A sustentabilidade social no turismo : impactos no comportamento de compra do turista

Abstract

Tourism has been growing rapidly in many regions and countries, supporting the local economies and boosting them. However, the end does not justify the means and the environmental and social impacts of such development must be considered. Sustainable tourism is not just a fashionable trend or a “buzz” word. It is a concept that should be implemented everywhere and in every activity. Companies, in their daily activities, impact, either direct or indirectly, their employees, stakeholders, customers and the local communities which is especially visible in tourism industry. Unfortunately, we haven´t seen any considerable efforts to measure the social impacts of tourism from the perspective of consumers – the tourists –, who play an enormous role on the development of the activity. This paper aims to study the social impacts of tourism and the role played by the hotel industry in this field through a new perspective, the tourists’ perspective, enlightening their appreciation of hoteliers’ efforts in managing such issues. Tourists have a growing importance in the image and marketing of tourism facilities and destinations and their opinion is now, more than ever an asset to consider and pay attention to. Do they value a more responsible and social sustainable performance? And is that enough to make them predisposed to pay a premium for a hotel that does so? Are the tourists aware of their power in such matters? A survey with several key-indicators from the tourism social impacts literature was applied to portuguese tourists to try to answer these questions and understand how they affect tourists’ decision process, and after that, one interview that allowed for the data verification, resulting in stronger results. This study has allowed to understand how much social sustainabilit is important to improve loyalty and willingness to pay more in a hotel. Transversely the participants showed that this is a very important subject por costumers and that it should be taken into account in every business decision.

Date of Award	2022
Original language	Portuguese
Supervisor	Mafalda Luísa de Almeida Serra Patuleia (Supervisor)