Tourist Ethics and Environmental Awareness Under Overtourism Pressure: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Study of Behavioral Intention

Overtourism has intensified socio-environmental pressures in popular destinations, raising concerns about ethical responsibility and sustainable behavior among tourism actors and visitors. In this study, we explored how environmental awareness and ethical values shape behavioral intentions under overtourism pressure by combining a systematic literature review with qualitative field data from Bali. Through a PRISMA-based review of 100 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2015 and 2024, we synthesized evidence on environmental ethics, responsible tourism, and pro-environmental behavioral mechanisms. The review reveals that increasing scholarly attention is being paid to ethical norms, emotional engagement, and contextual constraints but shows that there is limited empirical understanding of how these factors are experienced in practice by local actors and domestic tourists. To address this gap, qualitative interviews were conducted with three key stakeholders, including accommodation and tourism service providers, and 10 domestic tourists. Thematic analysis identifies three interrelated mechanisms influencing behavioral intention: (a) recognition of environmental risk and destination vulnerability, (b) ethical reasoning and sense of collective responsibility, and (c) structural barriers shaped by convenience, economic pressures, and weak governance. While participants express strong environmental awareness and moral concern, behavioral intentions are often constrained by limited information, the perceived ineffectiveness of individual actions, and a lack of regulatory enforcement. This study contributes to the sociological literature on sustainable tourism by elucidating how ethics and awareness translate into intention under overtourism pressure. We report the practical implications for ethical communication, stakeholder collaboration, and participatory governance.