Factors influencing the willingness to pay for sustainable tourism: a case of mass tourism destinations

ABSTRACT

The relationship between sustainability and tourists is complex. There has been little increase in the number of studies published over recent years focusing on the concept of ‘pro-sustainable’ tourists, or the tourist’s willingness to pay (WTP) for sustainability, making it increasingly difficult to identify key explanatory factors that determine tourists’ WTP for sustainable destinations.

To provide a richer understanding of tourists’ heterogeneous preferences for sustainable destinations, this study allows us to determine current tourists’ attitude toward sustainability and to identify explanatory variables that influence their WTP to enjoy a more sustainable destination. This study surveyed tourists on the Western Costa del Sol (Spain), a mature sun and sand destination that is currently restructuring and facing several developmental challenges associated with sustainability.

KEYWORDS:

• Willingness to pay
• pro-sustainable tourists
• sustainable destinations
• sustainable intelligence
• Western Costa del Sol

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Contained in the Requalification Program for Mature Tourism Destinations (Spanish Tourism Plan Horizon 2020).

2. Due to the fact that the scope of this study is restricted to the Western Costa del Sol, an analysis of the Eastern Costa del Sol has not been included; (they are two stretches of coastline whose intensity of growth and development are very different). However, for a better understanding of tourism processes, transformations and the configuration of the Costa del Sol as a whole, Almeida (1999, 2009), Navarro (2012), Navarro et al. (2012, 2013), etc., among others, are recommended.

3. From: http://www.qualifica.org/ (Accessed: 12 January 2015).

4. López-Sanchez and Pulido-Fernández (2016, p. 61) define the concept of ‘sustainable intelligence’, applied to tourists, as ‘the ability of tourists to apply their experience and knowledge about the effects of tourism on the environment in which it is practiced, developing proactive behavior toward sustainable tourism, both from the point of view of consumption and production’.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yaiza López-Sánchez

Yaiza López-Sánchez is completing her doctoral thesis, based in the WTP for tourist destinations more sustainable, at the University of Jaén (Spain). Her main research interests focuses on sustainability of tourism, destination management and economic development. Email: [email protected]

Juan Ignacio Pulido-Fernández

Juan Ignacio Pulido-Fernández is associate professor in the Department of Economics and head of the Laboratory of Analysis and Innovation in Tourism (LAInnTUR) at the University of Jaén in Spain. His main research interests focus on tourism economics, destination management, sustainability of tourism, tourism impacts and social network analysis. Email: [email protected]