THE PERCEPTION OF UNETHICAL ISSUES IN SELECTED THAILAND TOURIST AREAS: MEASURING THE ATTITUDES OF FOREIGN TOURISM STUDENTS

Authors

  • Sanja Božić University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Novi Sad
  • Tamara Jovanović University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Novi Sad
  • Aleksandra Dragin University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Novi Sad
  • Bojana Spasojević Griffith University, Griffith Institute for Tourism, Gold Coast
  • Tin Lukić University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Novi Sad

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2298/IJGI1801085B

Keywords:

formal ethical education, tourism, unethical issues, tourism students, Thailand

Abstract

The principal aim of the paper was to examine what kind of experience international exchange students, as future professionals in tourism industry, gained during their study at the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism in Phuket, Thailand. Thus, the paper deals with how often they encountered the unethical issues in the tourism industry, and how these issues affect their perception of the image of Thailand as a tourist destination. The paper also explores how formal education in Tourism ethics affects the perception of Thailand tourism unethical practices, and as such, it is one of the first studies in this field. In addition, the paper intends to show if there is a relationship between formal education in Ethics in tourism and the respondents’ experience and perception of unethical issues. The results show that these unethical issues have the significant and very strong influence on tourism perception of Thailand with a special emphasis on exploitation of women and children in sex tourism. Also, the study indicates that respondents who have a formal education in Ethics were more aware and had a clearer picture of the negative effect of these unethical issues on the image of Thailand as a destination.

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Published

2018-04-20

How to Cite

Božić, S., Jovanović, T., Dragin, A., Spasojević, B., & Lukić, T. (2018). THE PERCEPTION OF UNETHICAL ISSUES IN SELECTED THAILAND TOURIST AREAS: MEASURING THE ATTITUDES OF FOREIGN TOURISM STUDENTS. Journal of the Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić” SASA, 68(1), 85–100. https://doi.org/10.2298/IJGI1801085B

Issue

Vol. 68 No. 1 (2018): Journal of the Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić” SASA

Section

Original scientific article

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