Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Destinations: A Structural Approach

Abstract

Even though tourists increasingly value sustainable practices in tourism businesses and destinations, price is still one of the main determinant factors in their decisions. Therefore, for destination managers it is essential to understand tourists’ willingness to pay an additional price to visit a place where sustainable practices are adopted. In this context, and building on social psychology theories, the present study proposes and tests a causal model encompassing tourists’ Willingness To Pay (WTP) for sustainability in tourist destinations as well as their own sustainability attitudes, namely: Environmental Beliefs, Ecotour Attitudes, and Sustainable Consumption Behaviour. To this end, data were collected through a questionnaire survey of Portuguese tourists (n = 567). The hypothesised relationships between the latent variables were then tested using Structural Equations Modelling (SEM) procedures. The results show that Environmental Beliefs significantly affected both Ecotour Attitudes and Sustainable Consumption Behaviour, and that the latter two significantly affected WTP. However, no significant effect of Environmental Beliefs on WTP was found. These findings provide useful insights for destination managers aiming to more effectively cater to sustainability-oriented tourists. Future research should attempt to assess the role of other determinants of WTP.

The Analysis of Tourist Visit Decision to Tanjung Lesung

“…The beauty of nature needs to be kept and improved to get the view and the function of the environment. The tourist destination manager caters more effectively to sustainabilityoriented tourists (de Araújo et al, 2022). The tourist will show appreciation for the environment by deciding their willingness to pay for the environment.…”

An Integrated Model of Destination Attractiveness and Tourists’ Environmentally Responsible Behavior: The Mediating Effect of Place Attachment

“…When tourists see a spectacular destination environment, they will pay more attention to environmental issues and put TERB into practice [ 9 ]. Regarding the effect of destination attractiveness, most scholars prefer to study the effect on individual consumption attitudes, such as tourist loyalty, tourist revisit intention, place attachment, and their willingness to pay for tourism eco-compensation; however, few have addressed the effect on individual behaviors [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. A significantly positive effect of attractiveness on place attachment and willingness to pay has been explored, and during the examination of the sense of place, tourism attractiveness has been found to have a significantly positive effect on the formation of a sense of place; however, few studies have deeply explored the mechanism of the influence of destination attractiveness on individual behavioral responses.…”

Polish-Lithuanian Tourist Cross-Border Functional Area – a new concept for the development of a cross-border tourist destination

“…However, awareness of the threats it may pose to the natural and anthropogenic environment has increased recently. There was a need to implement the solution for tourism development consistent with the principles of sustainable development (de Araújo et al 2022, Kizielewicz 2023. Planning and organizing the development of tourism in cross-border areas, which are potential tourist destinations has become a particular challenge for theoreticians and practitioners (Gardzińska 2015, Studzieniecki 2021, Więckowski 2011.…”