A Measurement Framework for Socially Sustainable Tourist Behaviour

Abstract

This conceptual research article considers the concept of socially sustainable tourist behaviour. It explains the critical role of this behaviour in two parts (themes and behaviours), highlighting the lack of adequate research to date on this concept and the role of the social dimensions in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The dimensions from previous works (academic and non-academic) attempting to articulate sustainable tourist behaviour from a social perspective are summarised and classified. A measurement framework of 19 dimensions of socially sustainable tourist behaviour is proposed. It is argued that the extant literature fails to comprehensively conceptualise and measure socially sustainable tourist behaviour, and that a new framework with an associated measurement scale is needed.