The concept of green tourism has evolved over time and is presently used with different meanings. The original one, spread during the 1980s, stands for small-scale tourism which involves visiting natural areas while minimizing environmental impacts. In this line, green tourism has been used interchangeably with such concepts as ecotourism, nature tourism, and rural tourism (Sung-kwon et al. 2003). Businesses have generally adopted a broader meaning for green tourism: any tourism activity operating in an environmentally friendly manner.

Recently, international organizations have defined the notion in line with the concept of sustainable tourism, which also considers other dimensions than environmental protection. In fact, for the World Tourism Organization, green tourism consists of “tourism activities that can be maintained, or sustained, indefinitely in their social, economic, cultural and environmental contexts” (UNWTO 2012: 1). For the United Nations Environment Programme, green tourism is a key component toward a sustainable economy, one that results in “improved human wellbeing and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities” (UNEP 2011: 16).

As tourism patterns are increasingly influenced by sustainability considerations, green tourism has the potential to generate important benefits for destinations. Its role includes job creation, supporting local economies, reducing poverty, lowering the cost of energy, improving water and waste management systems, and preserving biodiversity and culture heritage. Nevertheless, tourism faces major challenges to become a greener industry, such as its intensive use of nonrenewable energy and the emission of greenhouse gases associated with transportation.

The most common sociodemographic variables used as predictors of green tourist behavior, also labeled as environmentally friendly, are age, gender, education, income, and political orientation (Dolnicar 2010). Regarding psychological variables, it has been found that personal values and norms, as well as environmental awareness/concern, are key determinants of green behavior (Valle et al. 2012).

The concept of green tourism has become widely used by both private and public tourism organizations. For instance, the UNWTO organized a conference on the topic in 2012. In the academic literature, on the contrary, the concept is not largely disseminated. Due to its multiple meanings, most scholars prefer alternative concepts, such as ecotourism and sustainable tourism.

The prospects for future research on green tourism are vast. In particular, further research on the profile of green tourists is needed, given the diversity of destinations. Evaluating the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of green tourism developments is another promising domain.

FormalPara See also

Ecotourism, nature tourism, responsible tourism, rural tourism, sustainable tourism.