A game-theoretic approach to green tourism development strategies: Government interventions and sustainable practices across diverse markets

Governments worldwide have formulated interventions to facilitate the transition to green tourism, but the most effective approaches remain unclear. Existing research has focused primarily on tourism business strategies in response to government interventions, with limited attention to government goals and social welfare. Through the lens of stakeholder theory and triple bottom-line theory, this study establishes a private-public-people partnership (P4) model to examine the effectiveness of green measures and develop optimal subsidy programs. These programs are intended to function in an economy where the tourism industry is sustainably managed, with environmental, economic and social objectives. Unlike traditional models using a two-layer structure, a three-layer game-theoretical approach is employed to better capture the complexities of real-world dynamics. Our analysis reveals that the structure of the optimal subsidy program relies on (a) the market types (mass versus niche); and (b) the presence of well-implemented measures for higher-level green tourism. Key findings include: (1) well-budgeted subsidy programs can achieve the three goals; (2) governments should prioritize tourist subsidy in niche markets, while tourism business subsidy is necessary for the mass market; and (3) tourism businesses benefit from higher-level green measures, which contribute to greener tourism experience, higher price stability, and a better environment.