The prominence of eco in ecotourism experiences: An analysis of post-purchase online reviews

While it is often suggested that the ecotourism sector is growing rapidly, in conjunction with a growth in environmental consciousness amongst consumers, others have questioned the extent to which such demand is driven by an interest in the underpinning environmental objectives of ecotourism experiences. Utilising post-consumption evaluations of ecotourism experience through online user-generated content, this study sought to understand the relative importance that ecotourism consumers place on various aspects of their experience. This paper reports on an analysis of more than 3000 online tourist post-purchase reviews of ecotourism experiences in Australia which examined reflective self-reports of ecotourism experiences to determine the prominence of the eco aspects of the experience vis-à-vis the attributes of the tourism experience more broadly.