Factors affecting ecotourism buying behaviour

This research proposal aims to identify the different factors that help in changing buying behaviour of visitors towards ecotourism destinations in the UK. The research will contribute to the existing literature on ecotourism and its impact on the economy and society. The research will use quantitative research methods and a positivism research paradigm to gather factual information related to the research objectives. The research will also provide recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders in the tourism industry to promote ecotourism and its benefits.

Assessment 1 Research
proposal
(Factors that are affecting ecotourism buying
behaviour)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PRELIMINARY LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................4
RATIONALE FOR RESEARCH....................................................................................................6
TENTATIVE AIM, OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS..........................................6
POTENTIAL THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE............................................................................7
POTENTIAL METHODOLOGY AND METHODS.....................................................................8
CONSIDERED ETHICS LIMITATION AND CONTRIBUTIONS..............................................8
Ethics : Appendix...................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................11
Ethical approval....................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Consumers are regarded as the final destination for which every businesses are working
and they are managing their business to acquire more and more customers so that to develop
their business and to render opportunities for succession as well. In the context of tourism
industry their customers are regarded as one of the prominent aspect which helps the industry to
grow and acquire sustainability so that the industry may inhale higher customers along with
developing the businesses of organisations attached with the industry (Masud and et. al., 2017).
Consumers’ behaviour is regarded as one of the area which is related with succession of any
industry or entity. There are different factors which are helpful for visitors of tourism industry
to change customer’s behaviour in significant manner.
Eco-tourism is one of the emerging concepts which are related with involving
sustainable and responsible tourism so that well-being of local people can be improvised and at
the same time positive aspects can be given to society and nature as well. Eco-tourism is
associated with all those natural concepts which are related with flora, fauna and cultural
heritage as well. In the current time the major attraction of visitors in up-keeping of nature and
society so that attain financial and social benefits as well. The current research proposal is
going to cover various aspects of Eco-tourism and such factors those are having high degree of
existence for customers in terms of changing buying behaviour of customers. The major goal of
eco-tourism is to create better experiences to the customers so that equal benefits to customer,
society and nature can be given. This is also related with such conservation of communities in
which cultural heritage can be prevented (Hakim, Siswanto and Makagoshi, 2017). Eco-tourism
helps the environment to minimise harming of nature and society as well. The major purpose of
eco-tourism is related with developing economy and creating thousands of jobs so that
infrastructure of the country can be enhanced. Tourism industry is one of the vast industries
which are providing job opportunities to various people in which significant changes to the
nation can be given and this is related with overall economic and social benefits. Similarly the
report is covering the benefits of eco-tourism on visitors and tour organisers in the manner of
economic and social development. On the other hand, the report also includes impact of eco-
tourism on growth and development of the United Kingdom.

PRELIMINARY LITERATURE REVIEW
What is the conceptual framework of ecotourism in context of United Kingdom?
According to Stone and Nyaupane (2017), Ecotourism can be defined as a purposeful and
meaningful travel to natural parts and areas and to understand the culture and natural history of
the place and while doing so person ensures that he doesn’t alter the integrity of the natural
place and ecosystem. UK is also known for its natural beauty and it encourages tourist to do
ecotourism and emphasis that there should be a “People Element” in the person participating in
ecotourism travel to ensure that ecosystem is not adversely impacted by their visit. There are
various characteristics of an ecotourism travel such as:
 Ecotourism travel consists of travels to relatively undisturbed natural areas or
archaeological sites
 It focuses on gaining knowledge from the visit and the quality of experience
 It is a source of income and promotion for local communities and their business
 Ecotourists are interested in viewing rare species, extraordinary landscapes, and
any unusual and exotic beauties of nature
 Ecotourists ensure that they do not deplete the natural resources as part of their
visit or to survive, instead do activities which help in undoing the damage to
environment and sustainability of nature.
 The major feature of ecotourism is that they are highly respectful towards the
nature, local culture, and traditions etc. of the surroundings of the natural place.
What are the effective factors that have their direct influence on visitor’s buying behaviour
towards ecotourism destination?
According to Sharma and Sarmah, (2019), The world is surrounded by natural beauties
and ecosystem which are delight for people to visit. And the person planning to visit a natural
beauty must choose a destination which he is planning to visit. There are various factors that
has direct influence on visitor’s decision of choosing an ecotourism destination. One of the
factors is the visitor’s interest as nature includes number of things such as trees, plants, animals,
forests, oceans, lakes etc. and selecting a destination highly depends on visitor’s interest as
some might be interested in animals and birds whereas some might be interested in plants and

trees and the other pool might be interested in wates nature. The other influential factor is the
purpose of the visit as well as what are visitors intending to do towards the ecotourism
destination. There are various cultures and traditions in the surrounding of the ecotourism
destination which are also influential factors as they provide experience and understanding of
the people around the ecosystem. They can buy various things while their visit to the
destination such as souvenirs and other unique pieces from their visit. Therefore, to make most
out of their visit to the ecotourism destination, visitor has to make sure the importance of the
destination and the purpose of his visit so that he can gain the required knowledge and
experience.
How Ecotourism helps visitors as well as tour organisers?
According to Ratnasari and et. al., (2020), Ecotourism benefits immensely to visitors as
well as tour organisers moreover in addition to them it is of high importance to everyone living
organism including human being across the world. It will benefit the visitor in the various
manner such as getting the required knowledge and experience regarding the ecotourism
destination and applying the same in their personal life and another benefit is to fulfil their
purpose of visit which can including validation of their understandings and facts moreover it
also provides huge mental satisfaction to the visitor as they are those who care for nature. It
would be beneficial for tour organisers too as it would provide them with more revenue and
grow their profits. It will help them to grow their business and do their part to promote the other
population of world to visit the destination and make their efforts to deplete the damage caused
by various means to the environment and decrease the adverse impacts that might be caused by
some of the results of damage to ecosystem such as global warming. Therefore, it can be said
that ecotourism benefits to visitors and organisers directly, but it indirectly has huge benefits for
the whole ecosystem. Therefore, it is recommended for the people across the globe to promote
and organise ecotourism and save nature.
What is the impact of Ecotourism on economic growth and development of United Kingdom?
According to Pung, Gnoth and Del Chiappa (2020), Ecotourism is important for United
Kingdom and it can be huge contributor to the economic growth and development. It will add to
economic growth as their will be visitors from various parts of the world and spending the

money that would go as revenues to the local people in form of their sales revenue,
advertisements, promotions etc. There will be revenue addition to government authorities as
well in form of tax revenues. In addition to these, the biggest benefit out of ecotourism is
development of the destination and United Kingdom. The people visiting the place will promote
the cleanliness and maintenance of the place. It will develop a positive image of United
Kingdom across the world for UK in mind of the entire intellectual and peoples having interest
in nature and believe in contributing or taking initiatives to deplete the damage caused to nature
and steps to develop promote the nature and ecosystem sustainability. Therefore, it can be
concluded from above detailed study that it is hugely benefit for the country to promote
ecotourism and encourage people to visit different ecotourism destination in United Kingdom
that would help them in economic growth and overall development of the country.
RATIONALE FOR RESEARCH
The major rationale of the current research is to develop understanding related with eco-
tourism and their impact in social aspect and environment as well. The major reason for
executing this research is to examine the impact of eco-tourism on national economy of United
Kingdom. On the other hand the research is related with dual perspective such as personal and
professional perspective(Stronza, Hunt and Fitzgerald, 2019). In terms of personal perspective
the research is going to develop various skills such as communication skills, research skills and
analytical skills in which the same can be used to develop other skills as well. In terms of
professional perspective the research would be helpful for researcher to execute other future
researches in appropriate manner. So that the research is fulfilling various aspects in which
future researches can be developed in such a manner that this would lead into gaining edge
within the research in future manner.
TENTATIVE AIM, OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Research aim:
“To identify the different factors that help in changing buying behaviour of visitors
towards ecotourism destinations”: A study on UK
Research Objectives

 To develop basis understanding regarding the ecotourism in context to United Kingdom
 To determine the factors that influence buying behaviour of visitors towards ecotourism
destination
 To examine the benefits of ecotourism for visitors as well as tour organisers
 To evaluate the impact of ecotourism on economic growth and development of United
Kingdom
Research questions
 What is the conceptual framework of ecotourism in context to United Kingdom?
 What are the effective factors that have their direct influence on visitor’s buying
behaviour towards ecotourism destination?
 How ecotourism helps visitors as well as tour organisers?
 What is the impact of ecotourism on economic growth and development of United
Kingdom?
POTENTIAL THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
The research is associated with quantitative methods so there are various tools and
methods those will be used in the research for the purpose of attaining research objectives and
acquiring success within the research as well. Research paradigm is defined as such set of
beliefs and values those are used within the research for the major purpose of developing the
research and acquiring field of study as well related with research topic. There are two types of
research paradigm such as ontological and other one is epistemological. Ontology is the
research approach which is related with scientific study and this entail with developing a fact
within the research so that systematic approach can be followed within research related with
overall objectives (Žukauskas, Vveinhardt and Andriukaitienė, 2018). Ontology research
paradigm is such framework and models those are related with such worldview and belief in
which knowledge and existence can be shared and attempts to discover knowledge can also be
attained. Whereas epistemological research paradigm is related with nature of reality and nature
of existence in which human being can be involved and at the same time self-contained and
independent human behaviour can be analysed. Epistemology is related with human behaviour
and this is divided into two major types such as positivism and interpretivism. Positivism

research paradigm is related with acquiring factual information related with research so that in
objective way research can be executed and objectives can be accomplished. Whereas,
interpretivism research paradigm is related with interpretation of research study so that human
interests can be integrated and at the same time social differences can also be examined which
are related with research study. Under the current research positivism research paradigm is
taken so that factual information can be gathered and research objectives can be attained.
POTENTIAL METHODOLOGY AND METHODS
As the current research is based on quantitative research methods which means that
statistical information will be collected within the research and this is related with developing
the research in appropriate manner. Data collection is defined as such tools which are used in
order to gather and measure information related with interest and aspects of research topic.
There are two methods of data collection such as primary and secondary. In terms of primary
data collection methods questionnaire will be used as tool so that responses can be gathered in
direct manner. Besides this in terms of secondary data information can be gathered using books,
journals and other journals (Gong and et. al., 2016). Sampling is also a method which will be
used within the research as this is the process which is used in order to collect data with
appropriate process. Research strategy is defined as such step by step plan of action in which
thought process of researcher can be executed. There are two types of research strategy such as
qualitative and quantitative. Under the research quantitative research strategy will be used so
that to acquire reliable and accurate information in appropriate manner.
CONSIDERED ETHICS LIMITATION AND CONTRIBUTIONS
Ethics : Appendix
Limitations: The research is having various limitations in which issues within research path was
faced. Some of these limitations are demonstrated as under:
Participation: Participation is the major limitation which is seen within the research in which
issues are faced related with participation of respondents. This is the issue which is seen at the
time of collecting responses out of respondents so that they may feel anxious during giving
their opinion.

Travel cost: The current research is related with quantitative research methods so researcher
will have to incur travelling cost in order to reach out to respondents and develop the research.
This is also one of the major issue in which delays can be seen within the research and at the
same time budget constraint can also be avoided(Fletcher, 2018).
Relevant resources: Another challenge within the research is related with finding out relevant
resources. As in the process of executing literature review, various relevant and appropriate
resources are required which was an issue as challenges were faced in order to gather
information related with research topic.
CONCLUSION
From the above report this can be concluded that Ecotourism is now defined as
“responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of
the local people, and involves interpretation and education. With some experts estimating that
ecotourism now represents 11.4% of all consumers spending, these sorts of questions have
become more and more common. And, as we continue to see more negative impacts of mass
tourism on beloved destinations around the world, the answers to these questions will become
increasingly vital. Ecotourism is a movement that began to take shape back in the 1980s, is the
oldest and most commonly used word for it. More recent industry buzzwords include
sustainable tourism, green tourism, nature tourism, responsible tourism, ethical tourism,
conscious travel, pro-poor tourism, and many others.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Fletcher, R., 2018. Ecotourism. In Companion to Environmental Studies (pp. 591-594).
Routledge.
Gong and et. al., 2016. A new research paradigm for global land cover mapping. Annals of
GIS, 22(2), pp.87-102.
Hakim, L., Siswanto, D. and Makagoshi, N., 2017. Mangrove conservation in East Java: the
ecotourism development perspectives. Journal of Tropical Life Science, 7(3), pp.277-
285.
Masud and et. al., 2017. Community-based ecotourism management for sustainable
development of marine protected areas in Malaysia. Ocean & Coastal
Management, 136, pp.104-112.
Pung, J.M., Gnoth, J. and Del Chiappa, G., 2020. Tourist transformation: Towards a conceptual
model. Annals of Tourism Research, 81, p.102885.
Ratnasari and et. al., 2020. Customer satisfaction between perceptions of environment
destination brand and behavioural intention. International Journal of Innovation,
Creativity and Change, 10(12), pp.472-487.
Sharma, N. and Sarmah, B., 2019. Consumer engagement in village eco-tourism: A case of the
cleanest village in Asia–Mawlynnong. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing
Science, 29(2), pp.248-265.
Stone, M.T. and Nyaupane, G.P., 2017. Ecotourism influence on community needs and the
functions of protected areas: a systems thinking approach. Journal of
Ecotourism, 16(3), pp.222-246.
Stronza, A.L., Hunt, C.A. and Fitzgerald, L.A., 2019. Ecotourism for conservation?. Annual
Review of Environment and Resources, 44, pp.229-253.
Žukauskas, P., Vveinhardt, J. and Andriukaitienė, R., 2018. Philosophy and paradigm of
scientific research. Management Culture and Corporate Social Responsibility, 121.

APPENDIX
Ethical approval
Student name:
Student no:
Supervising
Tutor:
Thesis title: Factors that are affecting ecotourism buying behaviour
1. Brief overview OF THE STUDY: Describe the aims and purposes of the research
proposed. Outline the research questions and methods to be used and list the main types of
research participants you intend to collect data from.
Answer each question below by ticking the appropriate box:
Yes No
1. Will the research involve gathering personal information on identifiable
living individuals?
2. Will the research involve gathering confidential information of any kind
(i.e. information not currently in the public domain)?
3. Will the research involve participants who are particularly vulnerable or
unable to give informed consent (e.g. children, adults with learning
difficulties)?
4. Will the research require the cooperation of a “gatekeeper,” e.g. an
authority figure who has the power to grant access to groups and
individuals possibly without their informed consent?
5. Will participants be remunerated in some form for the information they
are asked to provide (e.g. being paid for interviews)?

6. Could the research cause harm to subjects or have negative consequences
for them that exceed those experienced in everyday life?
7. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, will the research raise any
issues which should be the subject of ethical consideration and/or review?
8. Does the research entail potential security or health and safety risks to the
researcher that exceed those experienced in everyday life?
9. It is suggested that research reports are made available publicly upon
completion to participants. Do you or your supervisor feel that, for any
reasons whatsoever, access to your final report may need to be restricted?