Assessing and Visualizing Tourism Impacts from Urban Residents’ Perspectives

Abstract

This study is an attempt to help scholars and practitioners visualize the consequences of tourism development and urban residents’ support for future tourism expansion. In September 1998, 2,400 questionnaires were mailed to residents of southeastern Virginia. Three hundred sixteen useful questionnaires were analyzed. An urban tourism impact scale composed of 24 attributes was purified by a factor analysis, revealing four impact factors: Economic Benefits, Social Costs, Cultural Enrichment, and Environmental Deterioration. Using a path analysis, the relationships between tourism impacts and different levels of endorsement of tourism were exhibited. A correspondence analysis was used to further pinpoint the influences of tourism on three groups of residents with different attitudes toward tourism; these groups were categorized as supporters, moderators, and opponents. Further study adopting a segmentation approach is advocated.