Resident engagement and support are considered essential for the establishment and maintenance of a sustainable tourism destination. As such, it is important to identify the factors that influence resident participation in sustainable tourism developm...
Resident engagement and support are considered essential for the establishment and maintenance of a sustainable tourism destination. As such, it is important to identify the factors that influence resident participation in sustainable tourism development. In order to achieve this, this study identified the determinants of resident participation and examine the relationships between these factors using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The TPB has been widely used in various fields, but empirical studies that examining the participation of residents in the rural tourism developments are merely presented.
A survey was conducted in the villages of Cheongsu-ri and Sanyang-ri in Jeju province, where sustainable tourism has already been implemented, among a sample of 250 residents over a period of 13 days in October and November of 2022. The empirical analysis of the responses, conducted using AMOS, is presented as follows.
First, there is a disparity between the villages in terms of the influence of attitudes towards sustainable tourism development on behavioral intentions. Second, both villages showed no significant differences in the influence of residents' subjective norms on behavioral intentions for sustainable tourism development, contradicting previous research. Third, both villages showed a positive influence of perceived behavioral control on behavioral intentions for sustainable tourism development. Fourth, both villages showed a positive influence of behavioral intentions on behavior for sustainable tourism development.
Through the hypothesis testing of this study, it was revealed that perceived behavioral control towards sustainable tourism development had a significant influence on behavioral intentions. That is, the stronger the residents’ intention for sustainable tourism development and the more time and financial resources they have, the higher their intention to participate in sustainable tourism development. Therefore, it is necessary to actively promote incentives and reward systems accordingly in order to increase participation and interest in sustainable tourism development among residents. Further, intention to participate in sustainable tourism development had a significant impact on actual participation. It is crucial to implement policy efforts that promote an environment in which residents can participate in sustainable tourism development.