Satisfaction of indigenous tourism from residents' perspective: A case study in Nantou County, Taiwan

Abstract

This study focused on indigenous residents' satisfaction of tourism development. We used sociocultural preservation (SP), economic benefits (EB), environmental protection (EP) and environmental devastation (ED) as indicators to examine residents' satisfaction following tourism development in an indigenous area. The present study interviewed 391 indigenous residents located in two indigenous villages located in Nantou County, Taiwan, aged 20-70 (174 men and 217 women). The findings showed that most of the participants were satisfied with SP, EB and EP and revealed differences among birthplace, duration of residence, occupation groups regarding SP, EB and EP. Two types of groups (people born locally and residing for more than 15 years) reported higher satisfaction of SP, EB and EP. In addition, path analysis found SP, BE, EP and ED had explanatory power of tourism development satisfaction with R2 = 0.692. Since tourism development in indigenous areas has significant impact on local residents, this development should consider not only the economic benefits but also sociocultural preservation and environmental protection to meet the expectations of local indigenous residents.