Aubrey Motsinger
The winter holiday season grants people breaks from school and work, allowing families to spend more time together. A reprieve is also granted to the environment by the holiday effect, which marks the reduction in air pollutant concentrations that occur during holiday periods. As the number of vacation days in a holiday increases, the stronger the holiday effect will be. Not only do people abstain from their daily commutes, but many use their free time for family reunions and spending time together. However, various holiday activities pollute in different ways and extents, varying each holiday’s environmental impact. Some families may decide to use their holiday to go on a vacation. In popular destinations, tourism fuels the local economies, accounting for 10% of the area’s GDP and 1 in 10 jobs. Vacations are considered “worry-free” times, free of responsibilities, but actions still have environmental consequences. Tourism is the 5th most polluting industry, producing 8% of all carbon dioxide emissions and directly contributing to 12.5% of global warming. The overuse and resulting destruction of natural resources is caused by consumption that is rooted in human desires. These include those for physical comfort, relief from labor, and enjoyment.
People are conscientious of their environmental behaviors at home but not on vacation. Most people exhibit a decrease in pro-environmental behaviors when traveling on holiday to a tourist destination. Greater water and energy consumption, food waste generation, and littering accompany a decrease in recycling to describe vacationers' behavior away from home. Tourists will make an effort to maintain a good environment where they live but do not feel obligated to behave in the same way on vacation. A potential solution lies in generating a “home away from home” feeling. Providing tourists with familiar, authentic, and safe experiences evokes a sense of domestic comfort. This familiarity can in turn remind them of regular habits and routines, encouraging consistency with their pro-environmental behaviors. Tourists that feel at home on vacation display greater environmental responsibility and their pro-environmental behaviors are consistent with those practiced at home. By exhibiting eco-friendly behaviors, tourists can influence others to act similarly.
Looking through a lens of convenience and excitement, people will choose activities to enjoy during their vacation. Unfortunately, entertainments that prioritize fun and excitement tend to be less eco-friendly. Tourists are willing to change their behaviors if their holiday isn’t overly affected, but environmental actions require some sacrifice of tourist enjoyment. As established earlier, tourist satisfaction is directly tied to the economy of vacation destinations. Reducing the tourism industry’s environmental impacts must therefore redirect the source of satisfaction rather than diminish it. Eudaimonia is a level of happiness rooted in self-fulfillment, developing one’s best self, and can be used to support pro-environmental behaviors. This could look like framing eco-friendly behaviors by how they will make the individual better for doing them. Tourism providers can also appeal to vacationers by contributing to local charities in exchange for tourists exhibiting desired pro-environmental behaviors. Utilizing eudaimonia this way can simultaneously alleviate environmental harm and enhance tourist enjoyment.
Through all of this, visitors maintain a responsibility to change their actions. The theory of planned behavior presents that people’s underlying beliefs determine their actions. Currently, the dominant social standard sees nature based on its usefulness to humans. This perspective doesn’t encourage people to practice regular pro-environmental behaviors. A new view is emerging, establishing nature as possessing value independent of its use to humans. People whose environmentally friendly behaviors stem from ecocentric values are more likely to exhibit sustainable travel behaviors. These sustainable behaviors include researching sustainable tourism offerings, practicing eco-friendly habits while on vacation, and reducing the impacts of tourism on the natural environment. There are three types of environmental behavior: purchasing items based on their environmental impacts, voting for environmental policies, and being willing to pay higher prices to protect the environment. Environmental behaviors stem from personal social norms that establish how a person should behave in regard to others and the environment. These norms are activated by a two-part belief. Firstly, that things valued by the individual are under threat, and secondly, that actions initiated by the individual can help lessen the threat and restore those they value.
Tourists have the greatest flexibility in decision-making, especially compared to changing legislation or policies. However, everyone’s behaviors must change for sustainable travel to improve. If destinations become more sustainable, tourists may be willing to pay a higher cost to travel there, as well as participate in behaviors that preserve the destination’s environment and culture. An important step to achieve this is establishing the infrastructure necessary to enable tourists to maintain their usual levels of pro-environmental behaviors. Institutions can also redirect people from production-increasing activities toward spending leisure time in the environment.
Environmental problems away from home are just as important as local ones. So whether you’re spending the winter holidays at home or somewhere else, make sure your behaviors reflect that the Earth is everyone’s home.
Citations
Baratta, R., Brunetti, F., & Ugolini, M. M. (2023). ‘Feel at home’ on vacation: exploring homeyness as a driver of tourists’ loyalty and pro-environmental behaviours. Current Issues in Tourism, 27(23), 4066–4083. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2023.2273916
Chen, P.-Y., Tan, P.-H., C.-K. Chou, C., Lin, Y.-S., Chen, W.-N., & Shiu, C.-J. (2009). Impacts of holiday characteristics and number of vacation days on “holiday effect” in Taipei: Implications on ozone control strategies. Atmospheric Environment, 202, 357–369. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231019300512
Holmes, M. R., Dodds, R., & Frochot, I. (2019). At home or abroad, does our behavior change? Examining how everyday behavior influences sustainable travel behavior and tourist clusters. Journal of Travel Research, 60(1), 102–116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287519894070
MacInnes, S., Demeter, C., & Dolnicar, S. (2024). Is the pursuit of pleasure on vacation a barrier to environmentally sustainable behaviour? Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2024.2413688
Mehmetoglu, M. (2010). Factors influencing the willingness to behave environmentally friendly at home and holiday settings. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 10(4), 430–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/15022250.2010.520861
Ramchurjee, N. A., & Suresha, S. (2015). Are Tourists’ Environmental Behavior Affected by Their Environmental Perceptions and Beliefs? Journal of Environmental and Tourism Analyses, 3(1), 26–44. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1737432361?fromopenview=true&pq-origsite=gscholar&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals