Abstract

This paper analyses and evaluates human actions and examples of behaviourism in tourism from an ethical perspective. Defining the concept of values in tourism as a concept of what is desirable to the tourist together with its motivation, we differentiate four hierarchical levels with respect to the foundation of those values. My aim here is to analyse all of these levels, but with a stronger emphasis on the tradition of teleological ethics within which hedonism arises and which later becomes the basis for utilitarianism. I argue that hedonism provides, in general, a very useful basis for exploring human behaviour in tourism, particularly given the fact that some have considered the pursuit of pleasure as a failing rather than a virtue of tourism. For this reason, I believe it is necessary to investigate the emergence of new moral standards in tourism and potentially reconstruct our understanding of hedonist value systems in this context.