Community attachment,tourism impacts,quality of life and residents’ support for sustainable tourism development

This study examined the formation of residents’ support for sustainable tourism development based on the social exchange theory and bottom-up spillover theory. A self-administered survey along with a structural analysis was used. Our result revealed that overall quality of life satisfaction influenced support for sustainable tourism development, and that material life domains and non-material life domains were two important determinants of overall QoL. Perceived sociocultural impacts of tourism had a significant relationship with non-material life domains. Perceived economic impacts of tourism influenced both material and non-material life domains. Community attachment and residents’ perceived impacts of tourism were significantly associated.     

Volunteer tourism and the “voluntoured”: the case of Tijuana,Mexico

This paper explores resident attitudes to volunteer tourism in several small communities within Tijuana, Mexico. Social exchange theory has been used to argue that the degree of personal benefit from volunteer tourism would predict residents' perceptions of the impacts of volunteer tourism and support for volunteer tourism planning and for volunteer tourism activities. Survey research of a purposive sample targeted several neighborhoods within Tijuana that were extensively “voluntoured”. Results indicate mixed support for social exchange theory. Implications are discussed concerning the need for volunteer tourism organizations to include a variety of community stakeholders in the volunteer tourism development process.     

Tourist development and host–guest interaction: An economic exchange theory

Theoretical research on the impacts of tourism has a discernible bias towards residents’ perceptions. To understand the evolution and dynamics of tourism, residents’ perceptions have to be analyzed as part of an exchange process involving both residents and tourists. A conceptual framework of host–guest relations is required. This paper presents an economic model that builds on evidence that tourism involves the meeting of two populations. Their interactions and experiences influence their attitudes and opinions. This causes structural changes in individual preferences that affect residents’ perceptions of tourism and tourists’ willingness to pay. To interpret this process we use the Edgeworth Box, representing the “exchange” in terms of “resource-space” against income.     

The Development of Cross-Cultural (Mis)Understanding Through Volunteer Tourism

Volunteer tourism is an increasingly popular activity in which individuals combine travel with voluntary work. On the whole, existing literature has provided an optimistic view of volunteer tourism, suggesting that it represents a more reciprocal form of tourism and facilitates the development of cross-cultural understanding among participants. However, more recently, it has been argued that if volunteer tourism programmes (VTPs) are not carefully managed, they may lead to cross-cultural misunderstanding and the reinforcement of cultural stereotypes. Through conducting an Appreciative Inquiry into a number of volunteer programmes, this research sought to explore these ideas further and, in particular, identify the role that volunteer tourism sending organisations can play in order to ensure that cross-cultural understanding develops through volunteer tourism. The findings from this research suggest that the development of cross-cultural understanding should be perceived as a goal of volunteer tourism rather than a natural result of sending volunteers overseas. This paper argues that sending organisations can play an important role in facilitating the achievement of this goal through pro-active management prior, during, and after their VTPs.     

Volunteer Tourism and Intercultural Sensitivity: The Role of Interaction with Host Communities

This research introduced the concept of intercultural sensitivity to investigate the relationships between the context of volunteer tourism and the change in intercultural sensitivity, empirically assessing the supposition that volunteer tourism facilitates cross-cultural understanding. As a theoretical backdrop, the study utilized Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) postulating that one’s journey towards greater intercultural sensitivity consists of six consecutive stages along the enthnocentrism–ethnorelativism continuum. Canonical correlation analysis of the survey data revealed that quality of interaction with the host community was the most significant predictor of change in intercultural sensitivity. Additionally, this study demonstrated that volunteer tourism is linked to positive and negative changes in intercultural sensitivity and therefore has the potential to simultaneously promote and inhibit cross-cultural understanding.     

VOLUNTEER TOURISM: A HOST COMMUNITY CAPITAL PERSPECTIVE

This study examines the impact of volunteer tourism on host communities utilising a community capitals perspective. A research design that includes focus groups, interviews and website analysis targets a cluster of communities that have hosted NGO run volunteer tourism programs in the Philippines for over twenty years. Flora’s (2004) community capitals framework is applied to delineate a broad spectrum of impacts resulting from volunteer tourism. This framework accounts for political, built, natural, financial, human, cultural, and social (bridging and bonding) capitals. The data provides strong evidence that, in this case, volunteer tourists exert bridging social capital that in turn impacts every form of community capital. The study also reveals two additional forms of capital: welfare and personal.     

Residents’ support for festivals: integration of emotional solidarity

This study develops a conceptual model by integrating social exchange theory (SET), emotional solidarity theory, and community attachment. Empirically, the study tests the adequacy of the model in predicting residents’ perceptions of and their support for festival development in Macao. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling are used for data analysis. Results indicate that residents’ perceived positive festival impacts are influenced by emotional solidarity and community attachment; and their support for festival development can be influenced by their emotional solidarity, community attachment, and perceived festival impacts, both positive and negative. However, the relationship between emotional solidarity and perceived negative impacts is found to be not significant. While the results extend support for SET, as well as theory of emotional solidarity, the findings also show that community attachment is one important determinant of residents’ perceptions of and their support for festival development. The findings also shed light on practical implications for festival planers and organizers.     

Incorporating emotion into social exchange: considering distinct resident groups’ attitudes towards ethnic neighborhood tourism in Osaka,Japan

While numerous studies have utilized SET to examine the residents’ attitudes towards tourism, relatively scant from the literature is a discussion regarding the influence of emotion generated through SET among residents on their attitudes towards tourism. In addition, past studies mainly explored the social exchange between visitors and locals, while neglecting the social exchange within a local community. The goal of this study is to examine the influence individuals’ emotions toward their ethnic counterparts within a community can have on residents’ (i.e., members of the dominant ethnic group—Japanese and members of the ethnic minority group—Koreans) attitudes toward ethnic neighborhood tourism within the Korean neighborhood of Ikuno, Osaka, Japan. Ikuno has the highest concentration of Korean residents in Japan, and the town has become a destination of cultural tourism centered on Korean culture. Analysis of 640 completed questionnaires revealed while attitudes of Korean residents, who are more likely to perceive economic benefits from tourism have more favorable attitudes towards tourism, Japanese residents form their particular attitudes towards tourism based on the emotional solidarity they experience with their Korean neighbors. These findings indicate both utility of economic approach of social exchange theory and significant role of emotion in social exchange.     

Place attachment,host–tourist interactions,and residents’ attitudes towards tourism development: the case of Boa Vista Island in Cape Verde

A clear understanding of residents’ attitudes towards tourism development and its determinants is a crucial pillar for designing tourism development strategies to promote sustainable development. The literature on the influence of host–tourist interactions and place attachment on residents’ attitudes towards tourism development in developing countries is still scarce. To extend knowledge in this field, this study aims at developing and testing a structural model to examine direct and indirect causal effects of place attachment, host–tourist interaction, and perceived positive and negative tourism impacts on the residents’ attitudes towards tourism development in an island tourism destination – Boa Vista Island in Cape Verde. Results suggest that the residents’ attitudes are positively affected by place attachment, host–tourist interaction, and perceived positive impacts; and negatively affected by perceived negative impacts. Host–tourist interaction emerges as the strongest (direct and indirect) determinant of the residents’ attitudes towards tourism development. Moreover, although both positive and negative perceptions of tourism impacts have significant impacts on the residents’ attitudes, the influence of the former is stronger than that of the latter. The paper ends with relevant theoretical and practical implications to promote positive residents’ attitudes towards tourism development in Boa Vista.     

Volunteer tourists’ perceptions of their impacts on marginalized communities

Abstract

Using a phenomenological approach, this study examines the experiences of volunteer tourists in host communities using social representations theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with volunteer tourists on perceived impacts on favela (slum) communities of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This study was developed to address a need for further research that critically looks at the social impacts of volunteer tourism in marginalized communities. It addresses the following question: How does volunteer tourism influence a marginalized community from the perspective of the volunteers? Notably, the majority of the volunteers in this study had difficulty describing how volunteer tourism has benefited the community beyond their own individual contributions, and it was difficult for them to see broader implications of volunteer tourism in general. Recommendations of management actions that will help to maintain and enhance the benefits and alleviate the negative consequences and obstacles that were perceived by volunteer tourists are given.     

A Cultural Encounter through Volunteer Tourism: Towards the Ideals of Sustainable Tourism?

International volunteering is increasingly recognised as a form of alternative tourism. However, the nature of the ‘alternative’ experience gained, and the ensuing narrative between host and volunteer, remains under-explored in published research, especially in volunteer tourism research within a cultural context in a developed nation. This paper examines the nexus between volunteer tourism and cultural tourism in the search for alternative and sustainable experiences through tourism. Qualitative research using in-depth interviews, diaries and participant observation was conducted to examine the pre-, during and post-trip experiences of 12 Australian visitors undertaking organised volunteer activities in an indigenous Maori community in the North Island of New Zealand during January 2005. Members of the indigenous Maori community were also interviewed to provide an important host perspective. Findings suggest that the nature of the interaction and cultural experiences gained were perceived as mutually beneficial and seemingly different from those gained from traditional cultural products. In particular, the volunteers experienced an alternative Maori cultural product and engaged in a different narrative with their Maori hosts through their volunteer work, one rich in authentic cultural content, genuine and reflective of modern Maori life in New Zealand society.     

Residentsʼ attitudes and behavioural support for tourism in host communities

ABSTRACT

In our study of the “perceptions–attitudes–behaviours” sequence, we explain how resident perceptions of tourism’s impacts on host communities influence not only their attitudes towards tourism, but also their attitudes towards tourists – i.e. a new variable that has recently been introduced in literature. Moreover, we introduce the behavioural support, a concept that denotes a higher level of involvement and engagement of residents with their communities in comparison with the traditional attitudinal support. Our results indicate: (1) the residents’ perception of the positive economic and cultural impacts of tourism are the main variables influencing their attitudes towards tourism and tourists; and (2) both types of attitudes influence on behavioural support for tourism in host communities.     

The influence of place identity on perceived tourism impacts

This study aims to investigate if local residents’ senses of place identity could affect their attitudes toward tourism. Deploying a survey on urban residents in a Midwest state in the USA, the present study finds place-based self-esteem and self-efficacy affect residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts and support for tourism. While tourism literature suggests social exchange theory to be a useful tool in predicting resident perceptions and attitudes from the perspective of the quality of social exchange of resources (i.e. depending on getting more or losing more), this study adds a new perspective in gauging resident perceptions and attitudes by utilizing place identity theory as a theoretical underpinning instead. This study recommends that place identity theory and social exchange theory complement each other and be both utilized in assessing resident attitudes toward tourism development.     

The effects of community factors on residents’ perceptions toward World Heritage Site inscription and sustainable tourism development

Using partial least squares-structural equation modeling, we analyzed data from 410 questionnaires completed by a sample of residents from the vicinity of the George Town World Heritage Site (WHS), Malaysia, to investigate the effects of community factors on residents’ perceptions and support for WHS conservation and tourism development. To conceptualize these relationships, we developed a framework based on social exchange theory (SET) and previous empirical evidence. While community attachment, cultural attitudes, community involvement, and community gain had positive effects on residents’ perceptions, the effects of community members’ gain and status consistency were particularly strong. Our results suggest that perceptions strongly influence support for WHS conservation and tourism development. Having examined a number of new resident perception factors, this study makes a significant theoretical and methodological contribution to the tourism and resident perception literature. Furthermore, this study has practical implications for future sustainable community development in the George Town WHS.     

Residents’ attitudes toward the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai prior to and during the event

This paper examines residents’ attitudes to a major non-sport-related mega event, the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Resident attitudes research can ascertain how best to accommodate host community views, a key issue in developing sustainable tourism strategies. The paper breaks new ground by examining attitudes both before and during the event, revealing considerable fluidity in attitudes, and it examines residents’ attitudes in China, reflecting the importance of non-western cultural and political systems on attitude development. The paper contributes to longitudinal research, an area where little research is available. Two studies were conducted before and during the 2010 Shanghai World Expo using the same survey instrument. It is based on a representative sample of residents of Shanghai who were asked about their attitudes to Expo 2010. Results indicate that residents on the whole strongly supported (77.9%) or supported (12.7%) the event with all the average scores of the attitude items higher than 5 (on a 1–7 scale). Some negative impacts were identified such as increased prices, traffic problems, crowding and congestion. Residents were classified into three groups in the pre-event survey (whole embracer, ambivalent embracer and neutralist), according to their level of support, and two groups for the survey during the event.     

旅游对传统村落的影响研究——以安徽齐云山为例

旅游影响一直是国内外旅游研究的重要课题,旅游地居民对旅游发展的感知是研究旅游影响的重要途径。此次调查以安徽省黄山市休宁县齐云山为例,采用问卷调查和现场访谈相结合的方式,运用SPSS、CATPACTM等软件对调查结果进行数理统计,从居民与游客角度分析了旅游开发给齐云山居民带来的经济、社会文化、环境的若干影响,以及居民对旅游业所持的态度。文章着重于探讨居民对于因旅游开发所带来的村落影响的感知,以及他们对于当前旅游影响的评测和对未来旅游发展的期待。     

Residents’ perceptions of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games

This study examines the perceptions of local residents prior to the 2014 Sochi Olympic and Paralympic Games. A survey conducted amongst residents, 5 months prior to the Games opening, reveals a lower level of support for the Games during the preparation period compared to other Olympic host cities. Socio-demographic data about the residents help explain the varying attitudes towards the Games that were identified. The conclusions suggest that Sochi residents’ perceptions have been largely influenced by their thoughts regarding potential economic and socio-cultural impacts, whether positive or negative. When these opinions are analysed further, three main considerations were found: (1) impacts on urban development and quality of residential life; (2) positive impacts on tourism and the destination’s economy and (3) negative results of hosting the Games. The study also finds, using structural equation modelling, that residents of Sochi, who could receive some benefit from the Games, were involved in the decision-making process or had more information about the upcoming Games, demonstrated more positive attitudes towards hosting the Olympics.     

Altruism in tourism: Social Exchange Theory vs Altruistic Surplus Phenomenon in host volunteering

Taking into consideration the scarcity of research on volunteering and altruistic behavior of host communities, this exploratory study examines altruism in tourism from the viewpoint of members of voluntary tourism associations. A literature review reveals two general types of altruism, i.e. reciprocal and true, as well as two theoretical constructs, namely Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Altruistic Surplus Phenomenon (ASP). By taking a sample of 21 members from two voluntary tourism associations located in the municipality of Veria, Northern Greece, this study confirms that reciprocal altruism is one of several motives for participating in voluntary tourism associations. Additionally, it is shown that ASP is more adequate than SET to interpret the study groups’ social behavior.     

Residents' perceptions on tourism impacts

The limited explanatory research on residents' perceptions of tourism impacts has resulted in an underdeveloped theoretical orientation of research on this subject. This paper presents a social exchange process model as a theoretical basis for some understanding of why residents perceive tourism impacts positively or negatively. The model is based upon the concept of the exchange relation. Propositions are derived from the model to test the relationships between the model's components. These propositions have been developed from inferences based upon the social exchange literature.     

The role of cognitive appraisal,emotion and commitment in affecting resident support toward tourism performing arts development

Abstract

While residents’ perceptions of tourism development have been widely explored through a rational cost-benefit lens, little is known about residents’ emotional responses and their influences on resident support toward tourism development. By integrating cognitive appraisal theory and affect theory of social exchange, this study examines the psychological factors (cognitive appraisals, emotions, and commitment) that underlie residents’ behaviors toward Tourism Performing Arts (TPA) development. Based on a survey of 435 residents undertaken in Yangshuo, China, the results reveal that outcome desirability, fairness and coping potential are significant antecedents differentiating resident positive and negative emotional responses toward TPA developments. Commitment was found to moderate the relationship between resident negative emotions and supportive behaviors and played a significant role in shaping resident behaviors. Additionally, resident support was found to be influenced by negative emotions rather than positive emotional responses toward TPA development. The findings have implications for alleviating resident hostility, cultivating commitment toward specific types of tourism, reducing community conflicts and obtaining local support for sustainable tourism development.