Economic and Social Impact of Tourism on a Small Town: Peterborough New Hampshire
ABSTRACT
This study examined the perceived impacts of tourism on the lives of people from a small New England town. Twenty seven in-depth unstructured interviews were conducted. The study found that most people perceive both positive and negative impacts of tourism and do not want to change their town for increased tourism development even if it results in increased revenue. People recognized tourism’s benefit to the town’s economy but less so to their economic situation. Working locals expressed worry regarding the town’s gradually polarized economy and divided social classes and regard tourism as one of the causes. Wealthier members generally view tourism at its present level as beneficial. For further tourism development Peterborough’ population will need to solve this dilemma.
This study examined the perceived impacts of tourism on the lives of people from a small New England town. Twenty seven in-depth unstructured interviews were conducted. The study found that most people perceive both positive and negative impacts of tourism and do not want to change their town for increased tourism development even if it results in increased revenue. People recognized tourism’s benefit to the town’s economy but less so to their economic situation. Working locals expressed worry regarding the town’s gradually polarized economy and divided social classes and regard tourism as one of the causes. Wealthier members generally view tourism at its present level as beneficial. For further tourism development Peterborough’ population will need to solve this dilemma.
Cite this paper
nullT. Tsundoda and S. Mendlinger, "Economic and Social Impact of Tourism on a Small Town: Peterborough New Hampshire," Journal of Service Science and Management, Vol. 2 No. 2, 2009, pp. 61-70. doi: 10.4236/jssm.2009.22009.
nullT. Tsundoda and S. Mendlinger, "Economic and Social Impact of Tourism on a Small Town: Peterborough New Hampshire," Journal of Service Science and Management, Vol. 2 No. 2, 2009, pp. 61-70. doi: 10.4236/jssm.2009.22009.
References
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Tourism Manage-ment, 19, 247–256.
[1] Murphy, P. E.(1985). Tourism: A Community Approach. London: Methuen. [2] Gee, C. Y., Mackens J. C., & Choy, D. J. (1989). The Travel Industry. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. [3] Harvey, M. J., Hunt, J., & Harris, C. C. (1995). Gender and community tourism dependence level. Annals of Tourism Research, 22, 349–366. [4] Jurowski, C., Uysal, M., & Williams, D. R.. (1997). A theoretical analysis of host community resident reactions to tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 36, 3–11. [5] Brunt, P., & Courtney, P. (1999). Host perceptions of sociocultural impacts. Annals of Tourism Research, 26, 493–515. [6] Lindberg, K., Andersson, T. D., & Dellaert, B. (2001). Tourism development: Assessing social gains and losses. Annals of Tourism Research, 28, 1010–1030. [7] Tosun, C. (2002). Host perceptions of impacts: A com-parative tourism study. Annals of Tourism Research, 29, 231–253. [8] Gursoy, D., & Rutherford, D. G. (2004). Host attitudes toward tourism: An Improved Structural Model. Annals of Tourism Research, 31, 495–516. [9] Choi, H. C., & Sirakaya, E. (2006). Sustainability indica-tors for managing community tourism. Tourism Manage-ment, 27, 1274–1289. [10] Dyer, P., Gursoy D., Sharma, B., & Carter, J. (2007). Structural modeling of resident perceptions of tourism and associated development on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. Tourism Management, 28, 409–422. [11] Liu, J. C., & Var, T. (1986). Resident attitudes toward tourism impacts in Hawaii. Annals of Tourism Research, 13, 193–214. [12] Ap, J. (1992). Residents’ perceptions on tourism impacts. Annals of Tourism Research, 19, 665–690. [13] Johnson, J. D., Snepenger, D. J., & Akis, S. (1994). Resi-dents’ perceptions of tourism development. Annals of Tourism Research, 21, 629–642. [14] Haralambopoulos, N., & Pizam, A. (1996). Perceived impacts of tourism: The case of Samos. Annals of Tour-ism Research, 23, 503–526. [15] Gilbert, D., & Clark, M. (1997). An Exploratory Exami-nation of Urban Tourism Impact, with Reference to Resi-dents Attitudes in the Cities of Canterbury and Guildford. Cities, 14, 343–352. [16] Weaver, D. B., & Lawton, L. J. (2001). Resident percep-tions in the urban–rural fringe. Annals of Tourism Re-search, 28, 439–458. [17] Long, P. T., Perdue, R. R., & Allen, L. (1990). Rural resident tourism perceptions and attitudes by community level of tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 28, 3–9. [18] McCool, S., & Martin, S. (1994). Community attachment and attitudes towards tourism development. Journal of Travel Research, 32, 29–34. [19] Andereck, K. L. (1995). Environmental Consequences of Tourism: A Review of Recent Research. In Linking Tour-ism, the Environment, and Sustainability, Annual Meeting of the National Recreation and Park Association. General Technical Report No. INT-GTR-323, 77–81. [20] Andereck, K. L. (1997). Territorial functioning in a tour-ism setting. Annals of Tourism Research, 24, 706–720. [21] Andereck, K. L., Valentine, K. M., Knopf R. C., & Vogt C. A. (2005). Residents’ perceptions of community tourism impacts. Annals of Tourism Research, 32, 1056– 1076. [22] Ap, J., & Crompton J. L. (1993). Residents’ Strategies for Responding to Tourism Impacts. Journal of Travel Re-search, 32, 47–50. [23] Faulkner, B., & Tideswell, C. (1997). A framework for monitering community impacts of tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 5, 3–28. [24] Dogan, H. Z. (1989). Forms of adjustment: sociocultural impacts of tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 6, 216–236. [25] Munt, I. (1994). The other postmodern tourism: Culture, travel and the new middle class. Theory, Culture and So-ciety, 11, 101–123. [26] Besculides, A., Lee, M., & McCormick, P. J. (2002). Residents' perceptions of the cultural benefits of tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 29, 303–319. [27] Sheldon, P., & Var, T. (1984). Resident attitudes to tour-ism in North Wales. Tourism Management, 5, 40–47. [28] Ritchie, J. R. B. (1988). Consensus policy formulation in tourism. Tourism Management, 9, 199–216. [29] Mason, P., & Cheyne, J. (2000). Residents’ attitudes to proposed tourism development. Annals of Tourism Re-search, 27, 391–411. [30] United States Census Bureau. (2006). [31] Budget Travel. (2007). America’s 10 coolest small towns. September 10, 2007. [32] Hernandez, S. A., Cohen, J., & Garcia, H. L. (1996). Residents’ attitudes towards an instant resort enclave. Annals of Tourism Research, 23, 755–779. [33] Kayat, K. (2002). Power, social exchanges and tourism in Langkawi: rethinking resident perceptions. International Journal of Tourism Research, 4, 171–191. [34] Lepp, A. (2007). Residents’ attitudes towards tourism in Bigodi village, Uganda. Tourism Management, 28, 876– 885. [35] Milman, A., & Pizam, A. (1988). Social impacts of tour-ism on central Florida. Annals of Tourism Research, 15, 191–204. [36] Davis, D., Allen, J., & Cosenza, R. (1988). Segmenting Local Residents by their Attitudes, Interests, and Opinions. Journal of Travel Research, 27, 2–8. [37] Prentice, R. (1993). Community-driven tourism planning and residents' preferences. Tourism Management, 14, 218–227. [38] Allen, L. R., Hafer, H. R., Long, P. T., & Perdue, R. P. (1993). Rural Residents' Attitudes Toward Recreation and Tourism Development. Journal of Travel Research, 21, 27–33. [39] Smith, V. L. (1989). Host and guests: The anthropology of tourism. 2nd edition. Philedelphia: University of Pennsyl-vania Press. [40] Easterling, D. S. (2004). The resident’s perspective in tourism research. Journal of Travel and Tourism Market-ing, 17, 45–62. [41] Ryan, C., & Montgomery, D. (1994). The attitudes of Bakewell residents to tourism and issues in community responsive tourism. Tourism Management, 15, 358–369. [42] Lawson, R. W., Williams, J., Young, T., & Cossens, J. (1998). A comparison of residents’ attitudes towards tour-ism in 10 New Zealand destinations. Tourism Manage-ment, 19, 247–256.