Heterogeneous preferences for cleaner maritime transportation in the tourism sector: A choice experiment from the Galápagos Islands

Maritime transportation plays a crucial role in the tourism sector. However, it also has significant environmental impacts related to water and air pollution, which are even more evident in nature-based tourist destinations. The introduction of hybrid or electric engines in the maritime transportation sector may help curb these environmental impacts and thus promote sustainable tourism. In this study, we designed a choice experiment to identify the preferred mix of fossil fuels and electricity in maritime transportation for touring in the Galápagos Islands. Results from a latent-class logit model indicate that boat tourists have heterogeneous preferences for cleaner maritime transportation based on their environmental preferences. Boat tourists with strong environmental inclinations show linear willingness to pay for the share of electricity in tour boats, preferring electric engines over hybrid and internal-combustion engines. In contrast, boat tourists with weaker environmental preferences show a nonlinear preference structure favoring hybrid boats —a pragmatic middle ground offering some environmental benefit without foregoing the reliability of conventional fossil fuels. This research contributes to the discourse on sustainable tourism by suggesting that investment in greener maritime technologies could be economically viable, offering actionable insights for the transition towards sustainable practices in sensitive ecological destinations.