tourism. However, they are conscious that mass tourism is not environmentally respectful but they are not willing to change their tourist behaviour. Indeed, for most mass tourists, respect for the environment does not influence their choice of holiday.
Some of them are conscious of the
environmental impacts and they try to consider respect for the environment in their choice of destinations but they readily admit that mass tourist destinations represent holidays that are easy to organise and the price of such destinations remains very attractive. However, price is not the first driving factor motivating the mass tourist to choose a destination but it is important. Firstly, mass tourists pay attention to the place because the spot where they spend their holidays is vital; after that, one assumes that the price remains a determinant factor.
Due to the fact that mass tourists do not consider themselves as environmentally disrespectful, many state they have not participated in responsible or sustainable forms of tourism. Alternative tourism has often been highlighted as the solution to cope with the negative impacts of tourism, especially mass tourism.
However,
according to the findings of the survey, it appears that this form of tourism is not very well-known, especially among holidaymakers who take mass tourism holidays. Otherwise, most mass tourists who state they consider the environment in their
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choice of holidays admit that they would be willing to participate in alternative tourism but there is a real lack of information about this kind of tourism.
The most important task is to educate the mass tourist to become more environmentally respectful (Weaver, D. B. 1991). The fact that mass tourists are aware of the negative environmental impacts and that they are not willing to change their tourist behaviour is worrying. However, tourists are not the only ones who have to be blamed. Tourism organisations, in general, who promote mass tourist destinations, are much more responsible for theses impacts. Mass tourists are merely not aware about the in-depth impacts and often summarise environmental respect as not being a litterbug.
5.2 Recommendations for the tourism industry
It is crucial that the tourism industry takes responsibility regarding environmental impacts. Mass tourists have to be educated to respect the environment because being environmentally respectful means more than just not littering. Mass tourists have to be informed about the impacts of such activity and progressively orientated towards forms of tourism more respectful to the environment. Alternative tourism is one solution to cope with the negative impacts of mass tourism and should be more promoted by the tourism industry. Indeed, many mass tourists do not even know the existence of such forms of tourism. The author assumes that, if this kind of tourism was more promoted, it would probably attract people who, traditionally, have been mass tourists willing to become more environmentally respectful but currently choose mass tourism for its ease of arranging.
5.3 Recommendations for future research
Due to time limitation, the aim of the dissertation was to assess the environmental consciousness in mass tourism only from a tourist’s viewpoint. It would have been interesting to considerate all the stakeholders involved in this industry such as the tourism organisations, namely tour operators, travel agencies, tourism industry
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professionals (e.g. hotels, resorts) and their behaviour regarding respect for the environment. The author thought it interesting to know the opinion of the principal actors in the mass tourism industry, namely the tourists, regarding environmental impacts knowing that global warming is the major environmental issue of the twenty-first century.
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Appendix A
Questionnaire
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Appendix B
Results of the questionnaire
Is it the first time that you spend your holidays in this kind of seaside resort? Yes
31
No
89
Total
120
If no, how many years have you been visiting these kinds of spots. 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years More than 5 years Total
31 8 5 8 36 89
Who did you come with? Alone 12 Spouse/Partner 15 Family 37 Friend 52 Other 4 Total 120 Why do you choose this type of place for your holidays? Please select the reason below. For the beach For the attractions (bars, restaurants, night-life, etc.) For the facilities (accommodation, transport, etc.) For the price For the general atmosphere (e.g. meet people) Total
56 51 9 27 45 188
Do you purchase package travel for your holidays? Never Sometimes Often Always Total
53 44 12 11 120
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Which components are for you the most important regarding the choice of your holidays? Please tick maximum 2 categories. The place The price The attractions (bars, discos, activities, etc.) The facilities (hotels, campings, etc.) Local population Total
82 35 24 18 20 179
If one element did not appear above, and you regard it highly important, please mention it? No answer Do you think that this kind of holiday is respectful to the environment? Yes
45
No
75
Total
120
If no, why do you think that holidaymakers continue to come in this kind of tourist spots? Please tick one category only. Holiday easy to organize (transport, accommodation, activities, etc.) This kind of destination is very promoted The prices are attractive People are not aware about environmental impact of tourism activity Total
28 4 23 20 75
Does respect for the environment influence the choice of your holidays? Yes
63
No
57
Total
120
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Have you ever participated in “environmentally respectful” tourism such as Nature tourism, Adventure tourism or Ecotourism, etc.? Yes
41
No
79
Total
120
If no, why? Please indicate the reason below (tick one category only). Not interested Too expensive Lack of information about this kind of tourism Total
21 8 50 79
If other, please specify. No answer. Personal details Gender Female
72
Male
48
Total
120
How old are you? Under 25 25-40 years 40-55 years 55+ Total
41 29 27 23 120
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Profession Executive Employee Academic Artisan Worker Student Retired Unemployed Other Total
19 27 0 0 13 32 15 0 14 120
Nationality Spanish French English German Other (Belgian, Polish, etc.) Total
28 28 24 28 12 120
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