Stakeholders’ Attitudes towards
Sustainable Tourism Development
in Coastal Communities
Whitney Knollenberg
Thesis Committee
Dr. Joseph Fridgen, Associate Director for Academic Programs,
Center for Sustainable Tourism (Committee Chair)
Dr. Huili Hao, Research Director, Center for Sustainable Tourism
Dr. Tom Crawford, Associate Professor, Geography
Overview
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What is sustainable tourism development?
Why do we care what residents think?
Description of theory
Study location
Purpose
Method
Analysis
Results
Conclusions
Applications
Future Research
Sustainable Tourism Development
“…achieving sustainable forms of tourism is the
responsibility of all stakeholders involved,
including government at all levels, international
organizations, the private sector, environmental
groups and citizens both in tourism destination
countries and countries of origin.”
– The Berlin Declaration On
Biological Diversity and Sustainable Tourism, 1997
Sustainable Tourism Development
Actions that contribute to a balanced and
healthy economy by generating tourism-related
jobs, revenues, and taxes while protecting and
enhancing the destination's socio-cultural,
historical, natural and built resources for the
enjoyment and well-being of both residents
and visitors.
– Center for Sustainable Tourism
Importance of Residents’ Attitudes
• Many studies have been conducted examining
resident’s attitudes towards tourism
• “…without community support, it is difficult to
develop a sustainable tourism industry in a
community.” - Andereck and Vogt, 2000 (p. 27)
• New research is focusing on resident’s
attitudes towards sustainable tourism
development (Choi and Sirakaya, 2005 and
2006 )
Stakeholder Theory
• Stakeholder Theory
– A stakeholder is, “any group or individual who can affect or is
affected by the achievement of the organization’s
objectives.”
- Freeman, 1984 (p. 46)
• Translating Stakeholder Theory to tourism
– “Freeman’s concepts requires the tourism planner(s) to have
a full appreciation of all the persons or groups who have
interests in the planning, process(es), delivery and/or
outcomes of the tourism service.”
- Sautter and Leisen, 1999 (p. 315)
• Not all members of a stakeholder group may
feel the same way
Location
• The fragile nature of coastal environments
requires local decision-makers to consider how
their actions may impact the resources that
attract tourists, such as the ocean and beaches
• Coastal communities have large numbers of
second homes, which introduces a new group
impacted by tourism
Study Areas
• Three coastal counties
– Brunswick, Currituck, Pender Counties, NC
Counties selected due to:
High percentage of 2nd Homes
Different tiers of economic development
Proximity to fragile coastal resources
Purpose
This study aims to further enable resident
involvement in tourism planning by identifying
groups of property owners based upon their
attitudes towards sustainable development.
• Research Question 1: Among coastal community property
owners, are there different stakeholder groups based on
their perceptions of sustainable actions in tourism
development?
• Research Question 2: How do these stakeholder groups
compare in terms of sociodemographic characteristics?
Methods
• Questionnaire development – pilot tests,
focus groups, literature review
• Population – Property tax payers (both
permanent residents and second
homeowners)
• Sample –Total of 14,587 members were
randomly selected from property tax records
• Questionnaire available online, over the
phone, or on paper
Subsample Selection
• Prior to the completion of data collection a
subsample was chosen for this study
• Online surveys only
• Random selection of 300 cases
Analysis
• Similar to the analysis used by Williams and Lawson (2001)
and Sirakaya-Turk, Ingram and Harrill (2009) exploratory factor
analysis and cluster analysis will be used to analyze the data.
• Exploratory factor analysis
– Used to identify the underlying dimensions of variables designed to
measure respondent’s perceptions on the importance of sustainable
actions in tourism development
• TwoStep Cluster analysis
– Determines groups of respondents based upon the dimensions of
responses to the variables resulting from factor analysis
• Descriptive analysis
– Used to create profile of each group based upon their
sociodemographic characteristics
Sustainable Actions
• Measured on a scale of 1 (Not at All Important) – 5 (Very Important)
• These actions were adapted from Sustainable Travel International's 12
categories of sustainability
• Reducing and managing greenhouse
gas emissions
• Managing, reducing and recycling
solid waste
• Reducing consumption of freshwater
• Managing wastewater
• Being energy efficient
• Conserving the natural environment
• Protecting air quality
Protecting water quality
Reducing noise
Preserving culture and heritage
Providing economic benefits from
tourism to locals
• Purchasing from companies with
certified green practices
• Training and educating employees and
clients on sustainability practices
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• These actions were identified through a literature review
• Protecting our community’s natural
environment for future generations
• Full access for everyone in the
community to participation in tourism
development decisions
Results – Factor Analysis
• Fifteen variables used to measure property owners’
attitudes towards sustainable actions in tourism
development
• Cronbach’s alpha = .935
• Principal component analysis (PCA) extraction used
Variable
Eigen Value = 8.13
Variance Explained = 54.16%
Factor 1
Reducing and managing greenhouse gas emissions
.751
Managing, reducing and recycling solid waste
Reducing freshwater consumption
Managing wastewater
Being energy efficient
Conserving the natural environment
.812
.761
.702
.873
.819
Protecting our community's natural environment for future generations
.810
Protecting air quality
Protecting water quality
Reducing noise
Preserving culture and heritage
Providing economic benefits from tourism to locals
Purchasing from companies with certified green practices
.795
.765
.613
.579
.489
.782
Training and educating employees and clients on sustainability practices
.802
Full access for everyone in the community to participation in tourism
development decisions
.565
Results – Cluster Analysis
• The 15 variables were used to create a mean factor
score
• This score was used in TwoStep cluster analysis to
determine the groups of property owners
• Three groups were discovered and an ANOVA test
confirmed their mean factor scores were
significantly different
Cluster
Name
n
% of Sample
1
Skeptics
35
11.7%
Average Mean Factor
Score
2.85
2
Supporters
159
53.0%
3.95
3
Advocates
106
35.3%
4.71
Sustainable Action in Tourism Development
Being energy efficient
Conserving the natural environment
Full access for everyone in the community to
participate in tourism development decisions
Managing wastewater
Managing, reducing and recycling solid waste
Preserving culture and heritage
Protecting air quality
Protecting natural environment for future
generations
Protecting water quality
Providing economic benefits from tourism to locals
Purchasing from companies with green practices
Reducing and managing greenhouse gas
Reducing freshwater consumption
Reducing noise
Training and educating employees on
sustainability practices
Skeptics
Supporters Advocates
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Results – Sociodemographic Profiles
Property Owner
PR
2HO
Length of Residency
PR
2HO
Gender *
Male
Female
Education
Employment in Tourism
Income
* Significant at .05
Skeptics
Supporters
Advocates
60.0%
40.0%
48.4%
51.6%
50.0%
50.0%
17.14 years
16.27 years
14.97 years
13.30 years
13.83 years
11.94 years
74.3%
25.7%
56.6%
43.3%
38.7%
61.3%
4 – Year College
40.0%
4 – Year College
32.1%
Post Graduate
40.6%
14.3%
8.8%
6.6%
<$50,000
(31.4%)
$100,000 $199,999 (35.8%)
$50,000 $99,999 (38.7%)
Additional Characteristics
• Attitudes towards current levels of tourism
development
– Advocates had the most members (15.1%) who
felt tourism had reached a point where they
wished they purchase property elsewhere
• Satisfaction with quality of life
– Moderate satisfaction with healthcare, housing,
recreational opportunities and water quality
Conclusions
• Research Question 1: Among coastal
community property owners, are there
different stakeholder groups based on their
perceptions of sustainable actions in tourism
development?
– Within the population of property owners there
are three attitude-specific stakeholder groups:
Skeptics, Supporters and Advocates
– Differing attitudes on what actions are important
Competing
Destinations
Public
Land
Managers
Local
Policy
Makers
Environ
ment
Activist
Groups
Local
Businesses
Developers
Advocates
Property
Owners
Skeptics
Supporters
Tourists
Tourism
Planners
Historians/
Preservation
Groups
Coastal
Zone
Mangers
Employees
Business
Groups
Adapted from Sautter, E. T. and Leisen, B. (1999). Managing stakeholders: A tourism planning model. Annals of Tourism
Research, 26(2), 312 – 328.
Conclusions
• Research Question 2: How do these
stakeholder groups compare in terms of
sociodemographic characteristics?
– There are few sociodemographic features which
distinguish the members of each group
– Adds to the challenge of identifying all
stakeholder groups
Applications
• A change in tourism development would
require input from property owners
• Planners should be aware there is potential
for conflict among property owners
• These findings support the need for further
public involvement in the tourism planning
process
Future Research
• Apply data collection methods to larger
population
• Further exploration of relationship between
support for general tourism development
and attitudes towards sustainable actions
• Explore other predictors of attitudes towards
sustainable actions
References
Andereck, K.L. and Vogt, C.A. (2000). The relationship between residents’ attitudes toward
tourism and tourism development options. Journal of Travel Research, 39, 27 – 36.
Berlin Declaration (1997). The Berlin declaration on biological diversity and sustainable
tourism. International Conference of Environment Ministers on Biodiversity and Tourism.
March 6–8. Berlin, Germany: United Nations.
Center for Sustainable Tourism (n.d.) What is Sustainable Tourism? Retrieved from
www.sustainabletourism.org
Choi, H.C. and Sirakaya, E. (2005). Measuring residents’ attitude toward sustainable tourism:
Development of sustainable tourism attitude scale. Journal of Travel Research, 43 (3),
380 – 394
Choi, H.C. and Sirakaya, E. (2006). Sustainability indicators for managing community tourism.
Tourism Management, 27, 1274 – 1289
Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Boston, MA: Pitman.
Sautter, E. T. and Leisen, B. (1999). Managing stakeholders: A tourism planning model.
Annals of Tourism Research, 26(2), 312 – 328
Sirakaya-Turk, E., Ingram, L, and Harrill, R. (2009). Resident typologies within the integrative
paradigm of sustaincentric tourism development. Tourism Analysis, 13, 531 – 544
Williams, J. and Lawson, R. (2001). Comuity Issues and Residents Opinions of Tourism.
Annals of Tourism Research, 28(2), 269 - 290
Questions?