predisposition of travelers to qualify as eco … · 01/12/2012 · or her predisposition would be...

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing & Management Review_________________________________________ ISSN 2319-2836

Vol.1 (4), December (2012)

Online available at indianresearchjournals.com

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PREDISPOSITION OF TRAVELERS TO QUALIFY AS ECO-TOURISTS:

A COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF BEHAVIOR OF DOMESTIC AND

INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS

DEBASIS BHATTACHARYA*; SHUVENDU DEY**

*Associate Professor,

Department of Commerce,

University of North Bengal,

Raja Rammohunpur,

Siliguri-734013

Dist: Darjeeling

INDIA

**Head,

Department of Business Administration,

Siliguri Institute of Technology,

Salbari, Sukna,

Siliguri-734009

Dist: Darjeeling

INDIA

ABSTRACT

Eco-tourism, which is a relatively new concept in tourism, is a purposeful travel to natural areas

to understand the cultural and natural history of environment. According to the Eco-tourism

Society, eco-tourism may be viewed as a focused travel to natural areas to comprehend the

culture and natural history of the environment, taking care not to alter the genuineness of the

ecosystem while producing economic opportunities that make the preservation of natural

resources beneficial to local people. The indiscriminate construction of eco-resorts and influx of

huge number of tourists is adversely affecting the ecology and biodiversity of the environment

surrounding the national park. The social activists and nature lovers are constantly raising their

voice against the practices followed by the owners of resorts and the behavior of the eco-tourists.

In view of this it is considered imperative to study the behavior of tourists visiting the National

Parks and Wild Life Sanctuaries in the Dooars region from a heterogeneous sample having

diverse cultural and social background. The findings of the study reveal that there exist

significant differences between the behavior of domestic and foreign tourists visiting these

places. Managerial implications and scope for further research are also addressed to preserve the

biodiversity of these destinations.

KEY WORDS: De-marketing, Eco-tourist, Eco-tourist Predisposition Scale, National Park, Tourist’s

Behavior.

_________________________________________________________________________




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INTRODUCTION

Popular tourism destination Dooars lies in the sub-Himalayan foothills in Jalpaiguri district of

West Bengal, extending from River Tista on the west to River Sankosh on the east. Dooars has a

number of dense forests which serve as habitat to wildlife of myriad kinds. Dooars is also home

to unending tea gardens, babbling rivers, sprinkled with tiny ethnic settlements, which constitute

a fascinating tourist destination. The Dooars valley is particularly famous for its wildlife

sanctuaries, the most prominent among which are the Gorumara National Park, Chapramari

wildlife sanctuary, Buxa Tiger Reserve, and Jaldapara Sanctuary. These sanctuaries boast of a

fascinating diversity of rare flora and fauna. A absorbing and tempting landscape with

breathtaking natural beauty, exotic locations, and a rich treasure of flora and fauna make it a

veritable paradise for lovers of nature and eco-tourism. It is not surprising to come across various

forms of wildlife like Elephant, Clouded Leopard, Himalayan Black Bear, Barking Deer, Gaur,

Pangolin, and Python. A hidden treasure until recently, Dooars has since opened its doors

welcoming tourists of both domestic and international variety. The dense natural forests are

interwoven with lush green tea gardens, crisscrossed by Teesta, Raidak, Torsha, Jaldhaka,

Kaljani and other rivers and their innumerable tributaries hurrying down from the hills. The

entire region is served with a network of motor-able roads running through the deep forests and

tea gardens. The colourful rituals and unique lifestyles of ethnic communities like the Totos,

Ravas, Mech, Turis, Drukpas make it all the more irresistible for lovers of ethnic and eco-

tourism.

The ways in which eco-tourists have been characteristically identified in the bulk of the literature

is limited by relying too heavily on apparent markers of behavior, destination, and/or

circumstance. All of these are pointers of possible eco-tourists, at least superficially, yet they do

not guarantee these travelers indeed are eco-tourists. Just visiting eco-tourism sites or engaging

in behaviors typically associated with eco-tourism, such as wildlife viewing, does not make

someone an eco-tourist. Instead, getting at a traveler’s potential to be an eco-tourist based on his

or her predisposition would be a more conceptually consistent way of defining an eco-tourist.

Tourists typically participate in various activities offering a range of experiences that they may

find attractive to pursue, regardless of personal characteristics (Weaver, 2001b). They have

certain characteristics and attributes – attitudes, values, beliefs, motives, commitments, needs,

desires, and interests – that might predispose them to visit eco-tourism destinations and engage

in eco-tourism-related activities. In some cases, their predisposition might shape their

commitment to protecting and preserving these interests, whether the protection of environments,

the conservation of native species, the support of research, or the desire to volunteer (Nowaczek,

A., & Smale, B., 2010). Therefore, to identify the eco-tourists our focus should place more

emphasis on their psycho-social makeup as opposed to relying solely on their chosen destination

or activities, or their participation in what eco-tour operators present as eco-tourism experiences

(Lai & Shafer, 2005).

Literature Survey

Studies of eco-tourists usually have identified them based on the destinations they go to, the

behaviors in which they engage, the tours that they take, or in some cases, self-identification by

the travelers themselves (Ballantine & Eagles, 1994; Fennell, 1999; Saleh & Karwacki, 1996;




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Wight, 1996, 2001). Only very recently, studies have begun to identify eco-tourists based on

their psycho-social personal makeup (Lemelin & Smale, 2007) of more stable and deeply

embedded character traits responsible for directing visitor impetus and behaviors (Ajzen, 1991;

Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Lewis & Haviland-Jones, 2000). This approach is an extension of the

earlier studies, which reported on visitor motivations and observations (Blamey, 1997; Weaver,

1999; Woods & Moscardo, 1998). Many author support the development of typologies based on

various personal characteristic (Fennell, 1999). On the other hand, a considerable number of

authors have commented on the lack of research that attempts to examine eco-tourism that

question all traditional assumptions about it, seeking to understand its ritual and ideology (Ryan

et al., 2000). As per Orams (2001), most definitions of eco-tourism concur on at least three of its

foremost components: nature-based, learning-centered, and conservation-oriented. Accordingly,

several typologies have been created that make reference to eco-tourism’s chief components

when describing types of eco-tourists. Laarman and Durst (1987) refer to these opposing

perspectives of eco-tourism as either hard path (or active), which involves longer trips, smaller

groups or independent travelers, minimal services, specialized travelers or eco-specialists, and

wilderness areas, or soft path (or passive), which usually involves shorter trips, larger group

tours, well-serviced trips, multi-purpose travelers or eco-generalists, and a broader range of

natural areas. Weaver & Lawton (2002) also talk about ‘restoration eco-tourism’, which focuses

on rehabilitation, incentives for efforts related to conservation, and opportunities for volunteering

at the hard-path end of the eco-tourism spectrum. In many early typologies, eco-tourists were

categorized on the basis of setting, activity-based experiences, and group dynamics (Fennell,

1999). Eco-tourists were segregated along a continuum that measured the level of interest in

natural history from dedicated to laid-back, and the level of physical rigor linked with the

experience from difficult in a study conducted by Laarman and Durst (1987). Kusler (1991)

utilized their activities, settings, and group dynamics to classify eco-tourists as do-it-yourself

eco-tourists, eco-tourists on tours, school groups, and scientific groups. A study in Queensland,

Australia (Tourism Queensland, 1999), typified eco-tourists based on their numbers and means

of travel. Self-reliant eco-tourism entailed groups of less than 10 using non-motorized

transportation in remote areas, popular eco-tourism involved larger groups using motorized

transportation in reachable and serviced areas, and small group eco-tourism was a midway

category of intermediary activity. The magnitude of dedication and time has also played a

significant role in defining different types of eco-tourists. For example, eco-tourists are typified

as: hard-core nature tourists, dedicated nature tourists, mainstream nature tourists, and casual

nature tourists according to their dedication to the activity and the time they committed to it, as

well as what they wished to experience and where and how they wished to travel, by Lindberg

(1991). In the same way, Weiler and Richins (1995; Ryan, Hughes, & Chirgwin, 2000) classified

eco-tourists based on their intensity of interface with the natural environment, the environmental

impacts they introduced, and the amount of physical difficulty or challenge of their activities.

The familiar concept of specialization is another perspective employed in various typologies to

take into account eco-tourists’ dedication and time. For instance, Chadwick (1995) classified

eco-tourists in Africa from first-time game aficionados to specialists depending upon their extent

of specialization. Adding on Laarman and Durst’s (1987) work, Fennell (2002) presented an

updated framework of the soft and hard dimensions of eco-tourism, which demonstrated that the

specialized hard-path sector was relatively small compared with the much bigger soft-path

segment characterized by lower specialization, expectations, and devoted time. The hard-path

eco-tourist is mostly attracted to the natural history element, while the soft-path eco-tourist may




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be lured by a variety of other attractions and activities within the sphere of eco-tourism.

Fennell’s framework unmistakably depicts an upsetting irony of increased reliance on built or

customized environments with the swelling of the soft-path eco-tourists. In spite of the typology

used, it is quite evident that eco-tourists are a diverse group that can be characterized in various

ways: a focus on adventure, culture, and eco-tourism (Fennell, 1999); the experience, setting, and

group dynamics (Kusler, 1991); dedication and time, experiences, places and means of travel

(Lindberg, 1991); tourism activity range (Fennell & Eagles, 1990); level of interest or

proficiency in natural history and physical rigor or ordeal (Fennell, 2002; Laarman & Durst,

1987); number of participants and mode of travel (Tourism Queensland, 1999); and the extent of

interface with the natural environment (Weiler & Richins, 1995, in Ryan et al., 2000). In fact,

researchers are more and more beginning to derive typologies of eco-tourists empirically based

on their psycho-social characteristics and these efforts, too, have revealed quite diverse profiles,

suggesting that they are, as a group, far less unique than much of the eco-tourism literature has

previously presumed.

Psycho-social or motivational traits have begun to play a key role in eco-tourist typologies. Obua

and Harding’s (1996) study of visitor characteristics and attitudes towards Kibale National Park

in Uganda found that eco-tourists differed greatly in their enthusiasm for a variety of activities

within the park, such as wildlife viewing. Lemelin and Smale (2007), in their study of visitors to

Churchill Wildlife Management Area in Manitoba, used six psycho-social dimensions to derive

five eco-tourist prototypes: (1) ambivalent, (2) utilitarian benefit-seeking, (3) general pro-fauna,

(4) specialist pro-fauna, and (5) deep wildlife. Surprisingly, their findings suggested that the first

two of these archetypes, could be regarded as mass tourists; that is, those tourists who participate

in traditional tour products that are typically passive, large-scale, and not sustainable, although

Churchill is considered a foremost eco-tourist destination (Fennell, 1999). They happened to

possess few of the traits normally associated with eco-tourists viewing wildlife in their natural

settings. An Eco-tourism Interest Scale with a focus on visitors’ activity interests was developed

by Juric, Cornwell, and Mather (2002). Even though exploratory in nature, the scale is used to

identify tourists’ wish for eco-friendly activities and to foretell their participation in selected

tourist activities. Diverse travel products could be developed by segmenting tourists based on

their level of interest. Thus Juric, Cornwell, and Mather’s scale is product-oriented and possibly

reflect a view of eco-tourism as a form of mass tourism (Weaver, 2001b) or merely a business

opportunity (McKercher, 2001). A good deal of prior efforts to develop deeper psychographic

profiles focused on values, such as the Rokeach’s (1968) Value Survey, Scott’s (1965) Personal

Values Scales, and Bales and Couch’s (1969) Value Profile. These measures were used by Pizam

and Calantone (1987) in a values-based approach to understand various aspects of tourists’

behavior and they found that values successfully predicted a considerable share of the variation

in their study of participants’ travel behavior. Blamey and Braithwaite (1997) further

distinguished between personal values, which represent ideals for one’s own life, and social

values, which relate to the ideals for one’s community and the world. Their findings, based on a

profile derived from social values, eco-tourists were not found to be any more environmentally

aware or socially conscious as they have typically been depicted. Kayfri, Hovardas, & Poirazidis

(2012) in their study on Two Small Greek Islands affirmed that Predisposition of travelers to

qualify as eco-tourists include Intentions like willingness to receive information about the

protected area, willingness to accept pro-environmental restrictions on recreational experience,

and willingness to pay a conditional environmental conservation value added tax. They aimed to




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identify determinants of visitor pro-environmental intentions among visitor and visit

characteristics, visitor satisfaction, and self-reported environmental knowledge, as well as

anticipated outcomes of tourism development and suggestions for protected area management.

Their study reveals high levels of visitor pro-environmental intentions that might support the

promotion of eco-tourism on the two islands.

Similarly, Blamey’s (1995) study of various psychographic approaches related to eco-tourism

(i.e. values, environmental concern and knowledge, environmental involvement and

responsibility, and motivations) suggested that a considerable proportion of eco-tourists do not

have strong pro-environmental orientations, especially when a choice between environment and

development is concerned. While previous studies lent support to the relationship of personal and

social values to environmental behavior (Dunlap, Grieneeks, & Rokeach, 1983; Neuman, 1986),

other studies, such as Blamey and Braithwaite’s (1997) certainly suggest that a majority of eco-

tourists do not have particularly ‘green’ values. The findings from these studies certainly

challenge many of the commonly held assumptions about the nature and character of eco-tourists

that have dominated most of the typologies developed in the past. They also demonstrate the

need to better understand the fundamental predisposition of travelers who frequent nature-based

destinations and engage in nature-related activities – and who may or may not be eco-tourists.

Indeed, their behaviors could belie a deeper orientation that is not consistent with our definitions

of eco-tourists and eco-tourism. Hence, this study purpose to devise a conceptually based

measure of the predisposition of travelers to be eco-tourists, regardless of their travel behavior,

should go some way to address this need.

In his content analysis of 85 eco-tourism definitions in the tourism literature, Fennell (2001)

found the dimensions cited most frequently were: natural areas, culture, education, conservation,

and benefits to locals. Similarly, in a thematic content analysis, Donohoe and Needham (2006)

identified six fundamental tenets that appeared to be central to definitions of eco-tourism,

including: (1) nature-based, (2) preservation/conservation, (3) education, (4) sustainability, (5)

distribution of benefits, and (6) ethics/responsibility/awareness. Although their intent in

identifying these subjects was to provide direction to planning and policy development rather

than defining aspects of the eco-tourism experience, considerable equivalence emerged in the

fundamental dimensions of eco-tourism.

Researchers are ever more paying attention to the stable psychological traits of visitors – those

that tend to remain consistent across time, geographical locations, political contexts, and so on

(e.g. Blamey & Braithwaite, 1997; Lemelin & Smale, 2007). Ethics represent a stable,

fundamental concept that is central to the predispositional bearing of travelers who may or may

not be eco-tourists. Hence, personal ethics might merit special attention. Ethics in tourism has

progressively more been reflected in the literature, as observed by authors such as Ahmed,

Krohn, and Heller (1994), Jenkins et al. (2002), Butcher (2003), and Fennell (2000, 2006). Based

on this review of definitions and an analysis of the latent content of sources where definitions

were seemingly implicit, six dimensions surfaced: (1) nature, (2) culture, (3) education, (4)

ethics, (5) contribution, and (6) specialization. With these definitions providing the guiding

conceptual basis, the development of a scale to evaluate the predisposition of potential travelers

to be eco-tourists – the Eco-tourist Predisposition Scale or EPS – could begin. The development

of the scale followed several stages as suggested by DeVellis (2003) and Netemeyer, Bearden,




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and Sharma (2003), along with others. Cini, Leone, & Passafro (2012) in their study aimed at

segmenting the market of young tourists using an array of psychosociological factors identified by

different groups based on a consistent set of psychosociological variables, such as personality traits,

personal values, general environmental beliefs, and behavioral variables.

Ethics in tourism has increasingly been reflected in the literature, as confirmed by authors such

as Ahmed, Krohn, and Heller (1994), Jenkins et al. (2002), Butcher (2003), and Fennell (2000,

2006). Another surprising outcome, and somewhat contrary to the philosophy of eco-tourism,

education was rated as relatively low in importance. This result could be attributable to the

difficulty that many people have in differentiating the subtle differences between formal

education and experiential or free-choice learning in natural contexts as reflected in the items of

the EPS. Finally, the specialization dimension of eco-tourism was regarded as least important

and reflected the greatest amount of variability in opinion among respondents (and hence, the

weakest internal consistency). As noted earlier, its poorer performance as a fundamental

dimension of eco-tourism is likely due to its items referring more to behavioral aspects of eco-

tourism (Table 3) rather than to an underlying psychological disposition. Further, the

specialization items refer to a variety of activities and behaviors that might not necessarily be

logically, consistently related. For example, those travelers who felt it was ‘important to be a

regular member of a nature-related organization’ would not necessarily also ‘seek out rustic

facilities’ or ‘enjoy the challenge of difficult experiences’ on their travels. While all of these

concepts do reveal the component of specialization, in retrospect, they are not conceptually

uniform in their behavioral expectations, and further, such behaviors are not necessarily

consistent with the other dimensions, especially ethics. This is also why many highly specialized

visitors might be the least ethical (e.g. Kellert, 1996; McFarlane, 1994). As a result, in

subsequent applications of the EPS, it might be wise to leave out the specialization dimension or

at least treat it as a distinct construct. Undeniably, its exclusion does not diminish the internal

consistency of the EPS based on the remaining five dimensions, each of which does make an

important contribution to the overall scale’s reliability and validity. Future studies could help

corroborate the structure of the scale, both in terms of the stability of the relative importance of

each dimension, as well as the various relationships among the dimensions. In the first instance,

a confirmatory factor analysis would serve to confirm the essential multi-dimensional structure

of the scale across samples and contexts and establish the ‘fit’ of the items associated with each

dimension (DeVellis, 2003). Such efforts would help to shape up the form and fit of the

specialization dimension. Moreover, different populations of on-site travelers and eco-tourists

could be targeted to determine whether the reliability and validity of the predisposition towards

eco-tourism hold up across different populations, including even those who might have limited

travel experiences, and in different locations, including different types and scales of natural

environments. Ongoing theory building, thus, may lead to a meaningful extension of the scale

which should, for example, incorporate non-western, aboriginal ways of defining an eco-tourism

experience of an eco-tourist (e.g. Ryan et al., 2000), since this sector is still largely informed by a

prevailing western viewpoint (Wight, 2001). Ultimately, the EPS could have copious

applications in revealing the relationship between travelers’ preference towards nature-based

tourism and their destination choices and on-site behaviors. It could be used with potential

travelers as a means of revealing their dormant predispositions; it could be incorporated into

psychographic market segmentation to identify visitor types or segments; it could be used to

confirm which components of eco-tourism are most attractive to travelers; and as a final point, it




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can serve to position where visitors fall along the eco-tourism continuum from hard path to soft

path. For example, if an eco-tourism operator was interested in attracting ethical hard-path eco-

tourists interested in nature and committed to its preservation, then the EPS would be very useful

in revealing those individuals most strongly aligned with this perspective. In conclusion, while

some authors support the development of typologies based on, along with other things, various

personal characteristics like values, primary motives, benefits sought (Fennell, 1999), others

have commented on the deficiency of research that try to examine eco-tourism from a more

deconstructionist stance seeking to understand its ritual and ideology (Ryan et al., 2000). The

EPS was developed in consideration of both. The potential of the EPS in future studies rests on

informing our understanding of travelers at a much deeper level and indicating when travelers do

indeed have the predisposition to be eco-tourists. Eventually, this will allow us to go beyond the

traditional profile of ‘presumed’ eco-tourists and establish who, in reality, has the fundamental

quality of an eco-tourist based on a strong conceptual definition and revealed predisposition.

Research Objectives:

Every year thousands of tourists descend on the hills and plains of Sikkim, Darjeeling, and

Dooars regions of Jalpaiguri. The tourists comprise of both domestic as well as foreign nationals

from all over the world. The proportion of domestic tourists is much higher compared to their

foreign counterparts. It is very difficult to report the exact number of tourists who visit these

places due non-availability of database divulged either in the government portals or sites

maintained by the private operators. One can hardly deny that the influx of eco-tourist as well as

mass tourists have increased substantially during the last decade due to the establishment of

numerous resorts and opening up of large number of hotels all over these tourists places covered

in our study. The growing numbers of tour operators also amply corroborate the fact that there is

a huge opportunity to render services to the growing number of incoming visitors who are

attracted by the opportunity to spend their vacation in the hills of Darjeeling and Sikkim as well

as in the foothills of Darjeeling which is famous for park tourism and adventure tourism. With

the advent of eco-tourism the question of sustainability of our natural resources needs a critical

appraisal and it is the need of the hour to study whether the eco-tourists are really concerned

about protecting the flora and fauna of the fragile environment. Keeping these issues in mind the

present study is undertaken with the following objectives:

i) To discern the attitude of tourists towards various issues to become an eco-tourist.

ii) To apply an adapted Eco-tourism Predisposition Scale and test the reliability and validity of

the same.

iii) To assess whether there is any significant differences between the behavioral patterns of

domestic and foreign tourists.

iv) To employ a Logistic Regression technique to categorize visitors based on their responses on

the Eco-tourism Predisposition Scale

v) To suggest measures to protect the fragile environment for our future generations

Research Methodology:

The study is based on the article published by Nowaczek, A., & Smale, B. (2010) in the Journal

of Eco-tourism to construct an eco-tourism predisposition scale to discern the attitude of tourists




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to abide by the basic tenets to qualify as an eco-tourist. The data for the study were gathered

from a cross section of tourists visiting the places mentioned above during the period 2011 to

March 2012.The data were gathered from domestic as well as foreign tourists with the active

support of tour operators situated in the district of Darjeeling who have adequate experience in

this business and who have international accreditations. The data for the study were collected be

adapting the scale developed by Nowaczek, A., & Smale, B. (2010) and the scale items sere

reduced keeping in view the item-to-total correlation. Some items having higher inter-

correlations were dropped to keep the questionnaire short for generating response from the

tourists without making drastic change in the instrument.

Nowaczek, A., & Smale, B. (2010) after a thorough review of literature have proposed a scale to

assess the attributers a tourist should possess to become a real eco-tourist. The dimensions are

briefly reproduced below:

Nature: Eco-tourist must value the natural atmosphere of a tourist spot and should not disregard

the wilderness surroundings of a destination for personal enjoyment. We have used a three items

scale to measure the attractions of tourists towards the natural environment and the alpha value is

found to be quite satisfactory.

Culture An eco-tourist should interact with the local communities and share the culture of the

local people and in that process the tourists have the opportunity to oversee whether the benefits

of eco-tourism are passed on to the vulnerable people who are below the poverty level. The three

items scale to assess the interaction with the culture of the people in the vicinity of the resort

generated an alpha value of more than 0.70.

Education The education is a part and parcel of eco-tourism initiatives where the tourists have

the ample scope to know about the place they visit and the cultural diversity of people living in

those localities. Learning through travelling is one of most desirable aspect of an tourist but the

eco-tourists should have an inherent potential to learn through his visit experience various socio-

political as well as the history of the destination they visit. To capture the inclination to learn

about the destination was measured using a three items Likert scale and the reliability of the

scale has also been established.

Ethics An eco-tourist should be very ethical in the sense that they must observe the rules and

regulation of different eco-resorts and must not pollute the environment by using products that

might have hazardous impact on the fragile environment. The four item ethics scale is employed

to measure the ethical behavior generated an alpha value of almost 0.75.

Contribution Due huge demand from the tourist to visit eco-spots there is the chance to pollute

the environment due to the use of non-biodegradable waste that may have an adverse impact on

the environment. It is expected that the visitors should contribute a little to keep the environment

clean and green. The tree items scale was employed to measure the construct.

Specialization The eco-tourists should be dedicated enough to bear the troubles to visit places

which are not easily accessible by transport and also need to be specialized to spend physical

energy to enjoy the enchanting beauty of places surrounding the destinations. The three item

scale was administered to measure this dimension.




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The scale was initially administered to 215 respondents with the help of tour operators and after

careful scrutiny it was found that 183 questionnaires were complete in all respects. Thus the

sample size for the study was reduced to 183, which is quite large if we consider the similar

studies in this area. The demographic profiles of the respondents are presented in table-I. The

table is self-explanatory but a few comments are needed to explain the demographic

characteristic of the sample considered in our study. The foreign tourists’ age distribution shows

that a substantial proportion of tourists are below the age of 20 who mainly come to India for

excursions and study tours. Each year students from Australia and UK visit India and their

itinerary is finalized by the local tour operators. For the domestic tourists typical family units

comprising of husbands, wives, and their offspring constitute the bulk of the tourist arrivals.

Table –I

Sample Demographics

Foreign Tourists (n=82) Domestic Tourists (n=101)

Nationality

UK 22

US 18 Not Applicable

Australia 28

Others 14

Sex Sex

Male 59 Male 60

Female 13 Female 41

Occupation Occupation

Student 29 Student 29

Teacher 06 Teacher 12

Self-employed 26 Businessman 18

Service 21 Service 42

Age Age

Below 20Years 29 Below 20Years 22

20 to 40 Years 22 20 to 40 Years 39

41 Years and above 31 41 Years and above 50

Research Questions:

The study was conducted to provide insight to the following questions:

i) Is there any significant difference between the scores on various dimensions of EPS among the

domestic and foreign tourists?

ii) Are the scales have sufficient degree of reliability?

iii) Can the dimensionality of the instrument be established?

iv) Is it possible to classify the foreign and domestic tourists using Binary Logistic Regression?




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0

Results and Discussions:

In an attempt to measure the reliability and validity both Cronbach Alpha and factor analysis

were employed to test the construct validity. It can be observed from table-II that the Cronbach

Alpha values are quite acceptable despite a smaller number of items in the scale. Table-II

Reliability Estimates.

Variable Cronbach's Alpha N of Items

Ethics 0.749 4

Culture 0.719 3

Nature 0.748 3

Contribution 0.712 3

Education 0.742 3

Specialization 0.706 3

The results of factor analysis have been presented in tables III to VI. The factor analysis was

conducted using a varimax rotation using a principal component analysis with varimax rotation.

Since there are six dimensions in the scale a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with six

underlying dimensions. The variance explained proportion is quite high and the six factor

solution explains more than eighty percent of the variation in the original data (table-III). The

dimensionality of the scale is more or less established though there are some misloadings and

split loadings. The loadings above 0.40 have been reported in the rotated factor matrix presented

in table IV. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy and the Bartlett's Test of

Sphericity are quite acceptable which amply demonstrate the fit of the model.

Table-III

Total Variance Explained

Component

Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative %

1 5.106 26.875 26.875 2.917 15.350 15.350 2 2.731 14.373 41.248 2.802 14.749 30.099 3 2.390 12.576 53.824 2.726 14.347 44.446 4 1.909 10.048 63.872 2.451 12.900 57.346 5 1.752 9.221 73.093 2.278 11.992 69.338 6 1.499 7.892 80.985 2.213 11.647 80.985

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.




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Table-IV Rotated Component Matrix

Component

1 2 3 4 5 6

e1 .699 .404 e2 .920 e3 .477 .447 e4 .924 n1 .924 n2 .706 n3 .918 con1 .892 con2 .882 con3 .895 edu1 .961 edu2 .589 edu3 .967 spe1 .919 spe2 .583 .460 spe3 .924 c1 .776 c2 .648 c3 .892

Note (a): Loadings above 0.40 have been reported (b): Mis-loadings and Split loadings have been shown in italics Table-V

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .674

Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 2448.876

df 171

Sig. .000

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

The mean scores on all six dimensions included in our scale revealed that the mean scores of

foreign tourists on all variables are higher than the scores obtained from the domestic tourists.

The findings of the ‘t’ tests reveal that for Ethical dimension the mean score of the foreign tourist

outperform the scores of the domestic tourist by substantial margin and the difference is

significant beyond p< 0.000.Similar findings have been obtained for all other variables except

the ‘contribution dimension’ of the EPS Scale. The results of mean differences are presented in

Table VI.




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Table VI: Test of Difference of Means

Variables Dummy N Mean t Sig. (2-tailed) Mean

Difference

Ethics 1 82 14.45 7.515 0.000 3.49

0 101 10.96

Culture 1 82 12.05 3.515 0.000 2.09

0 101 10.96

Nature 1 82 13.20 2.96 0.000 2.05

0 101 11.15

Contribution 1 82 10.25 1.59 Not Significant 1.23

0 101 9.02

Education 1 82 12.66 5.23 0.000 3.24

0 101 9.42

Specialization 1 82 11.56 4.86 0.000 2.33

0 101 9.23 Note: 1 stands for Foreign Tourists, 0 stands for Domestic Tourists

It is observed that the highest scores of foreign tourists are higher for all dimensions of EPS

Scale signifying that the foreign tourists are more concerned with the various aspects of the

destinations they visit and they have an inherent tendency to study the cultural and social factors

of the people surrounding the places where they stay. One aspect which draws our attention is

the insignificant differences between the scores obtained for the contribution dimension. One

probable reason is that the foreigners are to pay more tariffs and other related entry fees which

are often quite steep. In view of this it is plausible that they perceive they are being overcharged

for the services they receive in comparison to domestic tourists.

The binary logistic regression analysis was employed based on the EPS dimensions of domestic

and foreign tourists to categorize the respondents into two groups. The Cox & Snell R Square

and Nagelkerke R Square values are within acceptable limits and give us an indication of fit of

the model. So far as the observed and predicted classifications are concerned, more than 74% of

the foreign tourists have been classified accurately by the model and the figure is 63.4% for the

domestic tourists. In all almost 70% of the respondents have been correctly classified by the

model which is quite high by any standard.

Table-VII: Model Summary

Step -2 Log likelihood Cox & Snell R Square Nagelkerke R Square

1 123.890 .387 .450




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Table-VIII: Classification Table

Observed

Predicted

Tourist Type

Percentage Correct

.00 1.00

Step 1 Tourist Type

.00 75 26 74.3

1.00 30 52 63.4

Overall Percentage 69.4

Note: 1 stands for Foreign Tourists, 0 stands for Domestic Tourists.

Table- IX: Variables in the Equation

Variables B S.E. Wald df Sig. Exp(B)

Ethics .647 .132 23.943 1 .000 1.909

Culture .701 .133 27.750 1 .000 2.016

Nature .296 .119 6.162 1 .013 1.344

Contribution .608 .119 5.532 1 .120 0.837

Education .446 .101 19.370 1 .000 1.561

Specialization .594 .126 22.058 1 .000 1.811

Managerial Implications

The study observes huge influx of tourists throughout the year in the highly popular tourist

destinations like the hills of Sikkim and Darjeeling, and the adjoining Dooars in the district of

Jalpaiguri. A majority of them are domestic mass tourists whose primary aim is to seek pleasure

without caring much for the nature and the unique bio-diversity typical of this area. Nevertheless,

the circuit is well-liked by the foreign tourists and quite decent number turn up every year who

have been found to be fundamentally nature lovers and act as responsible eco-tourists. The local

people who benefited by this massive tourist invasion are now getting increasingly apprehensive

about its negative consequences. The fragile eco-system of this region is getting endangered by

the burgeoning number of lodges, hotels and resorts coming up at a rapid pace without giving

much thought to the resultant pollution and solid waste management problems, who are taking

advantage of the situation and fleecing tourists by unreasonable and arbitrary hikes in room

tariffs and other services. The need of the hour seems to be the deliberate use of de-marketing

tools to restrict the number of tourists to an ecologically sustainable number. Suggested measures

could be imposition of entry fees and vehicular levies, permits for traveling to certain places,

restriction in vehicular movements, fines imposed for violation of eco-friendly rules, and the

like. Various stakeholders involved in promoting the park tourism destination should seriously

consider a range of issues like rain water harvesting, solid waste management, recycling of

packaged drinking water bottles, and indiscriminate use of pesticides for farming. It has been

observed that there is no coordination between the stakeholders who are primarily interested to

invite all kinds of tourists who do not have regards for the exquisite natural landscape and create




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all sorts of disturbances unsettling the beauty, serenity and tranquility of the national park which

is one of the best in India.

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