Repertory grids and the measurement of levels of community support for rural ecotourism development

ABSTRACT

Many of the world’s iconic ecotourism attractions reside in heterogeneous rural localities (or places). Over time the nature of these settings evolve, which can lead to tourism and other industry sectors (e.g. forestry, mining, agriculture etc.) at different times coming to hold positions of legitimacy in the eyes of local people. Local people will form opinions on the merits of ecotourism development on the basis of an evolving interplay of economic, environmental and social forces. These forces are framed on the basis of a locality’s history, as well as on the basis of current conditions. In the present paper the authors will explore the merits of employing Personal Construct Theory based repertory grids as a methodological tool to understand the subjective realities of local people.

Drawing on the results an expanding body of scholarship that has used repertory grid methodologies in destination image studies; the authors will offer comment on the merits whereby repertory grids can be taken out of an academic led research setting and used within communities themselves to shed light on the individual perceptions that variously cause support or opposition to ecotourism development.

KEYWORDS:

• Ecotourism
• community perception
• personal construct theory
• repertory grid

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. For readers interested in step by step instructions for grid formation, construct elicitation and analysis we would direct them to Jankowicz (2004) The Easy Guide to Repertory Grids.

2. In this study the repertory grid respondent was asked to interpret (or construe) the relationship between a set of six land use elements commonly found in the forests of the Eden region of the NSW Far South Coast. These elements included primary industry elements (pine plantations, wood chipping) and nature based tourism elements (bushwalking and 4x wheel driving).