An Analysis of Tourist Preferences for the Development of Ecotourism in Uaxactun, Guatemala, Using Choice Experiments

Abstract

Ecotourism is becoming more attractive because it is believed that it makes it possible to improve income generation without harming the environment. These goals are sometimes not met, however, and environmentally unfriendly or economically unsuccessful ecotourism tends to prevail in many developing countries, questioning the validity of its original concept. Therefore, careful assessment of cultural, environmental, and economic aspects is necessary when introducing ecotourism to a region. This paper uses choice experiments as a method to find tourists’ willingness to pay (WTP), and it analyzes preferences of tourists to assess the financial potential of the future ecotourism in the village of Uaxactún, Guatemala. Villagers in Uaxactún are faced with a need for another means of income to produce the concession fee for the Maya Biosphere Reserve. With their traditional forest harvesting, which is their primary source of income, becoming unsustainable because of the influx of population into the village, villagers are interested in developing ecotourism. Three hypothetical ecotourism options were developed with input from the local residents, and three prices, reflecting potential costs, were developed for each option. The survey was conducted of 87 international tourists and 12 local tourists. Survey data were analyzed using the multinomial logit model. The result shows that both sets of tourists have marginal willingness to pay lower than the potential costs of ecotourism, suggesting the difficulty of financial success of ecotourism in Uaxactún. The results should be discussed in combination with the cultural and environmental aspects as the community decides whether to proceed with ecotourism-based development.