Tourist willingness to pay for local green hotel certification

Abstract

This study aims to understand tourists’ willingness to pay a price premium for a local green hotel certification, and is one of only a few in the literature for small-island tourism destinations in emerging economies with their unique and pressing sustainability challenges. In a survey of 535 tourists visiting Gili Trawangan, Indonesia, facing numerous waste management and coral reef conservation issues, the willingness to pay extra for sustainable hotel services was elicited. There were five discrete pricing levels across the surveys that ranged from $0.75 USD to $7.50 USD extra per night. We examined the relationship of the respondents’ payment choice to their socio-demographic attributes and attitudes regarding environmental issues such as climate change. The main findings and practical implications of the study are: (1) to demonstrate the broad willingness to pay for sustainable hotel services. Findings indicate at all price levels (between $0.75 USD and $7.50 USD), more than 50% of tourists are willing to pay. (2) To estimate a lower bound mean willingness to pay per night for a local green hotel certificate of $1.55USD and 1.34€ EUR, and (3) To identify individual attributes that influence willingness to pay. Findings indicate environmental knowledge and preferences play a role. These results can be used generally to incorporate evidence-based practices into the development of a green hotel marketing strategy, and to help define the target market for small-scale green hotel certification. Additionally, we propose a finance strategy for funding local and sustainable initiatives that support the hotel industry and the island’s infrastructure through the premiums collected from the ’Gili Green Award’ certificate.

A methodologically sound survey of Chinese consumers’ willingness to participate in courier, express, and parcel companies’ green logistics

“…Therefore, the environmental benefits of green logistics should be propagated to the CEP consumer via advertisements, social media, direct interactions, etc. This is because previous studies have shown that consumers' 'environmental knowledge' and 'preferences' play an important role in their willingness to pay more for green products [79]. Reusing, sharing boxes, and recycling, on the other hand, can be used to provide monetary incentives to consumers.…”

Critical success factors of green hotel investment in Taiwan

“…The green certification corresponds to hotel guests’ demand and willingness to pay for them (Nelson et al , 2021). The green hotel certification program is significant to understanding the critical components of hotel environmental management.…”

“…In 2016, approximately over 140 eco-labels focused on green hotel certifications. However, only 6.2% of the hotels were certified globally and 0.9% in Asia (Nelson et al , 2021). Although the green consumer segmentation has emerged since the 1960s (Zinkhan and Carlson, 1995), the value of green certification to consumers is still not well-understood across contexts, perhaps due to the low percentage of certified hotels (Gan and Nuli, 2018).…”

“…Although the green consumer segmentation has emerged since the 1960s (Zinkhan and Carlson, 1995), the value of green certification to consumers is still not well-understood across contexts, perhaps due to the low percentage of certified hotels (Gan and Nuli, 2018). Nelson et al (2021) further mentioned that major green hotel programs and criteria for certification, ranging from self-auditing, third-party regulation, to hybrid approaches, can be complicated for consumers and hoteliers. They argued that creating universal detailed green concept requirements across hotel types and locations can address context-specific issues and practical implementation challenges.…”

“…Currently, the context-specific certification programs locally developed in an island country may better attract tourists (Nelson et al , 2021). Baltin and Cole (1995) mentioned that targeted market segment by the visit purpose and brand standards (e.g.…”