Empowering Gen Z for Engaging in Sustainable Tourism: A ZRETP Model Approach

The focus of this research is Gen Z, aiming to fill a research gap by determining the key empowering factors that motivate Gen Z to participate in tourism. The research employed a quantitative approach, utilizing a structured questionnaire-based survey method and descriptive statistics, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The study was conducted on students as an appropriate convenience sample since most students belong to the Gen Z population. By implementing Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on the Resident Empowerment through Tourism Scale (RETS 2.0), a modified four-factor structure was identified and adapted for measuring empowerment for Gen Z (ZRETS—Gen Z as Residents’ Empowerment through Tourism Scale) as a validated instrument. Identified ZRETS’s (Gen Z as Residents’ Empowerment through Tourism Scale) empowering factors are related to participation within an integral ZRETP model (Gen Z Residents Empowerment through Tourism for Participation). PLS-SEM was employed to examine the structural relationships between empowerment and participation within the ZRETP model (Gen Z Residents Empowerment through Tourism for Participation). The main findings indicated socio-psychological empowerment as a key theoretical base for understanding Gen Z’s participation in tourism. For environmental empowerment and economic empowerment, their mediating role was confirmed, where environmental empowerment is a key mediator and economic empowerment is a result of socio-psychological empowerment effects. Political empowerment was found irrelevant and was excluded from the model, indicating the need for creating a new approach for engaging Gen Z in participation and alternative participation channels more oriented on digital media. The main paper contribution represents the validated ZRETP model (Gen Z Residents Empowerment through Tourism for Participation), as an integrated empowerment–participation framework tailored for Gen Z. Theoretically confirmed importance of Gen Z’s internal empowerment (evident from socio-psychological empowerment effects) and environmental values (evident from environmental empowerment effects) in creating benefits (evident from economic empowerment effects) can guide practitioners in creating sustainable tourism strategies, emphasizing socio-psychological and environmental empowerment, which motivate Gen Z to participate and lead to economic prosperity. Limitations in this paper are related to the convenience sample of students and the PLS-SEM that is used in validating the ZRETP model (Gen Z as Residents’ Empowerment through Tourism Scale).