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Abstract
Large-scale tourism development after a natural disaster often leads to substantial changes in the living conditions of local residents. Few studies have examined how these changes are perceived by residents and related to their support to tourism development. We conducted a household survey in Wolong National Nature Reserve, which is a popular nature-based tourist location severely devastated by a catastrophic earthquake in 2008. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed to explore the association between residents’ expectation of tourism impacts and their willingness to support tourism development. Results indicated that they held high expectations about development and believed that it would be enhance Wolong’s economic progress and improve their personal living conditions. Expected economic benefits (EEB) had a significant and positive relationship with the expected improvement of their personal living conditions, but not with their support to tourism development. The latter two variables, however, were associated with each other, suggesting that expected improvement of living conditions mediated between expected benefits and stated support to tourism development. Similar results were not found for resistance and concerns about tourism development. Policy-makers and tourism planners should recognize that public support to tourism development is not necessarily driven directly by expected economic benefits.
Highlights
Tourism development has been a strategy of different governments to improve the livelihood of rural residents [1]
As many as 70% of the respondents were engaged in agricultural activities, and less than 30% participated in non-primary industry (Table 1)
The findings of our study reported that the local residents of the Wolong National Nature Reserve held high expectations for post-earthquake nature-based tourism development, as they expected that development could provide economic benefits and improve their individual living conditions [65]
Summary
Tourism development has been a strategy of different governments to improve the livelihood of rural residents [1]. Nature-based tourism development is used as an approach for the government to minimize the negative impacts [2]. Wolong National Nature Reserve has suffered serious destruction after the WenChuan Earthquake in 2008, and the local government intends to revitalize the tourism industry in the form of nature-based tourism that would not cause large scale of negative impacts to the reserve [3]. Some studies have been conducted to explore the recovery of tourism industry after a catastrophic natural disaster. Huang and Min [14] evaluated the rebound of the Taiwan tourism industry after the serious earthquake, and Biran, et al [15] have investigated tourists’ motivations and travel intentions to visit a disaster-hit destination. Limited research has been done to understand the perception and expectation of the local residents towards post-earthquake tourism development
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