The Role of Place Image Dimensions in Residents' Support for Tourism Development

Understanding residents' perceptions of tourism impacts and their level of support for its development is considered vital for the sustainable development of tourism. Despite the plethora of factors examined as determinants of residents' attitudes toward tourism, the role of residents' place image has been under‐examined. This study developed a model examining the relationships between residents' place image dimensions, perceived tourism impacts and support for development. Findings suggest that two (physical appearance, social environment) out of the four place image dimensions identified in this study exercise a significant effect on residents' attitudes toward tourism. The theoretical and practical implications to the formation of planning and development programs for tourism are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social Capital,Tourism and Regional Development: SPCC as a Basis for Innovation and Sustainability

Traditional views of regional development have focused on economic factors and potential innovation in technical and resource exploitation processes. Similarly, regional tourism development is usually couched in economic terms, such as number of jobs and increasing land values. This approach usually ignores the social and community aspects of tourism development; thus an alternative view argues that the community needs to be factored into our planning and development strategies to balance the traditional economic view. It is argued in this paper that fostering innovation in regional development is much more than a process of community consultation. Rather, what needs to be factored in is SPCC – social, political and cultural capital. This works in both directions; tourism development depends on a level of social, political and cultural capital in order to be a successful regional development tool (even in economic terms) while at the same time tourism development can be undertaken in a way that contributes to SPCC in the region. The paper outlines the key concepts of social capital, political capital and cultural capital. It does so within the context of regional tourism development and the concepts of systems of innovation and sustainable development.     

Host community attitudes toward tourism and cultural tourism development: the case of the Lewes District,southern England

Increasingly research is being conducted on host community attitudes toward tourism. However, few studies have been conducted at a regional level and none have examined the attitudes of the host community towards both tourism and cultural tourism development. This paper outlines a study conducted in the Lewes District of southern England and notes that although residents are generally supportive of tourism development and cultural tourism development, there are differences in opinion concerning the perceived economic and social benefits. In particular, levels of income and proximity to the tourist centre were major influencing factors. Conclusions and recommendations are made concerning the need for tourism planners to distribute the benefits more widely and to engage residents from different socio‐economic groups and localities in tourism planning and development activities. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Residents' Attitudes Toward Rural Tourism in Taiwan: a Comparative Viewpoint

In this study, we first conclude two main patterns – community‐based rural tourism and theme farm – of rural tourism in Taiwan, then investigate and compare the impacts of rural tourism perceived by the residents, the frequency and quality of tourists‐residents interaction, and residents' attitudes toward rural tourism of the two chosen areas. Moreover, we discuss and conclude the differences of two patterns in terms of economic, socio‐cultural, and environmental impacts. As a whole, the development of rural tourism gains highly supports in both areas. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The relevance of the tangible and intangible social impacts of tourism on selected South African communities

Most tourism social impact studies emphasise tangible social impacts such as economic improvement. In developing countries such as South Africa, a small percentage of tangible benefits filter down to community level. This creates a problem as various studies revealed the importance of community support for the sustainability of the tourism industry. Therefore it was important to explore the role of both the tangible and the intangible social impacts of tourism. Communities with established tourism industries (Clarens, Soweto and Jeffreys Bay) formed part of the quantitative research. Through exploratory factor analyses, 31 social impact statements could be categorised into four tangible and two intangible impacts. The tangible factor Economic improvement obtained a low rating, meaning that it was not directly experienced by residents, while the intangible factor Community pride and upliftment obtained the highest rating among all factors. This, together with the fact that community members continue their support for the tourism industry, is a novel find, indicating the significant role of intangible social impacts in fostering community support. This finding shows the importance of incorporating intangible social impacts into tourism planning in developing countries. Contributions are made towards social impact research methodology and literature.     

Rural Tourism Partnerships and Actor Mobility

In this paper, I examine actor mobility within the context of rural tourism partnerships (RTPs). The term ‘actor’ refers to those who have a stake in tourism planning, promotion and development such as policy makers, businesses, non‐profit making sector and community groups. Mobility is embedded in personal and social histories of actors as well as the policy framework that impacts their daily lives and informs their motives for being (dis)associated with RTPs. While exploring how actors' journeys transform rural localities' socio‐economic fabric, I find the writings of Lefebvre and de Certeau particularly useful because of their focus on counter‐hegemonic practices that shape the ‘everyday life’. Given that most rural societies in current times comprise an intricate mix of long‐term residents, seasonal‐home owners and migrants, each with their distinct set of life stories and value preferences with regard to their place of dwelling, my thrust in this paper on actor mobility is likely to identify new areas of future research on RTPs. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sustainability of Tourism Development in Macao,China

To maximize the benefits to stakeholders in Macao, the sustainability of Macao tourism was examined by assessing the economic, socio‐cultural and environmental impacts of tourism, visitor satisfaction and the level of community involvement in local tourism planning from 2002 to 2009, through the use of primary and secondary data. The results revealed that tourism did bring both positive and negative impacts to the community. Visitor satisfaction was found to be moderate. Channels for community participation in local tourism development were also lacking. The paper suggests that for sustainable tourism development, Macao needs to diversify away from its casino industry, to speed up the construction of the public transport system and to keep monitoring the environmental conditions, the students' drop‐out and crime rate and the locals' quality of life. More importantly, a master plan for its tourism development integrating all the key stakeholders' interests is urgently required. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An exploration of gendered systems theory on women-owned businesses in emerging tourism destinations: future directions

The impacts of tourism on host communities are numerous, complex, and at times nuanced. As a result, tourism researchers have placed heavy emphasis on the exploration and identification of these impacts, including how the community responds. Some of the more understated impacts, such as the role of women in tourism development, can be more difficult to understand. This is especially the case in emerging destinations, where communities in the primary stages of tourism development are beginning to consider the costs and benefits to their culture, social structure, and economy. This article uses ecological systems theory as a framework to examine existing literature related to resident attitudes toward the social impacts of women-owned businesses in tourism. Results from this examination determined the need for future, theory-based research regarding socio-cultural impacts, and more specifically, the impact of tourism on changing social roles and the role of women in emerging destinations.     

Tourism gateways and regional economies: the distributional impacts of MICE

The meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) industry is a rapidly expanding sector of tourism world-wide, but particularly in the Asia Pacific region. Of the many challenges underlying development of this sector none is more important than determining the economic benefits from devoting resources to industry growth. The paper argues that although research has been undertaken on the economic impacts of MICE events and MICE destinations, regionally and nationally, the issue of the distribution of these benefits between tourism gateways and more remote regions has been neglected. The paper seeks to help remedy this neglect. It presents a framework for assessing the economic impacts of the MICE industry in a regional economy. It then illustrates how the framework can be used to compare economic impacts of MICE tourism in destination gateways and more remote areas, with the use of Australian data. The paper draws attention to the types of data deficiencies that seem to be endemic to estimating the economic impacts of MICE, and which constitute a barrier to informed public policy making and planning. Finally, the implications are discussed for development of MICE tourism generally. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

City resident attitudes to proposed tourism development and its impacts on the community

Much of the literature on community attitudes to tourism development relates to rural areas in developing countries while urban environments in developed countries and pre‐development scenarios have been neglected. The paper is concerned with resident attitudes to tourism development proposals and their perceived impacts in the Worsley area of the city of Salford, England. The results show that the community is divided on the issue of support for tourism development based on the perceived benefits and costs of tourism and that the anticipated negative environmental consequences are significantly more influential than positive economic or social impacts. The theoretical contribution and practical implications of the findings are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Planning for urban tourism: a critique of borough development plans and tourism policy in London

The paper presents a critique of tourism policy in London in the context of local environmental plans and central government policy for tourism and hotel development. Rationales for local authority tourism policies are assessed in relation to city‐level planning imperatives and local land‐use plan formulation. A comparative analysis of borough development plans and the treatment of tourism is based on a survey of London's 33 unitary authorities. The paper presents a World City case study of urban tourism from the position of the environmental planning process and in the light of the highly concentrated distribution of hotel provision and tourist activity in London. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anticipating Italian census tourism data before their official release: a first solution and its implementation to Piemonte,Italy

Tourism is a complex and highly competitive sector. In this scenario, incoming tourism flows represent one of the key indicators for public institutions, willing to adopt an informed decision‐making process for resource allocation. The accurate and timely knowledge of both the inter‐regional and the foreign component at a sufficiently detailed geographical level of such flows allows a better strategical, tactical and operational planning of marketing activities. The paper describes a methodology to complete the database of the official statistical data on tourism flows with an estimate of missing data, which are originated by non‐respondent accommodation structure. The methodology has been applied to the inbound tourism flows into Piemonte, Italy. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regional tourism industry indices and the allocation of European union and State funding: the case of Greece

An interregional comparison provides useful information for all types of decision maker. In general, consumers consider a variety of factors, e.g., the environmental characteristics of a region, as well as all relevant costs, when they make plans or travel for their vacation. A regional tourism industry index that is based on such factors receives special attention because of its all inclusive nature, i.e. one that is able to provide useful information to consumers for planning their tourism or recreational activities as well as to policy makers for planning policies to support specific activities or regions. An analysis of consumer's decision making indicates that the weights used for the regional variables considered and included in the index should not vary across regions. Given this, a regional tourism industry index is computed for the 10 regions of Greece. To obtain this index, the values of all variables considered are scaled from 0 to 100, so that the index is independent of units of measurement, and all attributes are assigned weights by the consumer. Moreover, it is investigated whether the regional allocation of the European Union and state funding for the tourism industry or the environment is directed to the regions that have a greater index value or equivalently have the potential for further development of their tourism industry. Finally, a rank criterion is introduced that is able to indicate how the allocation of European Union and state funding needs to be changed in order to increase its effectiveness relative to the objectives of the funding authorities. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gaining residents' support for tourism and planning

This research analyses residents' perceptions of the effects of tourism. Economic, cultural and environmental effects are identified as determinants of residents' attitudes towards tourism development and planning. Authors speculate that there are different patterns of resident's support depending on their differential benefits obtained from tourism. A conceptual model is developed and empirically tested in Santiponce, a small community in southern Spain. Our results support our basic hypothesis: resident's level of personal benefits obtained from tourism influence their perceptions regarding tourism impacts, and in consequence, their support for tourism development and for tourism planning. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tourism as sustainable development? The Albanian experience of ‘transition’

Despite significant increases in international tourist arrivals and tourism receipts since the fall of communism in central and eastern europe as a whole, in the rural southeastern corner of the continent, a region well‐endowed with a range of natural and cultural tourism resources, instability and uncertainty have constrained international tourism development in the 1990s. This regional context for tourism development and the specific issues which surround a tourism‐led development model in a small developing country are addressed with particular reference to the recent experience of Albania. As part of a sustainable rural development programme, rural tourism's role as a counterbalance to rejuvenated mass coastal tourism is evaluated. Potentially an important vehicle for cultural expression and employment regeneration, the adoption of rural tourism as a development vehicle is faced with a number of obstacles, which national, and perhaps international, development programmes need to address. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rural tourism development in the USA

Rural tourism has been a subject of study since the early days of tourism scholarship. Most of tourism's deleterious impacts were identified from studies conducted in rural settings. It is only recently, however, that rural tourism has become a special focus of study, dissimilar enough from urban tourism, to be a study subject unto itself. This paper reviews some of the history of rural tourism development in North America with most of the attention paid to the USA's experience, with some examples from Canada. The reason for this is the huge economic difference between the two countries with respect to tourism flows and impacts. In reviewing the history of rural development in the USA, the argument is made that most developments are unplanned and result from market and economic forces that have greatly transformed the American rural landscape. A review of these transformational forces is provided. It is also shown that rural destinations are used, primarily, by local tourists and do not, with few exceptions, cater to an international clientele. After the historical perspective is presented an argument is made that current rural tourism development practices rely on an old paradigm, which is to use local attributes as the primary basis for development and marketing strategies. This has led, in recent years, to a great deal of development attention being paid to the cultural/heritage attributes of a place. Using research conducted in the state of Minnesota on highway travellers and tourists to rural destinations, a new way to look at actual and potential visitors is offered. Instead of an attribute‐specific development approach, a benefits‐based model is suggested as a different way to position rural tourism destinations. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rural Residents' Perceptions Toward Tourism Development: a Study from Iran

This paper focuses on the identification and explanation of rural residents' perceptions toward the impacts of tourism development and their grouping with respect to these attitudes. Data from 262 households are used in the empirical analysis. Because of emerging stages of tourism development in the study area, most residents expressed a quite strong support for tourism development, although some social and environmental concern was expressed. The results revealed that respondents most value economic objectives, but the community was not homogeneous in its views. Education, gender, age, income, employment and a high degree of community attachment were found to be the major factors affecting the attitudes of residents. Findings of this study indicate that local people value the tourism in ways consistent with the social exchange theory. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding the residents’ social impact perceptions of an African Cultural Festival: the case of Macufe

ABSTRACT

The Macufe is one of the Africa’s largest cultural festivals, and takes place annually in Bloemfontein, South Africa. This 10-day event attracts approximately 140,000 attendees, meaning that the residents have to share facilities and services with tourists. The effects of such interactions can be both positive and negative. Community members are stakeholders in any tourism ventures that take place in their area, meaning that their goodwill is of utmost importance. Therefore, the social impacts of this event should be well managed to foster community support. For this reason, a quantitative study was done to determine residents’ social impact perceptions towards the event. A total of 425 questionnaires were completed by willing residents who lived in proximity to festival activities. From an exploratory factor analysis, four factors were extracted, namely community enhancement, community degradation, tourism growth and increased public spending and interaction. It was found that the event does not generate significant levels of positive social impacts, and that the negative social impacts are viewed almost equal to the positive social impacts. This was one of the first social impact perception studies done on an African arts festival, which contributes to the sustainable management of such crucial events.     

Urbanization impacts on regional tourism development: a case study in China

This paper studies the urbanization impacts on tourism development in four regions Guangdong province, using time-series data of Guangdong province in China in 1996–2011. Urbanization has been operationalized by population, economic, geographical landscape and social cultural dimensions. This study suggests that urbanization, though in general increases tourism development, does not affect different regions in Guangdong uniformly. Tourism development in different regions will receive different impacts from urbanization. Therefore, policy-makers, while promoting tourism development, should be aware of the different levels of impact of urbanization towards tourism development.     

Power,social exchanges and tourism in Langkawi: rethinking resident perceptions

A study was undertaken among the residents on Langkawi Island, Malaysia to explore the utility of a combination of social exchange and power theories to explain residents' attitudes toward tourism and to examine how residents' evaluation of the impact of tourism influences their attitudes. In‐depth, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 46 residents. The study concludes that the combination of social exchange and power theories is more useful than social exchange theory alone in understanding residents' attitudes concerning the impact of tourism. However, residents' general values, dependence on tourism, and ability and willingness to adapt moderate the influence of power on residents' evaluation of the impact of tourism. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.