Sustainable Coastal Tourism and Green Hotel Management Practices: Balancing Environmental Conservation, Visitor Experience, and Local Economic Development

Abstract

Sustainable coastal tourism requires tourism-sector establishments to protect environmental resources while maintaining visitor satisfaction and supporting local economies. This study examined the relationships among integrated green management and environmental conservation, visitor experience, and local economic development using a cross-sectional secondary analysis of an open-access dataset comprising 320 tourism-sector establishments and 44 sustainability indicators. Composite constructs were assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure, Bartlett’s test, correlation analysis, multiple linear regression, and bootstrap mediation with 5,000 resamples. The integrated green management and environmental conservation construct showed excellent reliability (α=0.912), as did visitor experience (α=0.909), while local economic development showed good reliability (α=0.815). Green management and environmental conservation were positively associated with visitor experience (r=0.234, p<0.001), and visitor experience was positively associated with local economic development (r=0.310, p<0.001). The integrated green management construct was not significantly associated with local economic development after adjustment (β=0.067, p=0.235). Visitor experience remained significantly associated with local economic development (β=0.301, p<0.001), and bootstrap analysis identified a significant indirect association through visitor experience (indirect β=0.068, 95% CI 0.030-0.111). These findings suggest that the relationship between environmental practices and reported local economic outcomes may operate mainly through visitor experience. Coastal tourism policies should integrate credible green operations, guest communication, local employment, and ecosystem protection. The findings should be considered transferable to coastal tourism rather than direct coastal evidence because the original establishments were located in an inland tourism setting.