Resident Perceptions toward Tourism Development at a Large Scale

Rong Li, Li Peng and Wei Deng
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Rong Li: Research Center for Mountain Development, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Li Peng: Research Center for Mountain Development, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
Wei Deng: Research Center for Mountain Development, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 18, 1-12

Abstract: Tourism has been experiencing a rapid increase in the developed world, especially in China, and resident perceptions toward tourism development have been receiving increasing attention. However, resident perceptions on a large scale and the associated affecting factors remain unknown. In this study, 63 independent samples across China were analyzed using structural equation modeling, and the effects of three factors of per capita gross domestic product (GDP), tourist receipts and length of tourism development from the perceptive of economy, society and culture, and environment were investigated. Residents demonstrated a positive attitude toward tourism development on a large scale across China. However, the resident perceptions were GDP-dependent, which indicated a lower awareness of infrastructure improvement with the increase in GDP. Meanwhile, residents became more aware of environmental deterioration and social-order disturbance with the increase in the length of tourism development and tourist receipts. In addition, tourist receipts and length of tourism development exerted indirect effects on other perceptions by affecting the perception of environmental deterioration and economic improvement. Our results implied that to minimize the effect of negative perception, attention should be paid to the optimization of the perceptions of economic improvement and environmental deterioration, and the protection of the residential environment should be viewed as a high-priority task in improving resident perceptions.

Keywords: tourism; environmental deterioration; economic development; social-cultural perception; structural equation modeling; China (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 (4)

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