Stakeholders' Perceptions of Tourism Development In Appalachian Forest Heritage Area

Abstract

This study uses social exchange theory and stakeholder theory to investigate governmental officials' and local residents' perceptions of tourism development benefits and costs in the Appalachian Forest Heritage Area (AFHA). Results show that respondents are largely congruent on what their communities possess and generally positive toward tourism development in the region. They are also consistent in their perceptions of tourism's economic benefits. However, attitudes held by tourism-related residents are more positive than nontourism-related residents, supporting the social exchange theory. In addition, interaction effects exist between tourism status or stake (tourism respondents vs. nontourism respondents) and social status or power (officials vs. residents) in a way that tourism-related residents are the most positive. They are more positive than nontourism-related officials, who are more positive than nontourism-related residents. No differences exist between tourism-related officials and nontourism-related officials, holding sociodemographic variables constant. This finding not only indicates individuals' interests or stakes in tourism are more predicable of their attitudes toward tourism than sociodemographic variables, but also contributes to the existing literature on how tourism status or stake interacts with social status or power when attitudes toward tourism are compared between governmental officials and residents. Research limitations and future research needs are discussed.

Urban resident perceptions of the impacts of tourism development in Zimbabwe

“…The above is in recognition of the significant role that is played by local residents in successful tourism development (Andereck et al, 2005;Choi, Murrey, 2010). Several studies have argued that understanding the perceptions of tourism impacts on local stakeholders is vital for the overall success of tourism's development and sustainability (Bakhsh et al, 2018;Canizare et al, 2016;Deng et al, 2016;Gursoy et al, 2002;Gursoy, Rutherford, 2004;Nunkoo, Gursoy, 2012;. This is so because residents' quality of life is affected by tourism development, irrespective of geographic location (Andereck et al, 2007).…”

Exploring institutions’ perceived roles in regional tourism development: an institutional thickness approach

“…From yet another angle, institutions' role as catalysts of collective action has been generally accepted (Basurto & Coleman, 2010;Becker & Ostrom, 1995), as has their role in providing infrastructure that territories can use to guarantee the effective management of resources (Anderies, 2015). Despite those findings, the literature's primary focus on how stakeholders influence the governance of destinations (Ali et al, 2017;Deng et al, 2016;Oh & You, 2019;Sánchez Cañizares et al, 2016) has left aspects of institutions' perceived role in regional tourism development only been partly addressed. However, because different institutions have different specific interests and varying degrees of influence on policymaking and the resulting directions of policy (Bramwell, 2004), knowledge on how they perceive their role in shaping decision-making processes and interactions related to tourism needs to be expanded.…”

Cultural Heritage and Tourism Basis for Regional Development: Mapping of Scientific Coverage

“…In the society category, we find works that address the perception of the resident population in relation to the use of heritage [87][88][89][90][91], the relationships or levels of community participation in exploitation processes [92][93][94], and the benefits perceived by society from the use that heritage gets [95,96].…”