Gender and sustainable tourism:Women’s participation in the environmental decision-making process

Abstract

Environmental education can positively influence attitudes and decision making in environmental protection and sustainable tourism development. Understanding gender differences in environmentalism and in citizen participant’s motivations, preferred participation process characteristics and process evaluation criteria is an important component of this. Women and men are involved differently in the construction and consumption of tourism. Women, for example, report stronger environmental attitudes and behaviours than men. This study examines the special role that women play in the development of sustainable tourism. Within this framework, the relationship between gender and tourism, the role of Environmental education in encouraging citizen participation, and women-environmentalism relationship is examined. Gender issues are a primary factor of tourism social science. One of the ways that Environmental Education can promote sustainable tourism is to understand the gender differences that exist in citizen participant’s motivations, preferred participation process characteristics and process evaluation criteria.