Do tourists value responsible sustainability in whale-watching tourism? Exploring sustainability and consumption preferences

Abstract

Whale watching has long been marketed as a whale conservation-oriented form of sustainable tourism. However, inappropriate management practices are endangering whales, the marine environment, and the tourist experience. This situation highlights the need for more responsible and sustainable actions to reconcile whale protection with the various demands of tourists. This paper analyses consumers’ preferences for socially responsible and green solutions for sustainable whale-watching management in tourism. A discrete choice experiment and a latent class segmentation are utilised to evaluate heterogeneity in tourists’ preferences regarding the implementation of various measures of responsible sustainability by the whale-watching firm. Results show that there are two groups of tourists with different preferences and economic values for sustainability policies: sustainability-oriented (34.96%) and consumption-oriented tourists (65.04%). The group of sustainability-oriented tourists have a greater preference for full corporate social responsibility and technologically innovative solutions for locating whale populations, thereby reducing the ecological and environmental impacts. The group of consumption-oriented tourists is more in line with traditional preferences, focusing on the enjoyment of the whale-watching experience through the effective management of crowding effects. Although the sustainability-oriented tourist segment has a smaller market share, the results suggest that there is market potential for increasing responsible sustainability practices in the whale-watching tourism activity.