Linking Culture and the Environment

Table 14.1. Tourism attitude items in the Arizona study.
Tourism attitude items
Strongly
disagree Disagree Unsure Agree
Strongly
agree
Economic
Increasing the number of tourists to a community improves the
1.0 3.1 9.4 49.2 37.2 4.2
local economy
Tourists are valuable 1.3 3.2 9.2 60.2 26.0 4.1
Tourism increases a community’s tax revenue 1.3 4.2 20.4 45.6 28.5 4.0
The tourism industry provides worthwhile job opportunities for
2.2 4.8 10.9 50.6 31.4 4.0
community residents
Tourism results in an increase in the cost of living 5.1 22.4 34.1 28.7 9.7 3.2
Tourism development increases property values 10.0 29.1 28.7 22.3 10.0 2.9
Tourism usually benefits a small group of residents 8.3 38.0 24.5 21.9 7.3 2.8
Tourists are a burden on a community’s services 22.4 40.6 18.4 15.3 3.3 2.4
Sociocultural
Tourism provides incentives for restoration of historic buildings 2.1 4.5 14.2 57.5 21.6 3.9
Tourism encourages a variety of cultural activities by local residents 1.9 4.2 10.2 65.3 18.5 3.9
Tourism provides cultural exchange and education 1.8 6.2 16.0 60.2 15.8 3.8
Tourism development increases the quality of life in an area 3.5 7.3 20.1 45.8 32.4 3.8
Shopping opportunities are better in communities as a result of tourism 3.1 10.9 17.1 52.8 16.1 3.7
Tourism improves understanding/image of my community and culture 2.4 9.6 26.8 51.9 9.3 3.6
Tourism helps preserve the cultural identity of my community 3.2 13.0 31.7 44.3 7.9 3.4
The quality of public services in my community has improved due to tourism 5.8 20.5 44.1 25.8 3.8 3.1
Tourism causes change in traditional culture 6.4 37.2 31.3 21.0 4.1 2.8
Tourism development increases the amount of crime in an area 8.2 36.6 30.7 19.5 5.0 2.8
Tourism results in more vandalism in a community 7.2 41.5 31.2 15.0 5.1 2.7
An increase in tourists in my community will lead to friction between local
residents and tourists
6.1 46.2 30.7 14.1 2.9 2.6
Continued
Mean
K.L. Andereck and N.G. McGehee 239