Interactive Relationship between the Environmental Concern and the Eco-Tourism Destination Regions: A Literature Review

Abstract

Tourism in eco-destinations contributes to overall well-being of local people and at the same time affects these destinations in an adverse manner as a result of anthropocentric activities. It becomes imperative to understand the relational dynamics between environmental concern and vulnerable ecotourism regions to find out viable solutions for achieving sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive literature review. The paper aims to understand the arguments on environmental concern research that addresses the impact of knowledge, attitude, behavioural intentions and values on the tourists in the eco-tourism destination regions by conducting a systematic review of peer-reviewed research publications from the year 1995 to 2018. The study reveals that there is a strong association between the environmental concern of tourists and the eco-tourism destination regions, and further depicts that the environmental concern of tourists positively affects the destination regions. The current review finds out that building environmental concern and awareness among tourists has a strong potential to achieve environmental sustainability and local community development.