Abstract:The perceived impacts of tourism on host communities, and residents' attitude toward tourism development, is an important issue. In this article, specifically, a cluster analysis is conducted in order to group residents with similar perceptions of tourism impacts,and a One-Way ANOVA analysis is to examine whether there are significant differences of tourism perceptions and attitudes among different residents. Results of this research show that:(1)In Dunhuang resort, the consolidation stage of Butler's tourism life cycle theory has come in;(2)In general, the Dunhuang residents are likely to perceive positive tourism impacts more strongly than negative tourism impacts;(3)The result of Hierarchical cluster analysis based on the residents' perceptions of tourism impacts indicates five clusters are identified in Dunhuang,including "Ambivalent supporters"(37.1% of the sample)、"Lovers"(10.8%)、"Realists"(43.2%)、"Concerned for a reason"(6.6%)and "Haters"(2.4%). These clusters represent nested communities in that each is comprised of residents with similar views about how tourism impacts their respective communities;(4)At the present time, the Dunhuang residents have positive attitude toward tourism development as a whole;(5)One-Way ANOVA analysis shows that there are some differences of perceptions and attitudes among residents with different demographic characteristics. Especially, the residents who are involved in tourism or have immediate family members employed in tourism have stronger perceptions of positive tourism impacts, have weaker perceptions of negative tourism impacts, and have more positive attitude toward tourism when compared to the non-tourism-related residents, which confirms largely a social exchange theory. Male respondents have more aware of negative tourism impacts and have a little more positive attitude than female respondents. Other different demographic characteristic residents do also differ more or less in their perceptions and attitudes toward tourism.
It is suggested that a reasonable community participation model be implemented to integrate tourism into the local development in Dunhuang resort,which could lead to more positive perceptions and attitudes.
谌永生, 王乃昂, 范娟娟, 张春慧, 贾艳琴. 敦煌市居民旅游感知及态度研究[J]. 人文地理, 2005, 20(2): 66-71.
CHEN Yong-sheng, WANG Nai-ang, FAN Juan-juan, ZHANG Chun-hui, JIA Yan-qin. A STUDY ON RESIDENTS' PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES TOWARD TOURISM IN THE DUNHUANG CITY. HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, 2005, 20(2): 66-71.