Individual and Collective Perceptions of Tourism Development: A Case Study of Residents in Hat Yai City Municipality

Many earlier studies on resident perceptions used Social Exchange Theory (SET) to explain the relationship between the impacts that they receive from tourism and their perceptions, but none has attempted to separate the impacts into individual and collective impacts. This study examines resident perceptions of tourism development in Hat Yai City Municipality by focusing into individual and collective impacts that they receive from tourism and their characteristics. Data was collected from 359 Hat Yai City Municipality residents using a survey instrument constructed based on the literature and guided by the research framework. The results of data analysis reveal that, as suggested by SET, residents who benefit from tourism (individually or collectively) indicated more positive perceptions of its development than those who dis-benefit from it. More importantly, individual impact from tourism activities is found to be the jobs it provides (positive/benefit) and the increases in the cost of living (negative/dis-benefit), while the most important collective benefits are the diverse jobs created by tourism (positive/benefit) and traffic congestion (negative/dis-benefit). The study also found that they are a little more concerned about how they, as individuals rather than as a collective group of community, are affected by tourism. In addition, earlier finding that perceptions of residents toward tourism development are largely influenced by their perceptions of economic benefit (received at individual or collectively level) is substantiated by the finding of the present study. Finally, the characteristics of residents influence their perceptions of tourism development as it was found that perceptions of Hat Yai City Municipality residents toward benefits of tourism in their area differ according to gender, religion, and job status, while their frequency of contact with tourists influence their perceptions toward how much they are in favour of tourism development in Hat Yai City Municipality. The new information about the probable effect of individual and collective impacts on residents’ perception can be added to the framework which uses social exchange theory in explaining their perceptions toward tourism. This inclusion of the way tourism affects residents in forms of individual and collective impacts may help increase the knowledge and understanding about residents’ perception toward tourism development