Applying self-perception theory to explain residents' attitudes about tourism development through travel histories

This study introduces self-perception theory as a guiding framework in explaining residents' attitudes from an introspective approach involving residents' own degree of travel. To date, measures explaining such attitudes have primarily come in the form of sociodemographic, socioeconomic, spatial, personal benefit/dependence, etc. variables. Results reveal that travel use history (TUH) is a useful predictor of residents' attitudes about tourism development. Residents who were infrequent travelers indicated less support for tourism than those who were intermediate or frequent travelers. For intermediate travelers, residents who had traveled internationally over the past two years had stronger support than those who had not for selected items within both attitude factors: support for tourism development and tourism contributions to the community. Findings provide support for the continued use of self-perception theory as a framework to consider in explaining residents' attitudes involving tourism and corresponding development.