This opinion piece addresses issues surrounding the role of researchers’ behaviour in bridging the science–policy gap in sustainable tourism mobility. Currently, the research agenda on bridging this gap encompasses the development of fuller understanding of the determinants of tourist behaviours, and only a partial understanding of the behaviour of policy-makers and industry. That latter area needs research to identify how those key actors can be encouraged towards developing sustainable tourism mobility. This paper argues that key determinants of researchers' behaviour need to be added to that research agenda. It discusses seven tensions and structures hindering researchers exploring how to mobilise and engage with other industry and policy-makers, including dangers related to the politicisation of science, balancing objectivity and engagement, and the consequences of the current publication culture that characterises the academic community. The discussion concludes with a call for action to researchers to address these tensions and structures. It suggests four ways forward, including informed and skilled engagement with the quality mass media, using proven methods of academic–industry cooperation, workshops to help editors and reviewers to better understand practice-linked, values-driven research issues and the creation of a policy-makers' industry and researchers' action group to encourage joint projects.
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To what extent does receiving information about either popular attractions or less-visited at-tractions, presented as “highlights” of the city, influence the movement of tourists to popular or less-visited attractions, and how does this differ by information channel through which the information is presented? To what extent does receiving information about either popular attractions or less-visited at-tractions, presented as “highlights” of the city, influence tourists’ experience, including their evaluations of the destination, their visit as a whole, and the specific information channel they received, and how does this differ by information channel through which the information is presented? What implementation models and financing mechanisms are available for DMO’s to spread tourists using the information channels tested, contingent on their effectiveness as measured by the previous experiment?Societal issueDestination Management Organisations (DMOs) are looking for interventions that effectively discourage tourists from visiting crowded hotspots and entice them to visit less crowded locations. Interventions like changing infrastructure, charging entrance fees and re-serving site access are either too expensive, too invasive or politically controversial. It is much easier to intervene on tourists' behaviour by informing them about alternatives.Collaborative partnersNHL Stenden, Travel with Zoey, Amsterdam and Partners, Wonderful Copenhagen, Mobidot.
Plastic litter on land, which eventually ends up in seas, known as The Plastic Soup, ruins beautiful tourist destinations. While the hospitality industry both suffers and contributes to plastic litter, it also provides a perfect opportunity to engage guests and make them aware of this environmental issue. This proposal contributes to the development of conscious destinations by addressing the plastic soup problem in two ways: by recycling plastic from the sea and using it to create circular solutions within the hospitality industry, and by using these solutions as behavioural interventions to raise the awareness of hosts, guests and tourists about the plastic soup and change their behaviour for the better.
