The Impacts of Tourism and Local Residents' Support on Tourism Development: A Case Study of the Rural Community of Jeongseon, Gangwon Province, South Korea

Abstract

This research seeks to examine the impact of tourism and local residents’ support for tourism development in a rural tourism destination in the Gangwon province, South Korea named Jeongseon. It looks at the economic, socio-cultural and environmental impact tourism and the benefits and costs to the local residents. This study used the social exchange theory as a theoretical framework. A total of 376 valid responses were collected To achieve the research’s goals, ten research hypotheses were proposed. The findings show that the economic impacts of tourism were most favorably perceived by the local people who also saw benefits in socio-cultural terms. This perception translated into local residents’ support for tourism development even though they saw it as having a negative impact on the environment.