Residents’ attitudes, perceptions and the development of positive tourism behaviours amid COVID -19

Abstract

Local people’s pro-tourism behavioural intention plays an important role in determining the sustainability and success of a tourism destination. A semi-structured questionnaire was randomly administered to residents aged 18 years and above of Botswana’s two premier tourism centres (Maun and Kasane). These two exotic tourism areas were chosen in this study to ensure enrichment of the literature through sharing of lived experiences and critical decision-making by people in the face of an impending disaster (i.e. COVID-19) threatening their existence. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was used to provide a better understanding in linking residents’ attitudes in supporting or opposing tourism development in the face of COVID-19. Overall, majority (67.5%, p = 0.015) of the respondents indicated that they are willing to accept some inconvenience as long as they benefit from tourism industry. Also, most (84.4% (p = 0.034)) residents indicated that they were willing to welcome tourists because of the contribution tourists bring to the economy of their area. Thus, a positive attitude towards tourism development and tourists from locals will likely lead to a more positive behaviour supporting tourism in host communities. The study recommends that, of utmost importance, key stakeholders in the tourism industry including policymakers and planners should devise and implement strategies geared towards positively influencing attitudes of local communities towards tourism development. The results from this study will assist government and other tourism stakeholders as they devise mitigating strategies to sustain and guide future tourism operations following socioeconomic devastations from COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords:

• attitudes
• behaviour
• COVID-19
• perceptions
• tourism
• tolerance

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

This study used the same Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to explain critical decision-making amid a life-threatening pandemic. This approach enriches international literature by expanding the applicability of TRA in explaining the positive and negative attitudes of residents towards tourism as influenced by the perceived threat of a pandemic from the tourism development. The study found that local communities were ready to welcome tourists and even willing to accept some inconvenience including the inevitable threat of contracting COVID-19 in order to receive benefits from the tourism development. Overall, this study recommends that key stakeholders, policymakers, and planners should create tourism strategies that prioritises and reinforces positive attitudes of residents in order to gain their support for tourism development as a critical antecedent for tourism developm

1. Introduction

The social, cultural and economic phenomenon regarding people’s temporary movement to countries and/or places outside their usual residence is termed tourism (United Nations World Tourism Organization, 2010). Tourism is often referred to as the world’s largest industry and provides a means of achieving community development (Sharpley & Telfer, 2002). Prior to the advent of COVID-19 the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC, 2019) had estimated that tourism industry accounted for 10.4% of the world’s gross domestic product which is a measure of the value of goods and services produced in the country in 12 months. However, tourism is also considered a double-edged sword for the destination such that residents may hold a positive or negative attitude towards its growth as influenced by the activities of tourists on the host community. Some studies have explored the antecedents of residents’ attitudes towards tourism (Eusébio et al., 2018; Hadinejad et al., 2019; Rua, 2020), and most of this research has been conducted in developed countries (Eusébio et al., 2018; Sharpley, 2014), thereby creating a vacuum of tourism-related knowledge in the least developed countries whose tourism product is equally accessible to, and enjoyed by the international world. Therefore, it is also important to study local residents’ attitudes, perceptions and behaviors in developing countries, such as Botswana, especially with the anticipation of a tourism boom following sluggish growth after emergence of COVID-19 where most countries responded by closing their borders as measures to contain the spread of the pandemic. This study therefore provides insights on the antecedents of residents’ pro-tourism behavioural intention by examining attitudes and behaviours in relation to perceived personal benefit, state of local economy, identity, subjective norm, gender, and tourism-related drivers amid a life-threatening pandemic such as COVID-19.

2. Literature review

2.1. Residents’ pro-tourism development behaviour

Tourism development can change the perception of local people about themselves and where they live (Xue et al., 2017). Local resident’s support for tourism development is a significant pre-condition believed to impact the sustainability of any tourist destination. Considering the significance of the residents’ support for tourism development, previous research (Kwon & Vogt, 2010; Lepp, 2007) has explained why residents support or oppose it. Several studies (Nunkoo & Gursoy, 2012) recognise the importance of the host community in supporting tourism development, mainly because the success of tourism relies on residents’ hospitality and their active support. Residents’ pro-tourism behavioural intention plays an important role in determining the sustainability or even success of a tourist destination. Therefore, related study findings will be increasingly significant in the future.

2.2. Attitudes concerning positive and negative impacts

There is plenty of literature on the economic impact of tourism, both at a macro and micro level (Hampton & Jeyacheya, 2015; Lee, Hampton & Jeyacheya, 2015; Alam & Paramati, 2016). The impacts of tourism development are perceived differently throughout different regions, and among individuals themselves. Moreover, tourism development brings benefits as well as costs for residents. For instance, tourism’s impact is divided into three categories: the environmental impact, economic impact, and socio-cultural impact (Weaver and Lawton, 2006). However, touristic actions cause some positive and negative effects in the places they occur (Ap, 1992; Postma & Schmuecker, 2017; Sunlu, 2003). Contributing to social development through employment possibilities, providing foreign currency gains, creating job opportunities and stimulating local economies are among the most important economic effects of tourism development in an area. On the other hand, negative economic impacts are reflected mainly in commodity price inflation, rising costs of living, loss of cultural identity, excessive commercialization in human behaviour, and negative impacts on local language. Tourism can also create some socio-cultural and environmental problems. But as long as the positive effects of tourism are at the forefront in a tourism destination, the relations between tourists and residents will likely develop positively. As long as the number of tourists coming to the destination does not exceed the carrying capacity and tourism continues to contribute to the local economy, tourists are likely to be welcomed by the majority of residents (Yu, Lee, & Hyn, 2021).

2.3. Residents’ attitudes towards tourism

Gu and Ryan (2008) refer to attitude as “a predisposition to place, people, behavior, and other aspects of individual environment”. Attitudes are built upon the perceptions and beliefs of reality but are closely related to deeply held values and to personality. Attitudes are not fixed; they change according to social influence or other factors. The concept of residents’ attitudes toward tourism and their support for tourism development has been explored extensively in the literature over the last few decades (Gursoy et al., 2017; Woosnam et al., 2017). Ribeiro et al. (2017) found a direct relationship between residents’ attitudes and their support for tourism development. Overall, researchers have found that while policymakers and planners create tourism strategies, their priorities should be to understand the attitudes of residents and gain their support for tourism development (Hasani et al., 2016; Ribeiro et al., 2017; S. M. Rasoolimanesh et al., 2017; S. Rasoolimanesh et al., 2015, 2015).

According to Nunkoo and Gursoy (2012), residents’ pro-tourism behavioral intention is mostly affected by residents’ attitude to tourism. Martín et al. (2017) observed that residents’ attitude could be categorized into two parts: attitude toward tourism and attitude toward tourists; they found that both positively influenced behavioral support for tourism development. Blackie (2019), taking two Botswana tourist centres as study sites, found a positive relationship between residents’ attitude and their support for tourism development. Chen and Raab (2012) constructed an integrated model and confirmed the positive relationship between residents’ attitude and their support for the community tourism. Homsud (2017) also found that residents from both developed and developing countries preferred to hold pro-tourism behavior.

2.4. Theory of reasoned action

We adopt the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) which was conceived in 1980 by Ajzen and Fishbein (Ajzen, 2011). The conceptual model hypothesizes that a person’s specific behaviour is solely determined by a person’s intention to perform the behaviour. Within tourism studies, TRA has been successfully used in an effort to provide a better understanding in linking residents’ attitudes in supporting or opposing tourism development (Dyer et al., 2007; Kwon & Vogt, 2010; Lepp, 2007). According to TRA, people try to make the most rational decision by taking the possibilities into account and using all the available information before deciding whether to engage in a certain interaction or not (Ajzen, 2011). This theory is a psychological theory used to explain the behaviour that works best. According to the theory, people’s behaviour is under the control of some factors. These factors are rewards which are subject to changes as influenced by the risks (such as COVID 19) and seasonality’s of prevailing market factors. From this viewpoint, TRA is widely used to make sense of and explain the positive and negative attitudes of residents towards tourism as influenced by perceived and actual benefit from the tourism development (Nunkoo et al., 2013; Ribeiro et al., 2017). The theory purports that if an individual recognizes the behaviour as favorable; he or she is more apt to intend to perform the behaviour. In a nutshell, the literature suggests that residents with positive attitudes about tourism will foster pro-tourism development behaviour, and consequently, be likely to take part in an exchange with tourists (Yoon et al., 2001).

3. Study area

The study was conducted in the two main tourist attraction centres in Botswana, Maun and Kasane. Maun is the main business centre for Ngamiland District on the western side of the country, while Kasane is also the main centre for tourism-related activities in Chobe District. Moremi National Game Reserve is Botswana’s largest game reserve established in 1963 under the leadership of Chief Moremi III’s wife under the Ngamiland Fauna Conservation Society. The Game reserve is located in Maun area and it remains the only game reserve that was created by local and other ethnic people in the country (Bolaane, 2013). In Kasane, the Chobe National Park is the host for diverse wildlife often moving to and from the wetlands. The Chobe river system ensures the availability of a critical resource, water, in the area that would otherwise be a thirsty land of vast expanses of sand. The presence of water has also ensured the presence of a rich and diverse wildlife as a resource that has supported the livelihoods of local communities as well as act as tourism attraction centre for game viewing for many years.

4. Methods

4.1. Sources of data and data collection

This paper is largely quantitative and relied mostly on primary data collected through a questionnaire that was randomly administered to residents of Maun and Kasane aged 18 years and above. Interviews were held in March 2020, a period when the World Health Organisation had declared the Coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic. Ethics approval was sought from the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA) research committee. Table 1 indicates that the majority of participants (77.3%) were aged between 20 and 44 years. Most of the respondents (84.1%) indicated that they were single, whereas only 12.6% indicated that they were married.

Table 1. Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents (N = 282)

Variables	Male	Female	Total
Age in years
<20	4 (3.2)	16 (10.4)	20 (7.2)
20–44	97 (78.2)	118 (76.6)	215 (77.3)
45–64	18 (14.5)	19 (12.3)	37 (13.3)
≥65	5 (4.0)	1 (16.7)	6 (2.2)
Marital status
Single	97 (78.2)	136 (88.9)	233 (84.1)
Married	23 (18.5)	12 (7.8)	35 (12.6)
Divorced	4 (3.2)	2 (1.3)	6 (2.2)
Widowed	0	3 (2.0)	3 (1.1)
Highest level of education
No formal	14 (11.2)	8 (5.2)	22 (7.9)
Primary	8 (6.4)	16 (10.3)	24 (8.6)
Secondary education	38 (30.4)	64 (41.3)	102 (36.4)
Adult education	11 (8.8)	8 (5.2)	19 (6.8)
College	54 (43.2)	59 (38.1)	113 (40.4)
Length of stay in the area
Less than a year	12 (9.7)	32 (20.5)	44 (15.7)
From 1–5 years	20 (16.1)	23 (14.7)	43 (15.4)
6–10 years	12 (9.7)	15 (9.6)	27 (7.2)
11–15 years	8 (6.5)	3 (1.9)	11 (3.9)
>16 years	72 (58.1)	83 (53.2)	155 (55.4)
Were you born in this district
Yes	76 (60.8)	94 (60.3)	170 (60.5)
No	49 (39.2)	62 (39.7)	111 (39.5)

About 40% of the respondents indicated that they had attained a college qualification. This is closely followed by those who attained a secondary school qualification (36.4%) Primary education, no formal and adult education had the least number of respondents with 8.6%, 7.9% and 6.8%, respectively. More than half of the respondents (55.5%) indicated that they had been staying in the region(s) for a period exceeding 16 years. About 15% indicated that they had been staying there for a period less than a year. Over and above that, majority (60%) of respondents indicated that they were born in the region.

Table 2 displays the socio-economic characteristics of respondents by gender. The results show that only about a third (i.e.,30%) of the respondents indicated that they were employed in the tourism sector. The majority of respondents (69%) indicated that they had less than 5 livestock. The results suggest that males keep livestock more than females. About 45% of the respondents indicate that they have no reliable and/or secure monthly income.

Table 2. Socio-economic characteristics of respondents

	Gender
	Male	Female	Total
Work in tourism
Yes	40 (32.8)	44 (28.8)	84 (30.5)
No	82 (67.2)	109 (71.2)	191 (69.5)
Number of livestock
<5	69 (58.0)	116 (77.9)	185 (69.0)
6–10	22 (18.5)	21 (14.1)	43 (16.0)
11–20	10 (8.4)	5 (3.4)	15 (5.6)
≥21	18 (15.1)	7 (4.7)	24 (9.3)
Monthly income
No income	50 (40.0)	77 (49.7)	127 (45.4)
≤1,499	19 (15.2)	38 (24.5)	57 (20.4)
1,500–3,999	28 (22.4)	22 (14.2)	50 (17.9)
4,000–9,999	19 (15.2)	10 (6.5)	29 (10.4)
1,0000–14,999	4 (3.2)	6 (3.9)	10 (3.6)
15,000–19,999	4 (3.2)	1 (0.6)	5 (1.8)
≥20,000	1 (0.8)	1 (0.6)	2 (0.7)
Household size
Myself alone	29 (23.2)	17 (11.0)	46 (16.5)
2 members	21 (16.8)	25 (16.2)	46 (16.5)
3–5 members	41 (32.8)	61 (39.6)	102 (36.6)
>6 members	34 (27.2)	51 (33.1)	85 (30.5)

Only about 5% of the respondents earn above P10,000.00 (i.e., $756) with 3.6%, 1.8% and 0.7% earning P10,000.00–P14,999.00, P15,000.00–P19,999.00 and P20,000.00 or more, respectively. The results show that more than 60% of the respondents stay with three or more family members, with 36.6% and 30.5% for 3 to 5 family members and more than 3 members, respectively. Only 16.5% of the respondents indicated that they either stay alone and/or with only two members each.

5. Results & discussion

This section presents key findings and discussion on local people’s and residents’ views regarding tourism development in the Botswana’s finest tourism centres (i.e., Maun and Kasane) following the onset of COVID −19.

5.1. The perceived state of the local economy

The results in Table 3 show that more than 97% of the respondents agree that the government should help in job creation. There is evidence of a significant association on the perception of respondents regarding the willingness to pay higher taxes if that will help create more jobs. The results of the study show that most residents are likely to support tourism growth as they believe that tourism has increased the living standard in their region.

Table 3. State of the local economy

			Were you born in this district?			Is the work you do part of tourism industry
		Total	Yes	No		Yes	No
Government should help to create more job	Agree	97.1	97.6	96.4	0.296	98.8	96.3	0.389
	Neutral	1.4	.6	2.7		1.2	1.6
	Disagree	1.4	1.8	.9		.0	2.1
I am willing to pay higher taxes if it creates more jobs	Agree	55.8	52.7	60.4	0.016*	53.6	55.3	0.155
	Neutral	17.3	14.4	21.6		23.8	14.9
	Disagree	27.0	32.9	18.0		22.6	29.8
Tourism increases residents living standard in this region	Agree	65.3	60.2	73.1	0.089	70.7	64.0	0.119
	Neutral	17.5	19.9	13.9		19.5	16.1
	Disagree	17.2	19.9	13.0		9.8	19.9
Need for more jobs to stop young people moving away from our township	Agree	93.1	93.4	92.7	0.960	95.2	91.9	0.070
	Neutral	3.3	3.0	3.6		4.8	2.7
	Disagree	3.6	3.6	3.6		.0	5.4

Similarly, the World Tourism Organization (2021) has also established that tourism has contributed to the domestic economies in many parts of the Development of sustainable tourism in most of the communities, especially rural, was mostly initiated with the aim of improving residents’ quality of life. Economic benefits are the most important elements sought by local residents from tourism development (Akis et al., 1996; Blackie , 2019; Mbaiwa, 2017).

The potential of tourism to significantly contribute to economic development is based on the uniqueness of the sector. In developing regions and countries with high levels of unemployment and poverty, pro-tourism can make a difference in the local communities. Local communities use tourism as an export to attract foreign exchange and accomplish other economic goals such as generation of wealth, employment creation and improvement of living standards (Mbaiwa, 2017). It can provide the local people with the ability and position to obtain economic benefits without excluding them from opportunities. Studies (McGehee & Andereck, 2004) have shown that support for tourism development, expressed by members of a local community correlated with their perceptions of tourism benefits in a positive direction. Ashley et al. (2007), observed that tourism as an industry has a substantial impact on local people and local economies in developing countries such as the need for more jobs to stop young people moving away from local township as established in this study.

5.2. Residents’ personal economic benefits from tourism

Table 4 shows the residents’ perceptions of the contribution of tourism to their economic well-being. Overall, the results suggest that most of the respondents, do not agree that the future of their families depends on tourism, tourism helps pay the bills or that a portion of their income is attributed to tourism. Nonetheless, about half (50.6%) of the respondents agree that they would benefit from having more tourists in their area.

Table 4. Personal economic benefit from tourism

			Were you born in this district?			Is the work you do part of tourism industry
		Total	Yes	No		Yes	No
My family’s economic future depends upon tourism in this region	Agree	34.3	35.9	31.8	0.78	47.6	29.4	0.012*
	Neutral	22.7	22.2	23.6		20.2	23.5
	Disagree	43.0	41.9	44.5		32.1	47.1
Tourism in this area help me to pay my bills	Agree	30.4	28.5	33.3	0.000*	51.2	21.5	0.000*
	Neutral	12.0	6.1	20.7		10.7	12.9
	Disagree	57.6	65.5	45.9		38.1	65.6
I would economically benefit from more tourism in this area	Agree	50.6	46.6	56.7	0.194	63.2	44.8	0.019*
	Neutral	17.4	17.4	17.3		15.8	18.6
	Disagree	32.1	36.0	26.0		21.1	36.6
A portion of my household income is tied to tourism	Agree	27.9	27.5	28.6	0.777	41.3	22.3	0.000*
	Neutral	15.5	14.4	17.1		25.0	11.7
	Disagree	56.6	58.1	54.3		33.8	65.9

The results further suggest that more non-native residents concur that they pay their bills from tourism compared to native residents. Furthermore, people who work in the tourism sector indicate that they are benefiting economically from tourism compared to those who do not work in the tourism sector and the association was statistically significant for all the statements.

Although not all households in the two study areas depended on the tourism industry for their livelihood, the results show that more non-native residents concur that they pay their bills from tourism compared to native residents. This indicates that the tourism industry is beneficial not just to native members of a setting but is able to attract no residents through employment, especially those with requisite hospitality skills (Ruetzler et al., 2014). Tourism offers multiple benefits to both individuals and community at large. Similarly, some studies have also concluded that residents who benefit economically from tourism tend to hold a more favourable attitude of the impacts than those who receive lesser or no benefits (Boleya et al., 2014; Nunkoo & So, 2016). McGehee and Andereck (2004) found that personal and community’s benefits obtained from tourism positively influence residents to support tourism development, i.e., if tourism development affected local economy in a positive way (for example, created new jobs), residents will most likely support its further development. Likewise, other studies found that perceived personal economic benefit from tourism is the most influential construct explaining support for tourism development (Boleya et al., 2014; McGehee & Andereck, 2004).

5.3. Residents welcoming tourists

Table 5 shows that the majority (70.9%) of respondents indicate that they feel the community is benefiting from having tourists in their region. Almost 90% indicate that they treat all tourists equally as they meet them in the region. The results suggest that non-native residents support this statement more compared to non-residents. Another significant association indicates that those who work in the tourism industry support that the community is benefiting from tourism compared to those who do not work in the tourism industry. Furthermore, those who work in the tourism industry support that they appreciate the contribution made by tourists in their region compared to those who do not work in the tourism industry.

Table 5. Residents welcoming tourists

			Were you born in this district?			Is the work you do part of tourism industry
		Total	Yes	No		Yes	No
I feel the community benefits from having tourists in this area	Agree	70.9	70.8	70.9	0.997	81.0	66.5	0.037*
	Neutral	16.5	16.7	16.4		13.1	18.6
	Disagree	12.6	12.5	12.7		6.0	14.9
I am proud to have tourists come to this area	Agree	90.2	89.2	91.7	0.576	95.2	88.2	0.159
	Neutral	5.4	5.4	5.5		3.6	6.5
	Disagree	4.3	5.4	2.8		1.2	5.4
I treat all tourists I meet fairly in this region	Agree	89.1	87.4	91.6	0.031*	91.6	87.6	0.617
	Neutral	5.1	7.8	.9		3.6	5.9
	Disagree	5.8	4.8	7.5		4.8	6.5
I appreciate tourists for the contribution they make to this area economy	Agree	84.4	81.2	89.1	0.13	92.8	80.6	0.034*
	Neutral	9.8	12.7	5.5		3.6	12.9
	Disagree	5.8	6.1	5.5		3.6	6.5

This study found that majority (70.9%) of respondents were likely to welcome the tourists since they feel the community is benefiting from having tourists in their region. Almost 90% of respondents indicate that they treat all tourists equally as they meet them in the region. The positive welcoming of tourists is slightly higher among non-native residents working or just residing in these exotic tourism destinations. Other studies (Ap, 1992; Blackie 2019) have also established that residents will likely support tourism as long as their benefits from tourism are higher than the costs incurred to obtain them; when the costs exceed the benefits, they will likely adopt a negative attitude towards tourism. In tourism development, positive attitudes result in positive behaviour, while negative attitudes cause negative behaviours. Therefore, it could be argued that the residents’ attitude towards tourism also shapes their welcoming behaviour towards tourists (Buzlukçu, 2020).

5.4. Attitudes of local people towards tourism growth

As shown in Table 6, more than 80% of the respondents indicated that tourism creates more jobs for residents. The results also suggest that those who work in the tourism industry support that tourism creates more jobs and more business opportunities in the region compared to those who do not work in the tourism industry.

Table 6. Attitudes about positive impacts of tourism

			Were you born in this district?			Is the work you do part of tourism industry
		Total	Yes	No	P-value	Yes	No	P-value
Create more jobs for residents of this region	Agree	80.9	81.3	80.2	0.894	98.8	93.7	0.005*
	Neutral	7.6	7.8	7.2		.0	4.2
	Disagree	11.6	10.8	12.6		1.2	2.1
Attract more investment for this region	Agree	76.6	69.9	86.5	0.006*	76.2	83.6	0.171
	Neutral	12.4	15.3	8.1		13.1	9.0
	Disagree	10.9	14.7	5.4		10.7	7.4
Lead to the improvement of roads and public infrastructures	Agree	58.7	52.8	67.3	0.017*	61.4	56.7	0.058
	Neutral	12.6	11.3	14.5		19.3	15.6
	Disagree	28.3	35.2	18.2		19.3	27.8
Creates additional income to the government	Agree	0.4	0.6	0.0	0.586	29.6	20.4	0.435
	Neutral	84.7	82.9	87.4		12.3	17.7
	Disagree	10.2	11.6	8.1		58.0	61.9
Creates positive impact on the cultural identity of this region	Agree	5.1	5.5	4.5	0.031*	85.5	73.4	0.87
	Neutral	77.5	72.0	85.5		4.8	16.3
	Disagree	12.4	15.9	7.3		9.6	10.3
Create more business opportunities for local residents	Agree	10.1	12.1	7.3	0.081	75.6	70.4	0.041*
	Neutral	67.0	65.0	70.0		12.2	18.8
	Disagree	12.5	16.7	6.3		12.2	10.8

Table 6 further shows that non-native residents support the premise that tourism attracts more investment in the region and that it leads to the improvement of roads and public infrastructure more than native residents. The results also show that the majority of respondents neither agree nor disagree that the tourism creates a positive impact on the cultural identity of the region.

Meanwhile, the positive attitudes about the impact of tourism held by respondents in this study emanated from the view that tourism creates more jobs for residents of the region. Ribeiro et al. (2017) also found a direct relationship between residents’ attitudes and their support for tourism development. This positive correlation between residents’ attitudes and tourism development have lead researchers (Hasani et al., 2016, 2017; Ribeiro et al., 2017; S. Rasoolimanesh et al., 2015) advising policymakers and planners that even though their focus has been to create tourism strategies, their priorities should be to understand the attitudes of residents so that they can gain their support for tourism development.

The results in Table 7 show that most (49%) respondents in this study agree that residents suffer from living in a tourist destination and that tourism increases the cost of living, whereas about a third (35%) of the residents agree that tourism led to prostitution. There is no significant association by place of birth and type of employment in the tourism industry.

Table 7. Attitudes about negative impacts of tourism

			Were you born in this district?			Is the work you do part of tourism industry
		Total	Yes	No		Yes	No
Residents suffer from living in a tourism destination	Disagree	36.4	34.1	39.6	0.341	30.1	39.6	0.300
	Neutral	14.2	12.8	16.2		16.9	12.8
	Agree	49.5	53.0	44.1		53.0	47.6
Increase the cost of living	Disagree	37.7	38.6	36.4	0.847	28.9	41.8	0.116
	Neutral	13.6	12.7	15.0		16.9	12.0
	Agree	48.7	48.8	48.6		54.2	46.2
Changes our traditional culture	Disagree	46.3	42.3	52.3	0.101	39.5	49.7	0.289
	Neutral	17.6	16.6	19.3		18.5	16.8
	Agree	36.0	41.1	28.4		42.0	33.5
Damage in the region natural environment	Disagree	45.8	41.2	52.8	0.137	40.2	49.5	0.376
	Neutral	14.7	17.0	11.1		17.1	14.0
	Agree	39.6	41.8	36.1		42.7	36.6
Lead to prostitution in the area	Disagree	46.8	47.5	45.8	0.948	40.0	50.8	0.262
	Neutral	17.8	17.9	17.8		21.3	16.4
	Agree	35.3	34.6	36.4		38.8	32.8
Lead to change in area Culture	Disagree	40.6	40.2	41.1	0.723	32.5	44.9	0.163
	Neutral	15.9	14.6	17.8		18.8	14.1
	Agree	43.5	45.1	41.1		48.8	41.1

5.5. Pro-tourism behaviour

Majority of (90%) of the respondents indicate that they are willing to receive tourists as affable hosts and willing to provide information to tourists and contribute to enhancing their experience. More than 95% indicated that they are willing to protect the natural and environmental resources on which tourism depends. A high proportion (67.5%, p = 0.015) of the respondents indicated that they are willing to accept some inconveniences in order to benefit from tourism. The results in Table 8 further show that those who work in the tourism industry were more willing to accept some inconvenience in order to benefit from tourism compared to those who do not work in the tourism industry.

Table 8. Pro-tourism behaviour

			Were you born in this district?			Is the work you do part of tourism industry
		Total	Yes	No		Yes	No
I am willing to receive tourists as affable host and being more hospitable	Agree	90.0	88.2	92.8	0.094	94.0	88.4	0.286
	Neutral	5.4	7.7	1.8		2.4	6.8
	Disagree	4.6	4.1	5.4		3.6	4.7
I am willing to protect the natural and environmental resources on which tourism depends	Agree	96.0	94.6	98.2	0.179a	95.2	96.8	0.325
	Neutral	1.8	3.0	.0		1.2	2.2
	Disagree	2.2	2.4	1.8		3.6	1.1
I am willing to provide information to tourists and contribute to enhance their experience	Agree	90.9	90.5	91.6	0.818	95.2	89.2	0.211
	Neutral	4.7	5.3	3.7		3.6	5.4
	Disagree	4.3	4.1	4.7		1.2	5.4
I am willing to do more to promote my area as tourist destination	Agree	92.5	93.8	90.7	0.655a	96.3	90.6	0.246
	Neutral	3.7	3.1	4.6		1.2	5.0
	Disagree	3.7	3.1	4.6		2.5	4.4
I am willing to accept some inconvenience in order to receive benefits resulting from tourism development	Agree	67.5	63.2	74.5	0.094	80.6	61.3	0.015*
	Neutral	11.4	14.5	6.4		6.9	13.7
	Disagree	21.1	22.4	19.1		12.5	25.0

Overall, the findings of this study show an alignment of the critical tourism development attributes and local people’s attitudinal characteristics as consequence of the perceived access to benefits from the tourism industry such as job creation in their area, attraction of more investment opportunities and general improvement of roads and public infrastructures. It could therefore be argued that as long as these positive effects of tourism are at the forefront in a tourism destination, the relations between tourists and residents will likely develop positively. Likewise, Andereck and Vogt (2000) and Andriotis (2005) found that residents’ attitudes determine the extent to which the local communities engage or do not engage in the behaviours that offer support for tourism. In the current study, residents were found to be willing to receive or welcome tourists, as affable host and being more hospitable. This being in line with Palmer et al. (2013) who provided some empirical evidence of a positive relationship between the residents’ attitudes towards tourists and their propensity to engage in advocacy to support inward tourism. Thus, residents with positive attitudes about tourism will foster pro-tourism development behaviour, and consequently, be likely to take part in an exchange with tourists (Yoon et al., 2001).

6. Conclusion

The goal of this study was to examine factors that influence residents’ attitudes, perceptions, and the development of positive tourism behaviours in the midst of a pandemic such as COVID −19. Overall, the study established a positive correlation between residents’ attitudes and tourism development. Findings of the study as well as available literature as contained in the discussion of this study have shown that the local people’s positive than negative attitudes towards tourism development emanated from the view that tourism creates more opportunities for locals and residents alike (Hasani et al., 2016; Ribeiro et al., 2017; S. Rasoolimanesh et al., 2015). On the positive tourism attitudes, drivers are appealing opportunities such as improvement of the personal and local economy resulting in the creation of more jobs and likely increasing residents' living standards. Other reasons why residents welcomed tourists in their area included the downstream of tourism revenue in improving roads and other public infrastructures, creation of additional income to the government and more business opportunities for local residents as well as creating positive impact on the cultural identity of this region.

It is these positive attitudinal characteristics associated with tourism development that have led local communities to be ready to welcome tourists and willing to accept some inconvenience including the inevitable threat of contracting COVID-19 in order to receive benefits from the tourism development. The perceived benefit of tourism and willingness to accept inconvenience by local populations in these main tourism centres in Botswana are expected to play a crucial role in the resuscitation of the country’s tourism industry following the serious battering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of the residents indicated some reservations concerning development of tourism in their area, mainly because they associated tourism growth with negative outcomes such as increase in the cost of living, damage to the natural environment, emergence of prostitution in the area as well as other negative factors that may result in negative changes of local culture.

Unlike other leading scholars, in the field of tourism development, such as Nunkoo et al. (2013) and Ribeiro et al. (2017), who used TRA to explain the positive and negative attitudes of residents towards tourism as influenced by perceived and actual benefit from the tourism development; this study used the same TRA to understand critical decision-making in the midst of a life-threatening pandemic. Utilising the TRA in this study has shown that human beings do not just engage in instinctive physiological fight or flight mode. People try to make the most rational decision by taking the possibilities into account and using all the available information such as disease transmission and prevention as they decided whether to engage in a certain interaction such as welcoming tourists in their area or not.

The study recommends that, of utmost importance, key stakeholders in the tourism industry including policymakers and planners should devise and implement strategies geared towards positively influencing attitudes of local communities towards tourism development. Overall, this study recommends that key stakeholders, policymakers, and planners should create tourism strategies that prioritise and reinforce the already displayed positive attitudes of residents in order to gain their support for tourism development as a critical antecedent for tourism development. Government and other stakeholders should ensure continued and enhanced benefits of tourism to residents so that they can become active emissaries in the promotion of tourism development as a means to other ends such as job creation and improvement of local businesses in the tourism industry.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Israel R. Blackie

Israel R. Blackie (PhD) is a sociologist/lecturer based at the University of Botswana. Dr Blackie previously worked in central government as a Performance Improvement Coordinator before joining the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA) as a Research Fellow in the Human and Social Development unit.

Tumisang Tsholetso

Ms. Tumisang Tsholetso is a Sociology PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Botswana. Ms. Tsholetso is also a part-time lecturer with the Institute of Development Management (IDM) in Gaborone where she teaches undergraduate students research methods, sociology and management courses. Before venturing into academia, she successfully managed various Sefalana cash and carry branches for 13 years building her management portfolio. Tsholetso combined her work experience and her academic background which resulted in her specializing in Sociology of Business management and Digital Sociology.

Mpho Keetile

Dr. Mpho Keetile is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Population Studies at the University of Botswana. Dr Keetile has over 10 years of university teaching experience and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on demographic techniques; applied demography; data analysis, computing, and research, and supervises undergraduate, graduate and post graduate research.