COMPARATIVE STUDY ON RESIDENTS' PERCEPTION OF TOURISM IMPACT AT TOURIST PLACES-A Case Study of Xidi, Zhouzhuang and Jiuhua Mountain

Key words: 
• tourism impacts /
• residents’perception /
• comparative study /
• Xidi /
• Zhouzhuang /
• Jiuhua Mountain

Abstract: Based on the questionnaire investigation, the authors make a comparative study on local residents' perception of tourism impacts in Xidi, Zhouzhuang and Jiuhua Mountain. The result shows that residents of the three places tend to have strong and consistent perception of its positive economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts, but distinctly diverse ones of its negative impacts. Residents in Xidi and Zhouzhuang also have noticeable perception of its negative environmental impacts while those in Jiuhua Mountain have weaker perception of them. The research confirms the fact that residents are more liable to have positive perceptions at the early stage of the life cycle of the tourist places. The authors conclude that there exists a nonlinear relationship between residents' perception and tourism development stages, and that tourism socio-cultural impact may appear at an early stage of tourism development instead of being no universal.