Tourists’ Willingness to Fund Improvements of Local Water Services: A Stated Preferences Analysis from the San Andrés Island

Generally, oceanic islands face similar challenges such as the unsustainable and inequitable use of water, lack of integrated environmental management, insufficient sewage system, leaking of septic tanks, and environmental degradation from inadequate management of solid and liquid wastes (sometimes, disposal into the ocean without any treatment), the scarcity of freshwater resources, as well as the marginalization of the native community, and absence of tourist and population control programs (Mow et al., 2007, Taylor et al., 2013). All this together with the volatility of their economies limits development and the long-term sustainability of the islands and also exacerbates biodiversity degradation. San Andres Island (SAI), located in the Caribbean, is highly dependent on tourism, while other incomes are commerce, followed by fishery. In fact, it is estimated that in the last pre-pandemic year, about 400,000 tourists entered the island for holidays. Moreover, SAI has a climatic seasonality that also affects tourism, water resource allocation, hydrological considerations, and maritime activities, among other factors (Gabio et al. 2010, Baine et al., 2007, Osorio et al., 2016). The objective of this study is to assess the economic viability of implementing visitor charges (e.g., user fees, taxes, and voluntary donations) to improve water services on the island of San Andrés. A stated preference survey will be designed to elicit tourists’ willingness to pay visitor charges in SAI. Given the limited availability of freshwater resources, along with an increasing demand for safe drinking water from tourists and local populations, our study is timely and policy-relevant for one of the most important tourist destinations in Colombia.

San Andrés Island, water supply, water quality, stated preferences, willingness to pay, tourism.

1. One Research paper published in a refereed journal (Q1 or Q2)

2. An oral or Poster presentation in a national or international scientific.

3. Meetings will be held with four institutions have been detected that may be interested in disseminating the results of this research project and establishing the next stages of the study.

4. A divulgation article in Spanish in a local magazine in Colombia will be published to disseminate the results of the study.