Evaluating Residents’ Perceptions of Nature-Based Tourism with a Factor-Cluster Approach

Xiaoping Gu, Carter A. Hunt, Michael L. Lengieza, Lijun Niu, Huiwen Wu, Yue Wang and Xiang Jia
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Xiaoping Gu: College of Economics and Management, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110161, China
Carter A. Hunt: Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA
Michael L. Lengieza: Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College, PA 16802, USA
Lijun Niu: Changbai Mountain Academy of Sciences, Changbai Mountain Protection and Development Zone, Erdaobaihe 133613, China
Huiwen Wu: College of Economics and Management, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110161, China
Yue Wang: College of Management, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang 110168, China
Xiang Jia: Changbai Mountain Academy of Sciences, Changbai Mountain Protection and Development Zone, Erdaobaihe 133613, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: The purpose of the research presented here was to empirically assess resident perceptions of tourism development around the Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve (CMBR), a protected area straddling the China and North Korea border. Several theoretical approaches to the assessment of local resident attitudes towards tourism were reviewed and integrated into a novel factor-cluster assessment of residents in Erdaobaihe, the community most adjacent to CMBR. This analysis quantitatively grouped residents based on their perceptions of tourism’s economic, social, cultural, and environmental consequences for the town. An exploratory factor analysis of resident perceptual items first revealed six perception domains, and a subsequent cluster analysis then identified four distinct groups of residents based on these perceptions. A descriptive profile of each cluster and the significant differences among clusters are provided. Advancing our theoretical understanding of resident perspectives of tourism development, this cluster-based segmentation approach, demonstrated here, holds much promise for elaborating on the many ways that residents respond to new and long-standing forms of tourism in their communities. These theoretical and methodological contributions will be applicable to scholars as well as tourism practitioners and policy makers.

Keywords: nature-based tourism; protected areas; resident perceptions; tourism planning; destination life cycle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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