Problems and Prospects of Tourism Ethics Research

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  • 観光倫理研究の課題と展望
  • カンコウ リンリ ケンキュウ ノ カダイ ト テンボウ

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Abstract

Ethics is a crucial aspect of any field. Some discipline-specific types of ethics are well known, such as information ethics, bioethics, and business ethics. However, in tourism research and education, ethics has not yet been recognized as a major field of study. <br> Ethical issues related to tourism in Japan have shifted away from the problems of ethics in services provided to tourists and those related to actions, such as causing shame, that violate international etiquette. Instead, ethics in tourism now focuses on actions that negatively affect the culture of the tourism destination, its society, and its natural environment. Moreover, the thinking about ethics in tourism has expanded from the ethics of tourism operators to that of tourists themselves. However, exactly what tourism ethics comprises has not yet been clarified; therefore, the exact scope of the term “tourism ethics” remains unclear. Thus, research on practical tourism ethics is currently on hold.<br> Why has practical education and research on tourism ethics not progressed very far? According to previous studies, the issues relating to stakeholders in tourism are complex, as are the problems of identifying ethical criteria. In this study, I analyze the problem between the actors and objects in a tourism context from the perspective of whether ethics should be considered in said context. Next, I examine the criteria for ethics and identify a range of areas of tourism ethics as follows: the ethics of active actors in tourism (along with tourism promoters, local beneficiaries, brokers, and tourists) to local residents, tourism attractions, the natural environment, and tourists for sustainable tourism. <br> To implement sustainable tourism, tourism ethics must be developed using many approaches. Especially, practical research on educational approaches for sustainable tourism has been delayed. I therefore propose that it would be useful to make the educational approaches for sustainable tourism part of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as　Education for Sustainable Tourism (EST).

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