Abstract

To date, little attention has been paid in the tourism literature to the ethical dilemmas facing tourism managers and students. Based on interviews with senior members of the tourism industry six ethical scenarios were developed relating to ethical challenges faced by industry practitioners today. The study then applied the Multidimensional Ethics Scale to tourism students at three prominent universities in the UK, Canada, and Australia, in order to measure their responses to these scenarios. Results showed that all students were more sensitive to environmental scenarios than social or economic scenarios. Nationality and gender also influenced student responses, but prior ethical training had no influence on ethical decision making.