(Un)supported Current Tourism Development in UNESCO Protected Site: The Case of Old City of Dubrovnik

Abstract

Abstract:The main purpose of this paper is to explore and determine perceptions of residents living in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) protected site Old City of Dubrovnik (OCD) towards tourism development. Uncontrolled tourism expansion has impact on local residents' life and on their (un)support for specific form of tourism development. Comprehension of residents' perceptions is crucial for realization of adequate tourism development and for mutual satisfaction of tourism demand and supply. Therefore, the aim is to test the model of residents' perceptions of economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts of tourism on their (un)support for specific form of tourism development. To realize the purpose of this research, Cronbach alpha, explorative (EFC) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM) were applied. The findings indicate that there is a direct relationship between residents who perceive positive and negative economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts of tourism and their (un)support for tourism development. This paper points out the role and significance of the permanent residents' perceptions research concerning the issues that are related to the quality tourism development due to the high interaction between local residents, tourists and local tourism development especially in the areas under the protection of UNESCO.

Sustainable Tourism as a Source of Healthy Tourism

“…The items in the questionnaire were translated and adapted for the different constructs. The items of positive socio-cultural, economic and environmental impacts were extracted and adapted from [ 20 ]. The items related to experiential satisfaction were obtained from the research carried out by [ 51 ].…”

Analyzing the Motivation Factors in Support of Tourism Development: The Case of Rural Communities in Kurdistan Region of Iran

“…In the case of tourism, residents will demonstrate more willingness to enter into exchanges with tourists if they receive more benefits than costs (Zhang, Ghoochani, Pan, & Crotts, 2016). This principle explains why so often residents who perceive gaining more benefit from tourism are more supportive of tourism development and have more positive reactions toward tourists (Jurowski, Uysal & Williams, 1997;Long, Perdue, & Allen, 1990;Pavlić, Portolan, & Puh, 2017). However, where tourism is not properly developed, making a pre-planned distinction between those who are directly involved in tourism enterprises and those who are not provide a means to understand the predicted variability in support for a potential tourism development strategy.…”

The WHS Designation—A Factor of Sustainable Tourism Growth for Romanian Rural Areas?

“…Investments have been made in different time frames, counting on narrow strategies with very low or even inexistent focus on the UNESCO label. Several studies on WHS management promoted the idea of an integrated management plan for protected sites [15,36,59,60] at local, regional and national scale [60] in order to properly introduce them in the tourism circuit [61], without damaging their uniqueness [62] Besides the stakeholders' involvement, the local community should play a more important role through an increased awareness on the role and importance of WHSs. This is necessary particularly in the regions lacking another economic development means [33,59], as tourism can be an important engine for convergence in Romania [63].…”