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TOURISTS in a FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM: IDENTIFYING INTENTION to PRACTICE GUIDELINES and BEHAVIORAL COMPLIANCE By

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TOURISTS in a FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM: IDENTIFYING INTENTION to PRACTICE GUIDELINES and BEHAVIORAL COMPLIANCE By TOURISTS IN A FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM: IDENTIFYING INTENTION TO PRACTICE GUIDELINES AND BEHAVIORAL COMPLIANCE by John Basil Read IV A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of George Mason University in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Sport and Recreation Studies Committee: ___________________________________________ Chair ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ Academic Program Coordinator ___________________________________________ Academic Program Coordinator ___________________________________________ Dean, College of Education and Human Development Date: _____________________________________ Spring Semester 2019 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Tourists in a Fragile Ecosystem: Identifying Intention to Practice Guidelines and Behavioral Compliance A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at George Mason University by John Basil Read IV Bachelor of Science University of Central Missouri, 2012 Director: Susan Slocum, Associate Professor College of Education and Human Development Spring Semester 2019 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Copyright 2019 John Basil Read IV All Rights Reserved ii DEDICATION This research is dedicated to all the individuals who have worked to preserve the Antarctic as well as those who continue this monumental endeavor to protect one of the last bastions of untarnished landscape. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my extreme gratitude to Dr. Slocum and my committee members Dr. Wiggins and Dr. Daniels. I would not have been able to accomplish this thesis without your support and encouragement. I would additionally like to thank Dr. Liggett, Dr. Ferrada, and Dr. Roura for meeting with me in Davos, CH and for your continued support. I owe Dr. Read III, Dr. Fields, and Ms. Catania a huge debt for all their assistance in the review and editing of this thesis. I am profoundly grateful to the management, staff, and crew of the IAATO vessel that worked with me to be able to conduct this research in Antarctica. To my fellow M.S. students Brett Thomas, Jeremy Steinel, Griffin Gissendanner, and Mihir Mulay, thank you for the reminders in class that it could have always been worse. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ ix ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 Discovery ........................................................................................................................ 2 Wildlife............................................................................................................................ 3 Governance...................................................................................................................... 4 Tourism in Antarctic ....................................................................................................... 7 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................... 15 Tourism and its Environmental Impacts ....................................................................... 15 Mitigating the Environmental Impacts of Tourism ....................................................... 20 Antarctic Tourism ......................................................................................................... 23 History of Antarctic Tourism .................................................................................... 23 Impacts of Antarctic Tourism .................................................................................... 27 Examples of Negative Tourist Actions in Antarctica ................................................ 30 Antarctic Tourism Research ...................................................................................... 32 Theory of Planned Behavior ......................................................................................... 35 Adapting the TPB ...................................................................................................... 37 Problem and Purpose Statement .................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 42 Rationale........................................................................................................................ 43 Threats ........................................................................................................................... 44 Population...................................................................................................................... 44 Sampling Procedure ...................................................................................................... 45 v Bias ................................................................................................................................ 51 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................ 51 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS ......................................................................................... 54 Survey Results ............................................................................................................... 54 Descriptive Statistics ................................................................................................. 54 Summary Statistics .................................................................................................... 55 Summary Statistics for Grouped Variables ............................................................... 62 Calculating Behavioral Intention and Predicted Behavior ........................................ 65 Behavioral Intention vs Behavior .............................................................................. 73 Observational Results .................................................................................................... 74 Summary Statistics .................................................................................................... 74 Observation Data Extrapolated .................................................................................. 83 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION ..................................................................................... 85 Research Question 1 ...................................................................................................... 86 Research Question 2 ...................................................................................................... 91 Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 98 Limitations .................................................................................................................. 100 Future Research ........................................................................................................... 101 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION ................................................................................... 103 Final Note .................................................................................................................... 105 APPENDIX I .................................................................................................................. 106 APPENDIX II ................................................................................................................. 108 APPENDIX III ................................................................................................................ 113 APPENDIX IV................................................................................................................ 119 APPENDIX V ................................................................................................................. 120 APPENDIX VI................................................................................................................ 121 APPENDIX VII .............................................................................................................. 122 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 123 vi LIST OF TABLES Tables Page Table 1: General Guidelines for Visitors to the Antarctic………………….………….…14 Table 2: Survey Constructs………………………………………………...…….…….…50 Table 3: Frequency Demographics for the Survey………………………….………….…56 Table 4: Summary Statistics for the Survey………………………………….……….…..57 Table 5: Summary Statistics for Grouped Variables………………………….……….….63 Table 6: Correlations between Survey Results and Calculated Behavioral Intention and Predicted Behavior……………………………………………………………....……….68 Table 7: Summary Statistics for Behavioral Intention and Predicted Behavior.….….…...69 Table 8: Results
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