Responsible tourism is defined as tourism that minimizes negative social, economic and environmental impacts. This form of tourism was conceptualized in Cape Town in 2002 and resulted in the creation of the Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism, which focuses on the creation of optimal places for people to live and for tourists to visit. While tourism has numerous positive impacts, it is also capable of damaging communities and environments while adding to issues such as pollution, resource depletion and land degradation. These issues present the risk of devastating impacts such as last chance tourism, changing environments or cultures, disappearing destinations and endangered species. While studies have been conducted on tourist’s behaviour and their willingness to partake in sustainable tourism, little research has been undertaken regarding whether natural events can be promoters of responsible tourism and responsible tourist behaviour with a specific focus on the environmental sustainability aspects. Using the Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism as a guideline, and the Transtheoretical Model, more commonly known as the Changes of Behaviour Model, as a framework, this research seeks to use an exploratory case study approach using mixed methods to evaluate the motivations of natural event attendees at the Salute to the Sockeye festival held at Ts’utswecw Provincial Park in Squilax, British Columbia, Canada. This research will integrate a review of secondary literature, an analysis of visitor survey questionnaires gathered from the 2018 festival by international researchers, and will involve interviews with key stakeholders. The main purpose of the research is to assess whether natural events can act as a catalyst for responsible tourism and tourist behaviour. My research will aim to understand how natural events such as the Adams River Salmon Run can promote more responsible behaviour by visitors from a demand perspective, while also gathering information from local residents about the festival from a supply perspective in order to determine whether responsible tourism is part of their festival management goals.
