Chapter 1: Introduction
This part of the research project will be providing a brief overview of the chosen research
topic. The major aim and objectives will also be determined. On the basis of the objectives,
the research questions will be framed.
1.1 Background of the study
Ecotourism has become one of the major trends in the tourism industry of the global market.
Being one of the most desired segments of tourism, ecotourism has contributed to the
improved rate of awareness among consumers from all across the globe. According to
Stronza et al. (2019), ecotourism contributes to reducing the possibility of environmental
pollution, thereby making the whole industry environment conscious. This segment of the
tourism industry is also responsible for promoting the growth of the local economy in an
effective manner. In spite of these, there are various factors that contribute to having a strong
impact on consumer behaviour within the industry. The researcher will be conducting this
research to identify as well as analyse the various factors that influence the overall consumer
buying behaviour within the ecotourism sector.
1.2 Rationale of the study
Consumer buying behaviour is said to change frequently with the changes in the overall
market demands and trends. As per Szmigin and Piacentini (2018), consumer buying
behaviour can be defined as the set of actions executed by the consumers in the market before
making the final purchase of any product or service. These actions include using various
search engines, checking reviews, engaging in various social media platforms, and many
others. As mentioned above, there are various factors that influence the overall ecotourism
sector of the UK. Factors like globalisation, sustainability, the outbreak of the pandemic, and
many others are said to have a strong influence on the ecotourism industry. The rationale for
conducting this research is to identify these factors as well as analyse the same for having a
better understanding of the impact of these factors on consumer buying behaviour.
1.3 Aim and Objectives
The major aim of this study is to identify the factors that have a strong impact on the
consumer buying behaviour of the ecotourism industry in the UK. The major objectives that
will help the researcher in monitoring and analysing the success criteria of the study are
stated below.
● To identify the factors affecting ecotourism in the UK tourism industry
● To analyse the positive impacts of the factors on the ecotourism of the UK tourism
industry

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● To analyse the negative impacts of the factors on the ecotourism of the UK tourism
industry
1.4 Research questions
The possible research questions for ensuring the successful conduction of this study are stated
below.
● What are the factors that affect ecotourism in the UK tourism industry?
● What are the positive impacts of the factors on the ecotourism of the UK tourism
industry?
● What are the negative impacts of the factors on the ecotourism of the UK tourism
industry?
1.5 Summary
This part of the research project has been able to provide a brief overview of the chosen
research topic. The major aim of the research project has been to identify the major factors
that contribute to influencing consumer behaviour associated with the buying perspectives
within the ecotourism industry of the UK. A set of major objectives have also been
determined, followed by a set of relevant research questions.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
This part of the research project will be focusing on reviewing the various available literature
obtained from accessible sources. The researcher will access the desired sets of secondary
sources using various online platforms, for instance, search engines like Google, online
platforms like Google Scholars, and many others. This part of the research project will further
identify and include the major gap in the literature, thereby highlighting the reasons behind
the conduction of this research project.
2.1 Basic concepts of ecotourism
Ecotourism is mainly referred to as the process of travelling that is responsible enough to the
surrounding natural areas that include the conservation of the environment, ensuring the
wellbeing of the local people, as well as ensuring effective educational opportunities along
with accurate interpretation. According to the opinions of Jones and Spadafora (2017),
ecotourism has been well recognised as an effective tool for ensuring the management as well
as conservation of cultural heritages as well as nature. Being one of the most rapidly growing
sectors in the global tourism industry, this sector of tourism is mainly responsible for serving
the plat by ensuring the incorporation of economic, environmental, as well as socio cultural
values. This, in turn, also contributes to the promotion of sustainable development within the
market, thereby increasing the public awareness about the same as well. As per the recent
reports on Ecotourism (n.d.), ecotourism is mainly about combining the communities,
conservation, along with sustainable travel. The various principles associated with effective
ecotourism include minimising psychological, social, physical, and behavioural impacts,
building cultural as well as environmental awareness, ensuring a strong and positive
experience for both the visitors as well as hosts and providing direct financial benefits for
effective conservation. Hence, it can be analysed that ecotourism is a modern market trend
that helps encourage people to go for sustainable travel and have a positive impact on society,
community, as well as environment.
2.2 Benefits of ecotourism
Ecotourism has several advantages that benefit the planet socially, economically, as well as
environmentally. As per the opinions of Zacarias and Loyola (2017), the major benefit of
ecotourism is that it aims to promote the sustainable development of the rural areas, with the
major goal of generating a high amount of revenue through various strategies like conserving
the environment, instead of just transforming the same. Hence, it can be analysed that
effective ecotourism helps the communities in reaping various financial rewards, thereby
ensuring the overall protection of their local lands. Incorporation of effective ecotourism

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provides high job opportunities to the local people, hence, ensuring the improvement in
lifestyle within a community. According to Boley, B.B. and Green (2016), ecotourism has
been recorded to generate 95% of the overall revenues for the local economies in comparison
to the 20% of the same contributed by the “standards all inclusive package tours”. Moreover,
with the easy accessibility of various professional training opportunities, ecotourism
contributes to improving the overall quality of life of the local communities. The process of
commercialising various tourist destinations has been considered to have a strong negative
impact on the natural environment. The occurrence of air pollution, habitat loss of animals,
deforestation, and many others are often recorded as the adverse outcomes of this process. As
per Kunjuraman and Hussin (2016), tourists associated with ecotourism are mainly
encouraged to focus more on the beauty and uniqueness of the natural environment of any
venue around the world, rather than contributing to the natural destruction due to “short run
exploitation”. As a result, it can be analysed that an effective ecosystem plays a significant
role in generating revenues for both developed as well as developing countries through the
conservation of rainforests, protection of wildlife, and many others. Effective ecotourism also
helps in making the tourists aware of the fragile biodiversity as well as the community needs
of any specific place. Hence, it can be analysed that the improved awareness of the tourists
contributes to adding value to the society and environment. Therefore, it can be stated that the
major benefits of ecotourism include social, economic, environmental, and many other
impacts.
2.3 Factors affecting ecotourism
There are various factors that have a strong impact on the ecotourism sector in the global
market. Globalisation has been considered to be a major factor that has a strong impact on the
growth of ecotourism. As opined by Backman and Munanura (2017), globalisation can be
referred to as the process of increasing interconnection between different countries, thereby
reducing the adverse effects of politics and distances. With the increased globalisation, the
fluidity among the various economic markets has increased to a great extent. This increase in
fluidity has occurred due to the incorporation of various advanced technologies along with
innovation. In addition to this, the various “transnational corporations” in the tourism sector
are encouraged to find out the most attractive, eco friendly, as well as cost effective locations.
Lee and Jan (2018) stated that this has helped in offering various services to the different
markets as well as providing customised services as per the needs of the tourists along with
the local communities. Hence, it can be analysed that globalisation can be considered a factor
that has a strong positive impact on the growth of ecotourism. However, the sudden outbreak

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of the pandemic is considered a major factor that also has a strong impact on the growth of
ecotourism. According to Lin et al. (2022), the sudden and rapid outbreak of the pandemic
disrupted the overall business operations of all sectors of tourism, including ecotourism. The
pandemic outbreak has contributed to more than 59% of job losses in the global market,
thereby having a negative impact on the overall economic and community growth. On the
contrary, the same has a strong impact on the environment as it helped in decreasing the
overall environmental pollution by 49.7% within the time span of 2020-2021 (Rhama et al.
2020). Hence, it can be analysed that the pandemic outbreak had a negative impact on the
growth of ecotourism. Therefore, it can be stated that globalisation and the COVID-19
outbreak are considered to be the two major factors that influence the growth of ecotourism.
2.4 Literature Gap
The research has been able to provide the basic concepts of ecotourism. The various benefits
associated with ecotourism have also been discussed. The two major factors that have
impacted the growth of ecotourism have been identified. However, the other minor factors
that impact ecotourism have not been discussed. Moreover, the impact of these factors has
not been discussed, which can be considered the major gap in the literature.
2.5 Summary
This part of the research project has focused on reviewing the various available literature
obtained from accessible sources. The researcher has accessed the desired sets of secondary
sources using various online platforms, for instance, search engines like Google, online
platforms like Google Scholars, and many others. This part of the research project has further
identified and included the major gap in the literature, thereby highlighting the reasons
behind the conduction of this research project.

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Chapter 3: Research Methodology
This part of the research project will be focusing on analysing the various research methods
that are being used by the researcher conducting the research. On the basis of the information
obtained from the literature review, it can be stated that both primary as well as secondary
data will be needed. This chapter will also discuss the proper justification for each method.
3.1 Research philosophy
The researcher will be using a positivism research philosophy for conducting this research.
As per Gupta and Gupta (2022), this research philosophy helps the researcher in focusing
mainly on the factual knowledge that is gained through observations, including associated
measurements. New hypotheses can also be developed by the researcher through this
philosophy.
3.2 Research approach
The researcher will be using a deductive approach for conducting this research. According to
Cr (2020), this type of research approach helps in beginning a new theory, developing
hypotheses and analysing the same, thereby leading to the accurate collection of data.
3.3 Data collection
Both primary and secondary data will be collected. As per Pandey and Pandey (2021),
primary data collection helps in obtaining numerical as well as statistical data that can be
represented in form of tables, charts, and graphs. On the other hand, secondary data collection
helps in gaining detailed insights into any research topic; however, it is not numerical in
nature. The researcher has considered quantitative analysis by conducting an online survey.
3.4 Sampling technique
The researcher will be using a random sampling technique for conducting this research. As
opined by Kumar (2018), this sampling technique helps the researcher in selecting the
samples at random from a large population, hence, ensuring no sign of biases. The researcher
has considered quantitative analysis by conducting an online survey among 100 ecotourists
within the UK.
3.5 Ethical considerations
The researcher will be abiding by all the legislation like the “Data Protection Act”, “General
Data Protection Regulations”, and many others. Implementation of this legislation, the
researcher has been able to ensure the safety and security of the private information provided
by the participants.
3.6 Summary

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This part of the research project has focused on analysing the various research methods that
are being used by the researcher conducting the research. Both primary, as well as secondary
data have been taken into consideration.

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Chapter 4: Findings and analysis
This part of the research project will be discussing the findings obtained from the secondary
data collected in the second chapter, which is a literature review. The primary data will be
included in the main report of this project. Both SPSS and Excel will be used.
4.1 Importance of the ecotourism sector
Ecotourism is mainly about combining the communities, and conservation, with sustainable
travel. The various principles associated with effective ecotourism include minimising
psychological, social, physical, and behavioural impacts, building cultural as well as
environmental awareness, ensuring a strong and positive experience for both the visitors as
well as hosts and providing direct financial benefits for effective conservation. Ecotourism
has been well recognised as an effective tool for ensuring the management as well as
conservation of cultural heritages as well as nature. Being one of the most rapidly growing
sectors in the global tourism industry, this sector of tourism is mainly responsible for serving
the plat by ensuring the incorporation of economic, environmental, as well as socio-cultural
values. This, in turn, also contributes to the promotion of sustainable development within the
market, thereby increasing public awareness about the same as well. The major benefits of
ecotourism include social, economic, environmental, and many other impacts.
4.2 Factor having a positive impact on the growth of the ecotourism sector
Globalisation can be considered a factor that has a strong positive impact on the growth of
ecotourism. With the increased globalisation, the fluidity among the various economic
markets has increased to a great extent. This increase in fluidity has occurred due to the
incorporation of various advanced technologies along with innovation.
4.3 Factor having a negative impact on the growth of the ecotourism sector
The sudden outbreak of the pandemic is considered a major factor that also has a strong
impact on the growth of ecotourism. The sudden and rapid outbreak of the pandemic
disrupted the overall business operations of all sectors of tourism, including ecotourism. The
pandemic outbreak has contributed to an increased number of job losses in the global market,
thereby having a negative impact on the overall economic and community growth.
4.4 Summary
This part of the research project has discussed the findings obtained from the secondary data
collected in the second chapter, which is a literature review. The importance of ecotourism
has been analysed. The factors having positive, as well as negative impacts on the growth of
ecotourism, have also been analysed in an effective manner.

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Chapter 5: Conclusion
This part of the research project will be providing a brief summary of the overall research
projects. The major aim of the research project has been to identify the major factors that
contribute to influencing consumer behaviour associated with the buying perspectives within
the ecotourism industry of the UK. The researcher has accessed the desired sets of secondary
sources using various online platforms, for instance, search engines like Google, online
platforms like Google Scholars, and many others. The research project has further identified
and included the major gap in the literature, thereby highlighting the reasons behind the
conduction of this research project. The research project has focused on analysing the various
research methods that are being used by the researcher conducting the research. Both
primary, as well as secondary data have been taken into consideration. The importance of
ecotourism has been analysed. The factors having positive, as well as negative impacts on the
growth of ecotourism, have also been analysed in an effective manner.
5.1 Conclusion linked with Objective 1
The research project has been able to meet the first objective which was to identify the factors
affecting ecotourism in the UK tourism industry. On the basis of the secondary data obtained
from the literature review, it can be stated that the two major factors affecting ecotourism are
globalisation and the sudden outbreak of the pandemic.
5.2 Conclusion linked with objective 2
The research project has been able to meet the second objective, which was to analyse the
positive impacts of the factors on the ecotourism in the UK tourism industry. On the basis of
the secondary data obtained from the literature review, it can be stated that globalisation can
be considered a factor that has a strong positive impact on the growth of ecotourism. With the
increased globalisation, the fluidity among the various economic markets has increased to a
great extent.
5.3 Conclusion linked with objective 3
The research project has been able to meet the second objective, which was to analyse the
negative impacts of the factors on the ecotourism in the UK tourism industry. On the basis of
the secondary data obtained from the literature review, it can be stated that The sudden
outbreak of the pandemic is considered a major factor that also has a strong impact on the
growth of ecotourism. The sudden and rapid outbreak of the pandemic disrupted the overall
business operations of all sectors of tourism, including ecotourism.
5.4 Future considerations

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Considering the future references, the researcher will be collecting primary data using both
qualitative as well as quantitative methods. The researcher will be able to obtain numerical
data from an online survey as well as an interview to gain descriptive data. The online survey
will be conducted among 100 ecotourists. In addition to this, the online interview will be
conducted involving 5 managers from the ecotourism companies in the UK.

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Chapter 6: Self reflection
This research project has helped me in ensuring the successful collection of data associated
with the chosen research topic. The various data obtained from this research project have
helped me understand the basic concepts of ecotourism. ecotourism is mainly about
combining the communities, and conservation, with sustainable travel. The various principles
associated with effective ecotourism include minimising psychological, social, physical, and
behavioural impacts, building cultural as well as environmental awareness, ensuring a strong
and positive experience for both the visitors as well as hosts and providing direct financial
benefits for effective conservation. The collection of secondary data has helped me in
improving my research skills. I have been able to improve my skills by conducting research
on different platforms like Google Scholar. This research project has helped me in gaining
detailed knowledge about the concepts of ecotourism and its importance. The basic
advantages of this tourism sector have also been discussed. While conducting the literature
review chapter, I have been able to access all the available online sources, gaining detailed
insights regarding the statements of different authors, thereby ensuring my personal as well as
professional development. With the help of the third chapter of this research project, I have
been able to gain detailed knowledge about the different types of research methods that are
used for research purposes. To find the justifications for each research method, I have been
able to conduct in depth research regarding each method. As a result, I have a clear
understanding of the various advantages as well as disadvantages of each research method.
With the help of the findings and analysis part of the research project, I have been able to
extract various essential information from the collected data. Considering the future
references, I will be collecting primary data using both qualitative as well as quantitative
methods. I will be able to obtain numerical data from an online survey as well as an interview
to gain descriptive data.