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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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