Local Community Attitude and Support Towards Tourism Development at Saint Martin Island, Bangladesh

Abstract

Tourism development, a double-edged sword for local communities, is the influenced by attitude of the residents. Favorable attitudes of local community escalate tourists' satisfaction levels. The study focuses on local community attitude and support towards tourism development of Saint Martin Island in Bangladesh. Using judgmental sampling procedure, a sample of 175 local residents was surveyed through a self-administered questionnaire and data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and ANOVA. The findings of the study indicate that the Saint Martin Island-community supports future tourism development based on the personal benefit they receive. ANOVA analysis shows significant differences among the local community attitude and support to the tourism development based on profession, age, education, and family income. The study may ensure the commercial, socio-cultural, physiological, political and economic development of the community that enhance sustainability for the industry and it may also help the government to shape future tourism development for the island.