Environmental and Economic Concerns in Residents' Attitudes in Punta del Este (Uruguay)

The objective of this article is to determine the importance of environmental concern on residents' perceptions and attitudes in the case of the Maldonado-Punta del Este conurbation. To relativize the importance of this concern, economic concern was introduced into the model. Punta del Este is located next to the city of Maldonado, capital of the homonymous department, and is the most important sun and beach destination in Uruguay. For this analysis, a sample of 420 residents from the Maldonado-Punta del Este conurbation was used. The questionnaire contained several items using a5-point Likert scale and a section including socio-demographic questions. Analysis of the data was carried out through Partial Least Squares (PLS) SEM regression. The results suggest that residents form their attitudes towards tourism based on tourism's economic benefits and socio-cultural costs. Residents of Punta del Este show concern for the environment but not for the economy. This concern is mainly related to the perception of environmental costs, but the causal relationship could be the opposite.