Environmental Sensibility and Human Values as Factors for Forming …
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a slight change of the ecotourist profile in the dominance of females, while other
characteristics stay relatively consistent with previous findings.
Different researchers have been interested in the link between individual characteristics, pro-environmental attitudes and eco-friendly behaviour, especially directed
to individual characteristics, such as age, gender, marital status, education, individual or household income, as factors related to perceptions and attitudes towards
environmental problems (Formica and Uysal 2001; Pirani and Secondi 2011). In
general, household incomes and educational levels were higher for ecotourists than
for overall travellers (Wight 2001; Hsu et al. 2010; Ernst and Dolnicar 2018), while
the most popular activities were visiting national parks, hiking, water-based activities,
admiring nature, camping, touring, and animal-watching.
8 Geographical Distribution of Eco-Tourist Groups
The clustering technique enabled an indication of the geographical distribution of
hard and soft ecotourist groups among European nations. Therefore, among environmentally friendly nations, in the ‘Eco-careful’ group, Scandinavian countries can be
found—Norway (52.1%), Sweden (46.9%), Denmark (39.5%), followed by Netherlands (37.9%). Great domination of soft eco-tourist groups was present in Belgium
(41.2%), Ireland (39.9%) and Denmark (37.9).
On the other hand, among the ‘Eco-careless’ type, Germany (41.3%), UK (39.9%)
and France (38.4%) ranked highly. This may be considered strange, as these countries
have strong environmental policies and traditions. However, respondents from these
countries seem to be mostly oriented towards hard-adventure (sport-oriented) and
hedonic travels and showed less affinity towards environmentalism and eco-activism
compared to other groups, which doesn’t mean they avoid nature-based travels. Also,
the lower sensibility, typical for male respondents, and the orientation towards high
risk and general ambition (business and money related), along with lower educational and income levels, significantly contributed to their general ignorance on the
environmental issues.
Most recently, Euro-barometer (2020) confirmed that 94% of Europeans stated
that protecting the environment was important to them personally (53% said it
was very important), but only 21% among them may be considered environmental
activists. This is also consistent with the findings from our study, indicating that the
hard ecotourist segment in Europe represented 31.61% of the total sample. As Pirani
and Secondi (2011) stated, the citizen’s perception about his/her role in protecting
the environment represented a personal aspect, as an individual could be more or
less involved in protecting the environment regardless of his/her concern about the
current environmental situation.
251
a slight change of the ecotourist profile in the dominance of females, while other
characteristics stay relatively consistent with previous findings.
Different researchers have been interested in the link between individual characteristics, pro-environmental attitudes and eco-friendly behaviour, especially directed
to individual characteristics, such as age, gender, marital status, education, individual or household income, as factors related to perceptions and attitudes towards
environmental problems (Formica and Uysal 2001; Pirani and Secondi 2011). In
general, household incomes and educational levels were higher for ecotourists than
for overall travellers (Wight 2001; Hsu et al. 2010; Ernst and Dolnicar 2018), while
the most popular activities were visiting national parks, hiking, water-based activities,
admiring nature, camping, touring, and animal-watching.
8 Geographical Distribution of Eco-Tourist Groups
The clustering technique enabled an indication of the geographical distribution of
hard and soft ecotourist groups among European nations. Therefore, among environmentally friendly nations, in the ‘Eco-careful’ group, Scandinavian countries can be
found—Norway (52.1%), Sweden (46.9%), Denmark (39.5%), followed by Netherlands (37.9%). Great domination of soft eco-tourist groups was present in Belgium
(41.2%), Ireland (39.9%) and Denmark (37.9).
On the other hand, among the ‘Eco-careless’ type, Germany (41.3%), UK (39.9%)
and France (38.4%) ranked highly. This may be considered strange, as these countries
have strong environmental policies and traditions. However, respondents from these
countries seem to be mostly oriented towards hard-adventure (sport-oriented) and
hedonic travels and showed less affinity towards environmentalism and eco-activism
compared to other groups, which doesn’t mean they avoid nature-based travels. Also,
the lower sensibility, typical for male respondents, and the orientation towards high
risk and general ambition (business and money related), along with lower educational and income levels, significantly contributed to their general ignorance on the
environmental issues.
Most recently, Euro-barometer (2020) confirmed that 94% of Europeans stated
that protecting the environment was important to them personally (53% said it
was very important), but only 21% among them may be considered environmental
activists. This is also consistent with the findings from our study, indicating that the
hard ecotourist segment in Europe represented 31.61% of the total sample. As Pirani
and Secondi (2011) stated, the citizen’s perception about his/her role in protecting
the environment represented a personal aspect, as an individual could be more or
less involved in protecting the environment regardless of his/her concern about the
current environmental situation.