Linking Culture and the Environment

R.J. Payne et al. 89
Table 5.2. Forum participants’ involvements in tourism
industry (N = 92).
Involvement n (%)
Owns a tourism business 19 (21)
Has a job related to tourism 21 (23)
No involvement 52 (56)
of 35 and 54 (53.9%). Nearly 60% of the participants had lived in the region
for more than 40 years.
Twenty-one per cent of the participants owned a tourism business and
23% had a job related to tourism (Table 5.2).
Table 5.3 contains means and standard deviations of responses from
forum participants to the 28 attitude statements concerning tourism in the
region. Discussion of these findings focuses on three patterns of response:
●
●
●
statements with which there is general agreement;
statements with which there is general disagreement; and
statements with which there is a diversity of views.
There is agreement among residents who responded to the survey that
not only does tourism have a place in the region’s future, but also that it does
now, and will continue to, yield positive economic benefits for local people
and the regional economy. Statements a, b, j, k, m, t, v, w and y in Table 5.3
address these two issues directly. All of these statements feature levels of
agreement in excess of 69%.
There is disagreement with a series of statements which suggest that
tourism development ought to be restricted or that tourism has had negative
social effects in the region. Statements d, e, h, i, p, u and bb address these
issues. Disagreement with these statements ranges from a low of 65% concerning
no more outdoor recreation development (statement d) to a high of
79% in response to a statement (e) suggesting that new tourism developments
ought not to occur.
The remaining 12 statements reflect a diversity of views. In one group
(i.e. statements c, g, n, r and aa), the majority of residents have chosen the
neutral category, declining to commit themselves to agreeing or disagreeing
with statements that focus attention on tourism’s impact on local community
life. In another (i.e. statements f, l, o, q, s, x and z), people in the region have
agreed or disagreed cautiously, but certainly not as strongly as they did with
other statements. These statements ask the residents to reflect upon the benefits
and costs of existing tourism developments and activities in the region.
The general attitude that tourism is potentially beneficial, especially if those
benefits are put in economic terms, is consistent with a major theme concerning
infrastructure, attractions and services discussed below.
Using principal components analysis, an approach suggested in McCool
and Reilly (1993), the 28 attitudinal items were reduced to seven dimensions
that account for 69.8% of the variance in the data (Table 5.4). Interpreting these