Name: Nudging for good: Can marketing science and responsible tour operations drive pro-environmental tourist behaviour?
Start: 2026-10-30T15:00:00.000Z
End: 2026-10-30T15:45:00.000Z

About this webinar

Speaker update, 2 October 2026: Confirmed speakers: Sofie Voss and Amberley Shermon-Jones. Chair: Dr Faye Taylor.

Choice architecture, default settings, timely feedback and messages about social norms can encourage travellers to select options with lower environmental impacts. This webinar critically examines the evidence for such interventions in tourism and hospitality. It considers where behavioural nudges are effective, how outcomes should be measured and when persuasive design becomes manipulation. The session will distinguish changes in stated intention from verified changes in behaviour and environmental performance, with attention to whether effects persist after an intervention ends.

Panellists will emphasise that communication cannot compensate for the absence of sustainable infrastructure or affordable alternatives. The discussion will connect behavioural research with itinerary design, transport, food procurement, waste systems, staff practice and the physical management of facilities. It will explore how context, culture and economic constraints influence responses to an intervention. Potential rebound effects will also be examined, including cases in which efficiency or moral reassurance encourages additional consumption that reduces or reverses the expected environmental benefit.

Participants will learn how to define a behavioural problem, select an ethically appropriate intervention and establish a credible comparison for evaluation. They will consider transparency, informed choice, accessibility and the distribution of responsibility between guests and operators. The webinar will provide criteria for deciding when a nudge should be revised, withdrawn or replaced by a structural measure. Delegates will leave with a method for designing testable interventions that respect visitor autonomy while contributing to clearly specified and measurable environmental objectives. This evidence can inform wider operational changes and more effective environmental policy over time.

Speakers and chair

Amberley Shermon-Jones

Speaker

Journey Mexico | Costa Rica | Brazil

United Kingdom

Amberley Shermon-Jones is Director of Business Development at Journey Mexico | Costa Rica | Brazil. Her work focuses on travel experiences and partnerships across Latin America. She advocates responsible tourism that supports local economic opportunity and protects the environment and cultural heritage. She joined the Latin American Travel Association committee in 2025.

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Sofie Voss

Speaker

University of Surrey

United Kingdom

Sofie Voss is a postgraduate researcher at the University of Surrey, studying how nudges can encourage lasting pro-environmental behaviour in tourism and hospitality. Her research explores how earlier choices shape later decisions through behavioural spillover, moral licensing and cleansing. Her interests include sustainable tourism, consumer decision-making and behavioural interventions.

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Dr. Faye Taylor

Chair

Cambridge Advance Online

United Kingdom

Dr. Faye Taylor chairs this event and is affiliated with Cambridge Advance Online.

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Organised by Scholardemia.

Committee

Organising Committee

Operational leadership and event delivery team.

Dr. Faye Taylor

Chair

Cambridge Advance Online

United Kingdom

Dr. Faye Taylor chairs this event and is affiliated with Cambridge Advance Online.

Scholardemia profile

Scholardemia

Organizer

Event committee

Photos

Making responsible visits practical. Illustrative photograph — Vietnam Photographer / Pexels.
Make lower-impact journeys practical — AI-generated editorial illustration.
Design for less food waste — AI-generated editorial illustration.
Support care for fragile places — AI-generated editorial illustration.
Measure behaviour and environmental outcomes — AI-generated editorial illustration.