Factors Influencing Residents’ Satisfaction With Tourism Development In China: Hangzhou City Case Study

Abstract

Most countries globally recognize the importance of tourism development with China being ranked fourth after France, United States and Spain as the most visited country. This dissertation investigated the attitudes of the local residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in Hangzhou City. This research employed online survey as a research strategy in collecting data. The questionnaire was posted in one of the most popular online questionnaire survey platforms, Questionnaire Star. Also, the social media platforms in China were also used such as Wechat. Data for this research was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) technique. Analysis was done based on the frequency distribution, descriptive statistics, and trend analysis. The study has provided tourism planners and policymakers with viable information on how the residents’ perception towards tourism development which they can use as a tool to develop their plans, enhance sustainable tourism development and reduce tourism negative impacts.

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Research background

Most countries around the world have continued to recognise and appreciate the role of tourism development. China for instance is ranked the fourth visited country after France, United States and Spain. In 2017, tourism contributed 11.04% to the GDP of the state (Travel China Guide, 2017). Tourism has played an important role in economic growth development, generating income for local residents through employment, improvement in infrastructure and generally improving the living standards of the local people (Nunkoo & Ramkissoon, 2011). However, with all these benefits, scholars have also discovered that tourism development comes along with costs to residents (Rasoolimanesh et al. 2017). Among the widely mentioned costs of tourism is erosion of the local residents’ culture environmental degradation and increase in social evils (Woo, Kim, & Uysal, 2015). Tourist develoments have attracted both negative and positive attitudes from local residents. Research shows that the perception of residents on tourism development is triggered by factors like community attachment (Nunkoo & Ramkissoon, 2011), community participation, social costs (Nunkoo & Ramkissoon, 2011), and economic benefits (Rasoolimanesh et al., 2017). To impact positively on residents, tourism authorities are obliged to formulate relevant public policies on tourism, so as to gain local residents’ support for the purpose of development of tourism.

Tourism policy is among the most influential factors affecting nature of the tourism industry (Sheppard & Fennell, 2019). Tourism policies are influenced by social factors, which are varied in different social, ecological and cultural contexts (Sheppard & Fennell, 2019). Therefore, key tourism stakeholders and decision makers are expected to formulate policies suitable for local conditions to achieve positive results. Studies on this phenomenon largely hold that public policies have an influence on the tourism development (Deng, Hu & Ma, 2019). Sheppard and Fennell (2019), point out that diverse stakeholders such as developers, communities, and resource managers seek to protect the interests of their own according to their own agendas. This causes a gap between the policy endorsement and policy implementation (Sheppard & Fennell, 2019).

Hangzhou is one of the seven famous ancient capitals in China, with 2200 years ofhistory. It has many historical sites and scenic spots, such as the West Lake, and scenic area (IPFA, 2019). The city has a stable economic foundation and a population of approximately 8.8 million. Hangzhou still retains its historical and cultural heritage despite the urban development it has been subjected to. Tourism is one the key pillar industries supporting the economy of Hangzhou with its popular site being lake West and the Grand Canal (Zhao, 2016). Hangzhou also permanently hosts the World’s Leisure Expo, China Internal Animation and Micro Film Festivals (IPFA, 2019). These features among several others made Hangzhou a favourable case study for this research.

1.2 Research rationale

The initial studies about Chinese tourism development have mostly focused on rural areas in China. For example, Wang et al. (2014) researched on tourism development in poverty-stricken areas of China. Wang et al. (2013) also researched on tourism development in rural China. This research therefore seeks to add to existing academic literature by researching on tourism development in urban China. The research will provide a comprehensive analysis of the factors influencing resident’s satisfaction with tourism development in Hangzhou City.This study will be beneficial to practitioners of the tourism industry and policy makers in China. It will provide specific details on what attracts tourists to visit cities such as Hangzhou in China.

1.3. Research objectives

This research aims to explore the factors influencing residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in China: the case of Hangzhou City. Its objectives were: 

1. To analyse the impact of community attachment on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in HangZhou City
2. To evaluate the impact of community participation on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in HangZhou City
3. To determine the impact of social costs on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in HangZhou City
4. To explore the impact of economic benefits on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in HangZhou City
5. To put forward suggestions for the tourism public policy of HangZhou in order to improve the residents’ satisfaction with tourism development

1.4 Research Questions

Research questions developed for this study included:

1. What is the impact of community attachment on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in HangZhou City?
2. What is the impact of community participation on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in HangZhou City?
3. How have social costs impacted on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in HangZhou City?
4. To what extent have the economic benefits affected residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in HangZhou City?
5. How can tourism policy of HangZhou improve residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in HangZhou City?

1.5 Dissertation outline

This dissertation is covered in 6 chapters. The first chapter provides the background of the study, rationale, research objectives and questions. The second chapter is policy background and the third chapter is literature review covering findings of similar previous studies. Chapter four consists of the methods used by research in data collection, analysis and interpretation. Chapter five provides the results and analysis of collected data. Chapter six presents the conclusions and recommendations as per the findings of the research.

Chapter 2: Policy background review

2.1 Introduction

This section of the chapter provides a literature review on policy background in China. Specifically, the section focuses on policies related to tourism. Here, a history of the tourism policy is provided followed by a section on the development of the policies in China. Thereafter, a chapter summary is provided. 

2.2 Tourism policies in China

According to Ma et al. (2015), tourism is one of the activities in China that is showing significant growth and a driving force in China. Samimi et al. (2017) observe that the tourism industry generated over 5 trillion Yuan in China in 2017. The industry contributed about 9.2 trillion Yuan to China’s GDP translating to over 10% of the economic output in China (Ma et al., 2015). In the opinion of Cornel (2015), these statistics reveal that China is one of the largest source of outbound and domestic tourists. Thus, the Chinese government has become concerned with the development and regulation of the Chinese tourism industry. In fact, Luo et al. (2016) suggest that very few governments have approached tourism development with similar degree of control like the Chinese government. Samimi et al. (2016) and Luo et al. (2016) argue that in the 90’s, during the reign of the Communist Party of China (CCP), the CCP party had total control of the mainland thus banned domestic tourism by prohibiting internal movement and international visitations. However, after the institution of the economic reform policy/the open door policy, tourism in China has grown rapidly and become a key economic activity (Samimi et al., 2016). Today, the Chinese government has facilitated planned development of both local and international tourism and integration of tourism as a “pillar industry” in China (Cornet, 2015).

Reform in the economic policy in China led to the adoption of tourism policies. For this to happen, the Chinese government had to separate enterprise functions from government functions leading to the formation of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) (Hung, 2018). Cornel (2015) argues that the first administrative policy implemented by the Chinese State Council was The Travel Agency Act which was concerned with outbound tourism. This policy gave some Chinese citizens the freedom of movement and travel within and outside the China to Asian countries. In 1996, reforms were introduced to the policy and it was renamed the Regulations on the Administration of Travel Agencies. This act differentiated between international and domestic travel agencies (Yang et al., 2016). 

However, while China’s economic situation has contributed to outbound tourism, the government has been cautious with developing outbound tourism (Yang et al., 2016). Huang (2010) posit that the Government of China has been imposing a regulatory policy on outbound tourism. Paik (2019) supports this argument and adds that the Chinese government controls outbound tourism through policies like Approved Destination Status (ADS), yearly ration structure for outbound tourism based on expected inbound tourists and stringent licencing for travel companies in outbound tourism (Huang, 2010).

Tang (2017) observes that the Chinese government also imposed policies that introduced foreign investment in 1985 making tourism the first industry sector to allow foreign investment. However, only cooperatives and joint ventures were the only foreign investments allowed. Reform of tourism pricing was also introduced as a policy meant to classify tourist seasons and accommodate fluctuation in prices during different seasons. However, Tang (2017) notes that the investment policy led to some unintended consequences which has a negative effect on China. Yang et al. (2016) agree with Tang (2017) and emphasise that the effects were as a result of over emphasis of quantity over quality by the Chinese government. Due to improper planning and lack of coordination, Tang (2017) records that “disorder tourism” came up. The confusion in the tourism industry led to increase in the number of hotels, hotel rooms and bed at a higher rate than that of foreign arrivals and transportation (Yang et al., 2016). Thus, an oversupply of luxury hotels was recorded compared to medium hotels. A study by Claveria (2017) confirms that 70% of the hotels that came up in China were only luxury hotels. Tang (2017) contributes that misinformation was as a result of improper forecasting by the Chinese government about the demand for luxury hotels. As a result, China faced a huge problem with accommodation for a long time.

Luo et al. (2016) propose that decentralisation policy is another policy that is significant in the development of the tourism industry. Before 1978, travel companies, civil aviation and hotels were fully financed and controlled the Government of China (Bi et al., 2016). However, in 1984, the state council allowed sole operation and investment of airlines by the government, travel agencies and hotels (Luo et al., 2016). Bi et al. (2016) add that these amendments were issued under the policy referred to as “Provisional Regulations on Authorising Civil Aviation Corporation.” These changes led to the establishment of a number of local airlines in China including Shanghai Airlines, Xinjiang Airlines and Xiamen Airlines (Luo et al., 2016). However, Keating et al. (2015) affirm that these airlines were not controlled hence led to overbooking and delays. Keating et al. (2015) further explain that the State Council mitigated the problems by modifying the decentralisation policy in1984 which only allowed regional offices to contact and sell to foreign tour operators.

Another policy reform that fuelled development of tourism in China is the tourism education and training through the Red professional and education policy (Keating et al., 2015). This policy was formulated because of the poor service quality that was offered by some tourism companies due to ineffective management. The education policy was aimed at improving the skills of employees in the tourism sector and educating them on the communism and socialism ideologies (Cornet, 2015). Through this, the government also injected annual investment of RMB $40 million in 1988 for tourism education by CNTA (Keating et al., 2015).

Tang (2017) records that significant development in the tourism industry was evidenced in 2013 when the Chinese government introduced a new tourism policy. The policy was launched in 2013 by the General Office of the State Council and was aimed at enhancing development in the tourism industry (Cornet, 2015). This policy was dubbed “The Outline for National Tourism and Leisure (2013-2020).” Tse (2015) records that the first provision in this policy is adequate leave time for national tourism which was aimed at developing the market for domestic tourism. Through this rule, Chinese citizens were entitled to a statutory paid annual leave while schools were required to extend and change holiday periods (Tse, 2015 and Tang, 2017). This rule is, in theory, meant to influence Chinese citizens to engage in local tourism.

Henderson (2017) identifies that the Chinese government also introduced a policy named ‘Better environment for national tourism and leisure.’ This policy is meant to improve the availability and accessibility of key tourist attractions like museums and memorial halls to the public (Tang, 2017). Similarly, Tse (2015) points out that another policy instituted by the Chinese government is the ‘Product development of national tourism and leisure.’ This policy is a measure by the government to diversify its offerings in the tourism industry. Through this, the state aims to create new tourism sub-sectors like medical, bicycle and sport tourism (Tse, 2015).

According to Ma et al. (2015), development of tourism policies in China has also trickled down to major cities, led by Hangzhou city. As early as 2009, Hangzhou established a tourism committee which was recognised for the launch of the MICE special policy (Tang, 2017). Through this policy, the Hangzhou tourism committee subsidised conference costs by 8% for non-local organisations hosting meetings in Hangzhou. In addition to this, Samimi et al. (2017) record that Hangzhou was the first city to introduce the “free ticket” policy. Through this policy, all museums and parks along the west gate were made free of charge thus attracting more tourists to that area (Xu et al., 2017). Ma et al. (2015) add that the Chinese government also implemented a long-term policy where RMB$5 billion is allocated annually to the top 14 tourist attraction cities in China for development. From this, China has been able to restore and develop unique tourist attractions like the Great Wall, Cotta Warriors of Qin Dynasty and the Forbidden City (Fan, 2017). Visa free travel policy has contributed to the growth of international tourism in Hangzhou (Xu & Zhang, 2016). Through this policy, citizens from 51 countries were granted 6 days visa-free entry to Hangzhou city. Another policy that has facilitated development of tourism in Hangzhou is the “all-for-one” policy (Xu & Zhang, 2016). This policy was proposed in the 12^th National People’s Congress in China. The aim of introduction of this policy is to upgrade and integrate the tourist sites, public services and general laws to facilitate use of tourism as a tool of growth in Hangzhou (Xu & Zhang, 2016).

2.3 Chapter conclusion

China is seen to have experienced significant development in relation to tourism policies because of the economic reforms after the reign of the CCP. The Chinese government has facilitated planned development of both local and international tourism and integration of tourism through reforms of tourism policies. These are: The Travel Agency Act, Approved Destination Status (ADS), Reform of tourism pricing, decentralisation policy, the Red professional and education policy and better environment policy among others. Moreover, Hangzhou is identified as one of the most popular tourist sites that has benefited from the tourism policies. The city has introduced policies that have developed tourism in Hangzhou including the free ticket policy and the MICE special policy.

Chapter 3: Literature Review

3.1 Introduction

Literature review is a chapter of a researcher project that is mainly concerned with discussing published empirical studies on a given subject area. It is worth noting that literature review may also contain discussion theoretical frameworks of various scholars concerning a given subject. In this chapter, the researcher will be discussing various past studies conducted by different scholars on factors influencing residents’ satisfaction with tourism development. Views discussed in this chapter shall enable the researcher to arrive at a given conclusion on a study about factors influencing residents’ satisfaction with tourism development.

3.2 Tourism Development in China

Tourism is one of the thriving industries in the Republic of China, and it is one significant contributors of economic growth. Liao, So and Lam (2016) underscore that having been shut for the outside world for nearly three decades; the burn was later opened in 1976. Since then, the tourism industry in China has been constantly growing and flourishing to become one of the world’s leading outbound and inbound tourism market (Zhuet al., 2017). Chen, Dwyer and Firth (2015) underpins that huge growth that has been witnessed in the sector can be attributed to a number of prevailing factors both locally and internationally. Some of the factors that have led to the development of tourism industry consist of growth of new wealth as well as disposable income; increase in demand for touring the world; reforms and opening of the sector; and ease and control of restrictions on travelling (Zhu et al., 2017).

These prevailing factors have made China to be the third among the most visited countries in the world. In relation to Survey that was conducted by The United Nations Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) in 2010; it was revealed that the total number of foreign tourists that visited China was 55.98 million visitors (Liang &Hui, 2016). During this time, the total revenue that was generated from the tourism sector was approximated to be $234.8 billion. That report also indicated that during the year 2010; China received an increase of 53 million visitors as compared to the previous year (Liang &Hui, 2016). In addition, there were approximately 2.1 billion trips that were done locally or domestically, which was an increase of 11% in comparison to the previous year (Liang &Hui, 2016).

Most current statistics that were recently released by China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism; it was indicated that in the year 2018; tourism industry generated a revenue of 5.97 Trillion Yuan, which is an equivalent of $882 billion. This was an increment of 10.5% as compared to the previous year (Zhou, 2019). It was therefore, concluded by the ministry that in 2018; tourism sector contributed 11% of the total country’s GDP, which was equal to 9.94 Yuan. In terms of job creation; the tourism industry in China created a total of 79.9 million job opportunities, which was 10.3% of the total jobs created in that year (Zhou, 2019). It is has also been projected by UNWTO that by 2020, China will be the most visited country in the world.

One of the cities in China that has experienced huge economic growth as a result of tourism activity is Hangzhou (Lin, Chen and Filieri, 2017). According to Lin, Chen and Filieri (2017), Hangzhou is China’s ancient city that has a history of 2200 years. It is worth noting that Hangzhou is one of the cities in China that is normally being thronged by tourists during holiday seasons. Hangzhou city is found at the South-end of China’s widely known Grand Canal. It is also considered as one of the tranquil big cities in China, and it is built along West Lake that has a lot of ancient beautiful scenic like shrines, pagodas, attractive bridges, and temples (Wang et al., 2014). However, there is a general belief that tourism has the ability of attracting both desirable and undesirable effects on the local community or city being visited. Therefore, this chapter of the research will provide a review of past studies on factors of factors influencing residents’ satisfaction with tourism development. In this study, the researcher seeks to examine factors influencing residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in Hangzhou City.

3.3 Tourism Development

Jeon, Kang and Desmarais (2016) opine that tourism industry is increasingly becoming important for most communities across the world,  therefore the need for sustainable development of tourism is also becoming a key concern. Tourism development is concerned with how the host community can contribute towards sustainable tourism development, and on the hand how tourists can contribute in communal development (Sinclair-Maragh, Gursoy & Vieregge, 2015). Sustainable tourism development consists of economic and social advantages that entail proper use of environmental resources for the purposes of development of the host community (Rasoolimanesh et al., 2017). Nunkoo (2015) also posits that tourism development also entails provision of employment opportunities for the inhabitants of the host community, and also respect for their cultures and traditions.

Vital elements of sustainable tourism development consist of meeting both the needs of visitors and the host communities both for the present and future generations (Sinclair-Maragh, Gursoy & Vieregge, 2015). Tourism development from the visitors’ point of view, it requires the host community to make available things that would make visitors feel comfortable and entertained (Rasoolimanesh et al., 2017). Some of the things that hosts would require from the community include recreational facility, transportation facility, and internet facility, shopping places, tour guides, entertainment, nourishment, good food, accommodation and above all security (Rasoolimanesh et al., 2017). On the other hand, the host community would require the visitors or tourists to mind the socio-economic factors found in the area, environmental effects, cultural effects, and positive impact on the people at large (Woo, Kim & Uysal, 2015). Therefore, it is worth noting that all these factors entail tourism development.

3.4 Factors influencing residents’ satisfaction with Tourism development

A number of studies have been conducted to determine factors that influence resident’s satisfaction or perception towards tourism development. There are a number of factors that can influence the perception or satisfaction of the host community with the tourism development. Carneiro, Eusébio and Caldeira (2018) show that although there is no recognised classification of these factors, they can be divided into two main categories, which entail Intrinsic and Extrinsic factors. Jeon, Kang and Desmarais (2016) points out those extrinsic factors that influence residents’ satisfaction with the tourism development include type of tourism, seasonality, and national or macro stage of development. Conversely, intrinsic factors that influence host community’s satisfaction with the tourism development include economic benefits, employment dependent on tourism, distance from the tourism centres, community participation, social costs, individual’s values, hospitality of the tourists, and other demographic issues such as gender, age, education, marital status, and education.

According to Carneiro, Eusébio and Caldeira (2018), the factors that can impact the resident’s perception or satisfaction with the tourism development include: kind of relationship between the residents and the tourists, to what extent does the host community depend on the tourism sector, how important the tourism industry is to the community, and the extent of tourism development in that particular community or society. All these discussed by these different scholars may indeed influence the residents’ satisfaction towards the impact of tourism, however, for this paper, the researcher would concentrate on the following influencing factors: community attachment, community participation, social costs, and economic benefits.

3.5 Community Attachment

Community attachment refers to degree of residents of a certain community have cognitive or attractive ties or connection with each other and the place (Lo & Jim, 2015). In nutshell, community attach simply means some sense of belonging or better still it means rootedness in a given place. As Lo and Jim (2015) opines, community attachment is mostly described using three variables, which include feeling at home, feeling about shifting, and having deep interest in what takes place in the community or society. Miyamoto and Sato (2017) are of the view that community attachment is one of the factors that influences perception or satisfaction of residents of a given place towards tourism development. Although most of the scholars have argued that being attached to a given community has an impact on the satisfaction of the hosts towards tourism development, there are some scholars that harbour contrary opinion. Therefore, the researcher is going to discuss views from different scholars concerning impact of community attachment towards residents’ satisfaction on tourism development.

3.5.1 Impact of community attachment on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development

Miyamoto and Sato (2017) argue that community attachment has direct influence on residents’ satisfaction towards tourism development in a given community. According to Miyamoto and Sato (2017), locals or residents would feel satisfied or perceive impacts of tourism as being positive, when the perceived impacts are viewed as a positive if they are attached to the traditions and cultures of the community. This view is also supported by Lo and Jim (2015) who underscores that residents who are strongly attached to their community or society would be more satisfied with tourism if it leads to job creation and protection of the environment as opposed to the residents who are not attached to their community.

Additionally, Alrwajfah, Almeida-García and Cortés-Macías (2019) also discovered that when residents of a given place are greatly attached to their community; would be satisfied with the socio-economic development brought about by the tourism as opposed to when the tourism leads to degradation of the environment. Sher, Bagul and Din (2015) conducted another research that was geared towards finding out the connection between community attachment and the positive impacts of tourism. The research was carried out among the residents of Homestays found in Malaysia. Sher, Bagul and Din (2015) also arrived at the same finding that was achieved byAlrwajfah, Almeida-García, and Cortés-Macías (2019). Sher, Bagul and Din (2015) discovered that if tourism negatively impacts on both socio-economic and environmental aspects of the community, then the residents who are attached to their community would have a negative perception on the tourism. On the other hand, if the tourism positively impacts the socio-economic and environmental aspects of the community, then those residents who are attached to their community would be happy with the tourism.

On the contrary, there are some scholars who harbour conflicting opinion with the views above. For instance, Theodori and Theodori (2015) extrapolate that those residents who are highly attached to their community will not be satisfied or will negatively perceive tourism development. Theodori and Theodori (2015) posit that the more residents are attached to their community, the more they would negatively perceive tourism practice. This particular finding by Theodori and Theodori (2015) are also in tandem with the views possessed by Kwon et al., (2017). Kwon et al., (2017) elucidates that there is a negative correlation between community attachment and the tourism development. This basically means that the more residents are to their community the more they would likely rebel against the tourists who positively impacts the community through provision of job opportunities.

3.6 Community participation

Rasoolimanesh et al., (2017) define community participation as the act of people’s involvement in projects that are carried out in the community to solve their problems. Community participation is some of human right that ought to be freely provided. Human right aspect of community participation explains why, in some jurisdictions it has been constitutionalised (Rasoolimanesh et al., 2017). When it comes, to tourism development, residents ought to be involved or participate in those decisions that would impact on their day-to-day lives. There are various forms of community participation, which include: passive participation, participation through consultation, participation to achieve material gains, and coercive participation (Christens, Speer & Peterson). Finally, community participation is a tool of empowerment, which enables the locals of a given community to be involved in identification and addressing the issues that affect them through collaboration with various stakeholders like national and local governments (Christens, Speer & Peterson).

3.6.1 Impact of community participation on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development

Various scholars have argued that community participation has a direct impact on the satisfaction of residents towards tourism development in their various places. On the other hand, lack of community participations would leave the residents of the host community less satisfied. Nevertheless, there are some scholars who are of the view that community participation has no influence on residents’ satisfaction with the tourism development.

To begin with, Su, Huang and Huang (2018) carried out a research to find out if community participation positively influences the host community perception towards tourism development. Findings of this study revealed that is of the view that community participation is an important factor in tourism development as it enables the locals to be involved in the planning of the entire tourism development process. Yu, C.P., Cole, S. and Chancellor, C., (2018) also holds the same view as those ones of Su, Huang and Huang (2018); by stating that community participation is quite vital in ensuring that the community is satisfied with the prospects of tourism development, as it give them that feeling of being valued. Su, Huang and Huang (2018) further states that when residents are involved in decision making on matters concerning tourism development like environmental sustainability and socio-economic issues encourages residents to have confidence in the tourism sector. Lin, Chen and Filieri (2017) also harbour the same opinion as argued by Su, Huang and Huang (2018). Lin, Chen and Filieri (2017) underpin that involvement of the hosts in matters tourism development is one of the fundamental tools, for tourism to make substantial contribution in the community that would be acceptable to the residents.

However, Lee and Jan (2019) has contrary opinion to the views of some of the scholars highlighted above. Lee and Jan (2019) posit that community participation has no impact on residents’ satisfaction with the tourism development. This view is also shared with Yu, Cole, and Chancellor (2018) who underscores that residents do not like being involved on matters concerning planning for the tourism development; especially those ones from the least developed or developing communities. The study that was conducted by Yu, Cole, and Chancellor (2018) in Sichuan Province, China to find out correlation between community participation and tourism development provided a negative result. Finding of this particular research indicated that there was very low participation by the residents in decision making process, and yet they were satisfied with the benefits yield from tourism.

3.7 Social Costs

Social costs are basically those costs that lead to the disruption of people’s lifestyle as a result of changes in the composition of the society (Garau-Vadell, Gutierrez-Taño & Diaz-Armas, 2018). Social or socio-cultural costs include vandalism, noise pollution, crowding of an area, and property damage. One of the areas where social costs may be encountered is in tourism activity. Social cost is one of the factors that directly or indirectly impacts residents’ perception or satisfaction with the tourism development in an area.

3.7.1 Impact of social costs on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development

Scholars have divergent opinions concerning the impact of social costs on residents’ satisfaction with the tourism development in an area. To begin with, Carneiro, Eusébio and Caldeira (2018) points that residents are more satisfied with the tourism development if the social cost incurred would result into positive socio-cultural development. In the study that was conducted in Australia, Carneiro, Eusébio and Caldeira (2018) found out that residents of a given area where there is tourist attraction centre would not care much about the social costs incurred or will be satisfied with the tourism development if it positively improve their lifestyle, it enriches their cultures and traditions, value systems, moral conduct, and overall community organisation. Conversely, Yürük, Akyol and Şimşek (2017) points out that when the social costs contributes in the degradation on the socio-cultural issues of a given community, residents of that community will not be satisfied with tourism development brought about by those social costs. This finding by Yürük, Akyol and Şimşek (2017) indicates that there is correlation between social costs and residents’ satisfaction with tourism development. However, Woo, Uysal and Sirgy (2018) hold contrary opinion with the views of the scholars mentioned above. Study that was conducted by Woo, Uysal and Sirgy (2018) in Bombay, India, it was revealed that there is no link between residents’ satisfaction with the tourism development; whether the costs are positive or not. In a study that had a sample of 1675 participants, 82% of those who responded to the questionnaire stated that they do not care about the social costs incurred to bring about tourism development (Woo, Uysal and Sirgy, 2018). This basically means that these residents’ satisfaction with the tourism development is not connected to the social costs.

3.8 Economic Benefit

Holden, Nyrop and Ellner (2016) define economic benefit as a form of advantage or gain that an individual or a community gets from a given program, policy, activity, and/or strategy. It is important to note that these economic benefits are normally measured in terms of monetary values. Economic benefit is normally applied in the evaluation of economic activity and decision making either at personal level or communal level. One of the areas where individuals or communities may accrue economic benefit is from tourism development. Scholars have opined that economic benefit has influence on the residents’ satisfaction with the tourism development in their area.  Conversely, there are some scholars who harbour contrary opinion.

3.8.1 Impact of economic benefits on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development

Different scholars have examined the impact of economic benefits on residents’ satisfaction with the tourism development in their area. However, there are some scholars who are of the view that there is correlation between residents’ satisfaction with tourism development and economic benefits. Conversely, there are also who have contrary opinion concerning influence of economic benefit on residents’ satisfaction with the tourism development. For instance, Alrwajfah, Almeida-García and Cortés-Macías (2019) posit that monetary reward that the residents may receive from the tourists as a result of services and goods that they have offered to them, has direct influence on residents satisfaction. In nutshell, Alrwajfah, Almeida-García and Cortés-Macías (2019) are of the view that with economic benefits like employment promotion of businesses like hotels; residents would care about the tourism development.

In support of the views held by Alrwajfah, Almeida-García and Cortés-Macías (2019), Gurney et al.(2017) posits that economic benefits that the residents normally gets from the tourists is one of the main factor why they welcome them However, without such benefits, they would not even provide any support to these tourists. According to research that was conducted by Al-Saad et al., (2018) in Aqaba, Jordan, where questionnaires were issued to 305 respondents, it was discovered that economic benefit is the most determinant factor on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development. Nonetheless, a research conducted by Jaafar, Noor, and Rasoolimanesh (2015) indicated that economic benefits would not influence the residents’ perception positively or satisfaction with the tourism; if costs they incurred in providing services and goods are much higher.

3.9 Conclusion

In nutshell, this chapter has discussed the range of factors that could influence residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in Hangzhou City, China. Factors such as economic benefit, community attachment, community participation, and social cost may affect resident’s views of tourism.. Based on various literal works that have been reviewed by the researcher, it come out quite clearly that some the factors that have been discussed are either directly or indirectly correlated with residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in their areas. On the other, there are some scholars that have opined that there is no any connection between residents’ satisfaction and some of the factors discussed. Therefore, it can be concluded the researcher will most likely arrive in the findings above. [SW1] 

Chapter 4: Research Methodology

4.1 Introduction

The aim of this research was to study the impact of community attachment, community participation, social costs and economic benefits on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in China in Hangzhou City, and offer recommendations to tourism policy for improving residents’ satisfaction with tourism development. This chapter aims at describing and justifying the research methods adopted in the present study. In this chapter, the research presents the research philosophy, research approach and research strategy used in the study. Further, the chapter reviews the collection instrument, data collection procedure, data analysis method used in the study. Towards the end, ethical considerations that shaped the research process and a conclusion are presented.[SW2] 

4.2 Research Philosophy

There are two main categories of research philosophy used in research, which include positivism and interpretivism (Bresler & Stake, 2017). This research adopts positivism philosophy. Positivism philosophy proposes that the basis of knowledge depends on the scientific assumptions. This implies that for factual information to be derived, the information must be statistically measurable and verifiable (Padilla-Díaz, 2015). Adopting positivism is useful in obtaining data that can be used to make quantitative predictions (Creswell and Creswell, 2017). The present study uses quantifiable data from the respondents concerning the influence of different factors on their satisfaction or perception towards tourism development in Hangzhou. Using quantitative data allows objective information to be derived in order to derive scientific assumptions (Creswell and Creswell, 2017). Therefore, the present study aligns with positivism philosophy as it depends on quantitative data to derive conclusions of variables’ relationship. However, positivism philosophy is susceptible to produce too abstract data and general data that may not be directly applicable in a particular context (Mason, 2017). The other major research philosophy that could have been applied is interpretivism. However, it was rejected because it focuses on the subjective meaning as the basis for uncovering facts about a particular phenomenon (Creswell and Creswell, 2017).

4.3 Research Approach

There are two main types of approaches to research that is business based; these two approaches consist of inductive and deductive research approaches (Bauer, 2014). The present study employs the deductive approach to research. The deductive approach focuses on formulating and testing hypothesis based on the already existing theories (Creswell and Creswell, 2017). On the other hand, inductive approach seeks to develop a new theory emerging from data generated concerning a particular research issue (Haans, Pieters & He, 2016). Deductive approach is preferred as it inclines well with positivism philosophy (Creswell and Creswell, 2017). It agrees with positivism philosophy that it seeks to testing hypotheses using statistical scientific tools in order to derive logical facts about a research issue of how different variables affect residents’ satisfaction with tourism development. Theory development is not a key concern in the present study that adopts a positivist standpoint and have in-depth theoretical framework. However, its high inflexibility could limit the scope of the study because it reduces the study generalisation (Hashemnezhad, 2015). Nevertheless, using deductive is ideal for this study as focus on testing hypothesis to see whether there is an optimal set of factors that optimise residents’ satisfaction in tourism development in Hangzhou.

4.4 Research Strategy

Saleh et al. (2015) postulate that research strategy is a chronology of plan of action that will provide the direction of thoughts and efforts put forward by the researcher to achieve systematic, and detailed research results as scheduled. The present study adopts a survey approach. The use of survey is advantageous as it facilitates the collection of a large amount of the data in timely and cost-effective manner as compared to other methods (Bauer, 2014). Further, questionnaire method was preferred because it allows for generation of a large sample of data necessary in this particular study (Lloria & Moreno-Luzon, 2014) to understand the perception of a large number of people living in Hangzhou City. However, some of the key weaknesses of questionnaire are that they cannot capture the research participants’ feelings or emotions and thus limit the collection of in-depth data (Bauer, 2014). Further, the use open-ended questions led individualised responses and resulted in difficulties in analysing data. This is because the responses of open-ended questions cannot be easily quantified and had to be reviewed by the researcher (Flick, 2018). Nevertheless, questionnaire was the most appropriate method because they allowed a flexible way of data collection and facilitated the collecting data from people in different geographical locations.

4.5 Research Instrument

There are two main research instruments used to collected data, namely interviews and questionnaires (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016). The present study adopts questionnaire method, through the use of both open and close-ended questionnaires. The selection of both open and closed-ended questionnaire is based on myriad of reasons. First, the use of closed-ended questionnaire enables the researcher to arrange some questionnaire queries on the Likert-Five point scale, which provided an easier way to compare and statistically analyse data (Thyer, 2010). Further, the response choices in the close-ended questionnaire ensures clarification of the meaning of the research questions (Patten, 2016), which in turn provided a quicker and easier way for respondents to answer the questionnaire queries. Further, the use open-ended questionnaire supplemented the close-ended questionnaire method. This was useful for this study led to the elicitation of a diverse set of responses. This, in turn, improved the richness of responses and validity of the study finding (Flick, 2018).

Both the open and closed-ended questionnaire has been designed to evaluate the research participants’ perceptions about the factors influencing residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in China in Hangzhou City. The design of questionnaire questions borrows from other previous studies as some of the questions are adapted from the previous empirical studies related to the topical issue under study. In particular, three sections are included in the questionnaire (see appendix 1). The first section consists of 8 questions (Q1 to Q8), which investigated the participants’ general attitudes about living in Hangzhou and their attitudes towards tourist development in Hangzhou. The second section consists of 20 questions (Q9 to Q28), which included Likert Scale questions. Other supplementing open-ended questions were included at the end of the Likert scale questions. All the questionnaire queries in the second section aimed at inquiring variables in the research objectives, including community attachment, community participation, social costs, economic benefits, and residents’ satisfaction with tourism development. The third section consists of 4 questions (Q29 to Q32) collected the demographic characteristics of the respondents, including gender, age, level of education, and income. The questionnaire queries were originally designed in English and then were translated into Chinese language before being distributed to the respondents via an online survey sine it was more convenient for the residents of Hangzhou to understand.

4.6 Data Collection Process

Process of data collection in a research project is the most vital part, as the information obtained will enable the researcher to arrive at a given conclusion with the study (Chen et al., 2015).  This research collected data through the online questionnaire. There are several reasons why the researcher has opted to collect the data online. Some of these reasons include time-saving, less costly, and simple process. The researcher posted the questionnaire in one of the most popular online questionnaire survey platform, questionnaire star. To improve the response rate, the researcher relied on the social media platforms available in China and posted the questionnaire link on Wechat. Residents of Hangzhou who are willing to take part were requested to click the link to fill out questionnaires. Then, respondents were asked to recommend more Hangzhou residents to participate in the survey. Such a snowballing sampling method saves time for achieving eligible respondents. The researcher aimed to collect 120 valid questionnaires.

4.7 Data Analysis Method

After collection of the data through the use of survey and questionnaire, the researcher analysed data collected using a Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) technique. SPSS is a tool that has proven to be efficient for statistical data analysis (Diedenhofen & Musch, 2016). Other than its efficiency as a tool for analysing statistical data, it is also economical, and it is quite simple to use. The SPSS tool enabled the researcher to develop data presentation methods such as graphs, pie charts, line graphs to represent the collected data (Diedenhofen & Musch, 2016).

Frequency analysis was used to analyse multiple-choice questions. Moreover, mean analysis was conducted on the various variables identified in the research questions. Explicitly, mean analysis helped examine respondents’ perception of different factors. Also, trend analysis was used to examine different variables relationship in research objectives.

4.8 Research Ethics

As the research involved human subjects as the respondents, the researcher fulfilled the expectation of different stakeholder to ensure that the validity, reliability, and legality of the research (Myers, 2013). First, the researcher filled the ethical application form demonstrating the intent to abide to different ethical measures including the anonymity, data confidentiality, informed consent, and informed judgment throughout the research process. The, the researcher followed those ethical measures throughout the research process. First, the researcher first explained the overview of the study to the participants, how they would be involved to seek their informed consent and ensure informed judgment. Following this, the researcher ensured that research participants were not coerced in any way to participate in the study. Further, prior to collecting the research data, the researcher assured the respondents that any information derived from the study would be confidential to preserve confidentiality of the research. In the same light, the researcher requested respondents not to disclose their personal information to uphold their anonymity throughout the research process.

4.9 Conclusion

The present study adopts positivism philosophy, deductive approach, and survey method to research. Data is collected through open-ended and closed -ended questionnaires and distributed to respondents via an online survey. The collected data was analysed through the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) technique. Data confidentiality, respondents’ informed consent, informed judgment, anonymity were some of the critical measures upheld by the researcher to ensure that the research was conducted ethically. The presentation of the research methods provides the groundwork for the data analysis in the subsequent chapter on discussion and analysis.

Chapter 5: analysis and results

5.1 Introduction

The chapter focuses on the major findings and analysis of the data [SW3] that was collected using questionnaires. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS in obtaining the demographic information, frequency distribution, descriptive statistics, and trend analysis. Each analyzed data will have a highlight of the main findings. Analysis will be made on the multiple-choice questions in the questionnaire using frequencies. Descriptive statistics will be used to help in measuring the variables. Trend analysis will be done to help in understanding the relationships between the variables. The research findings will be substantiated by use of research findings from the previous literatures. The chapter will then conclude with a summary of the major findings of the data analysis.

5.2 Demographic characteristics of the respondents

This section discusses respondents’ demographic characteristics including their age, gender, education, and level of income in HangZhou City. More females (50.43%) participated in the research than in males (37.61%) in Hangzhou City. The research involved people of different age groups thereby ensuring that it was accurate on the information and data collected so as to represent the actual residents perception on the tourism development in the city. Majority of the respondents who took part in the study were aged between 26 – 35 years (26.50%) and 36-45 years old (23.08%) of the total number of participants in the study. The individuals falling in this age bracket tended to be more concerned with tourism development hence the reason of taking part in the study. On the other hand, minority of the respondents who took part in the study were those who were above 65 years of age representing 6% of the total participants. However, it is important to note that all the age groups had a contribution on their perception towards tourism development. The educational distribution also showed that most of the participants were having Bachelor’s degree representing 36.75%.. The respondents who had high school education or did not have were few in the study representing 6.84%. This is an indication that most of the residents are well educated and have attained higher educational level. A significant number of respondents who took part in the study had an income range [SW4] of 7,001-10,000 Yuan representing 32.48%. The second highest percent of the respondents were also earning below 3,000 Yuan (18.80%) and 3,001 – 7,000 Yuan (17.09%). The number of participants in this group was many owing to the fact that majority of citizens in China are in that monthly income range. The participants who earned 10,001-15,000 Yuan represented 12.82% were few due to the fact that there are few people [SW5] in China who are earning more than 10,000 Yuan. This represented the income distribution of China.

Table 5- 1: [SW6] Demographic profiles

Variable	Category	Percentage distribution (N=117)
Gender	Female	50.43
Male	37.61
Prefer not to answer	11.97
Age (Years)	18-25	13.68
26-35	26.50
36-45	23.08
46-55	15.38
Over 56	11.97
65-74	5.98
Over 74	3.42
Education	High school or below	6.84
Bachelors	36.75
Junior college	23.08
Master	19.66
Doctorate or above	13.68
Level of income (Yuan)	Below 3,000	18.80
3,001-7,000	17.09
7,001-10,000	32.48
10,001-15,000	12.82
Over 15,000	13.68
Prefer not to say	5.13

5.3 Frequency Analysis

The data that will be presented here shows results of analysis for opinions of the respondents about their perception of Hangzhou.

5.3.1 Numbers of years the respondents have stayed in Hangzhou

Results showed that majority of the respondents were those who have stayed in the city for a period of between 5 years to 10 years representing 38.46% of the total respondents. 35.04% of respondents have stayed in Hangzhou for 3-5 years. Having majority of the respondents within this range is important in that they were able to give credible information pertaining to tourism development that they have seen over time. Minority of the respondents (7.69%) had stayed for over 10 years in the city.The development of the real estate industry over the years has provided the basis for the migration of residents, so the proportion is low.

Figure 5- 1: Numbers of years the respondents have stayed in Hangzhou

5.3.2 Results showing the respondents view on why Hangzhou is a good place to live

Results generated from the respondents view on why they find Hangzhou as a good place to live showed that 27.35% of those interviewed found the city good to live in due to its climatic conditions. This is an indication that most respondents appreciate the good climatic conditions. The city associated with the humid subtropical weather conditions. The season is characterized by long hot humid summers and short cloudy, chilly winters making it appropriate place to live in. a significant number of respondents also were of the view that parks (11.97%), and being close to family (11.97%) was making them to live in the city. minority of the respondents (2.56%) were of the view that good jobs is what was making the city a good place to live in. This is an indication that job opportunities or good jobs in the city are few compared to other cities in China. The factors that are favorable for the majority of the residents are represented in the result shows why they find the city is good to live in.

Figure 5- 2: Reasons why living in Hangzhou is good

5.3.3 The attitude of respondents towards living in Hangzhou

The analyzed data showed that most respondents were neutral (30.77%) on their attitude towards staying in the city. This could have been due to the fact that as much as they are comfortable with staying in the city, they also felt that there are is a few issues that need to be improved. In one instance, they have things that they appreciate in the city and on the other; they still feel that more input should be put to make their lives better in the city. Additionally, a significant number of the respondents like very much/like living in Hangzhou (17.95%) and (28.21%) respectively. This is an indication that a significant number of residents within the city enjoying living in Hangzhou. This is an indication that there are a number of features which are attractive to the residents. There were also a few respondents who disliked the city very much (11.11%). The few people who disliked the city very much could be those who are earning less than 3,000 Yuan hence unable to meet their daily demands within the city. With less pay, they are not able to enjoy their stay in that they will not be able to manage paying for some of the services or picnic sites that are being enjoyed by those who like the city.

Figure 5- 3: Level residents are enjoying living in Hangzhou

5.3.4 Results showing aspects to be improved to make Hangzhou better place to live

Based on the analyzed data, most of the respondents were of the opinion that the living condition (22.22%), wage level (16.24%), and job opportunities (13.68%) have drawn attention of respondents for making the city a better place to reside in. This is because they want better job opportunities and salary for improving the living condition, so that the residents are able to afford their basic needs without straining. Minority of the respondents were of the view that improved greening (4.274%) in the city will make their lives better in the city. This indicates that most respondents are satisfied with greening in Hangzhou.

Figure 5- 4: Factors[SW7]  making living in Hangzhou better

5.3.5 Results showing favourite activities within the city

Results from the respondents showed that the favorite activity for the residents of Hangzhou city is visiting the cultural sites (29.91%) followed by staying in Hangzhou countryside (23.93%).The result implies that the residents of city respect their culture and traditions which they are greatly attached to. The Chinese residents within the city also like staying within city’s country side due to the climatic conditions around the location which favors them. The Chinese residents in the city observe their culture and traditions. It has been argued that visiting cultural sites help locals in enriching their culture and traditions thereby ensuring that the overall moral conduct of the residents is well organized. Minority of the respondents were of the opinion that visiting parks and museums (11.97%) is their favorite activity. The number was low due to the fact that they have visited there many times and thus these places are not attractive to them. Based on the results, it is evident that there are a range of activities making the city to be attractive to the residents.

Figure 5- 5: Favorite activities in Hangzhou

5.3.6 Respondents’ opinion on tourists’ development in the city

Majority is of the view that tourist development in Hangzhou city is mainly good (53.85%) while the minority of the respondents were of the view that it is mainly bad (46.15%).Those who were of the opinion that tourist development in the city is good affirmed their statement by stating that the number of tourists has been increasing every year. They also opined that the development in the city is good owing to the improved employment rate that the locals are experiencing. A good number of people were also observed to be coming into the city to play during the holidays. With the rich culture in the city, tourist development was observed to be good due to the many tourists coming to study Hangzhou culture. It is important to remember that the culture of Hangzhou is popular globally. Those who were of the idea that tourism development in the city is mainly bad cited reduced number of tourist who are coming to the city as well as reduced income for the residents. Additionally, they also cited that the performance of the scenic spots is becoming bad and that some people do not want to find jobs that are related to tourism. The development of tourism also has resulted into busy traffic within the city hence making it bad.

Figure 5- 6: Perceptions of respondents on the development in Hangzhou

5.3.7 What do you like about tourism development in Hangzhou?

A significant number of the respondents (70) reported that the natural scenery of Hangzhou city is making them to like the tourism development in the city. Some of the natural sceneries that were highlighted are 5A scenic spots such as like West Lake, Lingyin Temple and LeifengPogoda. The culture and rich history of the city was also important as it allowed them to learn. Other sceneries that were of importance are old buildings, lakes and mountains as well as the availability of Hanfu that tourist can wear and walk around with. Majority of the respondentsalso liked their delicious foods (53) and shopping (43). Foods in the city are ‘beggars’ chicken and Longjing prawns which are tasty and inexpensive. They also visit the city to buy special gifts to friends such as silk or embroidery that represents Hangzhou. There were also those who visited the city for leisure and entertainment (27) as well as enjoy culture and historical sites (15). Performances such as Impressive West Lake and rafting make the city to be attractive.

5.3.8 What do you dislike about tourism development in Hangzhou?

A significant number of the respondents did not like tourism development as it has resulted to increase in the prices of things at the natural scenery (77) and the transport cost (68). For instance, they alluded that buying food, water and renting cars in some of sceneries is expensive. Also, during the tourism period, there are many people in the public transport with lots of cars also causing traffic jams. Majority also did not like the many people at the scenic spot (33) that makes people not to enjoy the scenery and noise within the city (25) due to many cars. Minority of the respondents complained of air quality (13) due to lots of cars emitting the automobile exhausts and also environmental pollution (7).

5.4 Descriptive statistics

5.4.1 Respondents view on the community attachment of the HangZhouCityresidents’

The descriptive statistics in this table [SW8] shows the mean of four questions that the respondents were asked to be between 3.1026 and 3.7179. It indicates the level of attachment that the Hangzhou residents are having towards their community. It is clear that all the respondents who took part in the study would want to be attached to the community in a given way.  This is an indication that although the residents would want to be attached to the community, they should be provided with ways on how to take part so that they be attached to the community.

The highest mean was registered on individuals who wanted to be part of the community activities always (M = 3.7179). This is an indication that most of the residents are ready to take part in the community activities if presented with an opportunity. There were also a section of the respondents who asserted that they feel close to the community (3.5470) explaining that based on their community, they are attachment to the happenings and ready to contribute positively. The lowest mean was registered on those individuals who were feeling to be close to the people in the community (M = 3.1026). This is an indicating that there is little interpersonal relationship among the people residing in the community. In order to improve on this, the community should enhance on interpersonal relationship.

The result shows that the residents are ready to be attached to community activities. The result are in agreement withAlrwajfah et al. (2019) who reported that when the residents are attached to their community, they are likely to be satisfied with the socio economic development. This result opposes those found by Theodori and Theodori (2015) who reported that residents who are highly attached to their community will not be satisfied with development in the city.

Table 5- 2: community attachment of the HangZhou City residents’

 

5.4.2 Respondents view on community participation of the HangZhou City residents

The descriptive statistics analyzed four items based on community participation of the Hangzhou residents. The means ranged between 3.1197 and 3.6325. The results show that the residents are ready to participate in the community activities when called upon or are engaging in them.

The highest mean was recorded on individuals who were ready to voluntarily engage in activities aimed at building the community (M = 3.6325). The many number of those ready to volunteer is an indication that there are residents are ready to go an extra mile to contribute positively for the betterment of the city and would like to take part in the decision making process or involve in activities aimed at building the community. There were also those who reported that they are ready to assist whenever they are called upon (3.4957). This is an indication that the residents are ready to take different measures to support the community.Those who are actively engaging in the community activities were few (M = 3.1197). The residents who are actively engaging in community activities were few owing to the huge logistical challenge associated with it that only a few can manage. This includes finance, time consuming and the legal issues or the government regulations that are needed to be met before taking part.

The results are in agreement with Wang et al. (2014) who opined that when the residents are involved in the decision making process in community developments, then they are likely to encourage the residents to have confidence in tourism. The results are also in agreement with research done by Wang et al. (2016) who opined that most organizations in China lack resources and clear legal identity in setting up programs that can improve the tourism development in the country.

Table 5- 3: community participation of the HangZhou City residents’

5.4.3 How do you engage with your community?

A significant number of the respondents were engaging with the community by actively taking part in the activities being conducted in Hangzhou (78). Such activities were those held in schools and by the community such as during Arbor Day when people actively take part in planting trees. Majority of the respondents were also supporting the construction in Hangzhou (33) as well as learning more skills on how to build the city (21). They were doing this through taking part in education so as to help in improving the quality of life and have long term development of the scenic spots. A few were also engaged in knowing the latest policies (9) and in establishing the community.

5.4.4 Which areHangzhou residents’ main community engagement activities?

The main community engagement was found to be filling the online questionnaires (68) and in activities being held by the community or schools (56). The questionnaires they filled included travelling survey questionnaires and those in social software. Those who participated in community development were doing so by coming up with suggestions on how to build the community. There were also those who took part in supporting tourism through social software (33) such as QQ and Wechat. They did this by posting pictures of food, sceneries, writing traveling guides so as to promote tourism. Those who offered traveling guide (17) were helping foreigners to know more about the city. Minority took part as accommodation receptionists, maintaining public order by volunteering as a security at the scenic areas as well as protecting the environment such as water and plants.

5.4.5 Has tourism changed the way Hangzhou residents participate in your community?

A significant number of the respondents were of the opinion that tourism has changed the way they participated in the community. They are now able to pay more attention on tourism (55) by looking at policies related to tourism or taking part in activities on traveling survey. They are also now paying attention to food and traveling guides. There are those also participating in the community through propagating tourism to others (37) which they are doing through social media. Some are also participating in decision making as well as supervision powers (27), during the process, residents can join in the decision making process, implementation and evaluation of the tourism development. There are a few also who are taking part in constructing convenient services for the people (3) such as in leasing of tents and renting of cars.

5.4.6 Respondents view on social cost of the HangZhou City residents’

The descriptive statistics presented here shows the extent by which tourism is influencing the social costs to the Hangzhou residents. Based on the research findings, it is evident that tourism is negatively influencing the residents of Hangzhou. There were four items that the respondents gave answers on with the mean ranging between 3.2479 and 3.6581. The result is an indication that a lot needs to be improved on so as to improve the social life of the residents.

The highest mean was registered on residents who were of the view that tourism does not overcrowd the social facilities (M = 3.6581). This result is an indication that there are manysocialfacilitiesin the city with big capacity to accommodate both the residents and the tourists. There were also those who were of the view that tourism cannot erode the moral values of the residents of Hangzhou (M =3.3932). This owes to the fact that tourists visit the city for a short period of time that cannot impact negatively on the moral values of the residents. The lowest mean was registered on the residents who were of the idea that tourisms does not make the locals of Hangzhou to adopt new cultures (M = 3.2479). This is an indication that there arelittle impact that tourism plays when it comes to changing the local culture of the residents.

This result contradictsNunkoo (2015) who reported that tourism development allows the community to adopt new cultures and traditions in their host community. Research conducted by Sher, Bagul and Din (2015) also reported that development of tourism has a negative impact on both social-economic impacts to the community hence making the residents to have a negative perception on tourism.

Table 5- 4: social cost caused by tourism

5.4.7 Respondents view on economic benefits of the HangZhou City

There were four items that the respondents were needed to give their views on. The mean results were ranging from 3.3419 to 3.6239. Generally, the results showed that there are a number of positive impacts of tourism to the residents within the community.

The highest mean score was registered on individuals who were of the view that tourism has increased the income levels of the residents in the community (M = 3.6239). This implies that tourism has economic benefits to the residents in that it creates employment and income earning opportunities to the locals. With tourism, the locals are able to set up their own businesses thereby creating self-employment where they can earn from. Majority of the respondents also asserted that tourism has led to improvement of infrastructure (M =3.6154). It implies that there is a lot of infrastructural development being done such as roads leading to the tourists sites. Conversely, the lowest mean was registered on those who were of the view that tourism has led to the increase of business activities (M = 3.3419). With tourism, people come up with various business activities to earn income. It also implies that tourism has helped in increasing opportunities within the hotel industry.

Alrwajfah, Almeida-García and Cortés-Macías (2019) found that the economic benefits associated with tourism development are like employment promotions in hotels and job opportunities that ensure steady income to the locals. For this to happen, Zhou (2019) asserted that having proper infrastructure such as roads leading to tourists destinations is important. They further alluded that the improvement of the local tourism infrastructure is conducive to tourism development thereby providing financial support for improving tourism facilities. The results are in agreement with the research conducted by Jaafar et al. (2015) who alluded that increase of employment opportunities can greatly influence the perception of the residents.

Table 5- 5: [SW9] economic benefits of tourism development

5.4.8 Satisfaction with the tourism development

The descriptive statistics looked into four items that the respondents gave their views on. The average mean ranged between 3.8291 and 3.3333. The results implies that there is a great positive effect that tourism is causing to the locals hence they are satisfied with the development.

Based on the data, the highest mean was recorded on individuals who were of the view that tourism in Hangzhou city is causing positive economic development (M = 3.8291). The high number of respondents implies that the effect of tourism development in the city can directly be felt by the residents based on their increased incomes, employment opportunities created by the development. The locals may have the view that tourism has contributed to increased sales of their products, profits, and tax revenues. The most direct effect of tourism development can be felt in sectors such as the lodgings, transport, restaurants, retail trade and amusements. The item that tourism has contributed to development of social amenities in the communitiessuch as schools and hospitals, has the lowest mean of 3.333. This is due to the fact that development of social amenities cannot be tagged as a result of tourism. It may be an indirect input from the tourism sector.

The results are in agreement with Jeon, Kang and Desmarais (2016) who pointed out that the extrinsic factors that influences satisfaction of the residents with tourism development includes economic benefits, employment, social costs, community participation, and hospitality.

Table 5- 6: Respondents satisfaction with tourism

5.5 Trend analysis

5.5.1 Trend analysis between community attachment and resident satisfaction to tourism development

Based on the figure presented below, the relationship between community attachment and resident satisfaction to tourism development is positively and linearly correlated. This is based on the fact that the scatter points are distributed evenly on each side of the trend line. It has been represented as

Satisfaction with tourist development = 0.5691*community attachment + 1.6535.

It is important to note that the positive and linear correlation between community attachment and satisfaction with tourism development is shown using a correlation index of 56.91%.  This implies that there is a moderate relationship between the factors. A unit of increase (decrease) on community attachment would cause 56.91% variance on satisfaction. It therefore implies that this research suggests that residents’ satisfaction with tourism developments depends on how much they are attachment to the community. It can be concluded that the positive correlation is due to resident’s attachment to the community that will allow them to support tourism related activities, so that they would hold positive attitude towards the tourism development.It is recommended that the activities that will allow the residents to engage in the community should be initiated such as taking part in the renovation of cultural sites.

The result is in agreement with Miyamoto and Sato (2017) are of the view that community attachment is one of the factors that influences perception or satisfaction of residents of a given place towards tourism development. The study contrast Theodori and Theodori (2015) who posited that the more residents are attached to their community, the more they would negatively perceive tourism practice.

Figure 5- 7: Relationships between community attachment and resident satisfaction to tourism development

5.5.2 Trend analysis on the relationship between community participation and resident satisfaction to tourism development

The figure shows that the relation between community participation and resident satisfaction to tourism development is both positive and linearly related.  This is evident based on the scatter plots that show that there is an even distribution of scatter points on both sides of the trend line. The data can be represented as

Satisfaction with tourist development = 0.6105*community participation + 1.5703.

The results can be argued that the relation between community participation and satisfaction of the residents with the tourist development is positively and linearly correlated with anindex of 61.05%. An increase/decrease of community participation result into a variance of 61.05% which indicates that there is a moderate relationship between the two factors implying that with community participation, the residents are more satisfied with the tourist development in the city.When people have higher community participation, it proves that they want better development of the community including tourism development. Therefore, they tend to support tourism development and show high satisfaction with tourism development.

The results are in agreement with Su, Huang and Huang (2018) who posted that community participation positively influences the host community perception towards tourism development as it allows the locals to be involved in the planning process of their community. Lin, Chen and Filieri (2017) also underpin that involvement of the hosts in matters of tourism development is one of the fundamental tools, for tourism to make substantial contribution in the community that would be acceptable to the residents. The results contradict that conducted by Yu, Cole and Chancellor (2018) who indicated negative correlation between community participation and tourism development.

Figure 5- 8: Relationships between community participation and resident satisfaction to tourism development

5.5.3 Trend analysis on the relationship between social cost and resident satisfaction to tourism development

The figure shows that the relation between social cost and resident satisfaction to tourism development is both positive and linearly related.  This is clearly based on the scatter plots that show that there is an even distribution of scatter points on both sides of the trend line. The data can be represented as

Satisfaction with tourist development = 0.7862*low social cost + 0.9516.

The results implythat the relation between low social cost and satisfaction of the residents to tourist development is positively and linearly correlated with an index value of 78.62%. This is an indication that there is a strong relationship between the two factors. It implies that when tourists have no negative effects such as crime rate, erosion of community moral values and cultures, overcrowding in social facilities then the residents may be satisfied with the tourism development in the city. This means that the lower social cost, the higher satisfaction the residents will be.

The results are in agreement with the findings by Yürük,Akyol and Şimşek (2017) who indicate that there is a positive relationship between low social costs and residents satisfaction to tourism development.They further argued that social facilities that are overcrowded, traffic jam in the city, and increased crime is an impediment for residents to be satisfied with tourism development.

Figure 5- 9: Relationship between social cost and resident satisfaction to tourism development

5.5.4 Trend analysis on the relationship between economic benefits and resident satisfaction to tourism development

Based on the figure presented below, the relationship between economic benefits and resident satisfaction to tourism development is positively and linearly correlated. This is based on the fact that the scatter points are distributed evenly on each side of the trend line. It has been represented as

Satisfaction with tourist development = 0.6856*economic benefits + 1.2251.

It is important to note that the positive and linear correlation between economic benefits and satisfaction with tourism development is shown using a correlation index of 68.56%.  This implies that there is a strong relationship between the factors. It therefore implies that this research is suggesting that residents’ satisfaction with tourism developments greatly depends with how much they are gaining economically with a variation of 68.56%. It can be concluded that the strong correlation is due to strong economic benefits brought about by tourism development that ensures their satisfaction.

The result are in agreement with Alrwajfah, Almeida-García and Cortés-Macías (2019) who argued that monetary reward that the residents may receive from the tourists as a result of services and goods that they have offered to them, has direct influence on residents satisfaction. On the other hand, the result contradicts study conducted by Jaafar, Noor and Rasoolimanesh (2015) who reported that the economic benefits do not influence the residents’ perception positively or satisfaction in regards to tourism development.

Figure 5- 10: Relationship between economic benefits and resident satisfaction to tourism development

5.6 Conclusion

The chapter analyzed the data collected from 117 respondents from the questionnaires to evaluate factors that impacts residential satisfaction with tourism development in Hangzhou.  The trend analysis also demonstrated that there is positive correlation of the factors in ensuring tourism development. The research showed that perception of residents on tourism development is triggered by factors like community attachment, community participation, social costs and economic benefits.

Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendation

6.1 Introduction

This chapter will discuss the research objectives and their recommendations. The chapter has three parts that will be discussed. The first part looks at the conclusions that have been made from the research. The second part will look at the recommendation on what should be done to improve residents’ satisfaction on tourism development in the city. The last part will look at the research limitations and the suggestions on the needs that should be considered in the future research.

6.2 Conclusions[SW10] 

6.2.1 Impact of community attachment on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in HangZhou City

The relationship between the two factors generated equation y=0.5691*x + 1.6535 in which the change of community attachment causes 56.91% variation of residential satisfaction towards tourism development. The research showed that having the community to be attached ensures residents satisfaction with the tourism development in the city. It is therefore important to give them platform on how they can actively be attached to the community development process. 

6.2.2 Impact of community participationon residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in HangZhou City

The analysis showed that there is positive correlation between the two factors with an equation of y=0.6105x + 1.5703. The equation implies that the change in one factor (community participation) causes a variation of 61.05% on the other factor (satisfaction of the residents). It shows that when the residents are involved in the development of community, then they will be satisfied with the tourism development. Such individuals are concerned more about community development including tourism development, hence, residents participation can help promote tourism activities in the area.

6.2.3 Impact of social costs on residents’ satisfaction with tourism development inHangZhou City

The relationship between the variables was presented by y=0.7862x + 0.9516. The equation implies that the unit change of social costs causes 78.62% variation on the residents’ satisfaction with the tourism development in the city. It therefore implies that withlow social cost, the residents will be satisfied with tourism development. The city planners should look into how they can reduce crime, congestion and negative activities within the city in order to ensure that the residents are satisfied with the tourism development in the city.

6.2.4 Impact of economic benefitson residents’ satisfaction with tourism development in HangZhou City

The trend analysis has been represented by equation y=0.6856x + 1.2251 which implies that economic benefits would have 68.56% impact on satisfaction of the residents. Based on this analysis, it therefore implies that increase of business opportunities, increase of income, and increase of employment rate, will greatly impact on the residents’ satisfaction with the development in the city.

6.3 Recommendations

The study has provided tourism planners and policymakers with viable information on how the residents’ perception towards tourism development which they can use as a tool to develop their plans, enhance sustainable tourism development and reduce tourism negative impacts. It is further suggested that the policy makers should come up with policies aimed at improving the positive impacts of tourism development while at the same time mitigating the negative consequences. They should come up with internal marketing strategy that markets the benefits of tourism industry to the residents.

Firstly, the study is valuable to what it can provide to policy maker in Hangzhou city on how to control the impacts of tourism. The local administrators should pay more attention to community attachment; involve more people in the industry and residents in the planning process. Future investigations should be geared towards sustainable tourism development.

Secondly, it is also important that community participation should be improved so as to effectively improve residential satisfaction. This can be done through approaches such as community involvement in the decision making process of community activities related to the tourism.

Thirdly, public administrators should direct their efforts towards ensuring residents satisfaction with the socio-economic conditions. This can be done by coming up with policies aimed at improving public safety through minimizing tourism-related crime, policing and security, improving the landscape that surrounds the tourist sites, and making recreational and entertainment facilities available. Additionally, as part of social corporate responsibilities, tourism sector should also set aside funds to help in improving the community.

Fourthly, tourism planners in the city should come up with policies for sustainable tourism development that will align the future growth to tourism interest with the desires of the residents. Incorporating this policies will benefit and contribute to the tourism impact hence improve the economic status of the city.

6.4 Research Limitations and Suggestions

With the high population of the city, it is realizable that the sample size was small. This was due to limited funds hence the research was limited to a small sample size. Having a bigger sample could have provided credible information on the views of the city’s residents. Moreover, the use of questionnaire as the only tool for collecting data also limited the findings. Using various tools to collect data could have enhanced the credibility of the findings. The study was only limited to the residents of the city, this may reduce the possibility of making professional suggestions in the study. Having a study which is inclusive will help in getting credible information as well as the areas that should be improved to ensure that the residents are satisfied with the tourism development in the city.

Future research should involve larger sample to help in giving representative information about residents’ attitude towards tourism development in the city. Additionally, future research should not only use questionnaire but rather both questionnaire and interviews should be conducted to obtain in-depth information. This is due to the fact that questionnaire alone cannot explore the subjective thought of Hangzhou residents about how could different factors affect their attitude towards the tourism development. The combination of interview and questionnaire could get enough information pertaining to the study, and offer more valuable information for policy maker. More funds should also be pumped into future study as it will allow researchers to have enough time and resources to obtain information from various sources. In order to obtain more comprehensive and valuable findings, future research should also involve interviewing the experts in the tourism industry

 

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