Sustainable mobility in island tourist destinations: tourists’ willingness to pay to rent electric vehicles in Tenerife

Abstract

In the current context, in which climate change is a major challenge, the tourism sector can play an important role in mitigating its effects with actions that involve transitioning towards more sustainable mobility. Renting an electric vehicle is an option that is particularly valuable in island territories. Especially on those islands that have fragile ecosystems and high dependence on fossil fuels, which is the case of the Canary Islands. This research aims to identify, using discrete choice models, the factors that influence tourists’ willingness to pay to rent an electric vehicle when visiting the island of Tenerife. This is a relevant issue given the scarcity of data and studies that analyse this issue, especially in island territories. Consequently, a questionnaire was designed to gather data on tourists’ socio-demographic characteristics, travel preferences and other issues relating to vehicle rental. Among the main results, it is worth noting that the tourists most likely to be willing to pay to rent an electric vehicle are young people under 30 years of age with medium-high incomes, who consider that vehicles’ consumption and emissions are important, among other characteristics. Knowledge of these tourists’ profile provides valuable information for policymakers and car rental companies that could be used to better segment the market and develop specific strategies to promote more sustainable mobility on Tenerife.