Do birds of a feather flock together? Analyzing environmental performance and tourist behavior using a gravity approach

• Muhammad Shafiullah ^[2] ; Usman Khalid ^[1] ; Luke Emeka Okafor ^[2]
  1. [1] United Arab Emirates University

     United Arab Emirates University

     Emiratos Árabes Unidos

     
  2. [2] University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus

     University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus

     MY.12.1735173.1734798, Malasia

     
• Localización: Tourism economics: the business and finance of tourism and recreation, ISSN 1354-8166, Vol. 29, Nº. 5, 2023, págs. 1139-1163
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This study examines whether international tourism flows are affected by differences in the environmental performance of origin and destination countries by conducting an empirical analysis with a gravity panel dataset of 169 origin countries and 157 destination countries from 2000 to 2015. Estimated results show that the difference between environmental performance of a country pair adversely affects international tourism flows. This implies that tourist behavior is particularly influenced by familiarity, behavior conformity, and the need for virtue-signaling. Results also suggest that better environmental performance of the destination relative to the origin, as captured by an overall environmental performance index or its sub-indices, lowers international tourism more than vice-versa. This effect potentially hinges on the tradeoff between functionality and the image of the international tourist destination. Policies that create an enabling milieu for sustainable tourism and environmental practices—such as ecolabeling and targeted advertising—would help attract more environmentally conscious tourists.