Do young sustainable tourists build better relationships with destinations?

Abstract

Sustainable tourists play a crucial role in achieving sustainable tourism in destinations. Previous studies have identified a segment of sustainability-friendly tourists. In recent years, some studies have focused on the youth generation as sustainable tourists. It is a useful strategy for destinations to build better relationships with sustainable youth tourists in order to construct a competitive advantage in the long term. However, it remains unclear that the characteristics and behaviors of young sustainable tourists and how they relate to destinations. The aim of this study is to examine sustainable young generation tourists who contribute to a destination’s sustainability. The study was based on data from a web-based survey of Japanese respondents aged between 20 and 39 years, who had experienced domestic travel. We conducted exploratory factor analysis and cluster analysis and identified a segment of sustainable youth tourists. The intention to build relationships with destinations was analyzed using the chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The results confirmed that young sustainable tourists were highly loyal to the destinations they visited and intended to involve the destination after their trip. They are actors who actively seek to increase the sustainability of their destinations.  Keywords: sustainable tourism, destination management, sustainable tourist, youth tourism, tourist loyalty