Are Tour Guides in China Ready for Ecotourism? An Importance–Performance Analysis of Perceptions and Performances.

This study aims to examine tour guides' perceptions about and behavior toward ecotourism. The target respondents were tour guides working in the front line of the tourism industry. A total of 350 data sets were collected in China. An importance–performance analysis was applied to examine the tour guides' perceived importance and performance simultaneously. The findings indicate that although the tour guides have realized the importance of ecological protection, they fail to perform well in educating tourists on the paradigm of ecotourism. Thus, the results may provide useful guidance for tourism management. This study concludes with a discussion of limitations and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]