Keywords

1 Introduction

Alternative forms of tourism are linked to sports, nature, and local traditions [1]. The goal of alternative and special forms of tourism is the transition from a mass and low economic yield tourism to a quality, innovative and multi- thematic tourism that brings about a high economic yield for a Country.

Various studies have explored the attitudes and perceptions of tourists in relation to their destination that have been contrasted with the attitudes and perceptions of the local community [2]. One of the main points of research literature on tourism focuses on the impacts of tourism on the host community. The essential role of residents has been extensively investigated [3] and refer to the attitudes and perceptions of the local community from an environmental, economic, and social perspective [4].

Benefits of tourism activities include employment opportunities, educational opportunities, economic well- being and entertainment [5]. On the contrary, impacts for the residents are overcrowding, lack of access to a tourist area, crime as well as prostitution [6]. In fact, the impacts are those that threaten residents’ quality of life and tolerance of tourist activities [7]. It has been indicated that residents with a high level of education have lower tolerance regarding environmental impacts [8]. Therefore, it is essential that residents, stakeholders, and public sectors should cooperate, to create a network that would create a sustainable tourist destination, minimizing the impacts of tourism activities [9].

The alleviation of seasonality and the increase of the average daily expenditure per visitor brings economic development to both the Greek Government and local tourism operators [10]. The forms of special and alternative tourism in Greece consist new innovative and complex tourism products that are characterized by dynamic demand and respond to special incentives and a powerful branch for the economy [11]. Messenia Prefecture is rich in natural and cultural heritage and maintains a popular culinary cuisine [12]. Unique waterfalls, blue flags’ beaches, traditional settlements, hiking trails and archaeological sites are harmonically combined with ecotourism, cultural tourism, sport tourism, agritourism and mountain tourism.

The aim of this research is to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of the residents of Messenia, regarding the impacts of alternative forms of tourism activities.

2 Literature Review

Various studies investigating residents’ attitudes and perceptions towards tourism have been based on Butler’s Social Exchange Theory. The main assumption of the theory, is that residents in a social exchange, value the exchange, and expect to benefit mutually and equally [7]. People evaluate an exchange based on their own costs and benefits associated to the exchange [13] and whether the expectation is met it will determine the continuity of the interaction. Social Exchange Theory suggests that in a trade—off, the perceived negative impacts should not exceed the perceived benefits [14]. If residents perceive that benefits overweigh negative impacts, they will favor the exchange and consequently will support tourism activities [15].

Residents’ perceptions are positive even if tourism activities affect them negatively, mainly because they directly depend on tourism for their livelihood [16]. Conversely, some residents maintain a positive attitude towards tourism, even if they are not directly economically dependent, as they are aware of the overall benefits towards the local community [17]. Residents who perceive tourism activities positively, are receptive to tourists by creating a positive experience for them, and when this happens, tourists want to return to the specific destination [18].

3 Aim of Research

The purpose of this preliminary research is to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of the permanent residents of Messenia Prefecture, regarding the negative impacts of alternative tourism activities.

4 Research Methodology

To investigate residents’ perceptions toward the negative impacts of alternative tourism activities, this study draws on data collected from permanent residents of Messenia Prefecture. The questionnaire was distributed through social media groups based on snowball technique during the first two weeks of the month May 2023 and the sample consisted of 112 permanent residents of Messenia Prefecture.

The structured questionnaire was consisted of total 15 questions and was divided into three axes. Six closed-ended questions were designed to explore participants’ demographic characteristics. Participants were asked to state their gender, age, marital status, education level, professional activity, and income level. The questionnaire was based on a review of relevant literature especially from Nejati, Mohamed and Omar (2014), and explored the social (10 items), economic (6 items) and environmental negative impacts (14 items) and the agreement to the statements were based on a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Furthermore, one statement was designed to explore the residents’ perceptions towards the effective policy measures that should be considered by the local authorities to reduce the negative impacts of alternative tourism activities.

The questionnaire was tested for reliability (Cronbach’s a = 0.9) indicating that values were stable and consistent. Prior to the preliminary survey, a pilot survey with 274 respondents was conducted and revision as well as word replacement was established to enhance survey clarity. The final questionnaire was back—translated into the Greek language for the easier understanding of the local community. To test the proposed objective, this study employed statistical techniques including descriptive statistics and correlation tests.

5 Results

143 questionnaires were electronically distributed, and the overall response rate was 78%. Out of 112 respondents 57 were women, 43 men, 1 self- identified as other, and 1 preferred not to state their gender, who lived for over 11 years (48.53%) in Messenia. Their average age was 41–50 (38.6%) years and 58.93% were married, 30.36% unmarried and 10.71% reported other marital status. Regarding their level of education, most participants held a lyceum diploma (19.64%) and worked for the private sector (34.55%). Finally, of all the participants, 44.78% worked in the tourism sector and stated that their monthly income amounted to 1.001–1.300 Euros (28.57%).

Furthermore, participants stated that the forms of alternative tourism that exist in Messenia Prefecture are marine tourism (26.14%), cultural tourism (19.89%), sports tourism (16.48%), agritourism (15.91%), conference tourism (11.93%) and religious tourism (9.66%).

Community perceptions towards the negative environmental, social, and economic impacts, were measured using a 30- item, five-point Likert scale. The results (Table 1) indicated a generally high level of agreement (most of the mean scores were above 3 points) for all three categories. As per the environmental impacts, participants stated that alternative tourism activities increase the uncontrolled development, traffic congestion and air pollution in general. Concerning the social and cultural impacts, participants highlighted that tourism activities increase accidents/traffic accidents and tourists overcrowd the beaches. Lastly, participants perceive that high level of economic dependency on tourism and increase of the cost of living for the local community are the major negative economic impacts.

Table 1 Level of agreement about the impacts of alternative tourism activities on the residents (1–5 scale)
Full size table

This study indicated that the major concern of participants towards the impacts of alternative tourism activities were the negative economic impacts. Furthermore, a significant correlation was observed between the negative social impacts of alternative tourism activities and the participants’ income.

Concerning the policy measures that should be taken by authorities to reduce tourism impacts, a positive correlation emerged between the higher level of education and the strengthening of security in the area. The mean score as to whether the benefits outweigh the impacts was above than 3 points indicating that most residents will be satisfied to notice an increase of tourism in their region when the economic benefits outweigh the negative impacts.

6 Discussion and Conclusions

With the broad range of stakeholders engaged in the tourism sector, it is significant to consider the attitudes and perceptions of the community residents towards the negative impacts of alternative tourism activities from an environmental, social, and economic perspective. This study has focused on permanent residents of Messenia Prefecture, where alternative tourism activities have been established. Using the Butlers’ theoretical framework regarding the social exchange between residents and tourists, we have attempted to indicate the perceived negative impacts of alternative forms of tourism.

The results showcased that although residents of Messenia Prefecture favor alternative forms of tourism development due to personal benefits, they are also aware of the negative environmental, social, and economic impacts. However, the local community of Messenia prefer the economic benefits even if alternative tourism activities outweigh the costs. To ensure that alternative forms of tourism activities are sustainable and that permanent residents perceive tourism positively, public sectors and stakeholders should educate and raise awareness to local community to effectively manage alternative forms of tourism and consequently ensure sustainable growth.

Future research will have to be directed to a larger number of permanent residents as this study was preliminary. Furthermore, future research is considered necessary, at exploring changes on perceptions and attitudes of Messenia’s Prefecture residents’ regarding tourism negative impacts. Stakeholders, local community, and public sectors would benefit from this current research, creating a network that would lead to a sustainable tourism development and cooperation amongst the agents involved [9].

7 Implications

Alternative forms of tourism in the Prefecture of Messenia, is in the early stages but has a potential for further development and growth. This preliminary study attempts to identify the residents’ perceptions on negative alternative forms of tourism impacts, where local authorities and stakeholders can consider the perceived implications, for the wellbeing of the local community. Practically, the results of this preliminary study are significant to the development and growth of alternative forms of tourism in the Prefecture of Messenia. Environmental, social, and economic issues should also be considered to reduce the dissatisfaction of the permanent residents. Stakeholders in the tourism sector, should also incorporate these findings in the development strategies to ensure higher quality services and therefore higher level of tourists’ satisfaction. Lastly, this preliminary study is a pillar for further research conducted on residents’ perceptions on tourism development.