Is the Chinese tourist ready for sustainable tourism? Attitudes and preferences for sustainable tourism services

Abstract

The identification of attitudes has been shown to enhance the prediction of consumer behaviour. Chinese tourist attitudes toward sustainable tourism services received little attention; however, as most work on Chinese tourism is conducted from a supply side perspective. We report results from a study conducted in Beijing and Chengdu (mainland China) on the influence of attitudes on the economic preferences (willingness-to-pay/WTP) for sustainable tourism services (n = 213). Two 'positive' attitude dimensions received very high agreement ratings, but did not influence WTP. In contrast, a 'negative' sceptical attitude had a negative effect on preferences. For illustration, we apply calculated WTP values to tourism development scenarios of two nature- and landscape-oriented destinations in western China. Scenario comparison demonstrates high risks of non-sustainable tourism development. Once the natural and cultural heritage is compromised and the tourism experience is tarnished, improvements in trip convenience may not offset economic losses of tourism value.