Malini Prava Sethi and Sumit Singh
Abstract
The Blue Economy has emerged as a Sustainable Approach to balancing the Development of Coastal Tourism with Environmental and Economic Goals. The current study investigates the effect of Blue Economy awareness, environmental sustainability, and tourist expenditure of foreign tourists visiting selected coastal destinations of India: Puri Beach; Konark - Chandrabhaga Beach; Goa; Kovalam; Varkala; Puducherry; Gokarna; and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Survey research was employed, in which a structured questionnaire was used for data collection from 400 foreign tourists selected by convenience sampling. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The level of awareness about the Blue Economy and the environmental quality and sustainable tourism practices, tourist satisfaction, and revisit intention were relatively high. The quantity of environmental quality is the strongest predictor of tourist expenditure and behavioural intention. The findings from the said regression model reveal that Blue Economy awareness, cleanliness of coastlines, conservation of nature and biodiversity, and sustainable tourism practices significantly impact touristsâ expenditure, satisfaction, intention to revisit, and intention to recommend (p < 0.05). The research found that if Indiaâs coastal tourism policies and the Blue Economy, which refers to the ocean-based economy, focus on sustainable development, it can avoid any detrimental impact on the ecosystem.