Residents' Attitudes toward Tourism Development: A Case Study of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

This research focuses on analyzing residents' perception and
attitude toward tourism development in the Federation of Bosnia
and Herzegovina (FB&H). For the purpose of this research, the
existing models on residents' perception and attitudes were modified
and a new theoretical model of six constructs was tested applying
Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The dimensions of the
model, perception of tourism management, perception of economic,
social and environmental impacts, residents' satisfaction,
support for further tourism development, were formed as latent
variables, accompanied with a set of three or four consonant
questions. The model suggests that the support for tourism
development is indirectly stipulated by the perception of tourism
management, and by economic, social and environmental
impacts. Analyses have shown that 6 out of the 7 suggested
hypotheses have been confirmed. The findings indicate that the
residents of the FB&H strongly support tourism development as
they perceive it brings more positive impacts, which are greater
than the actual governmental investment into the sector.