Margaret Deery and Leo Jago Centre for Tourism and Services Research Victoria University Liz Fredline Griffith Univers

2. Background to the Research Context This research was undertaken at two coastal town research sites: Town A is at the early stages of tourism development, is quite small and has a high number of non-permanent residents Town B is a larger seaside resort and is a mature tourism destination Aims The key aims of the research were to: measure the perceptions of residents, both permanent and non-permanent, with regard to: The social impact of tourism on personal quality of life and The social impact of tourism on the community as a whole determine whether resident social and political values could be used as predictors of resident perceptions and attitudes towards tourism

3. Key Literature Streams 1. Materialist/postmaterialist values research: Inglehart (1971; 1981; 1993): “Not the importance of political issues as such, but the relative importance of particular issues vis-a-vis other issues defines the concept of political value orientations in Inglehart’s theory.” (Moors and Vermunt 2007) Focussed on 12 goal statements Lafferty and Knutsen (1985) – tested Inglehart’s factors and items Davis and Davenport (1999): argue that Inglehart’s ranking method is invalid Values - an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence (Rokeach, 1973: 5)

4. Key Literature Streams (contd) 2. Resident attitudes and perceptions Substantial research in this area: Easterling’s 2004 overview useful Importance of work of Ap and Crompton (1998), Faulkner and Tideswell (1997), Gursoy, Jurowski and Uysal (2002), Andereck, Valentine, Knopf and Vogt (2005), Choi and Sirakaya (2005) Relationship between attitudes to tourism and values explored by: Lindberg and Johnson (1997): found that the strength of resident values towards economic gain better predicted attitudes towards tourism than values regarding disruptions within the community; Conservatives (materialists) are more likely to be pro-tourism; Snepenger and Johnson (1991): findings suggest that there is a relationship between one's political persuasion and attitudes towards tourism. Attitude: a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour (Eagley and Chaiken 1993:1)

5. Method: Instrument Design Instrument design based on Fredline (2000) The questionnaire contained: 14 item impact statements Demographic information Questions relating to: Level of contact with tourists Whether respondents worked in the tourism industry Level of attachment to the region Materialism/post materialism values

6. Inglehart’s Value Scale (1981) Set A. Maintaining a high level of economic growth. Making sure this country has strong defence forces. Seeing that people have more say about how things are done at their jobs and in their communities. Trying to make our cities and countryside more beautiful. Set B. Maintaining order in the nation. Giving people more say in important government decisions. Fighting rising prices. Protecting freedom of speech. Set C. A stable economy. Progress toward a less impersonal and more humane society Progress toward a society in which ideas count more than money. The fight against crime.’

7. Example of Values Questions using Ranking 13. Listed below are four goals for society which different people may consider important. Please place a 1 in the box next to the one you consider to be most important. Please place a 2 in the box next to the one you consider to be second most important.   Maintaining a high level of economic growth   Making sure that this country has strong defence forces Seeing that people have more say about how things are done at their jobs and in their communities   Trying to make our cities and countryside more beautiful  

8. Method (contd) Research sites: Two coastal tourism towns Town A: small, early tourism development Town B: large, mature tourism destination Sampling Frame: The population was defined as all property owners in both Regions and an appropriate sampling frame was obtained from the council ratepayers listing. Administration: The survey was administered via post on. One survey was issued to each household, although additional surveys could be requested via e-mail or telephone. All surveys were returned via reply paid envelopes

9. Method (contd) Analysis: Descriptive statistics on demographic and psychographics Chi-square contingency analysis on ranked Inglehart’s Values groups (postmaterialists, mixed and materialists) and demographics and psychographics Analysis of means on the three groups: The impact of tourism on personal quality of life (measured on a scale from -3 to +3) The impact of tourism on the community as a whole (measured on a scale from -3 to +3) Analysis of means on the specific impacts

10. Findings: Respondent Profile of Town A –small town, emerging tourism

11. Findings: Respondent Profile of Town B – larger town, mature tourism destination

12. Findings: Values and Attitudes to Tourism

13. Impacts of Tourism on Community as a Whole: Positive and Negative

14. Impacts of Tourism on Personal Quality of Life and Values: Positive and Negative Impacts (Town A) Highest Rated Positive Impacts for Town A: The facilities that tourism provided for the town The pride in town The economic benefit from tourism Highest Rated Negative Impacts for Town A: Impact of tourism on the environment Disruption to normal way of life Changes in the character of the town. Postmaterialists were more negative than either the mixed or materialist groups. They tended to focus on less ‘tangible’ issues. Materialists were very positive about the impact of tourism on issues such as the maintenance of facilities, the pride in the town and the economic benefits of tourism.

15. Impacts of Tourism on Personal Quality of Life and Values: Positive and Negative (Town B) Highest Rated Positive Impacts for Town B: The economic benefit from tourism Employment opportunities Property values Highest Rated Negative Impacts for Town B: Impact of tourism on the environment Disruption to normal way of life Delinquent behaviour All groups (postmaterialist, mixed and materialist) from Town B were much more negative than any of the groups in Town A The materialists were extremely negative about ‘tangible’ issues such as parking, congestion, and general inconvenience to their lives

16. Discussion and Implications The findings confirm Inglehart’s thesis that it is possible to predict people’s responses to issues based on their values: Postmaterialists will be less favourably disposed towards tourism than materialists. At the community level, a higher percentage of postmaterialists in Town B were concerned about the impact of tourism on the environment and the character of the town, whereas the materialists were more concerned about congestion and economic benefits. At the personal level, postmaterialists in Town A were concerned about the impact of tourism on the character of the town and the environment, fitting Inglehart’s description of the group. The findings confirm Lindberg and Johnson’s argument that conservative (materialist) residents are more likely to be pro-tourism

17. Implications As a generalisation, tourism development may be more acceptable in areas where there is a greater ratio of materialists to postmaterialists (in liberal, rather than labour, dominated destinations). Materialists will value tourism if it: Improves the local economy Increases employment opportunities The values of a more postmaterialist dominated destination will focus around issues such as: Managing and maintaining the environment Retaining the character of the destination Providing facilities for all residents, not just tourists

18. Implications for the Tourism Industry and Academe Tourism policy and planning agencies need to understand residents’ values in order to: Provide tourism development that aligns with the dominant community values Garner community support for tourism development Focus on addressing the issues that are important to the community Use language that speak to each groups within the communities Academics need to examine the link between values and support for tourism more thoroughly through: Larger empirical studies which are undertaken: Over time In a range of tourism destinations