Our understanding of the nature of codes of ethics
from theoretical and methodological perspectives is
clearly at an early stage. In this study a conceptual
model was used to analyse the ethical content and
normative reference point of codes of ethics
developed in the context of tourism. It was found
that existing codes are generally deontological in
nature. The authors caution future writers of ethical
codes to consider the use of rule-utilitarianism as a
basis for code content. We argue that such a
theoretical basis would have more utility in clarifying
the intent and educational value of codes as
well as the impact of these codes upon tourist
behaviour.