Managers’ Perspectives about the Relationship between Tourism and Climate Change: Case of the Republic of Croatia

Abstract

Assuming a two-way relationship between climate change and tourism, it is very important to know the beliefs and attitudes of tourist managers. Research of beliefs and attitudes of tourist managers is a key problem of this research. Beliefs and attitudes of tourist managers are affected by different factors such as: sociodemographic characteristics, especially gender; level of education; length of service in the tourism sector; membership in ecological ngos; and beliefs and attitudes about climate change. To investigate managers’ opinions, the authors created a survey which focused on all managers who manage categorized facilities by type in the Republic of Croatia. The results have shown significant differences in the beliefs and attitudes about the interinfluence of climate change and tourist accommodation. Managers who are female, who have completed tertiary education, who are members of ecological ngos and who consider themselves activists, and those who have more years of work experience, showed stronger pro-environmental attitudes and higher levels of ecological awareness. Keywords: attitudes, beliefs, climate change, management, tourism, destinations