Abstract
Lack of understanding of the ways local subpopulations perceive various changes associated with rapid growth of the tourism industry may lead to unsustainable development. This study assessed the levels and determinants of residents’ perception regarding the changes in environmental, sociocultural, and economic conditions associated with tourism development in Phuket, Thailand. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted with 450 residents covering all three districts of Phuket Province to capture overall indicators and detailed sub-indicators of perception, whilst factors affecting the perceived changes were examined through ordered logistic regression and seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) analyses. The descriptive statistics showed that residents perceived unfavorable changes in various conditions in the island such as increased levels of pollution, road accidents, traffic congestion, and costs of living, while at the same time acknowledging the importance of long-term economic contribution of tourism development. Moreover, regression analyses revealed that various sociodemographic factors such as gender, education, residency duration, and occupation influenced residents’ perception of the changing local conditions. At the sub-indicator level, detailed insights were obtained such as female residents being more likely to positively perceive some of the changes such as increased availability of public space. Implications and suggestions for policy design and planning are discussed in detail.
Highlights
Tourism has been an important instrument in economic development strategies and is regard as the largest and fastest growing industry in many countries around the world [1,2,3].Tourism development has been a cornerstone policy for socioeconomic development, especially in developing countries [4,5,6]
While McGehee and Anderek [2] found no significant relation between education and perceived impacts of tourism development, our results indicate that those with higher education tended to recognize unfavorable changes in local conditions than the less educated, in the issues of air and noise pollution, cultural conservation, and job opportunities
The results may provide the basis for tourism authorities to identify and address specific issues that are of concern to residents in major island destinations in the developing region
Summary
Tourism has been an important instrument in economic development strategies and is regard as the largest and fastest growing industry in many countries around the world [1,2,3].Tourism development has been a cornerstone policy for socioeconomic development, especially in developing countries [4,5,6]. Tourism has been an important instrument in economic development strategies and is regard as the largest and fastest growing industry in many countries around the world [1,2,3]. Many studies found that growth in tourism generally improves the local standards of living, provides new businesses and job opportunities, and promotes the development of infrastructure and public facilities, possibly becoming the primary source of economic growth and support for livelihoods of the local community [1,7,8,9]. Tourism development helps improve public facilities such as outdoor recreation facilities, public parks, roads, and sport facilities [3,11] and promotes environmental education and conservation through ecotourism activities as well as boost an investment in the environmental infrastructure of the destination [12]. As the tourism sector expands globally, tourism activities tend to concentrate in islands and coastal areas in a number of
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