Profile of the consumer who values responsible and smart tourism in the hotel industry

Abstract

Purpose

Developing CSR is one of the most important aspects of so-called Smart Tourism, just as an in-depth knowledge of consumer characteristics and behavior is a key element of smart tourism management.

Tourism and hotel companies’ understanding of the importance of CSR, as well as the value the consumer places on it, may result in increased quality of the travel experience and, therefore, in improving the destination's competitive advantage. This work aims to analyze the influence of certain sociodemographic characteristics of hotel consumers on their views of CSR and whether said views affect their purchasing behavior.

Approach

A review of the literature is carried out, followed by a descriptive study with a sample of 4685 consumers from different nationalities.

Findings

The results show that age, education level, and nationality are characteristics that influence hotel product consumers’ views of CSR.

Practical Implications

Smart tourism involves offering products that are increasingly adapted to the specific needs of each client and, therefore, knowing which consumer profile places the most importance on CSR may guide the actions of tourism companies.

Originality

In the literature there are several studies on the impact of CSR views in different interest groups, especially managers and employees. However, there are fewer studies on hotel consumers’ views on CSR and the importance they place upon it. This study aims to offer an initial understanding of a sociodemographic profile of the client in relation to their views on CSR.