Abstract
This study focused on some of the social psychological determinants of taking part in "Green Tourism (GT)", a type of vacation that involves staying in rural areas and participating in rural activities. Respondents were male (n=29) and female (n=159) undergraduate students in Japan. Relationships between the interest in participating in GT, and three social psychological scales, as well as the students' motives and preferred leisure activities, and the attributes of the GT itself were analyzed. The social psychological scales revealed that female students with high social apathy had a higher interest in participating in GT. Regarding motives for GT, male students who scored high in the "interest in culture", "long for relaxation", and "closeness to other people and nature" factors showed a strong interest in participating in GT. In contrast, female students who had a higher interest in participating in GT scored high in the "unusualness", "interest in rural life", and "novelty" factors. Of the travel attributes, a long stay and staying in the Tohoku area increased the male students' interest in participating in GT, and staying at a farm, staying in the Hokkaido area, and in mountain villages increased the female students' interest. Other results showed that students who had high interest in participating in GT enjoyed traveling in general. Female students who had little travel experience favored taking part in GT. Suggestions for promoting GT in Japan were discussed.
