Sustainable Intentions in Tourism: An Empirical Analysis of European Residents

Abstract: Using 22,503 observations from the EU Flash Eurobarometer, this study aims to identify three groups of tourists based on their level of sustainable intentions (primarily sustainable, secondarily sustainable, not sustainable), to analyse their differences in relation to individual characteristics and geographical context, and to assess the impact of different definitions of sustainable tourist on the empirical results. The analysis firstly employs a logit model to estimate the probability that a respondent declares sustainable intentions when choosing a destination. Secondly, a Multinomial logit model is applied to predict the characteristics of an individual within a sustainability category, using socio demographic, cultural, and contextual variables. This classification represents an alternative contribution to mainstream research, highlighting group heterogeneity and the aspects overlooked by aggregate analyses. The results indicate that tourists from Western Europe, women, and older age groups are more likely to consider environmental issues, whereas frequent travellers are less likely to do so.