The concerns are varied and are not necessarily important to all tourists and the influence they have on sustaining the industry is unknown. For years the tourism industry has used a number of mechanisms in an attempt to green operators. There are a range of award schemes and accreditation and certification schemes relating to environmental performance in the tourism industry. These are commonly referred to as ‘ecolabels’. Buckley (2002) describes an ecolabel as “one whose content refers principally to the environment”. According to Bendell and Font (2004), there has been a huge increase in the last ten years in the range of programmes certifying to sustainability standards. They consider that such programmes are “acknowledged as a valuable tool to define and communicate sustainable and responsible business practice” (Bendell and Font 2004, p.143). However, a counter-argument is put forward by Carrigan and Attalla (2001) who believe that too much information can detract from choice. It is possible that the green tourists (and in particular, those similar to the Selector type) are unable to be focused in their environmental information seeking but that other tourists, such as the Translator type, could be so concerned about the environment that they cease travel althogether. The specific aims of the study are, therefore, to:

• Test and refine a scale to identify green tourists;
• Develop a profile of Green Tourists with a focus on behaviours and attitudes; and
• Identify how the industry may harness this market.