Promoting Green Behavioral Intentions of the Tourists for the Growth of Sustainable Tourism Development in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh

The Sundarbans, the single largest mangrove forest of the world is one of the prime tourism destinations of Bangladesh. Due to lack of awareness and proper planning, tourism is causing severe threat to the ecosystem of the Sundarbans. It is therefore utmost important to ensure that the natural environment of the Sundarbans doesn't deteriorate further. Promoting green tourism may be a viable way to achieve it. This study was designed to identify the ways to promote green (environment-friendly) behavior among the stakeholders, especially the tourists – traveling into the Sundarbans. A convenience sampling technique was used in the study that included both domestic and foreign tourists. A structured questionnaire was developed that incorporated 30 Likert-scale questions based on four variables, namely 'awareness program', 'incentive programs', 'interpretation' and 'government interventions'. The four variables and their corresponding items were developed in the light of extant literature and adopted based on the socio-cultural atmosphere of Bangladesh. The survey was conducted from October 2019 to February 2020 and 320 valid responses were obtained. Multiple regression analysis was employed to test the proposed research model. The result shows that out of four independent variables, government intervention and incentive programs are significantly influential factors in achieving the green behavior of the tourists. The study findings are aligned with the previous studies. The findings will provide guidelines to the tourism service providers, destination hosts, local communities, government bodies and policy makers in achieving green behavior of the tourists that in turn will yield sustainable tourism in the Sundarbans.


Introduction
The Sundarbans ecosystem-the UNESCO declared world heritage site is a fragile tourism destination of Bangladesh (Chowdhury & Akber, 2015). Unplanned tourism development is one of the major reasons for natural degradation to this tourism destination. Muhammed et al. (2008) report that forest areas in Bangladesh are deteriorating at an alarming rate due to various socio-economic threats such as biotic pressures and competing uses for the land. Lack of motivation and awareness among the local people, absence of appropriate information, and lack of proper guidelines for the tourists are major reasons for the destination's degradation (Ahsan, 2008). Adopting the ecotourism concept can help to eliminate many of these problems. Researchers argue that ecotourism may be a means of alleviating environmental and socio-economic issues and a tool for sustainable development in ecologically sensitive areas (Kiper & Saglam, 2011). Ecotourists are different from any other type of tourist (Palacio, 1997). The tourists who have stronger environmental concerns than others have been described as green tourists or ecotourists (Seers & Mair, 2009), and green tourists are more likely to engage in green behaviors than those who are indifferent toward the natural environment (Leonidou et al., 2014). Mair & Laing (2013) argue that people who select ecotourism often have a higher awareness about the destination. This type of behavior is also labeled as 'eco-friendly behavior', 'conservation behavior', 'pro-environmental behavior', 'environmental responsible behavior', or 'environment friendly behavior' (Wang et al., 2018). All the words encompass a common behavior; behavior that protects the environment, reduces negative impacts on the ecosystem, and ensures sustainability for the future generation (Joseph, 2019;Steg & Vlek, 2009). However, to develop ecotourism or sustainable tourism, the stakeholders, including tourists, local people, tourism service providers, and government organizations, need proper education. If the stakeholders of tourism, especially the tourists, demonstrate green It is highly argued that tourist green behavior is the only way to achieve sustainable tourism development (Miller et Al., 2010). According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO, 1989), "sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future". It is envisaged as leading to the management of all resources so that economic, social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity. Several authors (e. g. Schaller et al., 2013;Tosun, 2001) define sustainable tourism as the development of tourism in a particular destination through conserving the nature and socio-cultural resources and involving the community in tourism to yield sustainable economic, environmental, and socio-cultural benefits for the people of the destination. Cater (1993) points three key objectives for sustainable tourism: meeting the short term and long term needs of the host population, satisfying the demands of a growing number of present and future tourists, and safeguarding the natural environment to achieve both of the preceding goals. Though sustainability, sustainable tourism, and sustainable development are often used interchangeably in the literature, 'sustainability' focuses on steady life conditions for the next generation to come; 'sustainable development is more process-oriented, and 'sustainable tourism' is all types of conventional and alternative forms of tourism that are compatible with or contribute to sustainable development (Liu, 2003). The World Trade Organization (WTO) Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Tourism in 1989 resulted in the Hague Declaration on Tourism also states that sustainable tourism is closely related to the sustainable development of tourism (WTO 1989).

Factors Affecting the Tourist Green Behavior
While investigating the causative factors of tourist green behavior, tourism scholars indicate that several factors influence the tourists' green behavior or environmentally responsible behavior. The factors are environmental education , ecological knowledge (Carmi et al., 2015;Beaumont, 2001;Cottrell, 2003;Duerden & Witt, 2010), environmental attitudes and values (Kaiser et al. 2005;Halpenny, 2010), environmental commitment (Lee 2011;Cottrell, 2003;Davis et al., 2009), destination attractiveness (Cheng et al., 2013), selfefficacy (Tabernero & Hernandez 2011), cultural factors (Milfont et al. 2006), interpretation services (Ballantyne et al., 2011;Kim et al., 2011), satisfaction (Ramkissoon & Mavondo, 2014), involvement (Chiu et al., 2014), and so forth. Moreover, in the context of nature-based tourism, several studies indicate that place attachment is directly or indirectly linked to tourist green behavior (Cheng et al., 2015;Ramkissoon & Mavondo, 2014;Lee, 2011;Halpenny, 2010). Recreation experience and recreational involvement are also considered powerful predictors of tourists' green behavior in many studies (Ballantyne et al. 2011;. Additionally, Osbaldiston & Sheldon (2003) and Andereck (2009) indicate that tourist motivation gaining from the nature-based experience is also a critical factor for predicting environmentally responsible behavior. However, studies concerning the development of strategic tools for increasing environmental knowledge, values, attitudes, commitment and fostering positive behavior among the tourists are insufficient within nature-based tourism settings like the Sundarbans. So, it's essential to develop few strategies for promoting green knowledge and behavior for the sustainable development in the Sundarbans.

Awareness Programs
Environmental awareness means being aware of the natural environment and making choices that benefit the earth rather than hurt it (Fryxell & Lo 2003). People of both developed and developing countries are becoming aware of the environmental issues due to the increased pressure of preserving the environment. Environmentally concerned people believe that the environment is under threat due to the problems caused by human actions, and this belief ultimately affects their behavioral practices and encourages them to display responsible behaviors (Joseph, 2019;Lee et al., 2012). It is argued that tourists' environmental awareness and moral responsibility can play a vital role in enhancing the likelihood of engaging in environmentally responsible behavior during travel hours (Han et al., 2016). Wurzinger & Johansson (2006) also argue that tourists with richer environmental knowledge are more concerned about the ecological issues of visited locations. Furthermore, many travel companies are continuously trying to make the tourists environmentally concerned by opening such programs as "Go Green" (Tung, 2013). The motive of such program is not only to enhance environmental awareness but also to inspire the tourists to be engaged in green behavioral practices for the sake of sustainable development in the tourism sector (Tung, 2013), since tourists' environmental responsible behavior help minimize destruction to the natural ecosystem (Chiu et al., 2014).
To increase the environmental awareness among the tourists, Bangladesh Forest Department (2015) has also taken few initiatives. Some of those are providing travel instructions regarding what to do and what not to do in a specific site, distributing booklets, brochures or guidebooks containing the rules and regulations for traveling in the Sundarbans, and providing a route map directing viewable areas of the Sundarbans. Providing brochures, booklets, touch screens or guide books to make the tourists aware of their green behavior is also evidenced in the study of Wang et al. (2018), in which they show that suggested instructions influence the tourists' behavior. The use of environmental signage around the tourist spots is also been proposed as a powerful mechanism for shaping tourists' green behavior (Walker & Moscardo, 2014;Wang et al., 2018). Furthermore, environmental awareness-raising programs like essay competition, debate, radio quizzes, tourism awareness week, tourism action clubs, TV programs, and tourism awareness competitions can raise awareness regarding environmental cleanliness, safety, and security (Gray et al., 2005). Likewise, Furqan et al. (2010) claim that promoting green behavior or developing environmentally responsible behavior among the tourists can be enhanced by such programs as environmental seminars, campaigns, and involvement in outdoor activities or hobbies.
Consequently, the awareness-raising programs focusing on good manners in the environment can directly or indirectly encourage the tourist to be engaged in green behavioral practices (Pearce, 2005), because once the tourists are aware of the responsible behaviors towards the environment, they are expected not to litter during the tour, not to disturb the wild animals, not to fire, not to damage the vegetation, and so forth (Chiu et al., 2014). Sometimes people's environmental awareness influences their willingness to participate in green behavior as a tourist (18). Because the ecological awareness of the tourists restricts the irresponsible behavior towards the environment at the tourist destination, thus, we can hypothesize that: H1: Tourism awareness programs can positively promote tourists' green behavioral intentions.

Incentive Programs
Incentivizing has also been found to be one factor that inspires tourists to participate in pro-environmental actions (Line et al., 2017). Incentive programs can encourage the tourists to be engaged in environmentally friendly behavior during their travel time on vacation (Miao & Wei, 2013). Many hotels and other lodging establishments sometimes offer discounts on the purchase of green foods and beverages or offer coupons for using environmentfriendly products or give loyalty points relieved from monetary value (Barber, 2014). Jiang & Kim (2015) argue that consumers with a promotion regulatory fit actively pursue environmental protection if they find themselves in the condition of the cash discount incentive. This argument is further enhanced as Chang et al. (2019) show that consumers with a prevention regulatory fit are induced to have more excellent behavioral intentions toward the hotel, suggesting a cash discount to implement its green marketing practices. Cash discounts on green products can change the attitude of green consumers and thereby motivate them to protect the environment (Lanzini & Thøgersen, 2014;Krakovsky, 2008). Even the cash discount is found as a moderating variable to moderate the relationship between environmental awareness and green consumer behaviors (Huang et al., 2014). So, it can be argued that the financial incentives in the form of cash discounts or coupons can directly or indirectly encourage many tourists to display pro-environmental behavior.
Furthermore, motivational incentives that include intrinsic or extrinsic motives can also influence the proenvironmental behavioral intentions of the tourists (Frey & Jegen, 2001). Intrinsic motives comprise of moral values and a sense of obligation of a person. For instance, a tourist might think that it is not morally right to pollute the environment, indicating that a sense of commitment to protecting the environment for the future generation works due to a tourist's intrinsic motives. On the other hand, extrinsic motivations are tied to money, power and status. For instance, tourists may be motivated towards green practices if they are provided with 'green tourist' status (Frey & Jegen, 2001). So, in addition to the financial benefits, non-financial benefits like praise, complements, public recognition, social status, and power can reinforce pro-environmental behavior in many ways (Heyman & Ariely, 2004). Griskevicius et al. (2010) show that many tourists display green behavior by choosing a relatively costly green product. They tend to pay more for green products and services to increase their social status among their peers (Seers & Mair, 2009). Therefore, tourists are sometimes motivated towards proenvironmental behavior by non-monetary rewards rather than monetary rewards (Rajapaksa et al., 2019). Thus, we can hypothesize that: H2: Providing incentives can positively influence tourists' green behavioral intentions.

Interpretation
It is now highly recognized that interpretation is a powerful mechanism in shaping tourists' green behavior (Clarke, 1997;Walker & Moscardo, 2014). Interpretation can be defined as a means of communicating ideas and feelings, which in turn help people understand more about themselves and their environment (Interpretation Australia, 2011). In the tourism context, it is described as direct communication or personal contact with the tour guides (McKercher & Robbins, 1997). Interpretation of tour guides plays a significant role in changing the tourist awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors towards the environment (Ballantyne et al., 2011) since it is assumed that many people gather knowledge, beliefs and form attitudes through social interaction or experiences irrespective of formal education (Walker & Moscardo, 2014). Furthermore, a tour guide's explanation about the plants, animals, birds and their living pattern in an area (e.g., mangrove forest) can encourage the tourists to demonstrate environment-friendly behavior (Alazaizeh et al., 2019). Even after being entertained by the local jokes told by the tour guides, the tourists are more likely to respond to the local cultures and abide by local rules and regulations (Wang et al., 2018). So, it is assumed the tourists behave more responsibly on a particular site with the presence of a tour guide (Fung & Jim, 2015).
It has been found that if a tour guide is ecologically aware of and knows better how to dispose of wastes or litter properly, they can encourage tourists to collect the leftover, keep it until the end of the tour or put it in the proper places since waste materials are a burden to the environment (Salam et al., 2000). Tourists' intention of sustainable actions can further be extended through their connection with the interpretive staff (Walker & Moscardo, 2014). Tilden (2009) proposes that interpretation can be an effective tool to connect the interpretive experience to the visitor's personal life and stimulating a response among the visitors rather than merely presenting the information. Thus, interpretation in the form of interpretive experiences can allow tourists to gather knowledge from the interpreter as it influences the tourists' engagement and their understanding, cognitions, emotions, and on-site behaviors (Biran et al., 2011). Consequently, interpretation can be one of the best ways to promote or encourage environmentally positive attitudes, beliefs or actions or manage tourists' on-site behavior (Moscardo & Ballantyne, 2008). Thus, we can hypothesize that: H3: The tour guide's interpretation can positively promote tourists' green behavioral intentions.

Government Intervention
Recently, governments of developing countries are more active in destination management and development in the tourism sectors (Kubickova, 2016). Governments of these countries, which are actually endowed with natural attractions, have introduced few environmental policies to protect and ensure the environment's biodiversity since ecotourism is a source of their revenue generator (Ayob et al., 2009). But government intervention is essential once it is found that some people are indifferent towards the rules and regulations designed to maximize the social benefits and welfare (Hall, 2006;Wolf, 1993). Such intervention compels the tourists to behave responsibly. For instance, in Kenya, tourists are not allowed to take photographs of local people or their homes and livestock without the owner's consent. Fireworks, night drive, talking louder or carrying speaker whistles are strictly prohibited in their forests. It is barred to chop, cut or damage the trees of the forests. Getting too close to the animals or feeding them is also forbidden because sometimes this type of incident may be dangerous to tourists. Even the tourists have to carry their drinking water, and they are not allowed to throw it here and there in the forests (Gray et al., 2005). Bangladesh Forest Department (2015) tries to regulate and control the Sundarbans' tourism to ensure eco-friendly behavior. As part of that control, travelers in the Sundarbans need to maintain the conventional forest and wildlife protection law. Landing, roaming, and footing here and there in the forest are not granted. After entering the Sundarbans, it is highly forbidden to throw garbage into water and ground. Keeping the vessel neat and clean is a must. It is highly prohibited to take pictures by using a flashlight at night. Therefore, the government can impose laws and regulations to ensure sustainable practices in the tourists' spots (Lin & Hemmington, 1997). A clear indication of government-industry cooperation to promote sustainable tourism is also found in the study of Maycoo (2006). According to Maycoo (2006), the government can directly or indirectly influence sustainable tourism practices through regulatory mechanisms and market instruments, whereas the industry can play the role of voluntary compliance with green certification. Delivering information, education, training, and a green rating system can inspire the tourism industry and introduce environmentally responsible practices (Bramwell, 1998). Moreover, the government's financial incentives in the form of subsidies or tax reduction can be introduced to encourage environmentally responsible behaviors. Besides, the tour operators or other concerned body can be changed due to environmentally or culturally damaging practices (Hunter & Green, 1995). Thus, we can hypothesize that:

H4: Government intervention can influence tourists' green behavioral intentions.
Hence, this study drawn four hypotheses based on extent literature and designed to investigate whether awarenessraising programs, incentive programs, tour guide's interpretation, and government intervention can positively influence the green behavioral intentions of the tourists. Based on the drawn hypotheses a research model of this study is designed that is shown in Figure 1.

Sampling
A convenience sampling technique was adopted in this study. A survey was conducted on domestic and international tourists -visiting the Sundarbans and finally 320 valid responses were obtained. Domestic tourists were chosen from Khulna, Shatkhira, Bagerhat, and Mongla regions of Bangladesh. International tourists were approached at the residential hotels of Khulna City, Bangladesh. The 320 sample size was adequate according to the formula: N > 50 + 8m (where m = number of questions of independent variables) developed by Tabachnick & Fidell (2001 since the number of questions of the independent variables used in the study was 26. Table 1 represents data on the demographics of the respondents. From the table, it can be seen that among the 320 respondents, 80.3 % (257) were domestic, and 19.7% (63) were international tourists. In terms of gender, 70% (224) were male, and 30% (96) were female tourists. The tourists were of different ages and different occupations.

Questionnaire Design and Data Collection
A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted from October 2019 to February 2020. The questionnaire was developed based on the outcomes of previously published works. It was then pretested and refined; some words were changed to improve the accuracy of language, clarity of the items, and relevance to the real-life practices in the Sundarbans. The questionnaire contained section A and section B. Section A was designed with 30 questions based on the dependent and independent variables. Green behavior promotional tools like awareness programs, incentive programs, interpretations, and government interventions were the independent variables, and tourists' green behavioral intention was the dependent variable. Respondents' views over the 30 questions were measured using 5-point Likert scales, where the lowest score was 1 (strongly disagree) and the highest score was 5 (strongly agree). Section B of the questionnaire was designed with eight closed-ended questions about demographic profile of the respondents. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed among the tourists. Out of 400 questionnaires distributed, 376 were returned, of which 320 were found flawless and used in the data analysis process. SPSS version 16.0 was used to analyze the survey data.

Measurement
Awareness  (2015). A typical scale item of government intervention was "Restricting the tourists from feeding the wild animals can switch them towards green behavior". Finally, the dependent variable, tourists' green behavioral intention, was measured by asking them to express their opinions on the aforementioned independent variables. less than 0.8 (Senaviratna & Cooray, 2019). Hence, the data was valid for regression analysis. Table 2 also presents that all the independent variables are positively correlated with the dependent variable (tourists green behavioral intentions). Most significant correlation was found between government interventions and tourists green behavioral intentions (r = 0.458 ** ) followed by the incentive programs (r = 0.347 ** ), interpretations (r = 0.268 ** ), and awareness programs (r = 0.266 ** ). These results prove a considerable influence of awareness programs, incentive programs, interpretations, and government interventions on tourists green behavioral intentions in the Sundarbans.  Table 3 represents the output of multiple regression analysis with which the study hypotheses were tested. Table 3 shows that R 2 value is 0.265 indicating that 26.5 % variance of tourists' green behavioral intentions can be explained by the government interventions, awareness programs, interpretations, and incentive programs and the relationship among the variables is significant (sig = 0.000). The overall model is reasonably fit with the F statistics of 28.367. The coefficient scores of individual variables indicate that government interventions (β = 0.335, Sig. = 0.000) and incentive programs (β = 0.179 Sig. = 0.001) have positive and significant contributions in explaining tourists green behavioral intentions. Thus, H2 and H4 are supported whereas, no support is found for H1 and H3. Awareness programs (β = 0.090, Sig. = 0.085) and interpretations (β = 0.093, Sig. = 0.075) don't make a significant contribution in explaining tourists green behavioral intentions. Consequently, based on the evidence of the study findings, it can be argued that government interventions and incentive programs can significantly influence the green behavioral intentions of the tourists in the Sundarbans. Notes: *P<0.05; **P < 0.01

Result Discussion
Green tourism is something that is essential for the sustainability of any nature-based destination and certainly the Sundarbans based tourism is no exception. From the findings, we can argue that the tourists have strong feelings that green tourism is achievable. However, several actions need to be taken in order to achieve the desired objectives. The study results confirm H2 and H4, which are in line with the existing literature, whereas Hypotheses H1 and H3 were not supported by the result that contradicts many research findings. Mean values as illustrated in more to display pro-environmental behaviors in the Sundarbans compared to interpretations (4.1106), incentive programs (3.9906), and awareness programs (3.9172). Hence, it can be argued that government intervention is the most significant predictor in achieving green behavior among the tourists in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh.
In a country like Bangladesh, many tourists are not fully aware of the acceptable green behavior in the tourism destination. Moreover, a good portion of the tourists tends to violate the rule. Thus, strong government interventions will be suitable in such cases, and hence it was identified as the most practical way to achieve green behavior. This finding is in line with the outcomes of Kubickova (2016); Hall (2006); Gray et al. (2005);Maycoo (2006), in which they found that government can directly or indirectly influence sustainable tourism practices through a regulatory mechanism.
In the current study, incentive programs is found as another significant contributor in explaining tourist green behavioral intentions. This finding suggests that various incentive programs, e.g., 'offering discounts on purchase of green foods', 'offering industry sponsorship for organizing a green-focused tour' are most likely to motivate the tourists to act in favor of green behavior. This result is consistent with those of other studies (Chang et al., 2019;Line et al., 2017;Miao & Wei, 2013;Frey & Jegen, 2001) which conclude that both monetary and non-monetary rewards can encourage the tourists to be engaged in environmentally friendly behavior during their travel time.
In examining the relationship between awareness-raising programs and tourist green behavioral intentions, the study outcomes find no significant influence of awareness-raising programs on the tourist green behavioral intentions though it was expected to have significant impact. This finding contradicts the outcomes of many other studies, such as Lee et al. (2012) Cheng et al. (2018). Similarly, interpretation by the tour guides is also found insignificant in promoting tourist green behavioral intentions in the current study of the Sundarbans. But, the findings of other studies (Walker & Moscardo, 2014;Moscardo & Ballantyne, 2008) suggest that interpretations are most likely to help people learn the desired activities in favor of green behavior. So this finding of the current study is in contrast with the findings of the said studies.
This study makes several theoretical contributions. First, the study explores the concept of tourist green behavior and its relationship with the sustainable tourism development within nature-based tourism settings like the Sundarbans. Second, the study extends the literature of the factors affecting the tourist green behavioral intentions. Third, the study investigates the impacts of awareness-raising programs, incentive programs, interpretation by the tour guides, and government interventions in promoting tourist green behavioral intentions for sustainable tourism development in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh.

Practical Implications
The findings should help the tourism stakeholders, including tourism service providers, destination hosts, local communities, government bodies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This study also suggests that the tourism service providers or the destination hosts should introduce environmental awareness-raising programs, offer incentive programs, and use well-trained tour guides to promote green behavioral intentions in the Sundarbans. The study findings also strongly argue in favor of government intervention to impose rules and regulations to achieve tourists' green behavior. Tourism authorities of the government or the policymakers can use the study findings as the guidelines for policymaking purposes. Furthermore, local and international NGOs working to promote sustainable tourism can find the study result useful.

Limitations and Future Research Directions
This study was not flawless, and we found several limitations. Firstly, the study considers only the tourists' opinions. Data from other sources, such as local communities, tourism service providers, government officials, and policymakers, could be more suitable to confirm the findings' generalizability. Secondly, the study didn't show moderation or mediation effects of any variable on the association between dependent and independent variables of the study. But, the socio-demographic traits of tourists, such as gender, age, education, nationality, and income, may have moderating effects on the tourists' perception since it is found that females, older, educated, and affluent individuals are more sensitive to green issues than the others (Haarhoff, 2015). In addition, the mediation effects of tourists' satisfaction, engagement, place attachment, and commitment may be explored by the future scholars to identify the interdependencies of the study variables.