An Investigation of the Relationship Between Tourism Impacts and Host Communities' Characteristics

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Abstract
This study attempts to identify what the community characteristics affect residents' perceptions of tourism development. To address the above objective, two research questions were developed: (1) how do host community residents perceive and categorize the impacts of tourism development? and (2) are there any relationships between the host community's characteristics, and perception and categorization of tourism impacts? Three hundred sixteen questionnaires obtained from a mail survey of Virginian residents living in an urban area were analyzed. Five impact factors are first identified through a factor analysis: economic benefits, social costs, cultural enrichment, environmental deterioration, and physical enhancement. Then, from a series of regression analyses, seven out of ten community characteristics are found to affect the perceived tourism impacts. Implications and suggestions are presented in the conclusion.