Spatial hedonic analysis to support tourism-sensitive tsunami mitigation planning

Abstract

The construction of protective infrastructure such as seawalls and the designation of land-use and building regulation zones are commonly recommended strategies for tsunami and sea-level rise oriented mitigation in coastal areas. While the effectiveness of these strategies are undoubted, in regions where coastal tourism is the primary industry, the implementation of such strategies have been low due to fear of negative economic impact related to loss of coastal view and accessibility. Therefore, this paper examines the influence of coastal amenities to hotel room rates alongside other attributes through hedonic analysis. Specifically, it investigates whether rooms with coastal views, accessibility to beaches, and those located on higher elevations are priced higher than other rooms, in order to quantify the associated values of Japanese coastal areas where tourism is a key economic driver. Subsequently, it suggests the geographical market boundaries to guide the management and risk-mitigation of coastal areas. Findings reveal that: Semi-parametric Geographically Weighted Regression (S-GWR) results can accurately identify both stationary and non-stationary relationships present between the dependent and explanatory variables; view of the sea and other environmental attributes have significant influence on hotel room pricings; and tsunami mitigation strategies which can have long-term implications should be adopted in a manner sensitive to the tourism industry.