Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
3
Tourism, Transport and
Environment: Theoretical
Perspectives
There are a number of theoretical developments, important in the field of
transport and tourism consumption, that require exploration and provide
insights into slow travel. This chapter begins with an analysis of what drives
tourist travel, and then explores the modal choice decision-making process.
Studies of modal choice are largely rooted in cognitive models assuming a
rational choice process. Much work, in the transport field, reviews the poten-
tial for widespread behavioural change in order to reduce environmental
impacts of travel. Based on cognitive decision-making models, work in this
area has identified an attitude-behaviour gap where awareness of environ-
mental problems and positive attitudes towards environmental conservation
fail to result in appropriate pro-environmental travel behaviour. This is appar-
ent in all areas of travel, including tourism, where air travel is pervasive
even among those who, ironically, have a strong conservation ethic (Barr et
al, 2010). The failure to engage in appropriate behaviour is attributed to a
number of barriers (Hares et al, 2010). A critique of this apparent attitude-
behaviour gap is developed.
The chapter also reviews a number of more recent theoretical develop-
ments that offer new insight into travel. These draw on social psychology and
the theories of social representations and discourse analysis that offer critiques
of the more traditional cognitive psychology approaches. Sociological per-
spectives are also explored, beginning with social practices theory, which has
re-emerged in recent years as a useful analysis framework to understand sus-
tainable consumption (Spaargaren and van Vliet, 2000). A social practice
perspective moves away from the realm of an individual consumer to exam-
ine the way people collectively engage in particular practices. This highlights
the interaction between individual perspectives and societal structures that
enable or constrain travel. More recently, the 'new mobilities paradigm' (Urry,
2000) has emerged from the discipline of sociology that explores the interre-
lationship of both real and virtual travel and social relations. Traditionally,
