Host community attitudes toward tourism and cultural tourism development: the case of the Lewes District, southern England

Abstract

Increasingly research is being conducted on host community attitudes toward tourism. However, few studies have been conducted at a regional level and none have examined the attitudes of the host community towards both tourism and cultural tourism development. This paper outlines a study conducted in the Lewes District of southern England and notes that although residents are generally supportive of tourism development and cultural tourism development, there are differences in opinion concerning the perceived economic and social benefits. In particular, levels of income and proximity to the tourist centre were major influencing factors. Conclusions and recommendations are made concerning the need for tourism planners to distribute the benefits more widely and to engage residents from different socio-economic groups and localities in tourism planning and development activities.

The British host: just how welcoming are we?

“…As noted by Ritchie and Inkari (2006), representations are resistant to change, however direct contact and social interaction with tourists will provide hosts with more information upon which to base their representations, and this may act as a catalyst for change in perceptions (Pearce et al 1996;Fredline and Faulkner 2000). This was supported by research into working tourists in Israel, in which Pizam et al (2000) found that intergroup contact can enhance understanding and acceptance.…”

“…For a positive experience, tourism requires the host to welcome tourists, to extend friendship, courtesy and hospitality and to tolerate inconvenience (Ap 1992). This in turn requires a positive host attitude to tourism, a subject into which there has been a substantial body of research (Snepenger et al 2001;Fredline & Faulkner 2000;Ritchie & Inkari 2006). Such studies have been categorised as community or "extrinsic" studies, where variables that affect the whole community are studied, and individual or "intrinsic" studies, which focus on individuals within the community and variations in their attitudes or opinions toward tourism (Williams and Lawson 2001;Faulkner and Tideswell, 1997).…”

“…Such studies have been categorised as community or "extrinsic" studies, where variables that affect the whole community are studied, and individual or "intrinsic" studies, which focus on individuals within the community and variations in their attitudes or opinions toward tourism (Williams and Lawson 2001;Faulkner and Tideswell, 1997). The latter studies recognize the fact that as tourism can create both positive and negative impacts on communities, residents are likely to hold different attitudes (Zhang et al 2006;Gursey et al2002;Williams and Lawson 2001;Ritchie & Inkari 2006), and researchers have studied many factors affecting individual attitudes, including: attachment to the community or length of residence, knowledge about the industry, contact with tourists, political and demographic position in society, sociodemographic characteristics, type and form of tourism, and economic benefits derived from tourism (see Gursey et al 2002 and Williams and Lawson for a detailed review).…”

“…However, this theory has not been universally accepted, and others have proposed social representation theory to help understand resident attitudes (Pearce et al 1996;Fredline and Faulkner 2000;Zhange et al 2006;Ritchie and Inkari 2006). It is how individuals form representations of objects and events around them that is important, and social representation theory suggests that direct experience and social interaction as well as the media all play a part in this (Fredline and Faulkner 2000;Zhange et al 2006;Ritchie and Inkari 2006).…”

Managing tourism decline: insights from the Isle of Man

“…Yet resorts suffering long-term stagnation (in the broad terms outlined by Butler (1980) in the ubiquitous tourism area lifecycle model) are little covered by past tourism literature (Agarwal and Brunt, 2006). Focus tends instead to be upon nascent, growing or mature destinations, as it does on primary destinations and those orientated towards warm water, sun, sea and sand pursuits (Baldacchino, 2006, Canavan, 2014, Ritchie and Inkari, 2006. Moreover, there is a lack of research investigating attitudes of stakeholders in such places.…”