Community-based model of tourism development in a biosphere reserve context

Purpose: This study aims to introduce and evaluate a model of host community support for sustainable tourism development (SSTD) based on the influential factors contributing to community support in a biosphere reserve. Design/methodology/approach: Partial least squares structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 3 software is applied to analyze data collected from 473 residents of the Miankaleh Biosphere Reserve, Iran. Findings: The findings reveal that the locals’ community support is affected by their level of environmental awareness, opportunity and attitudes toward SSTD. However, the results do not reveal an influence of environmental knowledge and community attachment on SSTD. The findings enrich the existing literature on community attitude predictors by showing that locals’ SSTD level is not consistently based on common predictors. Such support strongly depends on host communities’ attitudes toward supporting tourism, which is definitely not the same among residents. It is imperative to know whether people’s attitudes arise from a desire to protect the area or for reasons of self-interest. Originality/value: The findings provide further support for the tenets of the segmentation approach and challenge existing knowledge on host communities’ attitudes about factors influencing residents toward SSTD. The findings have several practical implications regarding community participation for regional and national authorities and destination policymakers.