What motivates tourists to conserve water on vacation? Examining the role of personal climate-based values

Abstract

[eng] Tourist destinations located in areas facing water stress present relevant key water quantity and quality challenges. Within the hotel industry, the accommodation option with the highest levels of water consumption, multiple mechanisms and appliances can substantially reduce water consumption. However, without guests’ acceptance, commitment and participation, the effectiveness of these measures will remain limited. This article aims to determine to what extent the personal values of tourists staying in Mallorca during 2021 and 2022 are predictive of in-room water conservation habit patterns and what such values could add to the more commonly studied sociodemographic and leisure activities of tourists. A hierarchical regression model was performed to explore if personal values could add more robustness in explaining water conservation habits. Results indicate a significant improvement in explained variance, providing more robustness to the model. Tourists who more strongly endorse biospheric values and altruistic values display more frequent water conservation habits. Conversely, tourists with stronger egoistic values generally save less water. Thus, interventions aimed at promoting water conservation behaviour could be improved by tailoring them according to the personal values of tourists.