Making tourism count for conservation: Understanding when and why tourists donate to charity
By Christy Hehir, SeNSS-funded PhD candidate, University of Surrey, Business and Management Pathway.
Small change can have a big impact on conservation. PhD researcher, Christy Hehir, measures the value travelling has for conservation. Recognised and funded by the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council), her environmental psychology-based PhD research collaborates with leading tour operators and international wildlife charities to measure when and why tourists donate to charity.
Her research questions whether tourism can ever be sustainable? Arguably, tourism can only be sustainable if it does not involve travel, thus rendering it impossible. This is particularly evident within ‘last-chance tourism’ (LCT), whereby visitors travel to worldly attractions, for example, the Amazon rainforest and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, before they disappear due to environmental degradation. But what benefit, if any, does this increasingly popular travel trend have for wildlife and conservation?
By taking a retrospective approach focusing on actual behaviour, her mixed-methods study builds on current research, which to date has focused on intention rather than actual behaviour change. Using a post-travel survey and a further follow-up survey tourists donation histories and levels of environmental self-identity were analysed to assess the role of travelling, particularly to last-chance destinations, in spurring new donations to conservation charities. Outcomes of this research identify the types of experiences/activities that add value and engage tourists to (re)connect with the environments they visit, and pinpoint triggers in travel experiences that inspire charity donations both during and after the trip.
Alongside the scholarly contributions to knowledge, this research has recently been awarded Research England funding to transform its findings into the Tourism Philanthropy Guidelines aligning tour-operators and non-profits, entitled Making Tourism Count for Conservation. The guidelines, identify five ways tour operators can encourage tourists to donate and are expected to be rolled out across the industry this summer.
Commenting on the guidelines, Christy Hehir said:
“it is critically important to demonstrate and evidence the impact of social science beyond the realms of academia and I am passionate about ensuring my research has real-world impact. It is a really exciting time to be working within the realms of environmental psychology and travel and I hope these guidelines can highlight how small change can have a big impact on conservation.”
Christy’s environmental interest was ignited when she travelled to Antarctica with Students on Ice, having been elected as the UK’s student representative of International Polar Years in 2007-2008. Since then, she has joined the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) on a research expedition to Svalbard in 2011. Such experiences led to her award winning Master’s thesis, The future of Antarctica. Is tourism an ally or an enemy? The publication of her first book, Arctic Reflections: Moment of Inspiration, a Lifetime of Action (Tomac., Hehir. 2013) and now her interdisciplinary PhD, which is under the SUPERvision of Professor Caroline Scarles, Dr Kayleigh Wyles and Dr Joe Kantenbacher.
To receive a copy of the NEW Making Tourism Count for Wildlife Conservation Guidelines click here and/or to learn more about how tourism impacts donating behaviour please connect with Christy via Twitter: @christyhehir #givewhereyougo , Email: christy.hehir@surrey.ac.uk or LinkedIn: Christy Hehir