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Top1. Introduction
Humans through their activities and actions have endangered themselves, their future generations as well as the other living organisms (the guardian). Tourism is one such activity that has a major impact on the society, economy, and the environment. Rapid growth in tourism activities in past decades (Kreag, 2001) lead to increasingly unfavourable socio-economic and environmental changes (Postma & Schmuecker, 2017). Changing patterns of tourism activities, depleting resources and the human activity in a destination raised the need for sustainable tourism practices (Kişi, 2019). The Brundtland Report defines sustainable development as ‘the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1985). Tourism is an activity that can maintain the viability of attracting people for a longer duration of time (Butler, 1999). Tourism industry satisfies the needs and requirements of the current generation, at the same time it protects and enhances opportunities for future generations (Mazilu, 2012). Commodification is a common feature of the tourism industry (MacLeod, 2006). Setting these apart, sustainable practices in tourism emphasizes safe and secured social, economic and environmental life by maximum utilization of the resources without depleting them. Energy management, water management, waste management and conflict resolution are the major concerns of sustainable practices (Conard, 2013). Reducing overconsumption, involving local economies and marketing responsible tourism makes tourism sustainable (Niedziółka, 2014). Thus sustainable tourism practices aim at lowering the impacts on the local society, culture and the natural environment.
Sustainable practices are applied in the tourism industry only when they are seen profitable (Niedziółka, 2014). Traditional tourism stakeholders engine their business activities to tune up profit maximization. Lack of ethical and sustainable goals in business may challenge the survival of a system and in this process, the society (Faladeobalade & Dubey, 2014), economy and the environment face serious threats and challenges (Laughland & Bansal, 2011). UNWTO states that tourism is sustainable only if developed and managed considering both visitors and the local community (UNWTO, 2015). The attitude and the behaviour of tourists has a major role in attaining sustainability in a destination (Chris Choi & Sirakaya, 2005). Tourists need to practice a set of confined behaviour (Moutinho, 1987) that would boost the growth and development in a destination. Responsible tourists though the socio-economic and environmentally friendly behaviour can make the destination attain sustainable growth (Cheon & Hwang, 2019). Understanding the socio-cultural, economic and environmental (Sharma, 2007), opting the package that serves responsibility and responsible behaviour while making the holidays are the positive signs of tourism development. Thus responsible tourism fosters a positive relationship between tourists, society and environment (Myung, Park, Reisinger, & Choong, 2018)
The intention of this research is to find out the responsible behavioural practices of tourists and to suggest various measures to improve the sustainable practices at various tourist attractions of Bangalore. Bangalore, the IT hub of Asia attracts millions of travellers every year. This metropolitan city has several tourist attractions. Local authorities have taken up effective measures to promote responsible behaviour to achieve sustainable development. However, many tourists exhibit undesirable behaviour while making holidays. This study identifies the relationship between the social, economic, and environmental factors and the responsible behaviour of the tourists. Further, the study identifies various indicators of responsible behaviour to understand tourists’ perception to achieve it. The study also signifies to identify the current status of sustainable practices at tourist attractions of Bangalore and to recommend sustainable development practices for future growth.