Understanding and Governing Sustainable Tourism Mobility: Psychological and Behavioural Approaches

Scott A. Cohen · James E.S. Higham · Gossling Stefan · Paul Peeters

Mar 2014 · Routledge

About this ebook

Despite a growing contribution to climate change, tourist and traveller behaviour is currently not acknowledged as an important sector within the development of climate policy. Whilst tourists may be increasingly aware of potential impacts on climate change there is evidence that most are unwilling to modify their actual behaviours. Influencing individual behaviour in tourism and informing effective governance is therefore an essential part of climate change mitigation.

This significant volume is the first to explore the psychological and social factors that may contribute to and inhibit sustainable change in the context of tourist and traveller behaviour. It draws on a range of disciplines to offer a critical review of the psychological understandings and behavioural aspects of climate change and tourism mobilities, in addition to governance and policies based upon psychological, behavioural and social mechanisms. It therefore provides a more informed understanding of how technology, infrastructure and cost distribution can be developed in order to reach stronger mitigation goals whilst ensuring that resistance from consumers for socio-psychological reasons are minimized.

Written by leading academics from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and regions this ground breaking volume is essential reading for all those interested in the effective governance of tourism’s contribution to climate change now and in the future.

About the author

Scott A. Cohen is a senior lecturer in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of Surrey, UK. He primarily researches sociological and consumer behaviour issues in tourism, leisure and mobility contexts, with a particular interest in the impacts of air travel on climate change.

James E.S. Higham holds the position of professor, Department of Tourism, University of Otago, New Zealand, and visiting professor of sustainable tourism, Norwegian School of Hotel Management, Norway. His research interests address tourism and global environmental change across global-local scales of analysis, with a specific focus at present on global climate change, personal aeromobility and behaviour change.

Paul Peeters is associate professor at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands. His research specialises on the impacts of tourism on the environment in general and climate change in particular.

Stefan Gössling is a professor at the Department of Service Management, Lund University, and the School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University, both Sweden. His current main research interests include transport systems, energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and mobility consumption.