Towards sustainable tourism development in a mature destination: measuring multi-group invariance between residents and visitors’ attitudes with high use of accommodation-sharing platforms

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the differences between residents and visitors in their attitudes and behaviours towards sustainable tourism. The study examines the validity of the 21-item version of SUS-TAS, measuring invariance between residents’ and visitors’ attitudes in Madrid, a mature tourist destination with high use of accommodation-sharing platforms, in order to have a new testable tool for future sustainable planning. For multi-group invariance assessment, the Spanish version of the SUS-TAS for residents and the version for visitors are validated separately following a first-order, seven-factor model. The multi-group confirmatory factor analysis showed full configural invariance, partial metric invariance and partial scalar invariance across residents and visitors. Findings suggest that the main variations between residents and visitors were related to the “community-centered economy” and “maximizing community participation” constructs. To conclude, SUS-TAS can be used to measure residents’ and visitors’ attitudes towards sustainable tourism in a context with high use of accommodation-sharing platforms. Implications for future research and limitations are discussed.

Keywords:

• Multi-group measurement invariance
• SUS-TAS
• accommodation-sharing platforms
• sustainable tourism development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrés Chamarro

Andrés Chamarro is a research assistant of entrepreneurship and sustainable tourism at the Department of Entrepreneurship, ESCP Business School. His research focuses on sustainable tourism development, sharing economy, entrepreneurship and social innovation.

José Cobo-Benita

José Cobo-Benita, Ph.D. is a professor of Strategic Management and Innovation at the Department of Operations Management, ESCP Business School. His research interests concern agile management, innovation for sustainable organizations, digital transformation and change management.

María Dolores Herrero Amo

Lola Herrero, Ph.D. is an associate professor at the Department of Entrepreneurship, Scientific Director of Jean-Baptiste Say Institute, (Madrid Campus) and academic advisor of the MSc in Hospitality and Tourism Management at ESCP Business School. Her recent research is based on the field of sustainability management mainly related to planning and development of tourism destinations, social innovation, entrepreneurship and sharing-circular economy.