Japanese tourists’ relatedness and connectedness with nature

Abstract

Nature-based tourism continues to gain importance globally. Research on sustainability claims that disconnection between nature and humanity may contribute to the environmental problems that we face in the 21st century. It is, thus, quintessential to better understand the underlying variables for sustainable behaviour in a tourism context. Research suggests scales on nature relatedness (NRS) and connectedness to nature (CNS) to better understand people’s attitudes towards nature. The current paper tests the applicability of these scales in a tourism in an East Asian context. The study is performed on Japanese tourists. The scales seem, to a certain degree, appropriate in a Japanese tourism context, however they may need further refinement. In contrast to the conventionally recognized differences, which focus on the physical aspects of the human–nature relationship (relatedness) and affective community with nature (connectedness), relatedness and connectedness have different dimensions. According to the strong tendency of developing and selling outdoor activities among nature-based destinations combined with the strong increase of East Asian tourists, i.e., visiting Norway, further researching and testing of these aspects is recommended and directions are provided, taking into consideration of the new emergent markets in particular.