Place attachment and empowerment: Do residents need to be attached to be empowered?

Within resident attitude research, place attachment and empowerment are two of the most prominent non-economic constructs used to explain residents' attitudes toward tourism. This research explores the relationship between the two and whether residents' perceptions of place identity, place dependence and nature bonding affect perceptions of being empowered through tourism. The relationship is tested within the rural destination of Choczewo, Poland. Results reveal that place identity, place dependence, and nature bonding directly influence residents' perceptions of psychological and social empowerment through tourism. However, only place dependence predicts residents' ability to feel politically empowered through tourism. Results from this study extend the model of residents' attitudes toward tourism by explaining how societal factors such as resident bonding with the socio-physical environment enable residents to become more empowered through tourism development.