An Examination of Residents’ Support for Tourism Development: A Case Study in the City of Yogyakarta

Abstract

Tourism is recognized as the strategic industry that has created jobs and generated incomes for the nations. The tourism studies have admitted that residents are very important in tourism development because they are the main actors and they participate with tourism in many ways. Residents interact and share their local facilities, services, knowledge and talents with tourists. Residents are also those who receive most impacts from tourism in the long time and thus have more concern on the sustainability of their place. In managing tourism industry, support from the residents is necessary because successful operation and sustainability depend heavily on residents’ good-will. This study constructed a model of residents support for tourism development and its structural relationship with residents’ satisfaction, involvement, and place attachments. Using a valid sample size of 179 residents from 14 districts in the city of Yogyakarta, the findings revealed that support for tourism development are influenced by residents’ involvement and place attachment. Residents’ satisfaction did not affect residents support. Residents’ involvement in tourism influenced both residents’ satisfaction and place attachment. Place attachments influenced residents’ support on tourism development. Considering the important role of city’s residents’ support on tourism development, therefore, understanding the factors that may lead to residents’ support on tourism should be encouraged and well planed.