Comparing property owners' perceptions of sustainable tourism in a coastal resort county

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore factors influencing property owners' (both full-time residents and second home property owners) attitude toward sustainable actions in tourism development in an amenity-rich coastal community with a predominance of second homes. A total of 858 property owner respondents contributed information about their perceptions on the importance of sustainable actions in tourism development to future economy success in their community. Factor analysis was used to reduce the number of variables in order to avoid the effect of multicollinearity and to identify the primary structural dimensions underlying the variable. Results from multivariate regression analyses showed that factors influencing local resident property owners' attitudes toward sustainable tourism development included gender and quality of infrastructure, while only the quality of life factor was associated with second home property owners' attitudes toward sustainable tourism development. The inclusion of second home property owners' perceptions on sustainable development could help public officials and planners better balance the interests of different stakeholders when planning and managing tourism with sustainable components.