Residents' place image: a cluster analysis and its links to place attachment and support for tourism

ABSTRACT

While there is a plethora of studies segmenting the lucrative tourism market, limited attention has been given to identifying potential segments of local residents based on their image of the place they live in as a tourist destination. This study aims to address this gap by (a) clustering local residents of a tourist destination based on their images of that place; and (b) identifying whether those image-based resident groups share similar/different levels of place attachment and intentions toward tourism (support for tourism, intention to recommend it to others). Analysis was based on a sample of 368 residents of Eilat, Israel. The findings suggest the presence of three resident groups with different images of Eilat – called Nature Aesthete, Appreciator, and Critical – and provide support that these groups exhibit dissimilar levels of attachment and intentions/behavior toward tourism. The Appreciator (residents with the most favorable image) were reported exhibiting higher levels of place attachment, support for tourism and were more likely to recommend their place to others as a tourist destination than the Critical (residents with the least favorable image). The implications of these findings to tourism theory and practice are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Destination image
• local residents
• place attachment
• support for tourism
• segmentation

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the Ben Gurion University and especially Dr Yaniv Belhassen and Dr Amir Shani for their support throughout this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dimitrios Stylidis

Dimitrios Stylidis is a senior lecturer in tourism at Middlesex University London. Prior to joining Middlesex, Dimitrios worked for 2 years as a Postdoc Researcher at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. He holds a PhD and an MSc in Tourism Management from the University of Surrey, UK. Dimitrios is the research notes editor of the International Journal of Tourism Policy. His work has appeared in leading academic journals including the Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management and Journal of Travel Research. His current research interests include place image, tourism impacts and residents’ attitudes toward tourism development.