Prospective tourist preferences for sustainable tourism development in Small Island Developing States

• Published in: Tourism management (1982) 2021-02, Vol.82, p.104178, Article 104178
• Main Authors: Grilli, Gaetano, Tyllianakis, Emmanouil, Luisetti, Tiziana, Ferrini, Silvia, Turner, R. Kerry
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Choice experiment; Ecosystem services; Latent factor analysis; Small islands developing states; Sustainable tourism
• ISSN: 0261-5177; 1879-3193
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104178

Tourism development is crucial for economic growth in Small Island Developing States, but its management involves trade-offs between ecosystem services and social and cultural identities. This paper aims to contribute to the debate around the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals through an investigation of the sustainable management of tourism and coastal ecosystem services. The paper presents a choice experiment and latent factor analysis to disentangle relevant aspects of sustainable tourism in Small Island Developing States for potential visitors. Willingness to pay is reported for the different factors revealing preferences variability for previous and prospective visitors. Pro-environmental attitudes influence individual tastes and policy makers should consider these traits in order to attract visitors and private funding. Our findings show that prospective tourists are interested in the wider aspects of the tourism experience which in turn require the careful management of social and environmental resources in Small Island Developing States. •Choice experiment and latent factors combined to examine sustainable tourism options.•Prospective tourists willing to pay for sustainable development in SIDS.•Tourists trade-off environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability.•Willingness to pay influenced by individual pro-environmental attitudes and beliefs.