2022 Volume 85 Issue 5 Pages 529-534
Eco-tours and other guided tours are expected to expand further, both economically and in terms of enriching the travel experience. Therefore, in order to promote the expanded use of guided tours, we conducted a survey to clarify participation and intent to participate for each guided tour type, characteristics of guided tour participants, and requirements for guided tours by type and by degree of participation experience. The results indicated that the greater the experience of participation, the higher the intent to participate; participation experience and intent to participate were high for "industrial facility tours" and "visiting cultural assets, historical sites, shrines and temples," but low for "environmental conservation activities." Additionally, increased involvement in solely one tour type was found among only a small segment of tour participants; in many cases, participants increased their involvement in various guided tour types. It was further found that the requirements for guided tours can be categorized as "safety, enjoyment, and interaction," "deepening understanding of the region and subject," "efficiency," "effective use of free time," and "leave it to me." These requirements were observed to differ by tour type, but not by participation experience.
