Abstract
Numerous studies have been conducted on local resident attitudes regarding tourism development and its impact, but there is limited research that compares the attitudes of both local full-time residents and second home property owners. This study investigated factors that influence the extent of each group of property owners’ support for future tourism development in an amenity-rich mountain county in North Carolina. A total of 609 respondents (354 full-time residents and 264 second home owners) expressed their level of support for tourism development and provided their perceptions of tourism impacts. Personal benefits from tourism and tourism's positive impacts influenced both full-time residents’ and second home property owners’ support for future tourism. Tourism's negative impacts also influenced second home property owners’ support for tourism. This study was conducted within the context of (1) promoting sustainable tourism planning which emphasizes analyzing and balancing the varied identities and perspectives of stakeholders within tourist destinations and (2) advancing social exchange theory which emphasizes understanding the complex relationship between people's personal gain from tourism and their support for further tourism development.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Huili Hao
Huili Hao, PhD, is the research director of the Center for Sustainable Tourism, Division of Research and Graduate Studies, East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Her research interests include impact of second home and tourism development, sustainability, community sense of place, and sustainable brownfield redevelopment.
Derek H. Alderman
Derek Alderman, PhD, is a professor at Geography Department and a research fellow at Center for Sustainable Tourism, East Carolina University. His research interests lie in assisting communities with the development of cultural tourism resources, specifically those related to heritage or historic issues. As a cultural geographer, he also examines the relationship between the politics of place-making and tourism promotion and how tourist spaces serve as arenas for the negotiation of identity.
Patrick Long
Patrick Long, PhD, is the director of Center for Sustainable Tourism, Division of Research and Graduate Studies, East Carolina University. His research focuses on tourism planning strategies, sustainable practices in tourism, community development and resource conservation, host community adjustments to tourism development, and impact of climate change on tourism businesses.