An Assessment of Residents’ Attitudes towards Tourism Development in Marshall County, West Virginia

Marshall County, as is the case with many economically depressed communities, is looking to tourism as an alternative to stimulate the local economy. Since tourism’s success relies on hosts’ hospitality, understanding the residents’ attitudes towards tourism development is important. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to assess the attitudes of Marshall County, West Virginia residents towards tourism development. Data for the study were collected through a structured questionnaire administered through SurveyMonkey online tool. Attitudes were measured by a 5-point strongly disagree/strongly agree scale on a series of questions soliciting resident opinions on tourism development and its perceived impacts. Overall, the results showed overwhelming support for tourism. Residents have positive attitudes towards tourism development as they perceive it to be necessary for economic growth. Demographic characteristics including gender and age didn’t seem to have any significant effect on attitudes. However, several other factors were seen to significantly affect attitudes including: length of residency; role of resident in the community; resident perceptions on community preparedness; and perceived economic benefits. 1.0 Introduction Marshall County, WV is located in the northern panhandle of the state of West Virginia, approximately 68 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Like many communities in the United States, Marshall County's economy is facing challenges as it historically depended on manufacturing. Marshall County, as is the case with many economically depressed communities is looking to tourism as an alternative to stimulate local economic growth and need to understand residents’ perceptions towards tourism development. Research on resident attitudes towards tourism development has yielded diverse results. Hao, Long and Kleckley (2011) found that length of residence and quality of life affect attitudes of local resident property owners towards tourism development. Some studies have cited socio-demographic factors as having an effect on residents’ attitudes (Liu & Var, 1986; McGehee & Andereck, 2004; Um & Crompton, 1987), while others found that perceived personal benefits from tourism affect individual perceptions and attitudes towards tourism development (Deccio & Baloglu, 2002; Jurowski, Uysal & Williams, 1997; Perdue, long & Allen, 1990). Several studies have shown the importance of community characteristics such as level of tourism development and dependency of the local economy on tourism in shaping resident attitudes towards tourism development (Butler, 1980; Gursoy & Rutherford, 2004; Long et al., 1990). This study brings in two more dimensions that were not identified in literature, including: the effects of the role of resident in the community and perceptions of community preparedness on attitudes. The study sought to investigate residents’ attitudes towards tourism development in Marshall County, West Virginia, assessing how these attitudes vary with respondent demographic characteristics, length of residency, role of respondent in the community, residents’ perception on community preparedness and perceived economic benefits. The study sought to answer the following questions: What do Marshall County residents feel about tourism development? How do residents’ attitudes vary with demographic characteristics such as age and gender? Does length of residency in Marshall County affect attitudes towards tourism development? Do attitudes vary with role of respondent in the community? Do resident perceptions on community preparedness affect attitudes toward tourism development? Do perceived economic benefits impact attitudes towards tourism development? 2.0 Methods Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered through SurveyMonkey online research tool. Emails with the survey link were sent to residents identified via a snowballing technique. Attitudes were measured by a 5-point strongly disagree/strongly agree scale on series of questions soliciting resident opinions on tourism development and its perceived