The signalling effect of eco-labels in modern coastal tourism

Abstract

Abstract:As the demand for environmentally sustainable tourism grows, ecolabels are becoming increasingly popular as a signal of environmental quality. However, the existence of a causal link between awarding a seaside eco-label and the increase in tourism flows is still under discussion in the literature. In this article, we gauge the signalling impact of a specific eco-label, the Blue Flag award, using detailed data on tourism flows to seaside Italian destinations during the period 2008-2012. We adopt a recent econometric modelling strategy -the synthetic control method -in shaping estimation results and testing the sensitivity and robustness of our results. We find that being awarded the Blue Flag increases the flow of domestic tourists for up to three seasons after assignment. However, we find no effect for the flow of international tourists. Investigating the mechanisms driving the results, we find that the award of a Blue Flag only positively affects the flow of domestic tourists when it is used as a driver of organisation, coordination and integrated management of the tourism supply.

Carbon labels on restaurant menus: do people pay attention to them?

“…The tourism and hospitality industry has adopted a variety of carbon labelling schemes in accommodation, transport (Anderson, Mastrangelo, Chase, Kestenbaum, & Kolodinsky, 2013;Buckley, 2002Buckley, , 2012Buckley, , 2013Font & Buckley, 2001), tour packages (Eijgelaar, Nawijn, Barten, Okuhn, & Dijkstra, 2016), and destination management (Cerqua, 2017;Kozak & Nield, 2004;Zielinski & Botero, 2015). For example, the British carrier Flybe (2018) uses an environmental label indicating carbon dioxide emission per flight.…”

Willingness-to-Pay for Sustainable Aquaculture Products: Evidence from Korean Red Seabream Aquaculture

“…The ASC and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) are fishery certification schemes that reflect the value of ecology and environmental sustainability. The introduction of such schemes would be successful as long as consumers actively participate in and support the scheme because research shows that consumer perception eventually leads to support [8][9][10][11][12].…”

Are eco‐labels good for the local economy?

“…By means of a dynamic panel data models and using province‐level data, they show that the BF awarded to a province during a specific year has a negligible effect on the number of foreign tourists in that year, but has a positive effect on inbound flows during the following year. Cerqua () analyses the presence of a causal link between receiving the BF award and the increase in tourism flows. Using the synthetic control method, the author finds that obtaining a BF has a moderate impact on the domestic flows for up to three seasons afterward.…”

“…Even if the relevance of eco‐labels for the environment is indisputable (Creo & Fraboni, ; Fraguell, Martí, Pintó, & Coenders, ), less tangible benefits related to awareness of environmental impacts, community empowerment and increased credibility in the market are also common (Carlson & Palmer, ). However, the impact of eco‐labels on tourism flows is still uncertain (Capacci, Scorcu, & Vici, ; Cerqua, ; McKenna, Williams, & Cooper, ), while the existence of a causal link between them and economic growth is arguably an under‐researched question. In this paper, we fill the gap by investigating whether adopting a far‐reaching sustainable tourism policy boosts the economic growth of destinations, considering not only the tourism industry but also the business‐related industries and other economic aspects of these destinations.…”