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The perceived importance of DRM in tourist accommodation choice was tested with perceptions of the importance of beach proximity and appearance in tourists’ choice of accommodation across hoteliers, policy-makers and tourists. The perception of the importance of DRM considerations in the choice of tourist accommodation is a new variable not previously tested in the wider or tourism literature. A test of its association with the importance of beach proximity and appearance is also new. The results showed that hoteliers and policy-makers have significantly higher perceptions of the importance of the proximity and appearance of the beach, as well as, of the importance of DRM to tourists’ accommodation choice than tourists. This is interesting because it suggests:1) tourists are likely to under-demand DRM measures at hotels, and 2) hoteliers and policy-makers are likely

to overestimate the importance of having hotels located close to natural looking beaches in the choice of tourist accommodation. Specifically, while tourists’ perceptions of the importance of the proximity and appearance of the beach is higher than perceptions of the importance of DRM, on its own merit, the importance of tourist perceptions of the proximity

and appearance of the beach is not as high as hoteliers think.

Given the dominant role that social pressure from important referents plays in the Caribbean coastal tourism context, closer theoretical attention needs to be paid to the types of behaviours that are concurrently being rewarded or alternatively discouraged through policy

incentives, regulation or market demand, and whether these behaviours conflict with or complement protective behaviour. More specifically, it suggests that it is useful to theoretically identify not just who are the important referents and the decision-maker’s

motivation to comply with them (as is suggested bythe TPB) on one behaviour, but there is a

need to go a step further and also unpack the nuanced social attributes of that behaviour,

whether the social pressure is direct or indirect, and whether within a larger social context where many actions and behaviours are taking place simultaneously, the social signals around

a particular protective behaviour is being undermined by or conflicts with the social signals associated with another behaviour (such as behaviours that satisfy business imperatives). For example, in the research context, there are conflicting social signals around two behaviours that may occur concurrently:1) continuing operations very close to a beach, and 2) investing in DRM. In each case, hoteliers and tourism policy-makers hold significantly higher perceptions than tourists but with regard to these two behaviours, tourists seem to be demanding and therefore rewarding a focus on beach proximity and appearance more than

a focus on DRM. In the face of sub-optimal market demand for DRM, compared to market

demand for a nearby natural-looking beach, there may be a greater role for policy-makers to use exhortation, policy incentives and regulation or a mix of these to ensure appropriate behavioural outcomes. Although no firm conclusions can be drawn, this is a meaningful result as it could begin to explain why tourists seem more interested in being close to the beach than being interested in DRM concerns, and in turn why hoteliers seem to respond to this dynamic.

6.3.1 Behavioural links and limits in managing disaster risk to advance climate change adaptation between demand and supply-side stakeholders

The results revealed links and limits in how hoteliers, policy-makers and tourists perceive, rate and rank DRM and CCA strategies and associated measures. For example, there were nine matches of fourteen possible matches between hoteliers and tourists. The same number of matches was observed between policy-makers and tourists. There were a smaller number

of mismatches, with five mismatches between hoteliers and tourists and policy-makers

respectively. These perception gaps have implications for current and future protective behaviour.

In addition, there were eleven good matches out of fifteen possible matches between hoteliers and policy-makers. There were four instances in which hoteliers and policy-makers do not align. One key area of contention relates to the fact that while policy-makers are willing

to consider and support the implementation of all four PARD strategies, hoteliers will not consider Retreat. These perception gaps across hoteliers, policy-makers and tourists may

inhibit coherent DRM and CCA responses now and in the future.

In sum, this research finds that a DRM perception gap still exists since Drabek’s first findings

of a disaster perception gap over 20 years ago. Interestingly, the dynamic driving this gap is much different, with tourists having lower perceptions of the importance of disaster risk

management considerations in their choice of accommodation than their hosts.

Importantly, the research also finds that there is also a CCA perception gap between suppliers

and tourists in general, and hoteliers and tourists in particular. The largest areas of difference relate to how hoteliers and tourists view Protection and Retreat. More than this, gaps between hoteliers and policy-makers on DRM and CCA were also noted.

6.4

Summary

This chapter discussed the research results related to Research Issues 1 and 2 in the broader

context of the literature. The next chapter makes two main conclusions about the research problem, and summarises the implications of research findings for theory, methodology, policy and practice. It presents the limitations of the research and make recommendations for future work.

Chapter 7