Residents’ perceptions of desired and perceived tourism impact in Hainan Island

This research aims to investigate residents’ perceptions of tourism development by exploring the sub-dimensions of impacts. The theoretical and practical implications of the four constructs are presented based on the results of this study. The T-test and ANOVA analyses with a sample of residents from Hainan Island in China reveal significant differences between the residents’ desired and perceived tourism impacts. In addition, residents with different occupations have significantly different perceptions of tourism impacts. However, no significant difference was observed in the residents’ perceived tourism impacts for the three regions with varied levels of tourism development.