Perceived Tourism Ecological Security And Its Influences In Wetland Ecotourism Areas From The Perspective Of Residents

Wetland ecotourism is considered as a way of sustainable tourism development.It helps to achieve a harmonious relationship between ecological security and community development.Now that China is implementing its strategy of Sustainable Development and Ecological Civilization Construction,wetland ecotourism has become a highlight in tourism industry.Residents are one of the most essential parts of the stakeholder groups in wetland ecotourism areas.They are of great value and importance to tourism development and ecological security.This study focuses on the research problem of tourism ecological security issues and its influence on residents' attitudes and behaviors in wetland ecotourism areas.It attempts to make a theoretical and practical contribution by looking into the residents' role in promoting tourism ecological security and conserving the resources and environment.This study regards a wetland ecotourism area as a complex ecosystem consisting of social,economic and natural subsystems.Social Exchange Theory and Attitude-Behavior Theories,together with methods of literature analysis,in-depth interview,peer-review and questionnaire survey,are applied.This study defines two new variables,named perceived tourism ecological security(PTES)and ecological security behavior(ESB).Then two measurement scales,regarding PETS(19 items)and ESB(15 items),are developed.The dimensions of PTES and ESB are determined as well.In addition,this study examines the interrelationships among PTES,community participation intention(CPI),support for tourism development(STD)and ESB with structural equation model(SEM)technique.Gulao Watery Town,Guangdong Province,China,is chosen as the empirical case.This study finds some important results.First,this study suggests that PTES consists of five dimensions: “resource and environment security,” “socio-culture security,” “policy and system security,” “infrastructure situation,” and “economy development security.” Residents' PTES of Gulao Watery Town is in the situation of above the average level of security.Second,ESB is found to consist of three dimensions: “environmentally responsible behavior,” “cultural preservation behavior,” and “regulated management behavior.” The results show that residents of Gulao Watery Town have a high intention to adopt ESB.Third,this study reveals that PTES significantly and positively influence STD.Fourth,STD is found to have apositive relationship with CPI and ESB,respectively.However,the effect of CPI on ESB is not found.Fifth,this study suggests that STD play as partial mediators on both1)the relationship between PTES and ESB,and 2)the relationship between PTES and CPI.The two indirect paths,which work as 1)PTES ? STD ? ESB and 2)PTES ?STD ? CPI,are identified with bootstrapping method.Lastly,theoretical and managerial implications,limitations,and directions for future study are discussed.