Mid Sweden University

Hur kan vi bidra till beslutsfattande och initiativ som leder till mer miljövänliga beteenden inom idrotten och friluftslivet? I följande avsnitt diskuterar vi hur såväl individuella beteenden som strukturella förhållanden, och de styrmedel som påverkar dessa, kan omformas för att stödja en miljömässigt hållbar omställning inom idrott och friluftsliv. Initiativ som involverar olika former av ”nudging”, information, socialt stöd, incitament och kombinerade strategier av ”morötter och piskor” eftersom de kan bidra till att gamla mönster bryts och invanda beteenden ersätts med miljövänligare alternativ.

In recent years, Nature-Based Tourism (NBT) has witnessed significant growth with a sharp increase in tourist flows to peripheral destinations (Fredman & Margaryan, 2021;Waleghwa & Ioannides, 2024). The majority of these tourists rely on private motorised modes to access peripheral Nature-Based (NB) destinations, despite the availability of alternative sustainable modes of transportation (Waleghwa & Ioannides, 2024). This behaviour exacerbates carbon emissions and threatens the sustainable tourism futures of peripheral nature-based destinations whose tourism portfolio essentially relies on the enjoyment of nature (Juschten & Hössinger, 2021; Waleghwa & Ioannides, 2024; Woods,2010). Despite extensive research on leisure mobility, the existing research largely overlooks the underlying reasons behind tourists' actual inter-destination mobility choices and how they justify these decisions, especially when they opt against environmentally sustainable alternatives. Our study seeks to address this gap. We employ a dual theoretical approach; consumer value biangulation and attribution theory, to explore the reasoning behind tourists’ inter-destination mobility choices. The consumer value biangulation perspective provides insight into what tourists value in their transport mode choices (compositional approach) and how these values emerge from the connection between travel mode attributes and their universal values (dynamic approach). Attribution theory complements this by examining how tourists justify these choices. Using a soft laddering technique based on the means-end-chains approach, we conducted 22 in-depth interviews with mountain biking tourists visiting Åre, Sweden. We employed means-end-chains analysis to explore the tourists reasoning behind their inter-destination mobility choices whereas a thematic analysis was performed to understand their justifications associated with such choices. By uncovering value-driven reasoning and attribution patterns, we seek to offer useful behavioural insights for designing more targetted interventions aimed at encouraging sustainable mobility behaviours among this specific tourist segment, ultimately contributing to the sustainable tourism futures of peripheral nature-based destinations.

"Mountain-Bike (MTB) Tourism has experienced significant growth in European alpine destinations, including Sweden. This growing form of tourism sector’s contribution to climate change is exacerbated by MTB tourists' reliance on private motorized modes in their mobility behaviours, posing a significant threat to its sustainable tourism future. To encourage a modal shift towards climate -friendly mobility alternatives among MTB tourists, a consumer-centric behavioural approach is proposed, considering its limited application in tourist mobility studies. Accordingly, we examine how the concurrent influence of MTB tourists’ socio-psychological dispositions informs their intentions to engage in sustainable inter-destination mobility behaviours. Furthermore, we analyze the discrepancies that exist between the tourists’ socio-psychological dispositions and their intentions and the underlying reasons explaining such gaps. The socio-psychological dispositions such as MTB tourists' travelling habits, their perceived mobility infrastructural needs, environmental values, goals related to sustainable mobility, and enduring involvement in mountain biking are discussed. 

The theories of Goal framing theory, Theory of Planned Behaviour, Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Attribution theory are employed in this project. Two research studies are designed based on an explanatory sequential mixed-method research design. The first study adopts a quantitative approach with a conditional mediation analysis in Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling to analyze the combined influence of sociopschological dispositions on MTB tourists' intention to engage in sustainable interdestination mobility behaviours. The second study employs a qualitative laddering technique based on semi-structured interviews to analyze the discrepancies that exist between MTB tourists' socio-pschological dispositions and their sustainable interdestination mobility intentions. 

We intend to provide insights into how the sustainable accessibility to (selected) mountain bike destinations in Sweden, functions and is experienced by mountain bike tourists, driving their choice and compliance towards them. These findings can be used to promote sustainable mobility behaviours among this tourist segment and further develop sustainable mobility infrastructures reaching MTB destinations in Sweden."