Natural attributes or aesthetic attributes: Which is more valuable in recreational ecosystem services of nature-based parks considering tourists’ environmental knowledge and attitude impacts?

Nature-based tourism provides recreational ecosystem services for both local inhabitants and tourists being of considerable importance. Existing literature predominantly concentrates on the potential for environmental communication interventions to augment the public's willingness to pay (WTP) for nature-based recreational ecosystem services. However, scant attention has been paid to the impact of tourists' pre-existing environmental knowledge and attitudes on specific service attributes. In addressing this research gap, this study uses social surveys to design a choice experiment and employs mixed logit models to analyse tourists' preferences and WTP for recreational ecosystem services in the Yangtze River Delta, east China. The results reveal that tourists are more likely to pay for recreational ecosystem services attributes, with a stronger WTP for aesthetic attributes over natural ones. Tourists with more environmental knowledge and attitude are also more inclined to pay for reduced waste and lower tourist traffic. These findings suggest that environmental communication encourages trade-off considerations between natural and aesthetic attributes in determining WTP. Enhancing public education and promoting environmental protection awareness can effectively manage aesthetic services. Our results offer practical insights for improved natural resource management and planning for protected areas with nature-based tourism. We determined that tourists' environmental knowledge is significantly lower than actual inclinations towards environmental responsibility, particularly in waste classification, which significantly influences their environmental valuation and willingness to conserve nature. Encouraging waste classification awareness in parks and daily life can reinforce pro-environmental behaviour and promote the sustainable consumption of public goods. Furthermore, payment is strongly related to aesthetic attributes, with tourists demonstrating positive WTP for improved features. Planners can better regulate nature-based tourism by understanding which attributes tourists are willing to spend extra for, such as creating themed mini-zones with specific recreational attributes and controlling tourist flow. Administrators could also offer off-season volunteering opportunities for garbage collection, offering rewards such as discounted tickets. Finally, the lack of environmental knowledge among tourists highlights ecotourism's potential for driving change in the industry and daily life, emphasizing the need for a pro-environmental approach. Ecotourism managers can also leverage differences in tourist preference elasticity to reduce the total visitor numbers.