Benefit transfer of climate change adaptation policies in island tourist destinations

Abstract

Benefit transfer is a non-market valuation method that offers a quick and cost effective alternative to costly valuation methods for assessing the economic value of environmental goods and policies in tourism. This paper assesses the validity of the benefits transfer method for the policies to adapt to climate change impacts across tourist destinations. To do so, a discrete choice experiment is designed and conducted simultaneously across seven island destinations with similar sociological and environmental characteristics. The results show some climate change adaptation policies are more valued than others by tourists, and some destinations attract higher preferences for environmental actions. The tests give significant support to the validity of the transfer of benefits of adaptation policies across destinations, thereby providing an alternative for the economic assessment of the benefits of non-market goods and climate change adaptation policies in tourism, as worldwide information about the costs and benefits involved in tourism policy decision making become increasingly available.