DESTINATION SUSTAINABILITY OF IJEN GEOPARK AS PERCEIVED BY TOURISTS: HOW FAR ITS IMPACT ON VISIT INTENTION?

Abstract

Collectively, geotourism has grown intensively in the last decades. Therefore, this study was done to determine the potential factors affecting the intention of tourists to visit Ijen Geopark, located in East Java, Indonesia, hence contributing to the broader discourse on geopark tourism, sustainable tourism, destination marketing, and consumer behaviour. In this research, a total of 424 tourists were surveyed, including both those who have visited the geopark and those who have not. The findings indicate a significant relationship between key variables found using exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Overall, destination sustainability directly affects both the tourist's visit intention and destination image and credibility, whereas destination credibility itself influences destination image and the tourists' environmental motivation. In addition, environmental motivation was seen as a relevant driver that had a positive impact on both destination image and visit intention. The results also confirmed that destination image would play a critical role in shaping tourists' visit intentions. The current findings bring to light the relevance of sustainability and credibility in driving attractiveness in both geoparks and other nature-based tourism destinations. This study provides valuable insights for tourism managers to promote sustainability and manage credibility, ultimately resulting in positive effects on tourist behaviour, such as higher environmental motivations. The direct contribution of this research is indeed to the United Nations SDGs, through encouraging sustainable tourism supportive of natural heritage conservation-SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. It also aligns with SDG 13: Climate Action, in which the emphasis on environmental motivation reflects the necessary ecoconscious tourism. Finally, represented by SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth is the potential of sustainable tourism to contribute to local economies. This study in its entirety demonstrates how the intersection of sustainability to destination management and tourist behaviour can further responsible tourism in line with global sustainability goals.