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Faculty of Organisation and Management

BSc (Honours) Tourism Management

Title Local Residents Perceptions and Attitudes towards

Tourism Development on Lamma Island, Hong Kong Name Chan Wing Ching Rachel Student No 91203351 Month Year April 2009

Sheffield Hallam University

Faculty of Organisation and Management

Title Local Residents Perceptions and Attitudes towards

Tourism Development on Lamma Island, Hong Kong FULL NAME Chan Wing Ching Rachel STUDENT No 91203351 SUPERVISOR Dr. Connie Mok In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management. MONTH YEAR April 2009

Sheffield Hallam University i

Sheffield Hallam University - BSc (Hons) Tourism Management Local Residents Perceptions and Attitudes towards Tourism Development on Lamma Island, Hong Kong

ACKOWNLEDGEMENTS

It is with deep gratitude that I have to thank Dr. Connie Mok, my supervisor, for

her support and guidance throughout my research. With her expertise, she

gave me lots of constructive comments and challenges that pushed me to

strive for excellent in this research.

Besides, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my American friend, Ms.

Lorraine Kong for taking her precious time to help me to do the editing works

on this paper.

Last but not least, my great gratitude goes to my family and friends. This

research could not have been completed without their encouragement and

unfailing support.

Sheffield Hallam University ii


ABSTRACT

This paper focused on examination of perceptions and attitudes of Lamma

residents towards tourism development on the island. Research was

conducted in the major tourist areas of the island by employing a face-to-face

survey. The questionnaire contained Likert scale statements concerning the

tourism impacts in the social, economic and environmental dimensions.

Independent t-tests and one-way ANOVA tests in Statistical Package for the

Social Sciences (SPSS) were employed to investigate the attitudinal

statements. The study was mainly based on the Social Exchange Theory. The

results showed that residents hold favorable attitude towards the Lammas

tourism although some residents presented their concerns about the negative

impacts of tourism development. Another important contribution of this study

reconfirmed the assumption on community attachment. It reported the

attachment to community was negatively correlated to the residents overall

attitudes. Furthermore, the views of community were not homogeneous.

Residents income level and employment reliance on tourism were found to be

the major factors which influenced their attitudes. It reconfirmed that those

residents who were economically reliant on tourism had more favorable

attitudes towards tourism development than those who were not. Research

results serve as a reference source for monitoring resident attitudes and

initiating community involvement for future sustainable development.

Sheffield Hallam University iii


CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

CONTENTS iii

LIST OF TABLES v

LIST OF FIGURES vi

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN LAMMA ISLAND 2

1.1.1 Tourism Project in Recent Years 4

1.2 THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 5 1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 7

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 8

2.1 PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES 9 2.1.1 Doxeys Irridex Model 10

2.1.2 Bulter Destination Life Cycle Model 11

2.1.3 Social Exchange Theory 14

2.2 Relationships between Independent Variables and Resident Attitudes 16 2.2.1 Economic Dependency 17

2.2.2 Socio-demographics 18

2.2.3 Community Attachment 19

2.2.4 Community Satisfaction 20

2.2.5 Community Concerns 21

2.2.6 Seasonality 22

2.3 EFFECTS OF TOURISM IMPACTS ON RESIDENT ATTITUDES 23 2.3.1 Economic Impacts 23

2.3.2 Social Impacts 25

2.3.3 Environmental Impacts 26

2.3.4 Path Analytic Model 27

2.4 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT 29

Sheffield Hallam University iv


Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY 31 3.1 RESEARCH INSTRUMENT 31

3.1.1 Design of the Questionnaire 32

3.2 SAMPLING 33 3.3 DATA COLLECTION 34 3.4 DATA ANALYSIS 35 3.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH 36

Chapter 4 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 39 4.1 RESPONDENT PROFILE 39 4.2 ATTITUDINAL STATEMENT ASSESSMENT 40

4.2.1 Overall Residents Perceptions & Attitudes 41

4.2.1.1 Perceptions and Attitudes on Social Impacts 44

4.2.1.2 Perceptions and Attitudes on Economic Impacts 45

4.2.1.3 Perceptions and Attitudes on Environmental Impacts 47 4.2.2 Community Attachment 48

4.2.3 Differences by Respondents Socio-demographics 50 4.2.3.1 Differences by Income Level 51

4.2.3.2 Differences by Employment Reliance 53

4.2.3.3 Differences by Length of Residence 55

4.2.3.4 Differences by Frequency of Using Tourist Facilities 57

4.2.3.5 Differences by Resident Relatives on the Island 59

4.2.3.6 Differences by Age 61

4.2.3.7 Differences by Education Level 64

4.2.3.8 Differences by Property Ownership 66

4.2.3.9 Differences by Gender 68

4.3 THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS 70

Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS 73

Chapter 6 RECOMMENDATIONS 77 6.1 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT ON LAMMA ISLAND 77 6.2 FURTHER RESEARCH 78

REFERENCES 80

BIBILOGRAPHY 88

APPENDICES 89

Sheffield Hallam University v


LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Doxeys Irridex Model and Associated Features 10

Table 2.2 Factors Identified and Tested by Various Researchers as

Explanation of Residents Attitudes towards Tourism 17

Table 4.1 Socio-demographic Characteristics of the Sample 40

Table 4.2 Overall Responses to Tourism Statements 42

Table 4.3 Ranking of Likert Scale Resident Attitudinal Statements 43

Table 4.4 Indicators of Resident Attachment to the Community 48

Table 4.5 Mean Scores and ANOVA Test for Residents Income Level 52

Table 4.6 Mean Scores and t-test for Residents Employment

Reliance on Tourism 53

Table 4.7 Mean Scores and ANOVA Test for Communitys Length of

Residence 56

Table 4.8 Mean Scores and ANOVA Test for Residents Usage of

Tourist Facilities 58

Table 4.9 Mean Scores and t-test for Resident Relatives on the Island 60

Table 4.10 Mean Scores and ANOVA Test for Residents Age 62

Table 4.11 Mean Scores and ANOVA Test for Residents Education

Level 64

Table 4.12 Mean Scores and t-test for Residents Property Ownership

on the Island 67

Table 4.13 Mean Scores and t-test for Gender of Residents 69

Sheffield Hallam University vi


LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Hypothetical Evolution of a Tourist Area 12

Figure 2.2 Residents Willingness toward Further Tourism Development 15

Figure 2.3 Partnership Model of Sustainable Tourism 29

Figure 4.1 Levels of Community Attachment 49

Sheffield Hallam University 1


Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

The worldwide advocacy of tourism in the past two decades had supported

rapid development of the tourism industry in both developed and developing

countries. In the twenty-first century, travel and tourism had become one of the

worlds largest industries, it had even dominated the hospitality sector for

several countries. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 2008) estimated

that there were 903 million tourists in 2007 which the UNWTO amounted to

more than 10 percent of the worlds population. According to the study of the

Tourism 2020 Vision (UNWTO, 2001), the UNWTO expected that the

international tourist arrivals would reach 1.6 billion by the year 2020, and the

estimation showed that East Asia and Pacific would share 397 million arrivals,

which would be the second most rapid growth after Middle East.

The Hong Kongs total tourist arrivals, which was majorly contributed by

mainland Chinese tourists, had increased shapely since July 2003, when the

government of the Peoples Republic of China encouraged mainland Chinese

travelers to come to Hong Kong by introducing the Individual Visit Scheme. In

2007, 17.2 million international tourists came to Hong Kong which made her

became the fifteenth international tourism destination in the year (UNWTO,



2008). The Tourism 2020 Vision (UNWTO, 2001) also predicted that Hong

Kong, as an individual inbound country, would be the next leading tourist

destination when 57 million Chinese arrivals in 2020 would be taken into

account.

Murphy (1983, p180) argued that Tourism is a major agent of transformation.

Tourism development changes society and it environment. The development

of tourism, especially in a rapid pace, would significantly affect and even alter

the life of the host community. Therefore, resident acceptance of tourism

development is considered important for the long-term success of tourism in a

destination (Andriotis and Vaughan, 2003, p183). The perceptions and

attitudes, affecting the acceptance, of local residents towards tourism

development had become a major issue across the world.

1.1. Tourism Development on Lamma Island

Lamma Island was at the southwest of the Hong Kong Island. With the size

13.7 square kilometers, Lamma Island made itself the third largest island in

Hong Kong. There were about six thousand people live on Lamma (C&SD,

2006). With its well-known seafood meals and natural scenery, Lamma Island



was one of the most popular scenic attractions in Hong Kong. (Lamma

Fisherfolks Village, 2006).

In the past, tourism in Lamma Island grew slowly. The slow growth might be

caused by lack of tourist attractions. At that time all one could find in Lamma

were seafood and villages (HKTB, 2008a). In the year 2006 wind power

electric generators Lamma Winds were built. With the conspicuous shape of

Lamma Winds and spectacular scenery of the Hong Kong Island that one

could view at the site of the generator, it had become a landmark since 2006

(HEH, 2008b). The development of the windmill not only aroused the

importance of sustainability and the environmental concerns in the community,

but also helped to accelerate the tourism development on the island.

Since it continuously contributed 1% to the total visitor number in the past few

years, with the figure of 2,789,354 in 2007 (HKTB, 2008b), a few tourism

projects were specifically organized and promoted. They aimed to utilize the

natural resources of the island and showcase the local culture to rejuvenate

Lamma Island. Meanwhile, it aimed not to over exploit or degrade those

resources.



1.2.1. Tourism Project in Recent Years

Development of Ecotourism

In order to attracted more people, that reaped more economic benefit and

added more environmental value to the island, Green Lamma Green was

jointly organized by Hongkong Electric Holdings and a non-government

environmental organization called Conservancy Association. It was a

three-year project implemented from the year 2005 to 2008 (HEH, 2008a).

Green Lamma Green aimed at strengthen habitat conservations (of the rare

animals) and peoples awareness of environmental protection, thus push the

tourism of Lamma Island on the way to sustainable development

(Conservancy Association, 2008). The project included tree caring,

establishing eco-routes, tree planting alongside the trails, setting up

educational signs that introducing ecological information, eco-tour guide

trainings.

Development of Cultural Tourism

Hong Kong was once a small fishing village, so there were many traditional

cultures and lifestyles that Hong Kong people follows. Even though Hong Kong



had already been a metropolis, these traditional cultural and lifestyle should

not be forgotten or lost. Therefore, in order to provide opportunities for people

to explore the long-age fisherfolk culture and lifestyle, Lamma Fisherfolks

Village, that occupied area of 1,300 square meters with authentic fishing

facilities, was opened in 2007, (Lamma Fisherfolks Village, 2006).

The village was a showcase of the history of Hong Kongs fishery industry and

indigenous community used to live in the islands typhoon shelter (HKTB,

2009). Visitors could learn and even experience traditional fishing culture

through various activities. It helped the development of tourism. Meanwhile,

the establishment of the village could promote the historic uniqueness of Hong

Kongs fishery culture.

1.2. The Purpose of the Study

In 2007 Policy Address, Hong Kong Government announced to image Hong

Kong as an international convention, exhibition and tourism capital. Thus, it

was believed that further effort was put on promoting development of tourism

in the following years.



However, tourism in Hong Kong was most likely to be developed in favor of

business objectives. Development of tourism tended to concern economists

viewpoints instead of environment supporters. Limited focus were put on

enhancing the sustainability of Hong Kong and also the industry, hence, the

studies related to this context were definitely limited.

In recent years, ecotourism and cultural tourism had been aggressively

developing on Lamma Island. In the course of development, the support from

local residents, which acted as host communities, is critical factor since they

would influence the performance of the local tourism industry (Murphy, 1985;

Ap, 1992; Ko and Stewart, 2002). As Murphy (1985, p153) argued, if

development and planning does not fit in with local aspirations and

capabilities, resistance and hostility can raise the cost of business or destroy

the industrys potential altogether. Therefore, this study aimed at providing

meaningful results for local planners and tourism developers to monitor

resident attitudes towards tourism development on Lamma Island.



1.3. Objectives of the Study

Local resident group is one of the crucial elements of tourism development as

tourism is associated with the contacts and reactions of residents. Blank (1989,

p4) stated that it is in communities that tourism happens. Therefore, as a part

of community, the residents perceptions and attitudes like their acceptance

and hospitality level are particularly influential towards the tourism

development.

Specifically, the aims of this study focused on the following objectives:

1. To identify the overall perceptions and attitudes of the local residents of

Lamma Island towards tourists and tourism development;

2. To identify the relationship between overall perceptions and attitudes

towards tourism and community attachment;

3. To examine different variables in relation to Lamma residents attitudes

towards tourism; and

4. To make recommendations to Lamma Island on promoting the

sustainability of tourism development



Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

As the advocacy of sustainability in the past decades, tourism should be grown

and managed according to the principles of sustainable development. The

conference proceedings by UNWTO (2006) reported that the local

communities were at the levels where tourism impacts are mostly keenly felt,

conservation challenges must be met and culture is most affected. Therefore,

many scholars asserted that the local community should be involved in the

decision-making process and benefit sharing in order to achieve sustainable

tourism development (Murphy, 1985; Swarbrooke, 1999; Hall and Richards,

2003; Mason, 2003).

Most researchers found that the initial attitudes towards tourism by local

residents were critical to the community involvement for the tourism

development (Murphy, 1981; Wang, Pfister and Morais, 2006). Consequently,

the deep understanding of resident perceptions and attitudes helped to

enhance the greater community involvement in sustainable tourism context,

which was the common ultimate goal for destinations.



2.1. Perceptions and Attitudes

Perceptions has been defined as the process involved people selecting,

organizing and interpreting information to form a meaningful picture of the

world (Kotler and Armstrong, 1996). It would affect how people see and

interpret the matters of the world. Attitudes has been defined as a state of

mind of the individual toward a value (Allport, 1996, p24) and as an enduring

predisposition towards a particular aspect of ones environment (McDougall

and Munro, 1987, p87). It would be closely related to deeply held values and

personality, but it would be also reinforced by individuals perceptions and

beliefs of reality. However, according to Getz (1994), the changing conditions

and perceptions affected the direction of attitudes.The dynamic nature of,

individuals relationship with, or perception of tourism therefore evolved and

differentiated individuals attitudes.

As perceptions and attitudes influenced ones interpretations and mind, they

would also affect individuals acceptance towards everything, including tourism

development. Andriotis and Vaughan (2003) asserted that the resident

acceptance of tourism development was considered and linked with the

success of a given destinations tourism, especially the long-term one. Hence,



the unwilling host community was not conductive to an effective tourism

development. Several models and theories proposed to evaluate what factors

influencing residents perceptions and attitudes towards tourism development

would be presented in the following paragraphs.

2.1.1. Doxeys Irridex Model

Doxeys Irridex Model (1975) was one of the most influential models to clarify

the relationship between the impacts of tourism and local residents attitudes

towards tourism. The Irritation Index or Irridex Model (1975) suggested that

residents attitudes towards tourism might pass through a predictable

sequence of reactions, from initial euphoria, through apathy and annoyance

to antagonism, as perceived costs exceeded the expected benefits (see Table

2.1).

TABLE 2.1: DOXEYS IRRIDEX MODEL AND ASSOCIATED FEATURES

Euphoria Visitors are welcome and there is little planning

Apathy Visitors are taken for granted and contact becomes more formal

Annoyance Saturation is approached and the local people have misgivings. Planners attempt to

control via increasing infrastructure rather than limiting growth

Antagonism Open expression of irritation and planning is remedial, yet promotion is increased to

offset the deteriorating reputation of the destination

Adapted from Doxey (1975) and Mason (2003, p22)



It argued that the increase the number of tourists and tourism development,

the greater the emergence of hostility from local residents. In a recent study

(Allen, Long, Perdue and Kieselbach, 1988), it was argued that

low-to-moderate tourism development would be perceived as beneficial to the

local residents, but their perceptions turned negative quickly as the

development increased. Another scholar, Fridgen (1991) also asserted that

residents began to have negative stereotypes about tourism and its

development in the defined stage of antagonism.

Doxeys Irridex was mainly a conjecture since individuals perceptions and

attitudes might change in all directions time to time. Consequently, the

sequential Irritation Index should not be construed as being deterministic and

unidirectional.

2.1.2. Butler Destination Life Cycle Model

Among the major extrinsic factors found in the literature to be associated with

community attitudes is the degree or stage of the host destinations

development (Andriotis and Vaughan, 2003, p174). Butlers Tourist Area Life

Cycle (TALC) Model (1980) was one of the most cited and popular



investigations of community perceptions. It identified five stages of tourism

evolution at a tourist area. Stages were shown in Figure 2.1, including

exploration, involvement, development, consolidation and stagnation,

decline or rejuvenation (Butler, 1980). In the TALC model, the areas popularity

would grow rapidly during the first stages, however, as levels of carrying

capacity were reached the rate of increase in tourist numbers would decline

(Butler, 2006).

FIGURE 2.1: HYPOTHETICAL EVOLUTION OF A TOURIST AREA

Num

ber

of T

ouris

t

Time

Adapted from Butler (1980)

According to Johnson and Snepenger (2006), the TALC model was

conceptually longitudinal, implicitly demanding any study of tourism dynamics



to view changes over time (Butler, 1980). All the tourism impacts evident in any

communities were best viewed within a longitudinal context. For this study, it

was linked to Doxeys Irridex model to discuss the residents attitudes and

acceptance in relation to the level of tourism development.

Nevertheless, the TALC model was one of the most controversial areas of

tourism knowledge, since the tourism development varied in different

situations and locations, at different scales with different capacity issues, and

through different approaches (Butler, 2006). It was the reason why Butler

(1980) stated that not all the tourist area moved directly into a higher level. It

was also found that the resident groups applied in the TALC and Doxeys

Irridex models contained a sense of homogeneity (Mason and Cheyne, 2000).

Although the TALC model was proved by some researchers (Getz, 1994;

Agarwhal, 1997), arguments were still raised. The study by Brougham and

Butler (1981) challenged the homogenous characteristic and reported

heterogeneous responses from the community. It was still a lack of empirical

supports or appropriate evidences for the universal applicability of TALC

model.



2.1.3. Social Exchange Theory

The local populations perceptions and attitudes could dictate the extent of the

host communitys acceptability of tourism and thus its support (Andriotis, 2005).

Bearing this in mind, Social Exchange Theory has been considered as a more

appropriate theoretical framework in studying this tourism-community

relationship. It described residents perceptions and attitudes, for both positive

and negative, in relation to the tourism impacts from development (Ap, 2002;

McGehee and Andereck, 2004; Andriotis, 2005). Ap (1992) asserted that

residents evaluated tourism in terms of social exchange, that is, evaluate it in

terms of expected benefits and costs obtained in return for the services they

supply (p670). Specifically, the higher or more balanced the tangible or

intangible resources exchanged, the more positively the tourism impacts were

viewed by residents. Hence, the residents were keen to support further tourism

development as to exchange beneficial for their well-being. Conversely, when

the unbalanced resource exchange emerged, the exchange and tourism

impacts were viewed as problematic and thus opposed to tourism

development. The situation was illustrated in Figure 2.2.



FIGURE 2.2: RESIDENTS WILLINGNESS TOWARD FURTHER TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Local

Residents

Support for further tourism development

Restrictions to further tourism development

Indicates increased benefits from tourism development

Indicates decreased benefits from tourism development

Adapted from Andriotis (2005)

According to the study of communities in Colorado by Perdue, Long and Allen

(1990), it found that personal benefits were closely related to perceived

tourism impacts. The resident attitudes were formulated by the combination of

the perceptions of the economic, social and environmental impacts.

This sociological theory concerned the understanding of material, social or

psychological trade-offs between individuals and groups in an interaction

situation. It assumed that the social relations involved the trading and sharing

of resources among parties seeking mutual benefit from the exchange

relationship (Ap, 1992). Nevertheless, some researchers assumed that the

tourism development comes with economic benefits in exchange for social

and environmental impacts (Harrill, 2004).



Refer to the study of Virginia (Jurowski, Uysal and Williams, 1997), it found

that the strongest effect of the economic gain variable was on social and little

environmental impact variables. In the tourism context, Social Exchange

Theory referred to the gains and losses made as a result of residents

acceptance of tourists and tourist behaviors, and tourism related local changes

in the socio-economic, cultural, political and environmental conditions (Nepal,

2008, p46,47).

2.2. Relationships between Independent Variables and Resident

Attitudes

In the past few decades, local communities perceptions and attitude towards

tourism development had increasingly aroused interests from academicians,

policy makers and tourism industry managers (Zamani-Farahani and Musa,

2008). Other than the mentioned models and theories, based on Lankford and

Howardss study (1994), Nepal (2008) stated that empirical studies suggest

that significant variations in community attitudes and responses to tourism

development exist, and are influenced by a multitude of variables (p47) shown

in Table 2.2.



TABLE 2.2: FACTORS IDENTIFIED AND TESTED BY VARIOUS RESEARCHERS AS EXPLANATIONS OF RESIDENTS ATTITUDES TOWARDS TOURISM

Factor Studies Degree or stage of the host

destination development

Doxey (1975); Allen et al. (1988); Johnson, Snepenger and Akis (1994); Gilbert and

Clark (1997); Manson and Cheyne (2000); Andriotis and Vaughan (2003)

Economic and/or employment

dependency in tourism

Brougham and Butler (1981); Murphy (1981, 1983); Sheldon and Var (1984); Lankford

and Howard (1994); Mason and Cheyne (2000); Andriotis and Vaughan (2003);

Length of residency Pizam (1978); Sheldon and Var (1984); Liu and Var (1986); Allen et al. (1988); Snaith

and Haley (1999); Jackson and Inbakaran (2006)

Community attachment, community

satisfaction and community concerns

Brougham and Butler (1981); McCool and Martin (1994); Getz (1994); Jurowski et al.

(1997); Ko and Steward (2002); Harrill and Potts (2003); Napal, (2008)

Seasonality Sheldon and Var (1984); Andriotis and Vaughan (2003)

Gender Milman and Pizam (1988); Mason and Cheyne (2000); Harrill and Potts (2003) Age Brougham and Butler (1981)

Education Andriotis and Vaughan (2003)

Note: Only included those had empirical contributions to particular factors.

As the characteristics of communities varied in different destinations, the

influential levels of these variables were different. In this study, the factors

influencing resident attitudes could be grouped under six headings and

discussed in the following parts.

2.2.1. Economic Dependency

Ryan and Cooper (2002) asserted that direct economic dependency in the

tourism context was the single most important factor affecting views, based

on the study of Mason and Cheyne (2000). Many studies had found that local

residents who were economically dependent on tourism tended to have more

positive attitudes and favor tourist activities (Pizam, 1978; Brougham and



Butler, 1981; Lankford and Howard, 1994; Gilbert and Clark, 1997; Harrill,

2004). The studies revealed that residents concerning their personal benefits

commonly focused attention on how much economic advantages they could

gain, such as the local employment opportunities and economic diversity.

Surprisingly, some contradictory studies were demonstrated. Teye, Sonmex

and Sirakayas study of Ghana, Africa (2002) received a different point of the

common findings, it found that the tourism-reliant residents and their family

presented negative attitudes towards tourism. In addition, some researchers

found that no significant differentiation was on the relationship between

economic dependence and residents attitudes of tourism development (Liu

and Var, 1986; Cavus and Tanrsievdi, 2003).

2.2.2. Socio-demographics

According to Faulkner and Tideswell (1997), socio-demographics were defined

in the intrinsic dimension suggesting the heterogeneous nature of the

community and, thus, residents perceptions and attitudes might vary

depending on their own characteristics. Andriotis and Vaughan (2003) argued

that these intrinsic socio-demographic variables, including gender, age,



education and income level, had varied influences on residents attitudes

toward tourism. The major studies regarding socio-demographic variables had

been focused on the length of residence rather than other variables (Liu and

Var, 1986; Jackson and Inbakaran, 2006). However, some researches

reported that older residents had less positive attitudes about tourism

(Brougham and Butler, 1981). Also, it found that the female residents were

more opposed to tourism development than the males (Mason and Cheyne,

2000; Harrill and Potts, 2003).

2.2.3. Community Attachment

Community attachment, an important intrinsic factor other than economic

dependency, had been defined as the extent and pattern of social

participation and integration into community life, and sentiment or affect toward

the community (McCool and Martin, 1994, p30). In the tourism context, the

correlation between community attachment and length of residence had been

proved and, hence, stated the reason why the researchers often used the

length of residence alone as a measure of community attachment (Brougham

and Butler, 1981; Jurowski et al., 1997; Napal, 2008).



In addition, many researches proved the consistent relationship between the

length of residence and the residents attitudes (Lankford and Howard, 1994;

Snaith and Haley, 1999), and asserted that the longer residents had lived in

the community, the more likely they were to have negative attitudes towards

tourism development (Jackson and Inbakaran, 2006, p358). With the

correlation of the residence length, however, the community attachment and

residents attitudes towards tourism were reported to be negatively correlated

(Harrill, 2004; Nepal, 2008).

Contradictorily, referred to Harrill and Potts (2003) and Vesey and Dimanche

(2000), the researchers reported the contrast between their findings although

they had the same survey instrument (Lankford and Howards 1994 Tourism

Impact Attitude Scale). As a consequence, the exact correlation between the

community attachment and the residents attitudes towards tourism varied

from different communities and should subject to conditions.

2.2.4. Community Satisfaction

Apart from the mentioned variables influencing attitudes, past study had

examined the correlation between community satisfaction and tourism



attitudes (Ko and Steward, 2002; Nepal, 2008). Getzs study of Spey Valley

(1994) found that residents tended to have negative tourism attitudes when the

depressed local economy and poor performance of tourism industry occurred.

Residents tended to hold unfavorable attitudes and oppose tourism when the

recreation services and opportunities were diminished, and vice versa

(Lankford, Chen and Chen, 1994). Consequently, it was important to satisfy

not only tourists but also community, in order to gain acceptance and support

from the community for the successful and effective development of tourism.

2.2.5. Community Concerns

According to Nepal (2008), community concerns about tourisms negative

impacts also influence resident attitudes (p48). Resident attitudes were

influenced by the spatial factors which involved the physical distance between

residents and tourists. The past researchers asserted that the closer the

residents lived to the tourism core area, the more negative their perception of

tourism were (Gursoy and Jurowski, 2002; Harrill and Potts, 2003). In addition,

the host-to-guest ratio was considered. The study of Sheldon and Var (1984)

reported that negative perceptions increased when the ratio increased. It might

be related to the residents fear of the reducing ability to use the recreation



area if visitors increased.

According to Nepals study of Central British Columbia, Canada (2008), other

concerns would be increased cost of outdoor recreation and living, negative

impacts from tourism infrastructure, degradation of the natural environment

and declining aesthetic quality. Nevertheless, community was defined as

heterogeneous group and, thus the site-specific conditions were considered as

the most important factors influencing resident attitudes.

2.2.6. Seasonality

Seasonality was defined as an extrinsic factor which affected residents

perceptions and attitudes, having a common impact on a community as a

whole (Andriotis and Vaughan, 2003). Sheldon and Vars study of North Wales

(1984) argued that the seasonal fluctuation in tourism demand was one of the

main reasons for residents negative or positive attitudes towards tourism

impacts. Residents tended to have more positive attitudes towards tourism

during the low season period.



2.3. Effects of Tourism Impacts on Resident Attitudes

Tourism is significant to destinations because of its enormous impacts on

peoples lives and on the places in which they live (Hall, 2000, p1). Hence,

tourism gave rise of different benefits and costs in various aspects. Murphy

(1985) identified that perceptions and attitudes of residents were influenced by

the perceived tourism impacts, mainly categorizing in economic, social and

environmental. Nevertheless, some scholars argued that those impacts

cannot easily be categorized solely social, environmental or economic, but

tend to have several inter-related dimensions (Mason, 2003, p28). Those

identified tourism impacts were also considered as the endogenous variables

intervening the resident support for tourism (Jurowski et al., 1997). Refer to the

aforementioned models and theories, several items of benefits and costs

deriving form the previous researchers would be introduced.

2.3.1. Economic Impacts

Most studies on the impacts of tourism development concluded that resident

attitudes were related to the economic activity level within the region (Johnson,

Snepenger and Akis, 1994; Tosun, 2002). Other researches found that the

significant correlation between resident attitudes and measures of economic



benefits and costs was associated with tourism (Milman and Pizam, 1988;

Perdue et al., 1990; Lankford and Howard, 1994). Furthermore, according to

Lankford and Howard (1994) and Jurowski et al. (1997), it was suggested that

most residents deemed tourism as an economic development strategy,

especially when the communities were not satisfied with the current situation,

such as experiencing economic downturns (Sheldon and Var, 1984; Liu and

Var, 1986; Perdue et al., 1990).

Mathieson and Wall (1986) asserted that the potential gain and enhancement

in the local economies was often brought by the tourism industry. Tourism

provided opportunities for wealth redistribution and economic development

(ESCAP, 2007, p14). Other beneficial economic activities included the

generation of jobs, the increasing foreign exchange at the national level and

the increasing opportunities for entrepreneurial activities (Sheldon and Var,

1984; Milman and Pizam, 1988; Lankford and Howard, 1994; Jurowski et al.,

1997; Lindberg and Johnson, 1997; Gursoy, Jurowski and Uysal, 2002).

Alternatively, tourism could generate economic costs, such as higher cost of

living leading to inflation within the region and higher proportions of imports



because of demonstration effect (Liu and Var, 1986; Akis, Peristianis and

Warner, 1996; Gilbert and Clark, 1997; Lindberg and Johnson, 1997).

2.3.2. Social Impacts

In spite of the economic benefits, tourism development changed the society

(Murphy, 1985) and induced influences on the host communities. Dogan (1989)

claimed that tourism and thus the presence of tourists would change the

socio-cultural structure and previous homogeneity of communities when

contacted with other people. In the last two decades, with the advocacy of

sustainability, increasing studies concerning the social impacts were

conducted although most of the early studies concentrated on analyzing the

economic effects of tourism development.

The researches concluded that communities favored tourism development

when it positively affected the quality of life and the community development

(Milman and Pizam, 1988; Perdue et al., 1990; Akis et al., 1996). The

community development favored by residents included the increasing

recreation opportunities (Liu and Var, 1986; Perdue et al., 1990; Akis et al.,

1996) and improving condition of public facilities (Sheldon and Var, 1984).



Furthermore, as tourists often desired to experience the host communities

cultures, tourism could affirm the particular cultures and lead to community

prides (Milman and Pizam, 1988; Lindberg and Johnson, 1997).

Nevertheless, referred to Akis et al. (1996), several perceived social costs from

tourism should be realized rather than initially overlooked or excessively

discounted. The negative social consequences included traffic congestion

(Sheldon and Var, 1984; Liu and Var, 1986; Lindberg and Johnson, 1997),

increasing crime rate (Perdue et al., 1990; Mok, Slater and Cheung, 1991;

Tosun, 2002), and overcrowding of public facilities (Lindberg and Johnson,

1997).

2.3.3. Environmental Impacts

Tourism had been seen as a major cause of environmental damage to the

environment rather than a force for enhancement and protection (Mason,

2003, p53). Mathieson and Wall (1986) defined environmental impacts as the

effects brought by tourism on the elements of both natural and built

environments. However, tourism could stimulate measures to protect

landscapes and wildlife, especially in the form of recently raised ecotourism. In



a recent study by Holden and Ewen (2002), it found that if there was more

preparation for the tourists, it could be far less damage to the environment.

In the tourism context, some researches reported that residents tended to

concern with environmental adverse impacts, including litter and ecological

degradation (Liu, Sheldon and Var, 1987), noise and property destruction,

quality of the natural environment (Lankford and Howard, 1994).

Furthermore, according to Murphy (1981) and Lindberg and Johnson (1997),

tourism could not only contribute to but also detract from an aesthetically

pleasing environment. Consequently, local residents deemed that the

environmental protection was more important than the economic benefits

tourism brought, (Liu and Var, 1986; Jurowski et al., 1997) along with the

proper tourism planning and management.

2.3.4. Path Analytic Model

The study of Jurowski et al. (1997) developed the Path Analytic Model, which

was fundamentally based on the theoretical basis in Social Exchange Theory.

It clarified and reviewed the theoretical interrelationships of and the nature of



interplaying elements that affected the community support for the tourism

development.

It revealed that there were four perceived exogenous variables, including

economic gain, resource use, community attachment and ecocentric attitudes,

directly and indirectly affected the residents perception and evaluation on the

tourism impacts, the influencing endogenous variables (Jurowski et al., 1997).

Therefore, for examples, positive community support for tourism would be

seen when the potential of economic gain came along; and the satisfied

community resource users, residents as well as tourists, believed that the

tourism development would finally benefit the economic and social aspects

within the region. In addition, as previously mentioned, the degree of

community attachment would influence the residents perception and therefore

the evaluation towards the tourism impacts. According to Jurowski et al.(1997),

the direct influence of ecocentric attitudes would be small but positive.

Consequently, the residents tourism-related perception would be an outcome

of assessing benefits and costs, thus their fundamental values obviously

influenced their evaluation of such tourism impacts.



2.4. Community Involvement

To achieve sustainable tourism development, various stakeholders (the public

sector, tourism industry, voluntary sector, host community, media and tourists)

were included. Host community was defined as all those people living within a

tourist destination (Swarbrooke, 1999). As mentioned before, tourism

happened within communities reacting with the local residents (Blank, 1989).

Hence, the involvement of local residents is often regarded as the key to

sustainable development yet these same residents are expected to be part of

the tourism product and to share the benefits as well as they will inevitably

share the costs (Taylor, 1995, p487).

FIGURE 2.3: PARTNERSHIP MODEL OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

New Trend of Sustainable Tourism

Old Style of Sustainable Tourism

Adapted from UNWTO (1993) and Swarbrook (1999)



Figure 2.3 showed the idea of partnership presenting the new trend towards

sustainable tourism development. It explained in such a new trend, community

was no longer just reacting with specific single element (in the form of old style

of sustainable tourism). It was now inter-related with the tourism industry and

environmental supports and precedent to other several stakeholders,

presenting the new trend of concerning more about the environment and

community.

The rationale of community involvement was to ensure better quality of tourism

development or less conflicts between hosts and guests by keeping

democracy, giving voice to community, making use of local knowledge and

shaping the way in which tourism developed (Swarbrooke, 1999).

Therefore, investigating residents perceptions and attitudes could help to

indirectly determine which extent of involvement they were willing to pay for

the sustainable tourism development.



Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY

Veal (1992) and Jennings (2001) argued that quantitative method was more

objective and representative of the real world than the qualitative one.

Moreover, the result might present biases if using qualitative method to

conduct interview with several Lamma residents. As this study aimed at

examining the overall perceptions and attitudes of Lamma Island instead of

attitudes from one or several residents, so, quantitative method was more

appropriate to collect primary data in forms of conducting survey. Quantitative

method ensured that precise, statistical and up-to-dated data could be

collected from the local community

3.1. Research Instrument

The survey was accomplished using a questionnaire for primary research. The

questionnaire was adapted from Andriotis and Vaughan (2003). The

questionnaire was originally developed for Crete, a Greek Island. Both Crete

and the study area were islands and did not have long history of tourism, both

of which were less than 50 years, therefore, the questionnaire was chosen for

the study of Lamma Island.



The questionnaire tested the degree of perceptions and attitudes of residents

on tourism impacts. In addition, it was modified to enhance the validity for

suiting the case. Besides of the English version, the research instrument was

then translated into Chinese, which was supported by the advice of a

university graduate major in translation studies. Pilot test had to be conducted

as approving the validity and accuracy of the Chinese translation (also see in

Appendix 1 and 2).

3.1.1. Design of the Questionnaire

The questionnaire used for the survey comprised two parts.

Part 1: Tourism Attitude Statements

The questionnaire contained 26 statements concerning the economic, social

and environmental impacts of tourism. Seven statements used in the analysis

were developed to assess residents attitudes of the social impacts of tourism,

12 statements dealt with the economic implication and 5 statements dealt with

the environmental impacts. Two final statements sought to provide information

on the overall opinion of tourism by the respondents.



The respondents were asked to rate the degree of the agreement with the

statements, posing in negative and positive voices. The statement utilized the

5-point Likert-type scale, representing a continuum from a value of 1 as

strongly disagree to a value of 5 as strongly agree. Disagree, neutral and

agree were aggregated between two distinctive categories for analysis

purpose.

Part 2: Socio-demographic Characteristics

Nine nominal scale questions were set to concentrate the demographic

information of respondents. The respondents were asked about gender, age,

length of residence in Lamma Island, education level, tourism-related

employment reliance and income level. Property ownership, existence of

resident relatives on the island and frequency of using tourist facilities were

also asked for the further analysis. The place of residence would not be asked

in the study since all the respondents were supposed to live in Lamma Island.

3.2. Sampling

The chosen sample referred to the population of Lamma Islands residents

aged 20 or over, who were presumed to be sensitive enough to the effects



brought by tourism. According to the governments publication (C&SD, 2006),

the population size of citizens aged 20 or above was about four thousand.

Given high sampling ratio, applying quantitative method in such a small

population size made the study more representative and reliable than applying

in a large population size.

In this study, convenience sampling was applied as it was commonly applied in

examining residents attitudes. Although it was the least desirable in and

neither purposeful nor strategic sampling methods (Patton, 1990; Jennings,

2001), the convenience sampling was one of the few mere methods enabling

quick data collection.

3.3. Data Collection

As Nepal (2008, p50) mentioned that given the small size of the community, a

face-to-face questionnaire interview was deemed more appropriate which is

typical of most resident attitude research. This research involved face-to-face

interviews with conveniently selected residents from Lamma Island in order to

ensure the accuracy by reducing misinterpretation of the statements in the

questionnaire.



The interviews were conducted at Lamma Island and the Central Pier 4 area.

This survey was personally administered between 9:30am and 4:30pm on 17th

and 19th February 2009 at Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan respectively.

The two places were chosen since they were the most outsider-visited places

on the island compared to the other area. Before the noon time, the researcher

stayed at the arrival area and interviewed the Lamma residents who had just

got off ferries. In the afternoon, as residents in Lamma prefer staying in

restaurants and shops, the researcher interviewed the local residents at shops

and restaurants along the main streets on Lamma Island.

Each interview took about 10 minutes to finish and a total of 61 unnamed

questionnaires were completed and used for analysis. The three incomplete

questionnaires would become invalid because of the missing data in the main

analyzing context. As a result, a 95.3% overall response rate was achieved.

3.4. Data Analysis

The responses to the attitudinal statements were analyzed by employing

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0. Nine

aforementioned socio-demographic factors were used as independent



variables and the 26 Likert five-point scale statements as the dependent

variables.

All the independent variables were analyzed by descriptive method to briefly

showed respondents socio-demographic backgrounds. On other hand, all the

26 attitudinal statements were precisely listed and ranked with their mean

scores and standard deviations. It aimed to identify which statements and

which dimension of tourism impacts respondents voted most agreement.

Furthermore, independent t-tests and one-way ANOVA tests were used to

determine any significant differences, different levels of agreement, with

respect to the dependent variable between respondents by particular

socio-demographic variables. It could help to identify which independent

variable had the strongest varying effect in the respondents responses on the

statements.

3.5. Limitations of the Research

Although the primary data was collected for specific purposes of the

researchers current study, several limitations in this research methodology



should be noted. The main limitation was its resource-expensive nature

(Jennings, 2001), especially in regard to personnel, time and finances. As a

consequence, with the reason of the islands small physical and population

size, a comparatively small sample sizes was involved. Hence, those primary

data might not enable the researcher to reflect the real focus of this study, due

to the misunderstanding, biases and refusal of expressing particular opinions

in conducting questionnaires by small amount of local residents.

Second, due to the restrictions of quantitative technique, information collected

was limited and, thus, not all the detail attributes including in the

aforementioned three main kinds of impacts could be investigated.

Last but not least, Crete, the questionnaire originally developed for, was an

urban area which partially differed to the Lamma Island, although both of them

were islands. The survey was conducted in the more developed areas on the

island (Yung Shue Wan and Sok Kwu Wan). Thus, the questionnaire only

collected opinions of local residents living in relatively urban areas, but

regardless the opinions of residents living in rural areas of Lamma Island. The

results might present biases since the survey was conducted in specific area



rather than the entire island. Accordingly, the data interpretation should be

made under special attention.



Chapter 4 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

4.1. Respondent Profile

The socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents were concluded in

Table 4.1. It briefly introduced respondents socio-demographic background.

Of the 61 respondents, 54 % were male and 46 percent female. The majority

were in the age group between 30 and 39 years old with 33%, followed by the

40 to 49 age group (30%). Education levels were also evenly distributed

except the group having secondary education from secondary one to five

(15%). 28% of respondents had advanced secondary education from

secondary six to seven and another 28% possessed university- or tertiary-level

education, while 30 % achieved primary education or less.

More than half of the respondents had residence on Lamma Island less than

20 years, with only 18% lived in the area over 20 years. 43% of respondents or

their family members were employed in the tourism sector while another 57%

respondents were not reliant to the tourism sector. The majority of respondents

(38%) had a monthly income between HK$3,001 and 6,000 while 33% had an

income less than HK$3,000, and 23% had an income between HK$6,001 and

9,000; only 7% could earn HK$9,001 to 12,000 monthly.



TABLE 4.1: SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAMPLE

N=61 Sample %

Gender

Male 33 54

Female 28 46

Age (years)

20 to 29 7 12

30 to 39 20 33

40 to 49 18 30

50 to 59 10 16

Older than 59 6 10

Education Level

Primary education or less 18 30

Secondary education (secondary 1 to 5) 9 15

Advanced secondary education (secondary 6 to 7) 17 28

University or tertiary education 17 28

Length of Residence (years)

1 to 10 27 44

11 to 20 23 38

21 to 30 9 15

31 to 40 2 3

Employment Reliance on Tourism

Non-reliant 35 57

Reliant 26 43

Income Level (Hong Kong Dollars)

$3,000 or below 20 33

$3,001 to $6,000 23 38

$6,001 to $9,000 14 23

$9,001 to $12,000 4 7

Note: Percentages (column) do not always total 100% due to rounding.

4.2. Attitudinal Statement Assessment

Regarding to the residents overall attitudes, the researcher would discuss the

results in social, economic and environmental dimensions. The intervening

statements were tested with all socio-demographic variables to reveal any



meaningful or interesting findings.

4.2.1. Overall Residents Perceptions & Attitudes

The results in relation to the responses to the 26 attitudinal statements were

shown in Table 4.2. For all the statements, the Likert scale ranged from 1

(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), with a midpoint of 3. There was an

assumption that all statements indicated positive expression. It meant that all

negative views (disagreement) lied between 1 and 3, while all the positive

views (agreement) lied between 3 and 5. Referred to Table 4.2, the responses

(mean) mainly concentrated within 2 and 4.

The values of standard deviations (SD) were in a moderate range between 0.6

and 1.3. It indicated the consensus among Lamma residents attitudes towards

tourism. The central tendency might be another reason of such moderate

ranged standard deviation. It was occurred due to the respondents tended not

to be willing to provide responses at the extreme ends of the scales. For the

further investigation of the resident attitudes in social, economic and

environmental dimensions, average mean scores (shown in Table 4.2) were

found to ensure the same basis of comparison for each dimension.



TABLE 4.2: OVERALL RESPONSES TO TOURISM STATEMENTS

Statements Mean SD

I. Social Impacts Mean = 3.31 1. Tourism encourages a variety of cultural activities by the local population (e.g., crafts, arts). 3.10 .851

2. Tourism has led to an increase of infrastructure for local people. 4.20 .726

3. The money that tourism brings in is of benefit to the whole community. 3.23 .783

4. The impacts of tourism are advantageous to your family. 3.13 1.087

5. The impacts of tourism are advantageous to the social life. 3.03 1.154

6. Our household standard of living is higher because of the money that tourists spend on

Lamma Island.

3.64 .857

7. Tourism gives benefits to most people on Lamma Island. 2.84 1.214

II. Economic Impacts Mean = 3.18

8. The impacts of tourism are advantageous to Lamma Islands economy. 4.13 .618

9. The impacts of tourism are advantageous to Hong Kong government income. 3.57 .763

10. The impacts of tourism are advantageous to employment. 3.33 1.106

11. Tourism attracts more spending on Lamma Island. 3.54 .886

12. Tourism attracts more investment on Lamma Island. 3.21 1.156

13. There should be no government incentives for tourism development. 2.87 .903

14. Prices of many goods and services on Lamma Island have increased because of tourism. 3.92 .823

15. Nonresidents should be allowed to develop tourism attractions on Lamma Island. 3.15 .833

16. Most of the money earned from tourism ends up going to business owned Lamma Islanders. 3.21 1.112

17. Non- Lamma Islander-owned businesses are beneficial for the regions tourist industry. 2.54 1.272

18. There should be a special tax on tourists. 2.39 1.187

19. Tourism creates more jobs for local people than for foreigners on Lamma Island. 2.34 1.063

III. Environmental Impacts Mean = 3.18

20. This community should control tourism development. 3.49 .924

21. Tourism provides an incentive for the restoration of historical buildings. 3.66 1.153

22.The construction of hotels and other tourist facilities has benefited the natural environment on

Lamma Island.

3.72 1.157

23. Tourism provides an incentive for the conservation of natural resources. 2.07 .946

24. The impacts of tourism are advantageous to the environment. 2.95 .939

IV. Overall Impacts

25. Overall, the benefits of tourism are greater than the costs to the people of Lamma Island. 3.46 .765

26. Overall, the benefits of tourism are greater than the costs to Hong Kong as a whole. 3.02 .866

Note: For all the statements, the Likert scale ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).



TABLE 4.3: RANKING OF LIKERT SCALE RESIDENT ATTITUDINAL STATEMENTS

Ranking Statement Dimension Mean

1 Tourism has led to an increase of infrastructure for local people. Social 4.20

2 The impacts of tourism are advantageous to Lamma Islands economy. Economic 4.13

3 Prices of many goods and services on Lamma Island have increased because of tourism. Economic 3.92

4 The construction of hotels and other tourist facilities has benefited the natural environment on

Lamma Island. Environmental 3.72

5 Tourism provides an incentive for the restoration of historical buildings. Environmental 3.66

6 Our household standard of living is higher because of the money that tourists spend on

Lamma Island. Social 3.64

7 The impacts of tourism are advantageous to Hong Kong government income. Economic 3.57

8 Tourism attracts more spending on Lamma Island. Economic 3.54

9 This community should control tourism development. Environmental 3.49

10 Overall, the benefits of tourism are greater than the costs to the people of Lamma Island. Overall 3.46

11 The impacts of tourism are advantageous to employment. Economic 3.33

12 The money that tourism brings in is of benefit to the whole community. Social 3.23

13 Most of the money earned from tourism ends up going to business owned Lamma Islanders. Economic 3.21

13 Tourism attracts more investment on Lamma Island. Economic 3.21

15 Nonresidents should be allowed to develop tourism attractions on Lamma Island. Economic 3.15

16 The impacts of tourism are advantageous to your family. Social 3.13

17 Tourism encourages a variety of cultural activities by the local population (e.g., crafts, arts). Social 3.10

18 The impacts of tourism are advantageous to the social life. Social 3.03

19 Overall, the benefits of tourism are greater than the costs to Hong Kong as a whole. Overall 3.02

20 The impacts of tourism are advantageous to the environment. Environmental 2.95

21 There should be no government incentives for tourism development. Economic 2.87

22 Tourism gives benefits to most people on Lamma Island. Social 2.84

23 Non- Lamma Islander-owned businesses are beneficial for the regions tourist industry. Economic 2.54

24 There should be a special tax on tourists. Economic 2.39

25 Tourism creates more jobs for local people than for foreigners on Lamma Island. Economic 2.34

26 Tourism provides an incentive for the conservation of natural resources. Environmental 2.07

Note: Means based on a 5-point scale: 1= strongly disagree, 2= disagree, 3= neutral, 4= agree, 5= strongly agree.

Regarding to Table 4.3, for the two separated single statements concerning the

overall opinions to Lamma Island and the whole Hong Kong by the local

residents, the statement overall, the benefits of tourism area greater than the



costs to the people of Lamma Island reported the mean score of 3.46, ranking

10th among all statements. Its mean score was higher than the statement

concerning the overall view towards tourism development in the whole Hong

Kong (ranked 19 with mean score of 3.02). Therefore, it concluded that

Lamma residents perceived the tourism trade-offs of benefits and costs on the

island better than the one of Hong Kong as a whole.

Furthermore, Table 4.3 showed that the 19 out of the 26 statements (73%) had

a value higher than 3, suggesting these 19 statements are in agreement region.

It revealed that the residents have positive views of tourism development on

Lamma Island. The attitudes regarded to particular dimension were reported in

the followings.

4.2.1.1. Perceptions and Attitudes on Social Impacts of Tourism

According to Table 4.2, almost all the social attitudinal statements showed the

residents positive views by presenting the mean scores slightly higher than the

midpoint, although only one statement tourism gives benefits to most people

on Lamma Island showed the negative view (mean= 2.84). The possible

explanation of it was that the majority of respondents income levels were not



more than HK$6,000. It meant residents might believe the existence of uneven

economic distribution in the area. The average mean score of social dimension

(3.31) was the highest among the three tourism impacting dimensions, so it

suggested that the Lamma residents had favorable views on the social impacts

of tourism.

Besides, there was a statement presenting strongest agreement on the

attitudinal statement concerning social impacts of tourism, with mean score

higher than 4 (see Table 4.3). The statement tourism has led to an increase of

infrastructure for local people was ranked number 1, rating the highest among

all 26 attitudinal statements with the mean score of 4.20. It meant that the

residents favored tourism development in the area since they strongly agreed

tourism could benefit the community in terms of its infrastructure coming along.

4.2.1.2. Perceptions and Attitudes on Economic Impacts of Tourism

Refer to Table 4.3, the second highest rated statement the impacts of tourism

are advantages to Lamma Islands economy (mean= 4.13) and the third

highest rated statement 'prices of many goods and services on Lamma Island

have increased because of tourism (mean= 3.92) were to evaluate economic



dimension which was influenced by tourism development. The results revealed

that the residents hold positive attitudes because they believed tourism could

benefit their community as they could earn more by charging higher and it

would benefit to the local economy.

On other hand, the statement tourism creates more jobs for local people than

for foreigners on Lamma Island was ranked the lowest in the economic

dimension (mean= 2.34). As shown in Table 4.3, among the 7 statements that

rated below 3, there were 4 statements concerning economic aspect. It

reflected that local residents perceived the tourism brought economic benefits

and employment would be leaked out to the non-islanders and foreigners

although they might benefit to the tourism development. Surprisingly, residents

opposed the special tax on tourists even though it assumed that it could

provide quick financial return on the community. It might be because they

believed it would harm the communitys economic development if the special

tax was established.

However, generally, it concluded that the respondents hold positive rather than

negative views on the economic dimension since the 8 out of 12 economic



attitudinal statements showed the means over the midpoint of 3 and the

average mean score was 3.18 (see Table 4.2), determining the overall

favorable attitudes of local residents.

4.2.1.3. Perceptions and Attitudes on Environmental Impacts of Tourism

Among the five environmental attitudinal statements, three were rated over the

midpoint and the rest were scored below the midpoint (refer to Table 4.2).

Besides, with the average mean score of 3.18 (see Table 4.2), the Lamma

residents perceived tourism impacts positively in respect of environmental

context. Among the 5 statements focusing on environmental dimension, the

statements the construction of hotels and other tourist facilities has benefited

the natural environment on Lamma Island and tourism provides an incentive

for the restoration of historical buildings were rated higher the midpoint which

were tended to 4, with the mean scores of 3.72 and 3.66 respectively. It

reflected the residents thought tourism could benefit the physical appeal of the

area in terms of buildings appearance.

However, it was interesting that the statement tourism provides an incentive

for the conservation of natural resources was ranked the last among all



statements with the lowest mean score of 2.07. It might be due to the local

residents did not think the tourism could help conserving the natural resources

of the island. Perhaps, the recent ecotourism project Green Lamma Green

was not well-promoted to or recognized by the locals.

4.2.2. Community Attachment

The community attachment, which was defined as an important intrinsic factor

in the previous chapter, might influnce the resident attitudes towards tourism.

Three socio-demographic items were identified in relation to community

attachment shown in Table 4.4.

TABLE 4.4: INDICATORS OF RESIDENT ATTACHMENT TO THE COMMUNITY

Item N=61 Sample % Statistical Calculation

Length of Residence (years) Allocation for Weighted Scores:

1-10 yrs=1, 11-20 yrs=2,

21-30 yrs=3, 31-40 yrs=4,

and 40 yrs=5

1 to 10 27 44

11 to 20 23 38

21 to 30 9 15

31 to 40 2 3

More than 40 0 0

Property Ownership Allocation for Weighted Scores:

Rent=1, Own=2 Rent 25 41

Own 36 59

Resident Relatives Allocation for Weighted Scores:

None=1, Having Relatives=2

None on the island 31 51

Having residents on the island 30 49



In addition to the length of residence disscussed before in the respondent

profile (refer to Table 4.1), Table 4.4 concluded that 59% of respondents

owned properties on the island and the rest (41%) rented houses or stores for

living. 49% had resident relatives on Lamma Island and 51% did not have any.

To measure the community attachment, weighted score was calculated by the

method used in Nepals (2008) study of Central British Columbia. Responses

to three items (shown in Table 4.3) were combined and the total score was

divided by three to calculate the weighted scores. Hence, the minimum and

maximum weighted scores were 1 and 3 respectively.

FIGURE 4.1: LEVELS OF COMMUNITY ATTACHMENT

Note: Low level= weighted score 1 to 1.66, moderate level= weighted

score 1.67 to 2.33, and high level= 2.34 to 3.



Afterwards, based on the weighted scores, three level of community

attachment (see Figure 4.1) were classified into groups of low level (72%),

moderate level (26%) and high level (2%). The mean score of the three levels

of community attachment was 1.60 with standard deviation of 0.39. The mean

score and the distribution of the three groups indicated that the Lamma

residents were classified to low attachment to their community.

There were 19 out of 26 resident attitudinal statements (73%) had a value

higher than the identified midpoint of 3 (refer to Table 4.3). Therefore, in

respect of the above mentioned socio-demographic variables, the findings

could be interpreted that the lower community attachment of the residents was

the more favorable towards tourism impacts.

4.2.3. Differences by Respondents Socio-demographics

In this part, the researcher showed all the differences in residents votes of

attitudinal statements in respect of nine independent socio-demographic

variables. It was considered that the significant differences existed when the

values were equal or smaller than 0.05. Hence, the smaller the value of

significance had the most significant differentiation.



4.2.3.1. Differences by Income Level

Income level of residents was important as a discriminator of attitudes towards

tourism development. From the results of ANOVA test (shown in Table 4.5), 16

out of 26 statements (62%) presented significant variations. In the table, the

income level showed the strongest varying effects especially on the economic

aspect by presenting 9 significant figures and also 4 to the social attitudinal

statements.

The findings reflected that respondents with different income level had different

attitudes towards tourism development on Lamma Island. Taking the statement

the impacts of tourism are advantageous to employment (concerning the

economic dimension) as an example, residents with income HK$6,001 to

9,000 rated this statement the highest (mean= 4.36), but the group with

income HK$3,001 to 6,000 rated this statement the lowest with the mean score

of 2.70. It was not difficult to understand that residents with different income

level might have various values, especially on the economic context. For

example, they would have different expectation in which tourism could benefit

to them.



TABLE 4.5: MEAN SCORES AND ANOVA TEST FOR RESIDENTS INCOME LEVEL

Income Level (Mean)

F ratio

Statement 1 2 3 4 Sig.

I. Social Impacts

1. Tourism encourages a variety of cultural activities by the local population

(e.g., crafts, arts).

3.15 3.00 3.14 3.25 .175 .913

2. Tourism has led to an increase of infrastructure for local people. 4.10 4.39 4.21 3.50 1.993 .125

3. The money that tourism brings in is of benefit to the whole community. 3.50 3.04 2.93 4.00 3.631 .018*

4. The impacts of tourism are advantageous to your family. 2.75 2.83 3.93 4.00 5.972 .001**

5. The impacts of tourism are advantageous to the social life. 2.80 2.57 4.07 3.25 6.948 .000**

6. Our household standard of living is higher because of the money that tourists

spend on Lamma Island.

3.45 3.48 4.07 4.00 2.133 .106

7. Tourism gives benefits to most people on Lamma Island. 3.90 2.48 2.00 2.50 12.954 .000**

II. Economic Impacts

8. The impacts of tourism are advantageous to Lamma Islands economy. 4.15 4.09 4.36 3.50 2.178 .101

9. The impacts of tourism are advantageous to Hong Kong government income. 4.00 3.39 3.57 2.50 6.609 .001**

10. The impacts of tourism are advantageous to employment. 3.15 2.70 4.36 4.25 11.747 .000**

11. Tourism attracts more spending on Lamma Island. 3.25 3.43 4.14 3.50 3.330 .026*

12. Tourism attracts more investment on Lamma Island. 3.05 3.26 3.21 3.75 .421 .739

13. There should be no government incentives for tourism development. 2.75 2.83 2.93 3.50 .796 .501

14. Prices of many goods and services on Lamma Island have increased

because of tourism.

3.80 3.70 4.21 4.75 2.924 .042*

15. Nonresidents should be allowed to develop tourism attractions on Lamma

Island.

2.95 2.87 3.71 3.75 4.873 .004**

16. Most of the money earned from tourism ends up going to business owned

Lamma Islanders.

3.30 3.70 2.64 2.00 5.198 .003**

17. Non- Lamma Islander-owned businesses are beneficial for the regions tourist

industry.

3.30 2.26 2.14 1.75 4.335 .008**

18. There should be a special tax on tourists. 1.70 2.74 3.21 1.00 10.215 .000**

19. Tourism creates more jobs for local people than for foreigners on Lamma

Island.

3.00 2.00 2.07 2.00 4.442 .007**

III. Environmental Impacts

20. This community should control tourism development. 3.10 3.43 4.14 3.50 4.091 .011**

21. Tourism provides an incentive for the restoration of historical buildings. 3.60 3.87 3.64 2.75 1.109 .353

22. The construction of hotels and other tourist facilities has benefited the natural

environment on Lamma Island.

4.00 3.35 4.07 3.25 1.920 .137

23. Tourism provides an incentive for the conservation of natural resources. 1.75 2.48 2.00 1.50 2.962 .040*

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TABLE 4.5: CONTINUED

Income Level (Mean)

Statement 1 2 3 4 F ratio Sig.

III. Environmental Impacts

24. The impacts of tourism are advantageous to the environment. 2.75 3.39 2.43 3.25 4.135 .010**

IV. Overall Impacts

25. Overall, the benefits of tourism are greater than the costs to the people of

Lamma Island.

3.50 3.39 3.43 3.75 .269 .847

26. Overall, the benefits of tourism are greater than the costs to Hong Kong as a

whole.

3.10 3.30 2.50 2.75 2.960 .040*

Note: *p 0.05 and **p 0.01. Income level 1: HK$3,000 (N=20), income level 2: HK$3,001- 6,000 (N=23), income level 3:

HK$6,001- 9,000 (N=14), and income level 4: HK$9,001 - 12,000 (N=4).

4.2.3.2. Differences by Employment Reliance

TABLE 4.6: MEANS SCORES AND t-TEST FOR RESIDENTS EMPLOYMENT RELIANCE ON TOURISM

Employment Reliance (Mean)

Statements Non-Reliant Reliant t value Sig.

I. Social Impacts

1. Tourism encourages a variety of cultural activities by the local population (e.g.,

crafts, arts).

3.00 3.23 -1.049 .299

2. Touris

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