Tourist satisfaction analysis provides important information that contributes to design public an... more Tourist satisfaction analysis provides important information that contributes to design public and private policies in tourist services and destinations. However, the responses to tourist satisfaction scales can lead to biased results when comparing tourists from different nationalities and backgrounds, since they might use different internal scale interpretations to assess their satisfaction level in a survey. In this article, the anchoring vignette methodology is used to test and correct for scale response bias in tourist satisfaction surveys. The results of the empirical application find out that scale response is not homogeneous across tourists from different nationalities and that the correction for scale differences can lead to an evaluation of tourist satisfaction that more accurately informs and facilitates improvements in policy decisions at tourist destinations and operators.
The authors, using discrete choice experiments, study the economic valuation of corporate social ... more The authors, using discrete choice experiments, study the economic valuation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy measures in sun-and-beach tourist destination demand. They also examine the role of the status quo effect on CSR actions in tourist destinations. The status quo effect occurs because people generally place much more value on avoiding a loss than on acquiring a gain. Visitors to Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) were presented with alternative profiles of CSR measures and were given one of two treatments that varied according to the definition of the status quo alternative and the valuation question. The design of the experiments enabled the authors to compare the respondents' willingness to pay (WTP) a higher price for their holiday in a destination that has in place several CSR measures and willingness to accept (WTA) a lower price for the same destination with a lower CSR profile. The data are modelled using a flexible approach that allows for the consideration of alternative decision rules in the visitor's decision process. The results show that tourists care about CSR attributes and are likely to make their vacation choices on the basis of such attributes. Moreover, in this context the standard economic theory assumption of preferences symmetry is not satisfied. In other words, the cost of not implementing CSR actions is higher than the benefits of implementing them. When a destination increases CSR actions the number of visitors and their WTP for their visit are likely to increase, but at substantially lower rates than the WTP for alternative destinations (WTA) when the destination reduces its CSR actions. These results may explain why conventional studies find ambiguous effects of CSR action on tourist choice.
The valuation of environmental risks is commonly approached with the utilization of stated prefer... more The valuation of environmental risks is commonly approached with the utilization of stated preference methods such as contingent valuation. In these methods, money is utilized as the scale that reflects the individual's underlying utility function. However, this scale can vary across individuals due to different perceptions on what are the right or appropriate bounds for willingness to pay. In this paper we test for scale perception bias and propose a correction method based on the utilization of anchoring vignettes that define different degrees of preference for the non-market good. The proposed method is applied to study the commonly found anomaly "probability neglect", which is defined by the insensitivity to the probability levels in the valuation of environmental risks. The results show that probability neglect disappears when willingness to pay responses are corrected for self-perception bias through the utilization of the anchoring vignettes approach.
Oil spills are capable of causing major environmental insults that raise the emotional loads of i... more Oil spills are capable of causing major environmental insults that raise the emotional loads of individuals across society. In this paper we consider the role of emotions in heterogeneous responses of individuals in the nonmarket valuation of an oil prevention program in Spain. Heterogeneity is modeled with a smoothly mixing regression (SMR) model that allows researchers to explain the probability that individuals belong to the latent segments of WTP. The results show that heterogeneity in WTP responses is explained by the specific emotional reactions of individuals (upset, sadness, indifference) rather than by their socioeconomic characteristics. Thus, the investigation of the emotional reactions of individuals can provide useful tools for the design of non-market valuation studies, providing more accurate predictions of the potential behavior of individuals in constructed markets for damage assessment.
Rapid technological change is leading to the introduction of new ways of providing services in th... more Rapid technological change is leading to the introduction of new ways of providing services in the tourism industry. However, the human factor is also key in providing satisfaction to visitors. This article evaluates the preferences of visitors for different service designs at tourist information offices (TIOs). The methodology used is discrete choice experiments. Results show that visitors place higher values on information services received through personal interaction than through automated processes based on new technology. The implication is that the personal interaction continues to be an important element in the design of TIOs, but that new technology may increase the quality of the provision of services and visitor satisfaction. The methodology employed also allows us to identify different visitors’ segments based on their preferences for TIO services.
Environmental and Resource Economics, Nov 15, 2006
Repeated dichotomous choice contingent valuation data are generated from responses to a successio... more Repeated dichotomous choice contingent valuation data are generated from responses to a succession of binary questions regarding alternative prices for an environmental good. In this paper we propose a simultaneous equation model that allows for endogeneity and error correlation across the responses at each stage of the bidding process. The model allows us to study the evolution of anchoring effects after the second dichotomous choice question. Estimation involves the Bayesian techniques of Gibbs sampling and data augmentation, and the application focuses on the preservation value of a natural area. The results for a data set involving up to four successive dichotomous choice questions show that restricted multiple-bounded models are rejected by the data with the general model. In addition, willingness to pay tends to stabilize after the second stage in the elicitation process for the general unrestricted model. When taking anchoring effects into consideration, it is revealed that individualsÕ responses in the latter stages are influenced by the sequence of bid prices offered in earlier questions. Nevertheless, they do not have a significant effect on welfare estimates.
The estimation of economic benefits of health effects through direct methods, such as contingent ... more The estimation of economic benefits of health effects through direct methods, such as contingent valuation, presents the problem of preference imprecision. This paper deals with this problem by proposing an elicitation method that allows the subject to state an interval for willingness to pay, without inducing any specific amount as a response. The paper also analyzes the effects of the context where changes in health occur on the associated imprecision level and the estimates, by comparing a situation without context with another in which effects are due to atmospheric pollution. The econometric modelling develops a Bayesian estimation method for censored intervals, which models the existing uncertainty between the lower and upper limits derived from the elicitation process. Results prove that data dispersion is significantly higher for the non-contextual scenario, and increases for the most severe symptoms.
Dichotomous choice contingent valuation involves a binary yes/no question that can be followed by... more Dichotomous choice contingent valuation involves a binary yes/no question that can be followed by a subsequent question in order to obtain more information from the respondent, and leading to more efficient welfare estimates. Estimation methods for these data have mainly focused on classical maximum likelihood. In this paper we study possible improvements utilising a Bayesian MCMC approach to model this type of data. The classical and Bayesian approaches are compared with a Monte Carlo simulation experiment. The ...
This paper is aimed at studying the dynamics of consumers' preferences for corporate social respo... more This paper is aimed at studying the dynamics of consumers' preferences for corporate social responsibility. The data come from both a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) and a field experiment conducted in a real market setting. The results show that in a static setting (first month) predictions of a standard DCE study and real market shares are statistically similar for the various profiles of corporate social responsibility. However, as time evolves real market shares present some dynamic patterns that are not mirrored by the standard DCE predictions. The overall conclusion is that differences between real market behavior and DCE data can be attributed to the lack of learning experienceor adaptationin DCE surveys rather than to the hypothetical nature of the experiments.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Abstract Consumers in modern societies are increasingly sensitive to environmental per-formance b... more Abstract Consumers in modern societies are increasingly sensitive to environmental per-formance by large and small corporations, making it a crucial issue in the overall policy of corporate social responsibility. The objective of this paper is to study the role of environmental ...
ABSTRACT Tourists' travel decisions can be influenced by appropriate policies that seek to en... more ABSTRACT Tourists' travel decisions can be influenced by appropriate policies that seek to encourage them to choose travel plans leading to more sustainable tourism practices. Based on using conventional cognitive decision-making models, most current policy recommendations employ market-based economic incentives (e.g. taxes). This paper employs a dual emotional-cognitive decision-making model to represent tourists' choices. This framework allows comparing the efficacy of taxing emission levels against non-market sustainability policies including: (1) environmental information labelling; (2) emotional communication messages, and (3) limiting time pressure marketing practices. A field experiment (N = 509) was used to test the effectiveness of both market- and non-market-based sustainability policies in reducing overall CO2 emission levels by affecting destination choice. It found that the sensitivity of the choice decision to price is overestimated if and when emotions are not considered in the choice context. Tourists' decisions can not only be guided by rational financial calculations but also by the interplay of their emotions or the “animal spirits” cited by John Maynard Keynes. Therefore, effective policies to change behaviour towards more sustainable practices in tourism can be induced by working through non-market interventions like shaping positive emotional messages (but avoiding negative ones) and limiting time pressure marketing techniques.
This paper presents results on the valuation of health risks in the presence of altruism. The con... more This paper presents results on the valuation of health risks in the presence of altruism. The contingent valuation method is utilised in a split sample experiment for estimating the private and public values in reducing the risk of flu. Data modelling for the dichotomous choice method follows a Bayesian approach, which accounts for zero responses and is adequate for the comparison of small sample results. The results of the experiment suggest that altruism is a positive component in the value of reducing the probability of flu, which depends positively on the number of days involved, the health status and the personal income of the subject. The marginal value of risk is found to be a decreasing function of the reduction in the probability of becoming ill.
Tourism is a major contributor to CO2 emissions and therefore to climate change. In this article,... more Tourism is a major contributor to CO2 emissions and therefore to climate change. In this article, we look at the relationships between CO2 emissions and tourism in the context of both developed and less developed countries. We utilize a STIRPAT approach applied to a balanced panel data of developed and less developed countries for the period from 1998 to 2006. The results show that tourism contributes significantly to CO2 emissions in both less developed and developed countries. However, the impact in developed countries is larger than in less developed countries. Tourism should find sustainable development paths involving less CO2 emissions in the production and consumption of tourist services.
International Journal of Tourism Research, Nov 2, 2020
This paper investigates the potential gap in Tour Operators (TOs) assessments of tourists' pr... more This paper investigates the potential gap in Tour Operators (TOs) assessments of tourists' preferences for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in tourism. It utilizes discrete choice experiments to assess both tourists and TOs preferences. Results show that TOs understand tourists' average preferences for CSR policies but fail to predict the heterogeneity of preferences. Three market segments were found, with different preferences, socio‐economic backgrounds, spending levels, and source regions. The results can help explain the lag of tourism companies in undertaking some of the CSR policies that might be of interest to tourists, and might assist the development of more sustainable tourism.
Human preferences for alternative levels of health risks can be heterogeneous. In this paper we c... more Human preferences for alternative levels of health risks can be heterogeneous. In this paper we consider a flexible distribution approach to model health values elicited with the dichotomous choice contingent valuation method. Rigid parametric structures cannot model sample heterogeneity while imposing strong assumptions on the error distribution. We consider a mixture of normal distributions which can approximate arbitrary well any empirical distribution as the number of mixtures increases. The model is applied to data on willingness to pay for reducing the individual risk of an episode of respiratory illness. The mixture distribution model is compared with the rigid probit model using a Bayes factor test. The results show that the mixture modeling approach improves performance while allowing for the consideration of alternative groups of individuals with different preferences for health risks.
Stargazing tourism is an expanding market niche that requires the development of territorial reso... more Stargazing tourism is an expanding market niche that requires the development of territorial resources for its implementation and attraction. This paper’s objective is to investigate the preferences and willingness to pay of tourists for the development of strategic land resources for stargazing tourism activities. The field work was conducted on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands), which is promoting the territorial development of infrastructures for stargazing tourism. A random sample of 734 tourists were interviewed in person on-site in December 2019 following the methodology discrete choice experiments that enabled an estimation of tourists’ preferences and willingness to pay for the implementation of key land resources for stargazing. The data are modeled using a latent class model that allows for the consideration of heterogeneous preferences. The results show that there are three groups of tourists with different preferences for land resources of stargazing observation. T...
PASOS Revista de turismo y patrimonio cultural, 2011
El presente trabajo desarrolla una nueva metodología de valoración de la imagen de destinos que i... more El presente trabajo desarrolla una nueva metodología de valoración de la imagen de destinos que incorpora dos principales ventajas sobre los métodos empleados hasta ahora: (1) permite disociar la imagen de un lugar geográfico (destino), de la imagen del usuario con la experiencia vacacional objetiva en dicho destino; diferenciando así entre la medida de la dimensión de imagen percibida, la medida de la experiencia percibida, y finalmente, la medida de la experiencia percibida influida por la dimensión de la imagen percibida y (2) permite valorar económicamente la imagen de un destino turístico. Los resultados tienen implicaciones para la evaluación de los recursos económicos que los destinos invierten con la finalidad de ser más competitivos en el mercado, y ayudan a mejorar la planificación de los esfuerzos del marketing que se realizarán para mejorar la imagen de los destinos.
Rapid technological change is leading to the introduction of new ways of providing services in th... more Rapid technological change is leading to the introduction of new ways of providing services in the tourism industry. However, the human factor is also key in providing satisfaction to visitors. This article evaluates the preferences of visitors for different service designs at tourist information offices (TIOs). The methodology used is discrete choice experiments. Results show that visitors place higher values on information services received through personal interaction than through automated processes based on new technology. The implication is that the personal interaction continues to be an important element in the design of TIOs, but that new technology may increase the quality of the provision of services and visitor satisfaction. The methodology employed also allows us to identify different visitors’ segments based on their preferences for TIO services.
Applications of Simulation Methods in Environmental and Resource Economics
Dichotomous choice contingent valuation involves a binary yes/no question that can be followed by... more Dichotomous choice contingent valuation involves a binary yes/no question that can be followed by a subsequent question in order to obtain more information from the respondent, and leading to more efficient welfare estimates. Estimation methods for these data have mainly focused on classical maximum likelihood. In this paper we study possible improvements utilising a Bayesian MCMC approach to model this type of data. The classical and Bayesian approaches are compared with a Monte Carlo simulation experiment. The ...
Tourist satisfaction analysis provides important information that contributes to design public an... more Tourist satisfaction analysis provides important information that contributes to design public and private policies in tourist services and destinations. However, the responses to tourist satisfaction scales can lead to biased results when comparing tourists from different nationalities and backgrounds, since they might use different internal scale interpretations to assess their satisfaction level in a survey. In this article, the anchoring vignette methodology is used to test and correct for scale response bias in tourist satisfaction surveys. The results of the empirical application find out that scale response is not homogeneous across tourists from different nationalities and that the correction for scale differences can lead to an evaluation of tourist satisfaction that more accurately informs and facilitates improvements in policy decisions at tourist destinations and operators.
The authors, using discrete choice experiments, study the economic valuation of corporate social ... more The authors, using discrete choice experiments, study the economic valuation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy measures in sun-and-beach tourist destination demand. They also examine the role of the status quo effect on CSR actions in tourist destinations. The status quo effect occurs because people generally place much more value on avoiding a loss than on acquiring a gain. Visitors to Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) were presented with alternative profiles of CSR measures and were given one of two treatments that varied according to the definition of the status quo alternative and the valuation question. The design of the experiments enabled the authors to compare the respondents' willingness to pay (WTP) a higher price for their holiday in a destination that has in place several CSR measures and willingness to accept (WTA) a lower price for the same destination with a lower CSR profile. The data are modelled using a flexible approach that allows for the consideration of alternative decision rules in the visitor's decision process. The results show that tourists care about CSR attributes and are likely to make their vacation choices on the basis of such attributes. Moreover, in this context the standard economic theory assumption of preferences symmetry is not satisfied. In other words, the cost of not implementing CSR actions is higher than the benefits of implementing them. When a destination increases CSR actions the number of visitors and their WTP for their visit are likely to increase, but at substantially lower rates than the WTP for alternative destinations (WTA) when the destination reduces its CSR actions. These results may explain why conventional studies find ambiguous effects of CSR action on tourist choice.
The valuation of environmental risks is commonly approached with the utilization of stated prefer... more The valuation of environmental risks is commonly approached with the utilization of stated preference methods such as contingent valuation. In these methods, money is utilized as the scale that reflects the individual's underlying utility function. However, this scale can vary across individuals due to different perceptions on what are the right or appropriate bounds for willingness to pay. In this paper we test for scale perception bias and propose a correction method based on the utilization of anchoring vignettes that define different degrees of preference for the non-market good. The proposed method is applied to study the commonly found anomaly "probability neglect", which is defined by the insensitivity to the probability levels in the valuation of environmental risks. The results show that probability neglect disappears when willingness to pay responses are corrected for self-perception bias through the utilization of the anchoring vignettes approach.
Oil spills are capable of causing major environmental insults that raise the emotional loads of i... more Oil spills are capable of causing major environmental insults that raise the emotional loads of individuals across society. In this paper we consider the role of emotions in heterogeneous responses of individuals in the nonmarket valuation of an oil prevention program in Spain. Heterogeneity is modeled with a smoothly mixing regression (SMR) model that allows researchers to explain the probability that individuals belong to the latent segments of WTP. The results show that heterogeneity in WTP responses is explained by the specific emotional reactions of individuals (upset, sadness, indifference) rather than by their socioeconomic characteristics. Thus, the investigation of the emotional reactions of individuals can provide useful tools for the design of non-market valuation studies, providing more accurate predictions of the potential behavior of individuals in constructed markets for damage assessment.
Rapid technological change is leading to the introduction of new ways of providing services in th... more Rapid technological change is leading to the introduction of new ways of providing services in the tourism industry. However, the human factor is also key in providing satisfaction to visitors. This article evaluates the preferences of visitors for different service designs at tourist information offices (TIOs). The methodology used is discrete choice experiments. Results show that visitors place higher values on information services received through personal interaction than through automated processes based on new technology. The implication is that the personal interaction continues to be an important element in the design of TIOs, but that new technology may increase the quality of the provision of services and visitor satisfaction. The methodology employed also allows us to identify different visitors’ segments based on their preferences for TIO services.
Environmental and Resource Economics, Nov 15, 2006
Repeated dichotomous choice contingent valuation data are generated from responses to a successio... more Repeated dichotomous choice contingent valuation data are generated from responses to a succession of binary questions regarding alternative prices for an environmental good. In this paper we propose a simultaneous equation model that allows for endogeneity and error correlation across the responses at each stage of the bidding process. The model allows us to study the evolution of anchoring effects after the second dichotomous choice question. Estimation involves the Bayesian techniques of Gibbs sampling and data augmentation, and the application focuses on the preservation value of a natural area. The results for a data set involving up to four successive dichotomous choice questions show that restricted multiple-bounded models are rejected by the data with the general model. In addition, willingness to pay tends to stabilize after the second stage in the elicitation process for the general unrestricted model. When taking anchoring effects into consideration, it is revealed that individualsÕ responses in the latter stages are influenced by the sequence of bid prices offered in earlier questions. Nevertheless, they do not have a significant effect on welfare estimates.
The estimation of economic benefits of health effects through direct methods, such as contingent ... more The estimation of economic benefits of health effects through direct methods, such as contingent valuation, presents the problem of preference imprecision. This paper deals with this problem by proposing an elicitation method that allows the subject to state an interval for willingness to pay, without inducing any specific amount as a response. The paper also analyzes the effects of the context where changes in health occur on the associated imprecision level and the estimates, by comparing a situation without context with another in which effects are due to atmospheric pollution. The econometric modelling develops a Bayesian estimation method for censored intervals, which models the existing uncertainty between the lower and upper limits derived from the elicitation process. Results prove that data dispersion is significantly higher for the non-contextual scenario, and increases for the most severe symptoms.
Dichotomous choice contingent valuation involves a binary yes/no question that can be followed by... more Dichotomous choice contingent valuation involves a binary yes/no question that can be followed by a subsequent question in order to obtain more information from the respondent, and leading to more efficient welfare estimates. Estimation methods for these data have mainly focused on classical maximum likelihood. In this paper we study possible improvements utilising a Bayesian MCMC approach to model this type of data. The classical and Bayesian approaches are compared with a Monte Carlo simulation experiment. The ...
This paper is aimed at studying the dynamics of consumers' preferences for corporate social respo... more This paper is aimed at studying the dynamics of consumers' preferences for corporate social responsibility. The data come from both a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) and a field experiment conducted in a real market setting. The results show that in a static setting (first month) predictions of a standard DCE study and real market shares are statistically similar for the various profiles of corporate social responsibility. However, as time evolves real market shares present some dynamic patterns that are not mirrored by the standard DCE predictions. The overall conclusion is that differences between real market behavior and DCE data can be attributed to the lack of learning experienceor adaptationin DCE surveys rather than to the hypothetical nature of the experiments.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Abstract Consumers in modern societies are increasingly sensitive to environmental per-formance b... more Abstract Consumers in modern societies are increasingly sensitive to environmental per-formance by large and small corporations, making it a crucial issue in the overall policy of corporate social responsibility. The objective of this paper is to study the role of environmental ...
ABSTRACT Tourists' travel decisions can be influenced by appropriate policies that seek to en... more ABSTRACT Tourists' travel decisions can be influenced by appropriate policies that seek to encourage them to choose travel plans leading to more sustainable tourism practices. Based on using conventional cognitive decision-making models, most current policy recommendations employ market-based economic incentives (e.g. taxes). This paper employs a dual emotional-cognitive decision-making model to represent tourists' choices. This framework allows comparing the efficacy of taxing emission levels against non-market sustainability policies including: (1) environmental information labelling; (2) emotional communication messages, and (3) limiting time pressure marketing practices. A field experiment (N = 509) was used to test the effectiveness of both market- and non-market-based sustainability policies in reducing overall CO2 emission levels by affecting destination choice. It found that the sensitivity of the choice decision to price is overestimated if and when emotions are not considered in the choice context. Tourists' decisions can not only be guided by rational financial calculations but also by the interplay of their emotions or the “animal spirits” cited by John Maynard Keynes. Therefore, effective policies to change behaviour towards more sustainable practices in tourism can be induced by working through non-market interventions like shaping positive emotional messages (but avoiding negative ones) and limiting time pressure marketing techniques.
This paper presents results on the valuation of health risks in the presence of altruism. The con... more This paper presents results on the valuation of health risks in the presence of altruism. The contingent valuation method is utilised in a split sample experiment for estimating the private and public values in reducing the risk of flu. Data modelling for the dichotomous choice method follows a Bayesian approach, which accounts for zero responses and is adequate for the comparison of small sample results. The results of the experiment suggest that altruism is a positive component in the value of reducing the probability of flu, which depends positively on the number of days involved, the health status and the personal income of the subject. The marginal value of risk is found to be a decreasing function of the reduction in the probability of becoming ill.
Tourism is a major contributor to CO2 emissions and therefore to climate change. In this article,... more Tourism is a major contributor to CO2 emissions and therefore to climate change. In this article, we look at the relationships between CO2 emissions and tourism in the context of both developed and less developed countries. We utilize a STIRPAT approach applied to a balanced panel data of developed and less developed countries for the period from 1998 to 2006. The results show that tourism contributes significantly to CO2 emissions in both less developed and developed countries. However, the impact in developed countries is larger than in less developed countries. Tourism should find sustainable development paths involving less CO2 emissions in the production and consumption of tourist services.
International Journal of Tourism Research, Nov 2, 2020
This paper investigates the potential gap in Tour Operators (TOs) assessments of tourists' pr... more This paper investigates the potential gap in Tour Operators (TOs) assessments of tourists' preferences for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in tourism. It utilizes discrete choice experiments to assess both tourists and TOs preferences. Results show that TOs understand tourists' average preferences for CSR policies but fail to predict the heterogeneity of preferences. Three market segments were found, with different preferences, socio‐economic backgrounds, spending levels, and source regions. The results can help explain the lag of tourism companies in undertaking some of the CSR policies that might be of interest to tourists, and might assist the development of more sustainable tourism.
Human preferences for alternative levels of health risks can be heterogeneous. In this paper we c... more Human preferences for alternative levels of health risks can be heterogeneous. In this paper we consider a flexible distribution approach to model health values elicited with the dichotomous choice contingent valuation method. Rigid parametric structures cannot model sample heterogeneity while imposing strong assumptions on the error distribution. We consider a mixture of normal distributions which can approximate arbitrary well any empirical distribution as the number of mixtures increases. The model is applied to data on willingness to pay for reducing the individual risk of an episode of respiratory illness. The mixture distribution model is compared with the rigid probit model using a Bayes factor test. The results show that the mixture modeling approach improves performance while allowing for the consideration of alternative groups of individuals with different preferences for health risks.
Stargazing tourism is an expanding market niche that requires the development of territorial reso... more Stargazing tourism is an expanding market niche that requires the development of territorial resources for its implementation and attraction. This paper’s objective is to investigate the preferences and willingness to pay of tourists for the development of strategic land resources for stargazing tourism activities. The field work was conducted on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands), which is promoting the territorial development of infrastructures for stargazing tourism. A random sample of 734 tourists were interviewed in person on-site in December 2019 following the methodology discrete choice experiments that enabled an estimation of tourists’ preferences and willingness to pay for the implementation of key land resources for stargazing. The data are modeled using a latent class model that allows for the consideration of heterogeneous preferences. The results show that there are three groups of tourists with different preferences for land resources of stargazing observation. T...
PASOS Revista de turismo y patrimonio cultural, 2011
El presente trabajo desarrolla una nueva metodología de valoración de la imagen de destinos que i... more El presente trabajo desarrolla una nueva metodología de valoración de la imagen de destinos que incorpora dos principales ventajas sobre los métodos empleados hasta ahora: (1) permite disociar la imagen de un lugar geográfico (destino), de la imagen del usuario con la experiencia vacacional objetiva en dicho destino; diferenciando así entre la medida de la dimensión de imagen percibida, la medida de la experiencia percibida, y finalmente, la medida de la experiencia percibida influida por la dimensión de la imagen percibida y (2) permite valorar económicamente la imagen de un destino turístico. Los resultados tienen implicaciones para la evaluación de los recursos económicos que los destinos invierten con la finalidad de ser más competitivos en el mercado, y ayudan a mejorar la planificación de los esfuerzos del marketing que se realizarán para mejorar la imagen de los destinos.
Rapid technological change is leading to the introduction of new ways of providing services in th... more Rapid technological change is leading to the introduction of new ways of providing services in the tourism industry. However, the human factor is also key in providing satisfaction to visitors. This article evaluates the preferences of visitors for different service designs at tourist information offices (TIOs). The methodology used is discrete choice experiments. Results show that visitors place higher values on information services received through personal interaction than through automated processes based on new technology. The implication is that the personal interaction continues to be an important element in the design of TIOs, but that new technology may increase the quality of the provision of services and visitor satisfaction. The methodology employed also allows us to identify different visitors’ segments based on their preferences for TIO services.
Applications of Simulation Methods in Environmental and Resource Economics
Dichotomous choice contingent valuation involves a binary yes/no question that can be followed by... more Dichotomous choice contingent valuation involves a binary yes/no question that can be followed by a subsequent question in order to obtain more information from the respondent, and leading to more efficient welfare estimates. Estimation methods for these data have mainly focused on classical maximum likelihood. In this paper we study possible improvements utilising a Bayesian MCMC approach to model this type of data. The classical and Bayesian approaches are compared with a Monte Carlo simulation experiment. The ...
Cambio Climático y Turismo: Realidad y Ficción. ISBN: 978-84-370-7683-6
"Co-authored with Magdalena Carballo Fuentes y Sergio Moreno Gil. 2009. El cambio climático y alg... more "Co-authored with Magdalena Carballo Fuentes y Sergio Moreno Gil. 2009. El cambio climático y alguna de sus implicaciones en la decisión del destino vacacional. pp. 123-124.
Plan Estratégico de Turismo de Islas Canarias, realizado bajo la dirección técnica del Dr. Sergio... more Plan Estratégico de Turismo de Islas Canarias, realizado bajo la dirección técnica del Dr. Sergio Moreno Gil, Director Adjunto del Instituto de Turismo y Desarrollo Económico Sostenible –Tides-de la Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria y Director de Relaciones Institucionales de la Cátedra UNESCO de Planificación Turística de la ULPGC. Director de análisis del estudio: Dr. Jorge E. Araña Padilla. Realizado conjuntamente con el personal técnico de Promotur (Turismo de Canarias), organismo promocional del destino.
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