A Scale for Measuring Responsible Tourist Behavior at Cultural Heritage Sites

To understand or change responsible tourist behavior in cultural heritage tourism, a scale that measures behavior, rather than just behavioral intentions, is needed. The research uses the Theory of Planned Behavior as the theoretical underpinning to explain how responsible tourist behavior in cultural heritage tourism can be realized. This study aims to develop a validated scale for measuring responsible tourist behavior in cultural heritage tourism sites to help management implement sustainable practices. The scale is developed through multistages, involving literature review, academic and industry expert opinions, construct validity assessment, and cross-validation with tourists visiting South Africa’s World Heritage Site. Analytical techniques like the Fuzzy Delphi method, internal reliability analysis, factor analyses, t tests, and convergent and discriminant validity were used. The results indicate the efficacy of the 19‐item scale, which follows a second-order, four‐factor model. The model provides a deeper understanding of responsible tourist behavior towards natural and cultural resources, both in everyday life and at specific cultural heritage tourism sites. In addition to the theoretical and methodological contributions made in this study, the management of cultural heritage sites can use the developed novel scale to assess responsible tourist behavior and implement sustainable tourism practices to address any inappropriate behavior.