TY - JOUR
T1 - Measuring Geotourism:Developing and Testing the Geotraveler Tendency Scale (GTS)
AU - Boley, B. Bynum
AU - Nickerson, Norma Polovitz
AU - Bosak, Keith
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research and/or publication of this article: Funding for this project was provided the Montana statewide accommodation tax and through the Alberta Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. The project was approved by the Governor’s Tourism Advisory Council of Montana.
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - Geotourism is tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place, including its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a scale measuring geotraveler tendencies (GTS). The GTS consists of 35 items across eight subscales measuring both attitudes and behaviors of travelers. Confirmatory factor analysis tested each scale for construct validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and nomological validity, and demonstrated that all eight scales of the GTS were valid and reliable measures of the dimensions of geotourism. Standardized factor loadings ranged from.52 to.92 and construct reliability scores ranged from.72 to.94 for the eight attitudinal and behavioral scales. For destinations interested in promoting geotourism, the GTS provides a tool to determine if visitors traveling to their area embrace geotourism values of sustaining and enhancing the geographical character of place.
AB - Geotourism is tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place, including its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a scale measuring geotraveler tendencies (GTS). The GTS consists of 35 items across eight subscales measuring both attitudes and behaviors of travelers. Confirmatory factor analysis tested each scale for construct validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and nomological validity, and demonstrated that all eight scales of the GTS were valid and reliable measures of the dimensions of geotourism. Standardized factor loadings ranged from.52 to.92 and construct reliability scores ranged from.72 to.94 for the eight attitudinal and behavioral scales. For destinations interested in promoting geotourism, the GTS provides a tool to determine if visitors traveling to their area embrace geotourism values of sustaining and enhancing the geographical character of place.
KW - confirmatory factor analysis
KW - geotourism
KW - scale development
KW - sustainable tourism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84990330560&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0047287510382295
DO - 10.1177/0047287510382295
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84990330560
SN - 0047-2875
VL - 50
SP - 567
EP - 578
JO - Journal of Travel Research
JF - Journal of Travel Research
IS - 5
ER -
