ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to critically investigate travelers’ demographics, travel patterns and preferences, motivations, and sustainability perceptions to identify possible threats of nature-based tourism (NBT) to destinations and communities. We focus on the traveler as a critical stakeholder in deriving the sustainability of NBT. We use a sample of 231 travelers who responded to our survey posted and announced during the period May 26–June 4, 2021, in the social media accounts of three niche travel agencies offering NBT tours in Turkey. Conceptualizing our study on the literature of NBT experience attributes, we investigate the relationship between NBT experience preferences and sustainability perceptions of travelers, considering differences in their motivations. The findings suggest the presence of different dimensions of travelers’ NBT experience preferences (e.g., accommodation, food, transportation, activities, health, and safety requirements) and the moderating effect of their motivations on the sustainability perceptions of the travelers. Based on our findings, we critically reflect on the potential role and responsibility of travelers and NBT tourism providers for sustainable development in fragile rural landscapes. We also call for further research on different segments of travelers, such as families with children, millennials, and extending the sustainability impacts of NBT beyond destination.
