The impact of planners' development operations on host governments and residents has emerged as a growing subject of study in recent years, as it has become widely accepted that planners and entrepreneurs must consider the perspectives of the host community if the sector is to be successful in the long-term. However, there has been insufficient emphasis on local communities, their needs, and, most crucially, their assessment of the impact on their quality of life. This chapter discusses why and how tourism and hospitality planners must consider inhabitants' attitudes and opinions, particularly when it comes to legislation that may affect their way of life.
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It is commonly acknowledged among scholars and policymakers that long-term success of any tourist destination is attainable when the perspectives of the local people are considered in tourism strategy and development. (Haywood, 1988; Nunkoo & Ramkissoon, 2009a, 2010; Pearce, Moscardo, & Ross, 1996; Tosun, 2006).
The influence of development activities of planners on host governments and inhabitants has become a rising field of research in recent years, as it has become generally acknowledged that planners and entrepreneurs must consider the opinions of the host community if the sector is to be long-term viable. (Allen, Long, Perdue and Kieselbach 1988; Ap and Crompton 1998; Belisle and Hoy 1980; Doxey 1975; Maddox 1985; Murphy 1983). However, little emphasis has been focused on local communities, their needs, and importantly their perception of the impact on their quality of life (Lankford, 1994). Tourism and Hospitality planners must consider the attitudes and perceptions of residents, especially in respect to policies that may impact their way of life (Ap, 1992). Thank fully for local communities, tourism development and the connection to the improvement of their quality of life (QoL) has gained much attention over recent years. It is now accepted amongst scholars that in) order for the long-term success of developments that taking local community views is the bedrock of the development process (Nunkoo & Ramkissoon, 2011).
The local community’s attitude towards tourism development and their overall support in respect to their QoL depends upon the way in which is it evaluated. The literature comprises mainly of predictors of “tourism attitudes, community attachment, community life satisfaction, and quality of life by using such indicators as economic gain, personal growth (e.g., employment), and length of stay in tourism destinations” (e.g., Brunt & Courtney, 1999; Jurowski, Uysal, & Williams, 1997; McGehee & Andereck, 2004).
There is of course the conversation around the economic gain, but there is seldom any discussion and research on locals perceived value of tourism as an indicator and predictor of community life satisfaction along with QoL. This move away from the economic value, is abstract for some tourism and hospitality developers, but has featured in respect to the overall marketing and PR exercises of their product (Woo, Kim, and Uysal, 2015).
Community support for tourism is necessary to ensure the overall economic stability of the development and industry. This general change in ethos has come partly from government and the changing landscape in respect to understanding the long-term viability of destinations in respect to their commercial appeal (Jamaludin, Othman & Awang, 2009).Therefore, it is essentially that a positive perception amongst locals and the wider community will have an impact on their overall support for any such development, especially in consideration of the perceived benefit that is generate from any such development – jobs, income, status etc. (Dyer, Aberdeen & Schuler, 2007).