Community-Based Tourism as a Sustainable Direction in Destination Development: An Empirical Examination of Visitor Behaviors

Heesup Han, Taeyeon Eom, Amr Al-Ansi, Hyungseo Bobby Ryu and Wansoo Kim
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Heesup Han: College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong, Gwanjin-Gu, Seoul 143-747, Korea
Taeyeon Eom: College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong, Gwanjin-Gu, Seoul 143-747, Korea
Amr Al-Ansi: College of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-Dong, Gwanjin-Gu, Seoul 143-747, Korea
Hyungseo Bobby Ryu: School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Kyungsung University, 309 Suyoungro, Nam-Gu, Busan 48434, Korea
Wansoo Kim: Department of Tourism Management, Dong-A University 1 Bumin-dong (2 Ga), Seo-gu, Busan 49236, Korea

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Community-based tourism is an emerging form of sustainable tourism. Community-based tourism often brings various financial/non-financial benefits to local communities and maximizes sustainability at the local level. The present study was designed to uncover the role of community-based tourism performance in elucidating travelers’ post-purchase decision-making process for sustainable destination products by considering the moderating effect of sense of belonging. A quantitative approach was adopted for the achievement of the research objective. A field survey conducted at community-based tourism destinations was utilized for data collection. The acceptable level of the measurement quality was demonstrated. The results of the structural equation modeling provided empirical evidence that community-based tourism performance significantly affects the formation of travelers’ post-purchase intentions. In addition, the adequacy of the higher-order structure of community-based tourism performance was identified. The community-based tourism performance and intention relationship was also moderated by sense of belonging. With a lack of empirical research about community-based tourism, the findings of this research significantly add to the existing body of knowledge in sustainable tourism.

Keywords: community-based tourism; local community; sustainable tourism; destination development; sense of belonging; pro-social/pro-environmental behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:10:p:2864-:d:232689

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