Residents' tourism support behaviour : the role of sustainable tourism attitude

Abstract

Sustainability is necessary and a good alternative way to minimize tourism’s negative impacts and its long-term success. Residents have an important role for sustainable development in a touristic destination. The purpose of this paper is to examine the structural relationship between residents’ sustainable tourism attitude and their support behaviour. Although there has been much research to examine residents’ opinions towards tourism impacts, studies about their sustainable tourism have not been profoundly explored in current literature. A total of 403 valid questionnaires were collected to empirically test the measurement and structural model using a structural equation modelling approach. The study sample consists of residents who live in Didim, Turkey. According to the results, four of seven dimensions of sustainable tourism attitude relate to residents’ support for sustainable tourism. The results imply that perceived social costs are the most effective dimension affecting support, whereas maximizing community participation has the lowest impact. Theoretical and managerial contributions are discussed.