Sustainable Horticulture Practices to Predict Consumer Attitudes towards Green Hotel Visit Intention: Moderating the Role of an Environmental Gardening Identity

Abstract

A successful expansion and intensification of the links between tourism and horticulture is needed for tourism to contribute to economic diversification. Without inter-sectoral coordination and the cultivation of sustainable links between tourism demand and other sectors in the destination’s economy, tourism will be unable to function as a driver of tourist attraction. Therefore, tourism needs to establish ties with other industries, such as agriculture, to positively contribute to the surrounding area’s economy and improve the quality of life in rural and urban areas. The current study explores the sustainable gardening practices (SGP) in hotels and their impact on predicting tourist revisit intention with the mediating role of tourist attitudes (ATT) toward green hotels and assessing the environmental gardening identity (EGID) as a moderator. Dyadic data were collected from 286 guests and hotel gardeners and was analyzed by PLS-SEM. The results revealed that sustainable gardening practices positively (R2 = 0.581) and significantly (p > 0.05) improve tourist revisit intention through the mediating role of tourist attitudes toward green hotels. At the same time, the empirical results supported the moderation effects of the EGID on the links between SGP and ATT. Several practical and theoretical implications were discussed and elaborated upon.