Investigation into responsible tourism tours in Budapest, Hungary

Abstract

The travel and tourism industry is highly competitive and tour operators are under increasing pressure to differentiate their products. One such product, responsible tourism, is considered as a niche market opportunity for competitive advantage. It became obvious that responsible tourism helps tour operators to reduce the negative impact of mass tourism and increases the positive impacts on economic, social and environment. This research aims to understand the theory of sustainable and responsible tourism. We based our work on qualitative and quantitative methodologies. These include the analysis of primary documents and in-depth interviews with the visitors towards the tourists' perceptions of responsible tourism packages and their demand. The survey was designed and developed according to the aims of the research. Responsible tourism should be promoted whether more tourists than ever before are interested in the responsible tourism package or not. It is important to investigate sustainable tourism practices by the travel industry in Budapest, Hungary. In fact, the key problem identified by the research was that there was a lack of responsible tourism tours in Budapest. This finding leads us to give the advice to tour operators to improve the quality of responsible tourism. Therefore, tour operators and travel agencies should create different responsible tourism tours for different tourist segments. Tourism programmes should help visitors take action and get a meaningful experience.