Cruise Tourism and Sustainable Urban Mobility: A Contingent Valuation Study of Zadar, Croatia

Cruise calls in medium-sized Mediterranean ports concentrate visitor flows along short urban connectors, intensifying congestion and localized environmental externalities. This study evaluates cruise passengers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for an electric tram linking Gaženica Port with Zadar’s historic center, an intervention designed to cut travel time and reduce on-street crowding and emissions. A two-wave, two-site, face-to-face survey was administered over two seasons at the port and in the city center. The instrument adopts a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation design with randomized starting bids calibrated via a pre-test that benchmarked prevailing transport prices. Primary WTP estimates are obtained from a binary choice model with socio-demographic and environmental covariates; inference relies on cluster-robust errors. Robustness is assessed through three complementary checks that do not require additional data: (i) a bivariate specification to accommodate within-respondent correlation between first and follow-up bids; (ii) Turnbull nonparametric bounds for the interval-censored WTP distribution; and (iii) starting-point tests via bid-set indicators and split-sample estimation. Where applicable, a spike adjustment based on “no–no at the lowest bid” responses is explored. Beyond methodological contribution, this research advances the sustainable tourism development discourse by quantifying visitors’ monetary support for low-emission urban mobility infrastructure that mitigates environmental pressures while preserving resident quality of life. The findings provide a decision-ready valuation input for port–city mobility planning in historic Mediterranean cores, aligning cruise tourism management with the broader objectives of resilient and sustainable urban destinations.