Abstract:The understanding of pro-sustainable behavior and its true economic implications is an important subject for tourism destination marketers and policymakers, especially given that limited research has focused on the economic implications of tourist preferences for more sustainable destinations. Following the identification of three different demand segments using the concept of "sustainable intelligence" (level of commitment, attitude, knowledge and/or behavior with regard to sustainability), this study hypothesizes that the tourist segment with high level of "sustainable intelligence" (called "pro-sustainable tourist") is willing to pay more to visit a more sustainable destination. The main aim of this paper is to use the logistic regression model to estimate the premium price that each segment is willing to pay to visit a sustainable destination. This paper reports the result of a willingness to pay study using data from 1118 respondents visiting the Western Costa del Sol (Andalusia, Spain), a mature sun-and-sand destination that is currently facing several developmental challenges supposedly associated with sustainability. The results obtained from this research study indicate that the tourist segment with high levels of "sustainable intelligence" is willing to pay more to visit a more sustainable tourism destination. However, there is little willingness to pay if the destination's commitment to sustainability increases the price of the tourism product (26.6% of respondents).
El concepto cadena de valor del destino permite construir un marco de análisis innovador de la actividad turística desde una perspectiva holística e integradora, e identificar las políticas a formular para incorporar la sostenibilidad como una variable estratégica de gestión turística y de posicionamiento de los destinos en los mercados. Para demostrar la validez de esta herramienta, se ha considerado el caso de España, uno de los principales destinos turísticos del mundo, con espacios turísticos muy consolidados y con un modelo que la literatura científica coincide en calificar como obsoleto y agotado, que requiere de una reinvención. Para ello, se ha realizado un análisis Delphi con expertos nacionales del más alto nivel, que ha permitido identificar los factores que impulsan o condicionan la generación de valor desde la óptica de la sostenibilidad, lo que permitirá, en una segunda etapa, diseñar una agenda estratégica de políticas orientadas a potenciar la capacidad del país para generar valor a lo largo de la cadena.
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