چکیده:
The success of tourism development heavily depends on residents’ support. Broader literature suggests sense of place and social capital are important precedents of residents’ attitudes and behavior. However, limited attention has been paid to this topic in tourism, especially in Iran. Therefore, the aim of this research is to examine the relationship between sense of place, social capital and residents’ attitudes toward tourism support. Data were collected from residents in the historic city of Shiraz, one of the main tourist destinations in Iran. A survey method based on a structured questionnaire was applied. Data analysis was conducted using a Structural Equation Modelling two-step approach. Results from 386 questionnaires indicated a positive significant relationship between sense of place and social capital, and sense of place and tourism support. However, social capital did not mediate the relationship between sense of place and tourism support. The research findings suggest that it is important for urban planners to take measures to maintain and improve the residents’ place sense in order to gain their support for tourism. Further study is required to investigate the effect of social capital on residents’ attitude towards support for tourism development.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Modeling the Relationship between Sense of Place, Social Capital and Tourism Support Fatemeh Azizi *, Fatemeh Shekari Department of Tourism Management, Faculty ofManagement & Accounting, Allameh Tabataba’i, University, Tehran, Iran (Received: February 6, 2018; Revised: July 5, 2018; Accepted: July 17, 2018) Abstract The success of tourism development heavily depends on residents’ support.
Therefore, the aim of this research is to examine the relationship between sense of place, social capital and residents’ attitudes toward tourism support.
Keywords Sense of place, social capital, support for tourism, structural equation modeling, Shiraz * Corresponding Author, Email: azizi.
The relationship between sense of place (and its related place-based concepts, especially place attachment) and behavior has been investigated in the literature (Walker & Ryan, 2008; Scannell & Gifford, 2010; Chapin & Knapp, 2015).
Subsequently, using Structural Equation Modeling, the paper attempts to advance the knowledge in tourism by examining the relationship between sense of place, social capital and support for tourism in a historic tourist destination; Shiraz city.
Measurement of Constructs The survey consisted of questions developed to capture the respondents’ sense of place towards Shiraz city, their social capital and their support for tourism development.
Thus, the third hypothesis, considering the mediation role of social capital in the relationship between residents’ sense of place and their attitudes towards tourism support, is rejected.
Therefore, this study examined the relationships between residents’ sense of place, their social capital and attitude towards support for tourism.