Dear Colleagues,

Smith (1978) defines a tourist as “a temporarily leisured person who voluntarily visits a place away from home for the purpose of experiencing change” (p.2). Bruner (1991) argues that “the tourist self is changed very little by the tour, while the consequences of tourism for the native self are profound” (p. 238). While transformation can occur for both tourists and local residents/destinations, it seems that much research on tourism in general and ecotourism in particular has focused on the latter than on the former, although the sustainability of ecotourism largely depends on the existence of a population that cares about the environment/community and acts for the environment/community. Ecotourism may contribute to the formation and growth of such population through self-transformation, which could be achieved through nature-based environmental learning, education, and experience (Orams 1997). Tourists’ knowledge about and appreciation of natural environments may lead to “the changing of attitudes to those that are more environmentally and ecologically sound” (Orams 1997, p. 298). This formation of positive environmental attitudes then may help to motivate their intention to have more hands-on ecotourism experiences, which would create “intentions to change behavior; and finally actual behavior change” (Orams 1997, p. 298) or “convert him or her into somebody keenly involved in conservation issues” (Ceballos-Lascuráin 1990, p. 25). Thus, a general tourist, through nature-based experience, may end up being a responsible tourist or ecotourist who cares about and acts for the environment, the community, and the whole society. The emergence and existence of this market would eventually lead to the fulfilment of the goal for ecotourism sustainability and even for the entire tourism industry (cf. Biljana, Cornwell, & Mather, 2002, p. 268). In view of this, this Special Issue invites manuscripts that focus on the following themes:

1. Measurement development of self-transformation and ecotourism,
2. Attitudinal and behavioral changes of an ecotourist and as a citizen,
3. Role of ecotourism destinations/businesses in the promotion/facilitation of self-transformation,
4. Impacts of self-transformation on the tourism industry, and
5. Relationships between “green” citizens and “green” travellers.

References

1. Biljana, J.; Cornwell, T.; Mather, D. Exploring the usefulness of an ecotourism interest scale. J. Travel Res. 2002, 40, 259–269.
2. Bruner, E.M. Transformation of self in tourism. Annals Tour. Res. 1991, 18, 238–250.
3. Ceballos-Lascuráin, H. Tourism, ecotourism, and protected Areas. In Ecotourism and Resource Conservation, Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposia on Ecotourism and Resource Conservation, Miami Beach, FL, USA, 27 November–2 December 1990; pp. 24–30.
4. Orams, M.B. The effectiveness of environmental education: Can we turn tourists into ‘greenies’? Prog. Tour.Hosp. Res. 1997, 3, 295–306.
5. Smith, V.L. Hosts and Guests: The Anthropology of Tourism; Basil Blackwell: Oxford, UK, 1978.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jinyang Deng
Prof. Dr. Steven Selin
Guest Editors

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• Ecotourism
• Ecotourists
• Self-transformation
• Sustainability