Sustainable Tourism in the EU

This study examines the willingness of European Union (EU) citizens to adopt sustainable tourism behaviours, using data from Flash Eurobarometer 499. A Willingness for Sustainable Tourism Behaviour (WSTB) Index was developed from nine behavioural intentions through an exploratory factor analysis, providing a synthetic and comparable measure of individual readiness for sustainable travel. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were employed to assess variation across gender, age, occupation, community type, nationality, and travel frequency. Women, younger people, employees, and frequent travellers are more likely to adopt sustainable behaviours. EU member states were ranked according to the WSTB Index: Romania, Sweden, and Slovakia appear at the top, whilst Bulgaria, Malta, and Portugal record the lowest scores. The findings reveal considerable disparities amongst EU member states, indicating that specific policies aligned with each country's socio-demographic and cultural characteristics are required to encourage behaviour change and foster more harmonised sustainable tourism practices across Europe.

age differences · behavioral intention · cross-national comparison · EU member states · gender differences · sociodemographic factors · Sustainable tourism · sustainable travel behavior · tourism policy · travel frequency · Willingness to pay · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research · Environmental Sustainability in Business · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development