Abstract
ABSTRACTThe main purpose of this study was to examine local residents’ attitudes and participation in tourism, and to explore factors which affect residents’ support and participation in tourism in Ba Be National Park, Vietnam. Study findings suggest strategies to improve support from local people for additional tourism activities and participation in tourism. Data for this study was collected from 267 questionnaires from residents of three hamlets inside Ba Be National Park (Pac Ngoi, Bo Lu, and Coc Toc). The results of factor analyses of tourism impacts identified five factors: Social and Environmental Benefit (SEB), Personal Economic Benefit (PEB), Local Benefit (LB), Negative Social and Environmental Impacts (NSEI), and Negative Economic Impacts (NEI). Hypotheses testing revealed that, in rural areas, the community depends on natural resources, and community attachment of local residents significantly affects their perception of the positive tourism impacts. In addition, social and environmental impacts from tourism are considered very important factors in influencing local residents’ support and participation in tourism.
Highlights
In developing countries, tourism can be a viable opportunity to improve local residents’ quality of life through providing jobs, generating income, diversifying the economy, protecting the environment, and promoting cross-cultural awareness (Honey and Raymond 2009)
Hypotheses testing revealed that, in rural areas, the community depends on natural resources, and community attachment of local residents significantly affects their perception of the positive tourism impacts
The interview revealed that their jobs did relate to tourism, but they did not provide tourism services directly. Instead they held positions as forest rangers, community members providing agricultural produce to restaurants, non-government organization (NGO) staff developing water systems and hygiene projects for residents in Ba Be, or local government staff involved in the Ba Be National Park management offices
Summary
Tourism can be a viable opportunity to improve local residents’ quality of life through providing jobs, generating income, diversifying the economy, protecting the environment, and promoting cross-cultural awareness (Honey and Raymond 2009). Residents’ attitudes to tourism development is one of the most comprehensively studied areas of tourism, and has been the subject of study for more than 30 years (McGehee and Andereck 2004). Many studies on this subject typically seek the level of residents’ support for tourism development in one or more regions, and the factors influencing local attitudes (Perdue et al 1990; Ko and Stewart 2002; McGehee and Andereck 2004; Vargas-Sanchez et al 2009; Latkova and Vogt 2012). Concerning tourism in Vietnam, studies of residents’ attitudes have been previously conducted by Pham and Kayat (2011) and Pham (2012)
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