Roles of place identity distinctiveness and continuity on resident attitude toward tourism

Abstract

Tourism literature pointed out that resident attitude toward tourism is not only affected by what benefits residents can get from tourism development, but also by their place-based identities disregarding the benefits from tourism development. However, few studies have ever empirically explored the nature of the relationships between place identity components and resident attitude toward tourism. This study focuses on discussing the direct and indirect effects of place identity’s four components (i.e., place distinctiveness, continuity, self-esteem, and self-efficacy) and resident attitude toward tourism development. One major contribution of this study is that, based on a modified model, this study detects the significant roles of place-based distinctiveness and continuity in predicting resident attitude toward tourism development, which are mainly carried through place-based self-esteem. Significance and implications of this study are discussed.