ABSTRACT
Tourism is a common social behaviour, and is classified differently according to its purpose or destination. Plant-viewing tourism (PVT) and its impact on destinations has been studied; however, research on flower-viewing tourism (FVT) is still deficient. This study investigates the impact of FVT on the perceptions and attitudes of residents in Chengdu city. A questionnaire survey was conducted involving 305 residents. A total of 17 items representing three main dimensions (environmental, economic, and socio-cultural) of explanatory factors were considered after exploratory factor analysis. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the relationship between these dimensions and the attitudes of residents. Results show that residents’ positive attitudes towards FVT were associated with the positive response of economic and environmental impacts, but no significant correlation was found between socio-cultural impacts and attitudes. Results are discussed and analyzed in-depth, and three conclusions and policy recommendations of this study are proposed. These results can provide suggestions for future development in cities, formulation of tourism policies, and promotion of sustainable tourism development in the region.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank all anonymous respondents in our studies. We would also like to thank Dr. SHI and Dr. Min for providing help to this study. We sincerely thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Shixian Luo
Shixian Luo is studying at Chiba University as a doctoral course student. His research interests include tourism, sustainable development, and development policy.
Katsunori Furuya
Katsunori Furuya is a professor of Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University. He holds a PhD from Chiba University and his research interests include urban green space, citizen awareness, national parks, forest conservation, ecotourism, Satoyama, etc.
Jing Xie
Jing Xie is studying at Sichuan Agricultural University as a master course student. Her research interests include urban green space and landscape policy.