Developing a scale for tourism literacy: validity and reliability study

Abstract

Tourism literacy encompasses the development and utilization of knowledge and skills within the tourism. These skills encompass problem-solving for various stakeholders, including managers, employees, tourists, and residents. Furthermore, they involve a deeper understanding of tourist destinations and active contributions to sustainable tourism promotion. Surprisingly, despite the extensive literature on literacy studies in fields like economics, media, maps, and water, there remains a conspicuous gap in tourism literacy research. Consequently, the novelty of this subject has spurred researchers to address this void. Accordingly, the main aim of this study is to develop a scale that can measure individuals’ tourism literacy, which will be the first of its kind. To achieve this, firstly a question pool was created. Then the scale was developed with expert opinions and pilot testing. CFA and EFA were performed for determining the final version of the scale. At the end of the study, a scale consisting of six dimensions (residents’ knowledge and skills related to tourism, tourists’ knowledge and skills, tourist guidance knowledge and skills, food and beverage management knowledge and skills, tourism management knowledge, and tourism management skills) was established, and its validity and reliability were confirmed. Future research suggestions and study limitations have been mentioned.