Evaluation of individuals’ intention to pay a premium price for ecotourism: An exploratory study

This paper investigates the in “principle” willingness to pay a premium price (WTP_PP) for ecotourism. WTP_PP may be influenced by individuals’ preferences as well as individuals’ attitudes towards ecotourism, their environmental belief, subjective norms and their motivations to go on holidays. An empirical analysis, based on a sample of 2,356 individuals, indicates a positive propensity to allocate more money on ecotourism. Although overall subjective norms and environmental beliefs play a positive role in the WTP_PP for ecotourism, the attitude to admire wealthy people reduces the propensity to pay a premium price. Furthermore, a regression tree is carried out to highlight the main items that contribute to the WTP_PP. The results show that those who have a high awareness for ecotourism would financially support ecotourism projects in the visited destination and are willing to pay more today for a better experience in the future.