Socio-economic impact of tourism in Cox’s Bazar: A study of local residents' attitude

Abstract

In the 21stcentury, globalization of capitalism, movement of populations, and advances in transportation and communication technology have helped to develop tourism into one of the world’s largest industries. Tourism is a dynamic economic sector which plays a significant role in the sustainable economic development and in poverty reduction. It is recognized that tourism has become a significant industry both in poor and rich countries due to its positive impacts on the economy, people’s livelihoods and socio-cultural development. Unfortunately, the efforts and steps taken by the government of Bangladesh have not brought remarkable growth in its tourism sector in spite of its huge potentiality. Literatures on tourism impact have indicated that there is a lack of study that provides the information of local residents’ attitude towards tourism impact in developing tourist destinations. In particular, very little is known about the factors influencing local residents’ attitude towards tourism impact. To fill this gap, this study examines the influence of economic and social impact of tourism on the attitude of local residents’ of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. This study has the following objectives: (1) to analyze the attitude of local residents of Cox’s Bazar about the impact of tourism on their economic development; (2) to analyze the attitude of local residents of Cox’s Bazar about the impact of tourism on their social changes; (3) to examine the influences of demographic factors on the attitude of local residents towards tourism impact in their area; and (4) to make recommendations for all tourism stakeholders and the local community to maximize the benefits of this sector and for the development of tourism. To achieve the objectives of the study, data were collected from 397 local residents of Cox’s Bazar through questionnaire. During data collection, the stratified random sampling approach was used to select the respondents that represent the whole group of the population that lives in the four Wards within the Cox’s Bazar Municipality area; Ward no. 2, 3, 9, and 12. Factor analysis was initially used to assess the dimensionality of the various constructs in the theoretical model, thereafter multiple regression analysis was performed to investigate the influence of economic impact (living standard, employment opportunity, earning capability) and social impact (cultural development, social value) of tourism on the attitude of local residents’ of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. The results indicated that local residents’ attitude towards tourism impact are significantly affected by the living standard, employment opportunity and earning capability created by tourism but local residents’ attitude towards tourism impact are not significantly affected by the cultural development and social value created by tourism.The findings implied that the respondents have positive attitude about the economic impacts than the negative economic impacts due to the benefits received from the growth of the tourism industry in Cox’s Bazar. Their positive attitudes were mostly influenced by an opportunity to earn greater income from working in the tourism industry or by selling goods and services to tourists. On the other hand, the respondents have a slightly negative attitude in the statements related to consequences of tourism impact on the local residents of Cox’s Bazar in terms of cultural development and social value. Based on the findings of this research, some recommendations have been made that could assist the related authorities in formulating appropriate policy and strategy and constructing a framework for developing sustainable tourism in Cox’s Bazar.