Tourism Experiences and Behaviors: Pro-Environmental Behaviors

Tourism both depends on and threatens environmental quality, making tourists’ pro-environmental behavior (PEB) central to sustainable tourism development. This chapter synthesises the evolution of PEB research by reviewing its conceptual foundations, behavioral typologies, theoretical explanations, barriers, and emerging intervention strategies. It distinguishes between general and site-specific PEB, low- and high-effort behaviors, and private- and public-sphere actions, demonstrating that different forms of PEB are driven by distinct psychological and contextual mechanisms. The chapter further integrates major theoretical perspectives, including the Theory of Planned Behavior, Norm Activation Model, Value-Belief-Norm Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, Stimulus-Organism-Response framework, and the emerging concept of symbiotic rationality, to explain tourists’ environmental decision-making. It also examines the intention–behavior gap, the influence of the vacation mindset, moral disengagement, and contextual constraints, before discussing how environmental interpretation, nudging, smart technologies, and AI-enabled interventions can promote sustainable behavior and potentially generate long-term behavioral spillover beyond the tourism context.