COLLEGE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON TOURISM CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS AND TRAVEL DESTINATION DECISION-MAKING

Abstract

Climate and weather are widely recognized attributes that play important roles in tourism (Buzinde, Manuel-Navarrete, Kerstetter, & Redclift, 2010; de Freitas, 2001; Gössling, Bredberg, Randow, Sandström, & Svensson, 2006; Smith, 1993). For tourists, travel decisions are to a large extent based on destination images of sun, sand, sea, or availability of snow, and thus on perceptions of climate variables such as temperature, rain and humidity (de Freitas, 2001; Smith, c1993). However, according to United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) 2007 Davos declaration, the tourism industry contributes about 5% of global CO2 emissions. Since the college student travelers will become the main consumer population of global tourism market (International Youth Travel Organizations, 2003), studying college students’ perceptions of tourism impacts on climate change issues are critical for tourism destinations and suppliers. The purpose of this study is to enhance the understanding about the relationship between tourism and climate change issues among college students, in addition, to evaluating the impact of gender on knowledge and perceptions of climate change issues among college students, and its effects on travel behavior change. Using an online survey link and printed questionnaire, data were collected from a randomly selected sample of college. And due to the convenience sampling method, the student samples were mainly from the School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington. The study found that only gender influences students’ knowledge of travel’s impacts on climate change. In general, climate change knowledge and perception levels cannot be attributed to gender differences. To some extent, university education has an impact on college students’ climate change perceptions, and understanding of climate change knowledge.