Resident attitude towards sustainable community tourism: a moderating role of economic dependence / Pawan Kumar Prasad and Kanchan Data

The study develops a conceptual theoretical framework based on Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Community Based Tourism (CBT). Moreover, the study examines the relationships between perceived positive impact of tourism, negative impact of tourism, Quality of Life (QOL), Economic Dependence (ED), Community Atachment (CA) and Support for Tourism Development (STD). Data was collected from two different hill stations of India, Darjeeling and Sikkim; A two-step Structural Equation Modelling was used for data analysis in SPSS AMOS 20 sotiware. Firstly, Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted where construct reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha and Composite Reliability. Convergent Validity of scale items was estimated using Average Variance Extracted. Discriminant Validity was assessed using Fornell and Larcker Criterion. Atier having an appropriate model fit the hypothesis testing was conducted. Furthermore, moderation analysis was conducted where the result indicated that ED moderates the relationship between (CA and STD) and (QOL and STD) respectively at different levels of moderators. The empirical results indicate that different programme and government initiatives should be initiated keeping the resident as a focal point to increase the economic dependence on tourism and for the sustainability of the destination.