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Practicing sustainability as a backpacker: The role of nationality
Author(s) -
Iaquinto Benjamin Lucca,
Pratt Stephen
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of tourism research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.155
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1522-1970
pISSN - 1099-2340
DOI - 10.1002/jtr.2321
Subject(s) - frugality , nationality , sustainability , german , tourism , context (archaeology) , sociology , political science , geography , immigration , law , ecology , archaeology , biology
The influence of tourist nationality is a consistent topic of interest among tourism researchers. A social practice approach using interviews and participant observation was applied to understand if backpackers of different nationalities (German, British, French, and American) performed different sustainability practices. Backpacking is a homogenising force because of the shared values of frugality combined with the hostel context. Overall, national differences were minor, but there were some differences notably between German and British backpackers. Practicing sustainability required a combination of backpacker values, infrastructures, and corporeal abilities to converge at specific points in time and space.