Residents’ perception of tourism impacts and their support for tourism development: a study of a Bektashi faith destination in Türkiye

ABSTRACT

Prior research has broadly addressed the link between residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts and their support for tourism development (STD) in different destination-based contexts. However, the literature on residents’ perceptions of the impacts of tourism on their faith and how these perceptions affect their STD in a faith tourism destination remains tenuous. This study seeks to fill this gap by investigating the link between residents’ perceptions of the economic, cultural, environmental, social and faith impacts of tourism and their STD in the Bektashi faith tourism destination. A total of 244 valid questionnaires were obtained from the inhabitants of Nevşehir, Türkiye. The authors applied fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) and PLS-SEM as asymmetrical and symmetrical approaches, respectively. The symmetrical approach demonstrated that only perceived cultural, social and faith impacts positively and significantly affect residents’ STD. The asymmetrical results provided more complex compounds of tourism impacts, with six configurations sufficient to create a high level of STD. The fsQCA analysis confirmed that only perceived faith impact was a necessity in determining residents’ STD. The results of the study suggest that, in order for faith tourism destinations to thrive, responsible authorities should avoid diminishing the faith elements.

KEYWORDS:

• Faith tourism
• tourism impacts
• support for tourism development
• Bektashi faith
• PLS-SEM
• fsQCA

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This paper has been partially funded by Taylor’s University, Malaysia.

Notes on contributors

Ibrahim Cifci

Ibrahim Cifci is an Associate Professor and managing editor of the Journal of Tourismology at Istanbul University, Türkiye ([email protected]). His research interests include faith tourism, sustainable tourism, sharing economy, destination marketing, gastronomy and science-based cooking.

Orhan Akova

Orhan Akova is a Full Professor in the Department of Tourism Management at Istanbul University, Türkiye ([email protected]). He obtained his Ph.D. and Master’s degree in Tourism Management (Türkiye). His research interests include the sociocultural impacts of tourism, sustainable tourism and management in tourism.

S. Mostafa Rasoolimanesh

S. Mostafa Rasoolimanesh is a Professor of Tourism at Taylor's University, Malaysia and his research interest areas encompass sustainable tourism, heritage tourism, community participation, residents’ perceptions, and urban sustainability. He has published widely in high impact journals. Mostafa is an editorial board member of more than 20 reputed tourism and hospitality journals.

Mert Ogretmenoglu

Mert Ogretmenoglu is a PhD candidate in Tourism Management at Istanbul University, Türkiye ([email protected]), where he has been working as a research assistant since 2019. His research interests include tourism management and quantitative methods in tourism.