A Conceptual Representation of the Semantic Fields of Responsible Tourism: Implications for Marketing

Purpose – Sustainable tourism activities have generated a large amount of research to understand responsible behavior. Scholars have provided multiple definitions, although the meaning of different terms for tourists has rarely been investigated. The objective of this research study is to reveal what the tourist understands by responsible tourism, comparing it with similar concepts and identifying semantic fields that allow a differentiation on the part of the latter. Design/Methodology/Approach – Focus groups consisting of socio-demographically varied individuals have been developed to probe for similarities and differences between the groups. The results show that the associated meanings are not equivalent, and that the meanings can be categorized along an axis represented by the individual versus the institutional dimension, and another with a social dimension versus the destination as “environment†. Findings and implications – The concepts of responsible, sustainable, ecological, and environmental tourism can be defined comparatively. The perceived differences offer clues about the concept and about who should be responsible for developing sustainable actions. Finally, the analysis of the discourses allows obtaining guidelines on marketing actions aimed at promoting sustainable behaviors and communicating the value of sustainability by companies and organizations. Limitations – The main limitation of this research study is that the sample that integrates the discussion groups may not be large enough to be representative, with the intervention time of all attendees possibly not being balanced, as well as the bias of the moderator directing the groups. Originality – The study provides information on what tourists understand by responsible tourism and other related meanings, based on a demographically balanced sample of the Spanish population.