Place Attachment, Perception of Place and Residents’ Support for Tourism Development

ABSTRACT Although place attachment is a critical factor shaping residents’ attitudes towards tourism development, the relationship between the perceived qualities of a place (place image) and attachment to it has been underexplored within the context of tourism. This study proposes a model which integrates both place attachment and perception of place and examines their effect on the perceived tourism impacts and on residents’ support for tourism development. Findings suggest that (a) place attachment precedes perception of place; (b) perception of place positively affects perceived impacts and (c) perception of impacts positively affects support for tourism development. The study extends prior work on tourism development by incorporating both emotional and physical evaluations of a place when modelling residents’ attitudes towards tourism. The study also offers practical implications that are particularly important for the formation of sustainable tourism development programmes.