What You See is What You Get: Sustainable Tourism Practices and Behavioral Intention in Ecotourism of Bongabon, Nueva Ecija, Philippines

The study aimed to assess the sustainable tourism practices and behavioral intention among tourists in Camp Paraiso Hotel and Resort in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija. This study used the three dimensions of sustainable development by the Food and Agriculture Organization (2023) such as economic aspect, social aspect and environmental aspect. The behavioral intention variable was patterned after the study of Borbon et. al 2022 entitled “Tourist Behavioral Intention in Visiting Tourist Attraction in Batangas Province†which includes willingness to pay more, intention to recommend, revisit intention and loyalty.The researchers employed convenience sampling, involving 80 respondents who were tourists at Camp Paraiso in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija. The study utilized Likert-scale questionnaires and applied statistical treatments such as ranking, frequency and percentage analysis, weighted mean calculation, t-tests, and Pearson-R correlation for data analysis. This study adopted a quantitative descriptive correlational research approach. The majority of the respondents were male, and most tourists were from within Nueva Ecija, with many visiting Camp Paraiso only once or twice. The findings indicate that tourists strongly agree the sustainable practices at Camp Paraiso, suggesting high adherence to sustainability which include economic aspect (3.51), social aspect (3.52) and environmental aspect (3.55). While the study found areas for improvement in sustainable practices and overall sustainable tourism development, enhancing indicators that received strong agreement from tourists is recommended. Analysis of demographic profiles revealed no significant differences in perceptions of sustainability aspects (economic, social, environmental) based on sex. Similarly, there were no significant differences between types of tourists concerning economic aspect and environmental aspects, but there was a notable difference in the social aspect. Age and frequency of visits did not significantly correlate with tourists’ assessment of sustainable practices. Overall, the study concluded a significant relationship between Camp Paraiso’s sustainable practices in terms of economic, social and environmental (r value = 0.00001), and tourists’ behavioral intentions. The researchers proposed an action plan to enhance sustainable tourism practices specifically at Camp Paraiso.