Date of Award
2015
Document Type
Thesis - ECU Access Only
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Degree Name
Bachelor of Tourism Management Honours
School
School of Business
Faculty
Faculty of Business and Law
First Supervisor
Dr Greg Willson
Second Supervisor
Dr Dale Sanders
Abstract
Indigenous Tourism is an important social and economic contributor throughout Australia and worldwide. The majority of research on Indigenous Tourism has focussed on the role of Indigenous peoples and their cultures in tourism, impacts of Indigenous tourism, benefits and challenges of Indigenous Tourism businesses, and the marketing and representation of Indigenous peoples. While demand for Indigenous Tourism has previously been examined, there is a paucity of research on Generation Y’s (Gen Y) Indigenous Tourism interests and their environmental values. This study explores the relationships between the Indigenous Tourism interests and environmental values of Gen Y. Semi-structured interviews with fourteen Gen Y members was conducted in Perth, Western Australia as well as a one page survey that collected each participant’s demographic details. The findings were extrapolated from the data using QSR Nvivo 10 computer software to code the main themes present in participants’ interview response transcripts. The findings of this research indicate that while Gen Y expresses concerns for a range of environmental issues, they primarily possess egocentric environmental values which connect with all participants’ affirmative interests in undertaking Indigenous Tourism experiences. This study found that overall Gen Y is somewhat self-interested given their primarily egocentric environmental values and the relationships with their Indigenous Tourism interests reflecting strong preferences for international and social Indigenous Tourism experiences. The findings suggest that Gen Y is a suitable market for Indigenous Tourism operators to target, and that members would be particularly receptive to experiences which emphasize traditional and contemporary Indigenous cultures, particularly international experiences. Further, Gen Y are much less interested in nature-based Indigenous Tourism experiences and in those which take measures to be environmentally-conscious. The findings propose that Gen Y is an experienced travel market with high expectations in terms of quality and value for money and they intend to benefit both personally and developmentally from their tourism experiences.
Recommended Citation
Vermeersch, L. (2015). An exploration of the relationships between the environmental values and indigenous tourism interests of Generation Y. Edith Cowan University. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses_hons/509