Assessing community attitudes toward industrial heritage tourism development

ABSTRACT

Tourism can have both positive and negative outcomes for residents in communities where sharing and preserving industrial heritage may be viewed as conflicting goals. The aim of this study is to ascertain residents’ attitudes toward the redevelopment of the defunct shipyard located in Coloane, Macau. The grounded theory approach is employed to elicit residents’ perceptions of tourism projects proposed by local government. The findings reveal that residents’ rights, co-creation, NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard), place attachment and authenticity are major concerns for the redevelopment. This study suggests that residents’ perceptions and attitudes toward tourism development play a key role in shaping urban revitalization.

KEYWORDS:

• Industrial heritage tourism
• residents’ rights
• place attachment
• NIMBY
• authenticity
• shipyard
• Lai Chi Vun
• Macau

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Philip Feifan Xie is Professor of Tourism, Leisure and Event Planning at Bowling Green University, USA. His research interestsinclude cultural and heritage tourism, event management and the morphology of tourism.

Dr Maria Younghee Lee has research interests which include tourism destination management, heritage tourism, AR (Augmented Reality) and spiritual tourism.

Dr Jose Weng-Chou Wong is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Macau University of Science and Technology. Hisresearch interests include hospitality management and tourism marketing.