Residents' and tourists' attitudes about beach and coastal water quality on Oahu: An application of choice based conjoint experiments

Policy makers in Hawaii must account for both residents' and tourists' environmental, social and economic concerns associated with polluted recreational coastal waters. This study assesses tourists' and residents' attitudes to both beach characteristics and possible coastal water quality management actions. The overall goal of this research is to provide meaningful information to aid Hawaii in future policy decisions concerning the effects of non-point source pollution on coastal water quality and human health. Employing a choice-based conjoint methodology, the research yielded three major conclusions; the first conclusion is that water quality is the most important characteristic for both tourists and residents when considering beach visitation. The second conclusion is that both tourists and residents acknowledged the cost and/or increase in fees as the most important stormwater runoff management attribute; however, tourists prefer testing/monitoring efforts to be used as management actions whereas residents prefer non-structural best management practices. The third conclusion is that residents' and tourists' attitudes are significantly different concerning water quality, congestion, and travel cost beach characteristics; and that residents' and tourists' attitudes are significantly different concerning both structural and non-structural best management practices as well as the testing of near shore marine water quality policies. Although there were disparities between the residents' and visitors' ages and incomes, the results from this study are an indication that more interdisciplinary research is needed to create sound recreational bathing water quality. Overall, this research can aid in Oahu's future policy decisions, since it conveys to decision-makers that both tourists and residents highly value near shore water quality.