Dataset from: The Green Signaling Paradox in Emerging Rural Tourism: Environmental Management, Guest Satisfaction, and Social License in Santander, Colombia

Purpose: This study investigates whether eco-management practices in rural tourism genuinely benefit host communities, or whether their effects depend on an intermediate condition — guest satisfaction — that prior literature has largely overlooked. Design/methodology/approach: An audit of 320 accommodation facilities in Santander, Colombia was conducted in 2025. Structural equation modelling (SEM) tested four latent constructs and 15 adapted ETIS indicators, treating eco-management as the exogenous variable, guest satisfaction as mediator, and social license and economic performance as outcomes. Findings: Eco-management strongly predicts guest satisfaction (β = 0.532, p < 0.001), which in turn drives social acceptance (β = 0.528) and profitability (β = 0.221). Critically, eco-management exerts a significant negative direct effect on community acceptance (β = −0.413, p < 0.001) — suggesting that residents read green practices as elitist signalling rather than shared benefit when visitor satisfaction is absent. Model fit was adequate (CFI = 0.910; RMSEA = 0.050). Originality: The study introduces the green signaling paradox: formal sustainability practices can erode social license unless they first generate tangible visitor value. This constitutes a rare empirical case of competitive mediation (Zhao et al., 2010) in tourism, and the first validation of ETIS indicators at business level in Latin America (CR > 0.82; AVE > 0.49).