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Mapping Santiniketan as Green Tourism-Zone and Its Impact on Behavioural Intentions of Tourists: Empirical
Evidence from Restaurant Practices
ARUP KUMAR BAKSI* and BIVRAJ BHUSAN PARIDA**
*Arup Kumar Baksi, Ph.D., Asst. Prof., Dept. of Management Science, Bengal Institute of Technology & Management, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India.
**Bivraj Bhusan Parida, Ph.D., Professor, Dept. of Tourism Management, The University of Burdwan, Burdwan, West Bengal, India.
ABSTRACT
The nature of para-global tourism has undergone a paradigmatic shift with the growing consciousness regarding the detrimental effects of global climatic turbulence, tourists are willingly reorienting their preferences towards adapting pro-climatic destinations, more popularly nomenclated as ‘green tourism-zone’. Industries have also identified this shift and are not only redesigning their products/services but also extending their responsibilities to ensure minimum environmental hazard due to collateral effects. The re-organization of the tourism sector, in India, has been predominantly centered around the gradual upsurge in awareness and patronization of green tourism, particularly by the foreign tourists and therefore becomes strategically significant to fit into the para-global tourism market. This study empirically attempts to investigate the possible causal impact of green-zone tourism initiatives on the perceived image of restaurants and its subsequent influence on the behavioural intentions of the foreign tourists in the context of Santiniketan, a heritage-tourist destination in West Bengal, India. For the data analysis, a number of multivariate statistical procedures and structural equation modeling were applied. The results revealed a significant correlation between the variables under study with perceived tourist effectiveness playing a critical role in segmenting tourists on the basis of their affinity to greenness as an element to perceive restaurant image. The study has future scopes where demographical effects and price-sensitivity may be tested.
The study entered into a relatively unexplored area in the context of regional
tourism market which is in the process of integrating pro-green initiatives with
basic tourism operation and tried to empirically investigate the impact green-zone
tourism, as a relatively novel tourism trend on foreign tourist behaviour,
specifically, on foreign tourist perception of firm image and subsequent behavioural
intention of the foreign tourists. The study was carried out on some selected
restaurants in Santiniketan, West Bengal, a renowned international tourist
destination on account of its heritage credentials and edu-cultural hub. The study
confirmed a high level of environment patronization by the foreign tourists and it
symbolizes the significantly elevated level of awareness about environmental
conservation from possible tourism activities.
The study revealed that foreign tourists availing restaurant services can be
categorized into segments on the basis of criteria called perceived tourist
effectiveness (PTE) which reflects their attitude and beliefs that might positively
influence environmental issues. The study reflected that foreign tourists with high
PTE are more enlightened and concerned about environmental hazards and
SANTINIKETAN AS GREEN TOURISM-ZONE 19
considers pro-environmental practices as an important element to perceive image
of firms and their subsequent behavioural intention is also influenced by their firm
image perception. It was revealed that foreign tourists with high PTE level and with
better green-image perception of their firms tend to be more loyal and displayed
lesser propensity to switch and increased positive tourist advocacy. In the process
of the study some tourists detailed about their early experience of visiting
Santiniketan and expressed their satisfaction about the natural rustic ecogeological
terrain and environment which attracted them to revisit and patronize the
destination. The study also brought forward that organic food consumption is still
not considered to be an important perceived green practice of restaurants. Probably
cost is a potential factor to explain the issue.
The study had major managerial implications. As perception of green practices
emerged as a potential factor to perceive green image, employees of firms pursuing
eco-friendly marketing should initiate communication with the consumers
explaining the green initiatives adopted by them and stating what triggered them to
adopt such strategy. A possible long-term symbiotic relationship between the
foreign tourists and the service providers seem to be developing as the latter are
extending their business domain to engulf and showcase environment and
landscape in its natural posture.
Future expansion of the study can be made by incorporating demographic
influence on perceived image and vis-à-vis behavioural intention. In addition, price-
sensitivity study may be conducted as a measure towards adoption of green
services. A longitudinal study should be done to identify the gradual shift in
perception and adoption of pro-environmental tourist behaviour.
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