Destination Competitiveness: Interrelationships Between

Destination Planning and Development Strategies and

Stakeholders' Support in Enhancing Oman's Tourism
Industry

Author
Al-Masroori, Rashid Salim

Published
2006

Thesis Type
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)

School
Griffith Business School

DOI
https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/84

Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.

Downloaded from
http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365179

Griffith Research Online

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Destination Competitiveness: Interrelationships between
destination planning and development strategies and
stakeholders’ support in enhancing Oman’s tourism
industry

Rashid Salim Al-Masroori

BA (Puget Sound University), MBA (Hull University)

Submitted in fulfilment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Griffith Business School

Department of International Business and Asian Studies
Griffith University

July 2006

i
 Table of Contents

Abstract.........................................................................................................................v

Statement of Originality ............................................................................................vii

List of Tables ............................................................................................................ viii

List of Figures...............................................................................................................x

Acknowledgements .....................................................................................................xi

Chapter One – Introduction .......................................................................................1

1.1 Research Background ..........................................................................................2
1.2 Research Problem and Hypotheses ......................................................................5
1.3 Objectives of the Study ........................................................................................9
1.4 Theoretical Background.......................................................................................9
1.5 Research Methodology ......................................................................................11
1.5.1 Justification of triangulation methodology ................................................ 12
1.6 Key Findings and Contributions of the Research ..............................................13
1.7 Functional Definitions .......................................................................................16
1.8 Conclusion and Outline of Thesis......................................................................17

Chapter Two – Literature Review............................................................................19

2.1 Introduction........................................................................................................19
2.2 Part One – Tourism Background Literature.......................................................19
2.2.1 Tourism in perspective............................................................................... 19
2.2.2 Systematic approaches to tourism.............................................................. 21
2.2.3 Tourism planning and development concepts............................................ 26
2.3 Part Two – Theoretical Background of Tourism Theories ................................54
2.3.1 Social exchange theory .............................................................................. 55
2.3.2 Stakeholder theory ..................................................................................... 64
2.3.3 Competitiveness theories and concepts ..................................................... 67
2.3.4 Tourism destination competitiveness......................................................... 74
2.4 Part Three – Conceptual Framework and Hypotheses.......................................84
2.4.1 Community (place) attachment.................................................................. 84
2.4.2 Impacts of tourism development................................................................ 92
2.4.3 Stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation)..................... 111
2.4.4 Destination tourism resources and attractions ......................................... 127
2.5 Part Four – Tourism in Oman ..........................................................................135
2.5.1 Introduction.............................................................................................. 135
2.5.2 A brief history of Oman........................................................................... 137
2.5.3 Economic overview ................................................................................. 138
2.5.4 Tourism in Oman ..................................................................................... 140
2.5.5 Oman’s destination competitiveness........................................................ 152
2.5.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 160

ii
Chapter Three – Methodology and Research Plan...............................................161
3.1 Introduction......................................................................................................161
3.2 Research Paradigms .........................................................................................161
3.2.1 Positivism................................................................................................. 164
3.2.2 Constructivism ......................................................................................... 165
3.2.3 Critical Theory ......................................................................................... 166
3.2.4 Post-positivism......................................................................................... 167
3.3 Triangulation....................................................................................................168
3.4 Justification of the Research Methodology......................................................175
3.5 Research Methods Used in Tourism Research ................................................180
3.6 Research Design...............................................................................................182
3.6.1 Step three – quantitative method (survey) ............................................... 182
3.6.2 Step four – focus groups .......................................................................... 202
3.6.3 Validity and reliability as a quality assurance system ............................. 211
3.7 Methodology Limitations.................................................................................218
3.8 Ethical Considerations .....................................................................................219
3.9 Conclusion .......................................................................................................220

Chapter Four – Data Analysis and Results ...........................................................221

4.1 Introduction......................................................................................................221
4.2 Data Collection ................................................................................................221
4.3 Data Preparation...............................................................................................222
4.3.1 Data coding .............................................................................................. 222
4.3.2 Data cleaning and screening .................................................................... 223
4.3.3 Missing values ......................................................................................... 223
4.3.4 Outliers..................................................................................................... 225
4.4 Profile of respondents ......................................................................................226
4.4.1 Demographic Characteristics of Oman’s Tourism Stakeholders.............226
4.5 Descriptive Analysis of Measurement Scales..................................................230
4.5.1 Results of tourism development impacts ................................................. 230
4.5.2 Results of community attachment............................................................ 232
4.5.3 Results of stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation) .... 234
4.5.4 Results of preferences about tourism resources/attractions development 235
4.5.5 Results of support for tourism competitiveness strategies....................... 236
4.6 Measurement Model ........................................................................................239
4.6.1 Maximum likelihood estimation .............................................................. 240
4.6.2 Exploratory factor analysis for tourism development impacts ................ 242
4.6.3 Confirmatory factor analysis for tourism development impacts.............. 246
4.6.4 Exploratory factor analysis for community attachment........................... 253
4.6.5 Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for community attachment............. 254
4.6.6 Factor analysis for stakeholders’ perceived power (community
participation) ................................................................................................. 260
4.6.7 Confirmatory factor analysis for community participation ..................... 261
4.6.8 Factor analysis for preferences about tourism resources / attractions
development.................................................................................................. 267
4.6.9 Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for development preferences about
destination attractions ................................................................................... 268
4.6.10 Factor analysis for support for tourism competitiveness strategies ....... 274
4.6.11 Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for tourism destination
competitiveness strategies............................................................................. 276
iii
 4.7 Overall Measurement Model ...........................................................................281
4.7.1 The proposed and first revised model...................................................... 281
4.7.2 The alternative model .............................................................................. 286
4.8 Convergent and Discriminant Validity and Reliability ...................................296
4.9 Outcomes of Hypotheses Testing ....................................................................298
4.10 Data Analysis of Focus Groups .....................................................................300
4.10.1 Tourism development and planning impacts ......................................... 301
4.10.2 Community participation ....................................................................... 307
4.10.3 Tourism resources and attractions development.................................... 312
4.10.4 Competitive destination strategies ......................................................... 314

Chapter Five – Conclusion and Discussion ...........................................................321

5.1 Introduction......................................................................................................321
5.2 Discussion of Research Findings .....................................................................321
5.2.1 Research background, modelling, empirical outcomes, and core findings
....................................................................................................................... 321
5.2.2 Findings of hypotheses results and interpretations .................................. 325
5.3 Contributions and Implications........................................................................337
5.3.1 Theoretical contributions ......................................................................... 338
5.3.2 Methodological approaches ..................................................................... 348
5.3.3 Practical implications............................................................................... 349
5.4 Limitations and Directions for Future Research ..............................................358
5.5 Concluding Comments.....................................................................................360

Appendix I – Research on Tourism........................................................................363

Appendix ΙI – Measurement Scales........................................................................397

Appendix III – Focus Groups Interview Guide ....................................................403

Appendix IV (Part A) – Frequencies, Skewness & Kurtosis Output (CD).........409

Appendix IV (Part B) – Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) Output (CD) ..409

Appendix IV (Part C) – Reliabilities and Correlations (CD)...............................409

Appendix V – Descriptive Analysis for the Five Constructs................................411

Appendix VI – Exploratory Factor Analysis for the Various Conceptual

Framework Constructs......................................................................................419

Appendix VII – Focus Group Participants............................................................433

References.................................................................................................................437

iv
 Abstract

A critical understanding of stakeholders’ involvement in destination tourism planning and

development, and the factors that influence their perceptions, opinions and
involvement in the decision-making process and evaluation of the destination
competitive strategies, is not only important for tourism destination planners and
managers, but also for the host community's support for tourism development and the
destination’s competitiveness. It has been widely recognised that tourism destinations
need to plan their development strategies to succeed internationally and gain a
sustainable competitive advantage. However, there is scant empirical evidence that
addresses approaches in which stakeholder participation in the planning process
contributes to destination competitiveness.

This study examines the interrelationships between various destination-specific

situational factors, including economic, social, political, environmental, and cultural
factors, community participation, community attachment, and impact on the
development of the Sultanate of Oman's tourism resources and attractions, and in turn the
support of its competitive strategies. Furthermore, it investigates potential effects of
those interrelationships on the government's initiatives in formulating and implementing
tourism development, management and marketing policies/strategies. The key
objective is to develop and empirically test a conceptual framework of tourism
destination competitiveness that focuses on a stakeholder’s perspective of Oman, and
investigates the interrelationships between its constructs. Such an approach echoes the
stakeholder perspective of 'Third Way' tourism planning suggested by Burns (2004). This
study utilises social exchange and stakeholder theory. Accordingly, the research problem is:

How does the interrelationship between destination-specific situational factors,

stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation), and community attachment,
impact on the development of Oman’s tourism resources and attractions, and in turn
the support of its competitive strategies? Furthermore, what effects may those
interrelationships have on the government’s approaches in formulating and
implementing tourism development and marketing policies?

v
A four-step methodological approach including qualitative and quantitative methods was
applied. Following research refinement and pilot studies, a total of 987 usable questionnaires
were collected from Omani stakeholders using a convenience and quota sampling method. The
final empirical results were submitted to three focus groups in Oman for elucidation and
confirmation of results, with a particular focus on the practical implications. The hypotheses
testing indicated that tourism stakeholders’ preferences about tourism resources and attractions
development are a function of socio-cultural impacts, economic impacts, and community
participation. Furthermore, the results highlighted a strong link between stakeholders’
preferences about tourism resources and attractions and support for competitive destination
strategies such as destination marketing efforts and activities, and sustainable destination
management and practices. Additionally, empirical results supported the existence of a
relationship between community participation and community attachment constructs; however
this relationship was somewhat negative. The study also did not prove the existence of any
relationship between community attachment and preferences about tourism resources and
attractions development constructs. Furthermore, new findings that were not hypothesised
indicated that tourism stakeholders who perceived socio-cultural and economic impacts were
most likely to support further tourism development and competitive destination strategies.
Additionally, stakeholders’ attachment to their communities had a weak but positive effect on
their perception about tourism’s environmental impacts and sustainable destination
management and practices.

The focus group participants mostly confirmed the study’s empirical findings with a
few diverging opinions regarding some issues such as environmental impacts and
mass tourism versus alternative tourism policies. Thus, the study’s findings provided
various theoretical and methodological contributions, closing the gap in the notions of
destination competitiveness and stakeholders’ active participation in tourism planning
and development. As well, the practical implications of the study’s findings could be
adopted by Oman’s tourism planning authorities to enhance the destination’s
competitiveness in the international tourism marketplace.

This study is considered a personal effort. Thus, I used the first person “I” throughout
the study to express and reflect my personal work. The use of “I” in research is not an
unacceptable notion, however, it is recommended that the researcher not take cover
behind using “we” or the “researcher” in his/her work (Gummesson, 2000, p.xi).

vi
 Statement of Originality

This work has not been previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any
university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material
previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made
in the thesis itself.

Signature: ……………………………………………………..

Date: ……………………………………………………..

vii
 List of Tables
Table 2.1 Symptoms of a lack of tourism planning .....................................................32
Table 2.2 Strategic/integrated planning vs. conventional planning.............................34
Table 2.3 Goal setting – the possible approaches ........................................................38
Table 2.4 Examples of economic impacts ...................................................................95
Table 2.5 Positive and negative socio-cultural impacts of tourisms..........................100
Table 2.6 Tourism positive/negative environmental impacts ....................................103
Table 2.7 Specific variables measured in political impact studies and associated data
collection and interpretation problems...............................................................109
Table 2.8 Types of community empowerment in tourism development ...................116
Table 2.9 Ladder of participation...............................................................................118
Table 2.10 Number of inbound tourists by nationality ..............................................142
Table 2.11 Number of inbound tourists in 2002 by sex and age group .....................143
Table 2.12 Number of tourists by purpose of visit ....................................................144
Table 2.13 Inbound tourists by nationality and country of residence – relative share
(%)......................................................................................................................145
Table 2.14 Inbound tourists in 2002 by nationality and place of stay .......................147
Table 2.15 Total expenditure of inbound tourism in 2002 by nationality and items of
expenditure.........................................................................................................148
Table 2.16 Total inbound tourism expenditure in 2002 by purpose of visit..............149
Table 2.17 Summary of Strategic Opportunities .......................................................153
Table 2.18 Oman’s competitiveness ranking.............................................................157
Table 3.1 Assumptions of different philosophical paradigms ...................................163
Table 3.2 Methodological implications of different epistemologies within social and
behavioural science............................................................................................164
Table 3.3 Alternative combinations of knowledge claims, strategies of inquiry, and
methods ..............................................................................................................169
Table 3.4 Selecting the appropriate research method ................................................175
Table 3.5 Decision choices for determining a mixed methods strategy of inquiry ...176
Table 3.6 Principles of questionnaire format.............................................................184
Table 3. 7 Strengths and weaknesses of questionnaires ............................................185
Table 3.8 Measurements and scales of items.............................................................191
Table 3.9 The Proportionate numbers of samples .....................................................195
Table 3.10 Types of samples .....................................................................................196
Table 3.11 Benefits and drawbacks of focus group interviews .................................207
Table 3.12 Types of validity and reliability, and strategies used to assess them.......212
Table 3.13 Case study tactics for four design tests....................................................213
Table 4.1 Survey response rates.................................................................................222
Table 4.2 Valid versus missing values.......................................................................225
Table 4.3 Summary of demographic characteristics of respondents .........................228
Table 4.4 Stakeholders geographical distribution......................................................229
Table 4.5 Top ten favourable destination competitive strategies ..............................238

viii
Table 4.6 Factor one: tourism socio-cultural impacts................................................244
Table 4.7 Factor two: tourism economic impacts ......................................................245
Table 4.8 Factor three: environmental impacts..........................................................245
Table 4.9 Estimates of Goodness of Fit for the Three Factor Models.......................249
Table 4.10 Standardised Regression Weight Factor Loadings ..................................251
Table 4.11 The chi-square fit statistic for the four tested models..............................252
Table 4.12 Baseline Comparisons for the four models and the two samples ............253
Table 4.13 Exploratory factor analysis for community attachment...........................254
Table 4.14 Estimates of goodness of fit for the one factor model .............................257
Table 4.15 Standardised regression weights factor loadings .....................................258
Table 4.16 The chi-square fit statistic for the three tested models ............................259
Table 4.17 Baseline Comparisons for the five models and the two samples.............259
Table 4.18 exploratory factor analysis for community participation.........................261
Table 4.19 Estimates of goodness-of-fit for the one factor model ............................264
Table 4.20 Standardised regression weights factor loadings .....................................265
Table 4.21 The chi-square fit statistic for the tested models .....................................266
Table 4.22 Baseline comparisons for the three models and the two samples............266
Table 4.23 Exploratory factor analysis for one factor development of tourism
attractions...........................................................................................................268
Table 4.24 Estimates of goodness-of-fit for the one factor model ............................271
Table 4.25 Standardised regression weights factor loadings .....................................272
Table 4.26 The chi-square fit statistic for the three tested models ............................273
Table 4.27 Baseline comparisons for the five models and the two samples..............273
Table 4.28 Destination sustainable management and practices.................................275
Table 4.29 Destination marketing management and activities ..................................276
Table 4.30 Estimates of goodness-of- fit for the one factor model ...........................278
Table 4.31 Standardised regression weights factor loadings .....................................279
Table 4.32 The chi-square fit statistic for the four tested models..............................280
Table 4.33 Baseline comparisons for the four models and the two samples .............281
Table 4.34 Standardised regression weights for the initial model .............................283
Table 4.35 Measurement Indices for the final revised version 1 model....................284
Table 4.36 Standardised regression weights for the final revised model ..................286
Table 4.37 Standardised regression weights for the alternative model .....................287
Table 4.38 Measurement indices for the final structural model for destination
competitiveness strategies..................................................................................289
Table 4.39 Tests result of the final structural model (standardised regression weight)
............................................................................................................................292
Table 4.40 Measurement indices for the single factor solution final structural model
for destination competitiveness strategies .........................................................295
Table 4.41 The chi-square fit statistic for the tested models .....................................295
Table 4.42 Baseline comparisons for the four models and the two samples .............296
Table 4.43 Measurements of construct reliability for the eight constructs:...............297
Table 4.44 Summary of hypotheses testing ...............................................................299

ix
 List of Figures
Figure 1.1 The initial conceptual framework for tourism destination competitiveness 8
Figure 2.1 Tourism origin-destination model ..............................................................24
Figure 2.2 Tourist area (destination) life cycle...........................................................28
Figure 2.3 Tourism stakeholders map........................................................................113
Figure 2.4 A conceptual framework for tourism destination competitiveness ..........132
Figure 2.5 A touristic map of Oman ..........................................................................136
Figure 2.6 Number of inbound tourists by nationality...............................................142
Figure 2.7 Number of inbound tourists in 2002 by sex and age group......................143
Figure 2.8 Number of tourists by purpose of visit .....................................................144
Figure 2.9 Inbound tourists by nationality and country of residence (%) .................146
Figure 2.10 Inbound tourists in 2002 by nationality and place of stay......................147
Figure 2.11 Total expenditure of inbound tourism in 2002 by nationality and items of
expenditure.........................................................................................................148
Figure 2.12 Total inbound tourism expenditure in 2002 by purpose of visit ............149
Figure 2.13 Oman’s competitiveness ranking in different categories .......................158
Figure 2.14 Comparison between Oman and its immediate competitors in the area 158
Figure 3.1 Research Design .......................................................................................174
Figure 4.1 Respondents demographic distribution ....................................................230
Figure 4.2 Initial standardised CFA for three-factor solution with 24 items.............247
Figure 4.3: Standardised CFA for three-factor tourism development impacts with 11
items...................................................................................................................248
Figure 4.4 Initial CFA for one-factor solution with 11-items....................................255
Figure 4.5 CFA for one-factor community attachment model with 4 items..............256
Figure 4.6 Initial CFA for one-factor solution with 16-items....................................262
Figure 4.7 CFA for one-factor model for development preferences about destination
attractions with 8 items ......................................................................................263
Figure 4.8 Initial CFA for one-factor solution with 12-items....................................269
Figure 4.9 CFA for one-factor model for development preferences about destination
attractions with 8 items ......................................................................................270
Figure 4.10 Initial CFA for two-factor destination competitiveness strategies solution
with 14-items .....................................................................................................276
Figure 4.11 CFA for two-factor model for tourism destination competitiveness
strategies with 13 items......................................................................................277
Figure 4.12 Overall hypothesised measurement model of eight constructs (initial
model) ................................................................................................................282
Figure 4.13 The SEM final revised model (version 1) ..............................................284
Figure 4.14 Overall final structural model for destination competitiveness..............288
Figure 4.15 The single factor for the final revised structural model for destination
competitiveness strategies..................................................................................294

x
 Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge the great support, assistance and cooperation extended to me

by several people. Their involvement in this research is highly appreciated.

I am particularly grateful to my supervisor Dr Andi Riege for his invaluable support,

guidance, advice and encouragement throughout my candidacy. More than that I am
thankful for his friendship. Andi, I know that I was so demanding, and have taken lots
of your time and I do appreciate your patience, thank you very much.

A special thank you also to my associate supervisor Dr Carl Cater for his support and
the time he devoted to reading the thesis.

I would like to thank Professor Leong Liew, Head of the Department of International
Business and Asian Studies for his support and encouragement.

I would further like to thank Dr William (Bill) Metcalf, Dr Hume Winzar, Dr Alan
Fyall, and Dr Peter Grimbeek for their constructive comments and suggestions on
drafts of this thesis at different stages and their methodological support. Also, thanks
go to Ms Rosemary Murray for her support in editing this thesis and to Mr Adrian &
Mrs Lorraine Millard for their help and encouragement.

This success of this research would not have been possible without the cooperation of
the various participants in both the survey research and the focus groups. Thank you
all. A thank you is also extended to officials at the Ministry of Tourism, especially
Mr. Yahya Al-Kiyumi and Ms Razan Darwish, for their valuable support and time.

A word of thanks should also go to Mr. Anil Kumar, Mr. Karanath Gopalan Shirish,
Mr. Mahmood Al Hattali and all my colleagues at the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry for helping me in collecting the data and providing information when needed.

Special thanks also go to my Mother, Uncle Mohammed, brothers and sisters, cousins,
family members and friends for their unlimited support and encouragement. Thank
you all.

Most of all, I am sincerely thankful to my dear wife without whose patience,

sacrifices, support and encouragement during good and bad moments I could not have
achieved my goal – God bless you. My children, you are great kids, thank you all for
helping me out.

xi
Chapter One Introduction

Chapter One
Introduction
1 Introduction

An understanding of stakeholders’ involvement in destination tourism planning and

development, as well as the factors that might influence their level of involvement, is
not only important for tourism destination public sector planners and private sector
managers, but also for the host community’s support for destination tourism
development and competitive strategies. Tourism destinations need to plan their
development strategies and actions to succeed internationally and gain a competitive
advantage (Dowling, 1993; Riege & Perry, 2000; Ritchie, 1993; Yuksel et al., 1999).
Places that do not develop strategic planning of their destinations can suffer from
economic, social, and environmental problems, as well as a decline in their
competitiveness as a tourism destination (Dowling, 1993).

The Sultanate of Oman (hereafter Oman) is striving to diversify its economic base by
reducing its dependence on oil. The economic diversification strategy is a specific
approach for the achievement of the country’s strategic vision (Oman 2020), which
coincides with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World
Tourism Organisation (WTO) (1991) ‘National Plan for Tourism – Sultanate of
Oman’ and ‘Built Environment for Sustainable Tourism’ conference held by the two
organisations in Oman in 2005. The planning approaches recommended by these two
international organisations are based on developing a strategy that reflects the singular
attractions of Oman in relation to local and international markets. The strategy is to be
based on attractions of a cultural, environmental or scenic nature, to maximise the
economic benefits of tourism (within limits), to protect the local culture and
environment, and finally, to provide opportunities for a diversified economy with
fewer regional economic disparities (Inskeep, 1994). One policy of the new strategy is
the development of an internal and foreign tourism sector in a balanced
(economically, socially, and environmentally) and organised way through raising its
share of GDP from 0.8% in 2004, to at least 3% by 2020 (Ministry of National
Economy, 2004).

1
Chapter One Introduction

The scope of this research is to examine the factors that seem to affect Oman’s
stakeholders’ attitudes toward, and perceptions and preferences about the
development of the country’s tourism resources and attractions.

1.1 Research Background

Over the past two decades, as indicated in the mass tourism literature, researchers
increasingly have paid attention to the impacts of tourism, and the perceptions and
attitudes of the destinations’ residents towards tourism development (Akis et al.,
1996; Ap, 1990; Besculides et al., 2002; Brunt & Courtney, 1999; Jurowski et al.,
1997; Lankford, 1994; Liu et al., 1987; Long et al., 1990; Milman & Pizam, 1988;
Murphy, 1983; Perdue et al., 1990; Teye et al., 2002; Tosun, 2002; Um & Crompton,
1987; Weaver & Lawton, 2004; Williams & Lawson, 2001; Yoon et al., 2001). The
literature has identified the major impacts of tourism on governments and host
communities to be economic, social, cultural, environmental, and political
(Besculindes et al., 2002; Brunt & Courtney, 1999; Dogan, 1989; Hall, 1994, 2000;
Jurowski et al., 1997; Krippendorf, 1987; Lieu et al., 1987; Mill & Morrison, 1998;
Peddue et al., 1987; Snepenger & Johnson, 1991; Yoon et al., 2001).

From an economic perspective, there are two aspects of the tourism industry that need
to be considered: the demand side and the supply side. The demand side deals mainly
with the degree of risk in terms of expectation which tourists are willing to take in
their travel experience in exploring the available resources and attractions in the host
destination. It deals, for example, with marketing aspects such as segmentation, tourist
demand, behaviour and motivation (Baloglu & Uysal, 1996; Fodness, 1990;
Krippendorf, 1987; Pearce, 1982). The supply side, on the other hand, assesses the
tourist attractions and resources by canvassing the opinion of the different private and
public stakeholders to identify resources or elements that are the most important to
tourists. It focuses, for example, on the role of government, destination life cycle, and
destination planning and development (Butler, 1999; Leiper, 1990; Nelson, 1999;
Tooman, 1997). Both aspects are equally important for the constitution and evaluation
of the destination’s tourism resources and attractions system.

2
Chapter One Introduction

Tourism attractions and resources have been studied extensively and their
contributions to destination attractiveness have been evaluated (Hu & Ritchie, 1993;
Kozak & Rimmington, 1998; Leiper, 1990; Var et al., 1977). Former studies primarily
investigated resources and attractions from the demand-side perspective. Moreover,
attractions and resources have been considered the major determinants or factors in
tourism destinations’ competitiveness (Murphy et al., 2000; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993;
Yoon, 2000; Yoon et al., 2001). That is, if a destination has an abundance of natural
and industrial resources and attractions, then it could have a competitive advantage
over regional or international competitors (Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Go & Govers,
2000; Hassan, 2000; Ritchie & Crouch, 2000, 2003).

Planning for tourism occurs in a number of forms: development (infrastructure,

promotion and marketing); structures (different government organisations); and scales
(national, international, regional, local and sectoral) (Hall, 1994). Tourism and travel
is now considered one of the world’s largest industries. Economically, it contributes
over 10% to global gross domestic product (GDP), creates over 8% of all jobs, and
brings in almost 9% of all capital investment (WTTC, 2005). The destination
experience is essentially comprised of regions, resources (physical and human), and
amalgams of tourism facilities (attractions) and services (Buhalis, 2000). It is
becoming widely recognised that, for tourist destinations to be successful and
competitive, they need to have an institutional strategic planning vision. This
institutional planning process can enable a destination to minimise any environmental,
socio-cultural, and economic costs (Dowling, 1993; Yuksel et al., 1999).

Tourism is considered by most scholars and practitioners to contribute positively to

the wellbeing of societies through perceived socio-economic and cultural benefits.
However, its negative impacts, especially on the environment, are often substantial
(Jurowski et al., 1997; Lankford & Howard, 1994; Milman & Pizam, 1988; Pizam,
1978). Yet, for tourism to contribute to national development, its attractions and
resources must be nationally and internationally recognisable and competitive (Yoon
et al., 2001). To achieve the social and economic objectives and to maximise the
benefits from tourism, the destination has to provide high-quality products to satisfy
the local, regional, and international tourism consumers. The exchange of perceived
social and economic benefits to producers and providers of tourism products is the

3
Chapter One Introduction

outcome of real involvement and interrelationships among the various destinations’

stakeholders through the enhancement of the destination competitiveness.

It has been indicated in the literature that people’s emotional/symbolic and functional
attachment to the community in terms of their belonging to the community, length of
residency, place of birth, spatial distance of residency from recreation areas, personal
economic reliance on tourism, and perceived ability to influence tourism planning
decisions may have a positive effect on their perceptions and support for tourism
development (Akis et al., 1996; Chon & Evans, 1989; Long et al., 1990; McCool &
Martin, 1994; Sheldon & Var, 1984; Tooman, 1997; Um & Crompton, 1987;
Williams et al., 1995a; Williams & Lawson, 2001; Yoon, 2002; Yoon et al., 1999 ).
These studies in general have emphasised residents’ positive feelings and attitudes
about their communities’ prosperity and belonging and how such perceptions
influence their support for tourism development.

The literature has also shown an increasing emphasis on tourism planning to allow
various levels of involvement of multiple stakeholders affected by tourism, including
residents, public authorities, tourists, and business interests (Jamal & Getz, 1995;
Keogh, 1990; Ritchie, 1993; Sautter & Leisen, 1999; Yuksel et al., 1999). These
studies emphasised the importance of collaboration among stakeholders in the
planning process. Stakeholder can be defined as any individual or identified group
who is affected by, or who can affect the achievement of public and corporate
objectives (Bryson & Crosby, 1992; Glicken, 2000; Ryan, 2002). Therefore, the
involvement of a community’s stakeholders in the formulation and evaluation of
policies and their empowerment to participate in decision-making will ensure their
commitment to the implementation of policies and methods that will ultimately
enhance a destination’s competitiveness and a community’s welfare.

A number of studies have introduced and applied the concept of tourism destination
competitiveness (Asch & Wolfe, 2001; Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Dwyer & Kim, 2001;
Go & Govers, 2000; Hassan, 2000; Kozak, 2001; Kozak & Rimmington, 1999;
Mihalic, 2000; Pearce, 1997; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2000, 2003). Competition
among tourism destinations is but one manifestation of the broader phenomenon of
the new economic competition (Asch & Wolfe, 2001 cited in Ritchie & Crouch,

4
Chapter One Introduction

2003). So, while realising the importance of the economic dimension of

competitiveness, other dimensions related to tourism destination are of equal
importance, due to the uniqueness of the field (Ritchie & Crouch, 2003).

In general, what makes a destination competitive, based on the argument by Ritchie

and Crouch (2003), is a destination’s ability to increase tourists’ expenditure and to
attract increasing numbers of visitors to the destination while providing them with
quality services and satisfying experiences. However, such efforts should not
jeopardise local residents’ socio-economic welfare and the preservation of natural
resources and the environment for future generations. In a tourism context, the
concept of competitiveness has been examined and applied in different destination
settings mostly related to growth and development sustainability of destinations and
prosperity of their societies.

In the tourism literature, many tourism scholars pointed out that tourism destination
competitiveness could be created and enhanced through certain development
strategies, including marketing efforts, destination management efforts, innovation
and product development, environmental quality, and sustainable tourism (e.g.
Buhalis, 2000; Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Mihalič, 2000; Poon, 1993; Ritchie &
Crouch, 1993, 2000, 2003; Yoon, 2002).

In sum, as suggested by the literature, destination competitiveness can be improved by

appropriate matching between destination resources and attractions, proper strategic
planning, and the enhancement of the competitive destination strategies’ efforts (e.g.
Bordas, 1994; Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Poon, 1993; Yoon et al., 2001).

1.2 Research Problem and Hypotheses

The purpose of the current study is to contribute to a developing body of research in

tourism planning, development, and destination competitiveness. Tourism
destinations are difficult to manage and market, due to the complexities and diversity
of the relationships between local stakeholders (e.g. government organisations,
residents, businesses – tourism and non-tourism, tourism employees, media, and
tourism faculty and students) involved in the development and production of tourism

5
Chapter One Introduction

products (e.g. Buhalis, 2000; Sautter & Leisen, 1999). Hence, the planning and
development of destination tourism strategies ideally takes into account the desire and
wishes of all those who can affect, and could be affected by, the development of
strategies to ensure their support for the enhancement of the destination’s competitive
strategies. Stakeholders in different destinations seem to have different attitudes,
perceptions, and behaviours in regard to tourism resources and attractions,
development and the destination’s competitiveness. Stakeholders also have different
perceptions in regard to tourism development impacts, attachment to a particular place
and level of empowerment, and their level of involvement in planning decision-
making.

Drawing on stakeholders’ experiences and knowledge could help in enhancing the

process of evaluating the destination’s possessed competitive resources and
attractions. Of particular relevance are their perceptions, attitudes and behaviours
about the influencing factors on the tourism planning and development process
regarding tourism impacts (economic, social, physical, cultural, political, and
environmental), place attachment, and perceived power. Such factors have received
little attention in the past (Hall, 1994; Yoon, 2002). This study explores the
interrelationships between these constructs, and draws a conclusion about specific
stakeholders’ development preferences about tourism attractions and resources in
Oman, and the favourable competitive strategies stakeholders are willing to support.

This study collected data from Oman’s tourism stakeholders such as government
authorities (tourism related and non-tourism related), businesses (tourism related and
non-tourism related), residents, media, tourism faculty and students, and tourists. The
main objective was to examine their perceptions and opinions about the impacts of
tourism development, and further to determine their willingness to support the most
appropriate development and marketing strategies of competitiveness for Oman.
Consequently, this study sought to make a contribution by addressing the following
research problem:

How does the interrelationship between destination-specific situational factors,

community participation, and community attachment impact on the development of
Oman’s tourism resources and attractions, and in turn the support of its competitive

6
Chapter One Introduction

destination strategies? Furthermore, what effects may these interrelationships have

on the government’s approaches in formulating and implementing tourism
development and marketing policies?

There is little empirical research on destination competitiveness, especially from the

perspectives of public, private and local tourism organisations’ stakeholders (Dredge,
2006; Pike, 2004; Ritchie & Crouch, 2003; Yoon, 2002). Further, there is scant
literature about the concepts of power and empowerment related to tourism
development (Hall, 2000; Reid, 2004; Schyvens, 2002, 2003; Sofield, 2003). This
study attempted to close these gaps by creating and testing a model based on previous
scholarly work in the field to deal with the above-mentioned research problem.

In investigating the research problem, a number of hypotheses were developed in

Chapter 2. These hypotheses resulted from the review of the extant tourism planning,
development and management literature. These hypotheses are as follows:

H1a: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

community attachment and their preferences about tourism resources and attractions
development.

H1b: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

community attachment and tourism (economic, social, political, and environmental)
development impacts.

H1c: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

community attachment and community stakeholders’ participation.

H2a: There is a positive relationship between tourism (economic, social, political, and
environmental) development impacts on destination stakeholders, and their
preferences about tourism resources and attractions development.

H2b: There is a positive relationship between tourism (economic, social, political,

and environmental) development impacts on destination stakeholders, and
stakeholders’ attachment to their communities.

H2c: There is a positive relationship between tourism (economic, social, political, and
environmental) development impacts on destination stakeholders, and community
stakeholders’ participation.
7
Chapter One Introduction

H3a: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

participation (community participation) and their preferences regarding tourism
resources and attractions development.

H3b: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

participation and the various impacts of tourism development.

H3c: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

participation and their attachment to their communities.

H4: There is a positive relationship between the development of tourism resources

and attractions, and the support for destination competitive strategies.

The primary constructs are depicted in the conceptual framework shown in Figure 1.1.
The constructs are related to community attachment, various tourism development
impacts (economic, socio-cultural, political, environmental), community participation,
preferences about tourism resources and attractions development, and support for
destination competitive strategies. The conceptual framework is developed and
described in Chapter 2.

Figure 1.1 The initial conceptual framework for tourism destination

competitiveness

Tourism development Community

impacts participation
+ H2c
Economic + H3c Participation
Socio-cultural Collaboration
Environmental Empowerment
Political + H1c
+ H1b + H3a
+ H2a
+H2b +H3b
Support for
Community Development
+ H4
attachment preferences about + H4 competitive
+H1a
tourism resources/ destination
Place identity attractions strategies
Place dependence

Source: Developed for this research with parts from Jurowski et al. (1997) and Yoon (2002)

8
Chapter One Introduction

1.3 Objectives of the Study

Research into the destination competitiveness was expected to achieve three

objectives to justify this study’s implementation.
1. Making a contribution to under-researched areas in the academic literature
related to destination competitiveness and stakeholder participation and
empowerment Chapter (2).
2. Developing a theoretical model depicting the interrelationships between (1)
tourism development impacts, (2) community attachment, (3) stakeholders’
perceived power (community participation), (4) preferences about tourism
resources and attractions development, and (5) support for destination
competitive strategies (Chapter 2).
3. Then, empirically testing the constructed model on a developing country
(Oman) domain, which illustrates the concept of destination competitiveness
from a national developing country perspective (Chapter 4).

Thus, the study is conducted to achieve the above-mentioned objectives.

1.4 Theoretical Background

Most of the studies related to relationships between different stakeholders in

destination development and residents’ attitudes and perceptions have utilised the
social exchange theory, which has been considered the appropriate framework to
develop an understanding of residents’ perceptions and attitudes (Ap, 1992; Perdue et
al., 1990).

The social exchange theory articulates and explains how people react to and support
tourism development (Ap, 1992; Jurowski et al., 1997; Perdue et al., 1990; Yoon et
al., 1999, 2001). Empirical findings from these studies have suggested that people
will act to maximise benefits and minimise costs in different situations. They also
weigh total benefits against total costs that affect their decision to participate in
making decisions about development (Kayat, 2002; Lawler, 2001; Yoon et al., 1999,
2001). As the stakeholders tend to interact and exchange with tourism at different
levels and modes to maximise their perceived benefits and minimise their perceived

9
Chapter One Introduction

costs, stakeholders tend to participate positively if the received benefits from the
exchange exceed the unexpected costs. Therefore, the implications of this theory will
provide the theoretical underpinning for this study.

From a theoretical perspective, the support of the major stakeholders during the
exchange process is essential for the success of planning, development and
implementation of a destination’s tourism competitive strategies and long-term
sustainability. Then, the application of stakeholder theory concepts to tourism requires
tourism planners to realise, and be concerned with, the perspectives of diverse
stakeholder groups involved in the tourism system, and to recognise that their interests
are not exclusively touristic (Suatter & Leisen, 1999). Tourism organisations and/or
planning bodies must not underestimate the importance of various tourism
stakeholders groups which affect or are affected by the tourism development and
services, or consider only the most obvious and influential groups. For example,
stakeholder theory has been applied in tourism as a planning and management tool by
Getz and Jamal (1994), Sautter and Leisen (1999), and Yuksel et al. (1999).
Meanwhile, Ioannides (2001) applied a stakeholder framework in conjunction with
the destination life-cycle concept to analyse varying stakeholders’ attitudes toward
tourism development at different stages of destination development. Thus far,
stakeholder theory has been utilised to a small extent in the tourism planning, policy
and strategy development literature (Getz & Timur, 2004); however, it is
conceptualised as a normative tourism-planning tool that can be used to promote
collaboration among key players in the tourism planning system (Donaldson &
Preston, 1995; Suatter & Leisen, 1999).

In order to gain a better understanding about destinations’ tourism products and

services planning, development and competitive strategies, we firstly need to
understand the basic nature of the concept of competition. Little is known so far about
the notion of competitiveness in service industries such as tourism (Ritchie & Crouch,
2003).

The concept of competitiveness in the context of tourism destinations relates to both

the comparative advantage theory and the competitive advantage theory. There are
similarities and differences between the two theories. The comparative advantage

10
Chapter One Introduction

theory is more concerned with productivity and the endowments of production

(resources) where destinations could make available their resources for exploitation
by local residents and tourists. While this theory is mainly concerned with endowed or
inherited resources, the competitive advantage theory is concerned with the ability of
a destination to use those resources to achieve long-term sustainable benefits (Ritchie
& Crouch, 2003). Destinations that lack natural or industrial attributes may find it
difficult to compete against those destinations that have a wealth of natural and
historical attractions.

For the purpose of this study, social exchange theory and stakeholders’ theory are
primarily adapted to investigate their integration and applicability to tourism planning
and development domains.

1.5 Research Methodology

The study is explanatory and descriptive in nature, and is based on both quantitative
and qualitative methodologies to investigate the relationships between different
constructs postulated in Figure 1.1. The research study used survey questionnaires
quantitatively and focus groups qualitatively in a four-stage process. Convenience and
quota sampling methods were adapted to collect quantitative data from different
tourism stakeholders across Oman. In an attempt to provide generalisation, methods
such as self-administered (e.g. mall-intercept) surveys, drop-off surveys, and Internet
surveys were used to compensate for the predicted shortfall of the convenience
sampling method. The survey instrument was developed by adapting existing scales to
measure all constructs, except stakeholders’ perceived power (community
participation), which was developed by the researcher. These measurement scales
were pre-tested at different stages to establish validity and reliability. The data was
then analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) with AMOS.5 (Arbuckle,
2003). Chapter 3 describes in detail the research methodology.

After the data had been analysed, the results were presented to different government
officials and private sector representatives in three focus group seminars held in
Oman to obtain an initial reaction about mainly the practical implications of the
study’s outcome. Further insights were derived from this Delphi consultation.

11
Chapter One Introduction

1.5.1 Justification of triangulation methodology

Despite the fact that there is a need to select a methodology that generates
generalisation, realism and precision (McGrath, 1982), all research methodologies are
flawed in some respect (Dennis & Valacich, 2001). Using both quantitative and
qualitative methods compensated for each method’s weaknesses if used alone. Kaplan
and Duchon (1988) addressed the need and desire to combine quantitative and
qualitative methods, as no one approach to research can prove to be reliable, valid,
and meaningful by itself. Hartmann (1988) was critical of using the single research
method and the over-emphasis on quantitative research in the field of leisure and
tourism. Thus, triangulation was ensured in this study by using a combination of
research methods. The initial findings and the methods inspired the process.

The rationale for conducting this research, both quantitatively and qualitatively, in
addition to what is mentioned above, is to test the impacts of the interrelationships
between Oman’s tourism stakeholders in relation to their perceptions and attitudes
towards tourism resources and attractions development, and their support for
competitive strategies. In addition, the use of both methods helped in overcoming the
deficiency associated with the convenience and quota sampling data collection
techniques to be adapted for this study. Furthermore, the reasons for selecting Oman
as a context are:

• Oman is placing great emphasis on developing the tourism industry as part of its
economic diversification program and employment generator;

• Oman is one of a large number of developing countries striving to diversify its

economy, maximise the utilisation of natural resources and attractions, and
provide social welfare for the population; and

• The researcher is a native of Oman, holds a senior position in government, and

has a wide prospect of contacts within government and private sectors. These
factors facilitated easy access to data and to the stakeholders’ network.

In light of the foregoing discussions and explanations, this research is in the post-
positivist paradigm because it deals with an external and social reality (e.g. Hunt,
1990; Perry et al., 1999; Trochim, 2002) that demonstrates how tourism development
factors impact on local stakeholders, and hence a multiple method approach appeared

12
Chapter One Introduction

to be a reasonable proposition. Quantitative and qualitative research methods

contributed to gaining better understanding of the phenomena under investigation,
provided high rigour, reliability, and validity to the study, and combined depth with
breadth in the study outcome.

1.6 Key Findings and Contributions of the Research

The findings and contributions of this research are discussed from the perspectives of
theoretical and methodological contributions and practical implications.

The results indicated the importance stakeholders placed on their preferences about
tourism resources and attractions development, and their support for destination
competitive strategies. This finding substantiates the necessity for combining
resources and attractions development with the appropriate development,
management, and marketing strategies to achieve sustainability and enhance
destination competitiveness. In addition, the research demonstrates some statistical
significance between tourism development impacts people may experience and their
emotional and functional attachment to their communities, and their desire for more
empowerment and involvement in tourism benefits and the decision-making process.
These relationships may lead to people’s continuous support for future tourism
development in the community. In regard to the relationship between community
participation and community attachment, the study demonstrates a negative
relationship between the two constructs. The study also detected a negative
relationship between the preferences for the development of resources and attractions
and environmental impacts. This is an indication of people’s ecocentric emotional
consciousness. Further, the study’s outcomes did not support the existence of political
impacts of tourism development in Oman, as will be explained and justified in
Chapters 5, which may affect people’s support for the development of particular
resources and attractions and competitiveness strategies. Finally, the government’s
potential role in tourism planning and development was not supported by destination
stakeholders’ respondents in this study, which contradicts the findings of existing
literature.

13
Chapter One Introduction

This study also makes several theoretical contributions to the body of tourism
destination competitiveness literature and research. First, the study advances the
tourism literature by introducing a conceptual framework (model) explaining
destination competitiveness from the perspective of a developing country’s
stakeholders. The model demonstrates the interrelationships between various tourism
development impacts, community attachment, community participation, resources and
attractions development, and support for competitive destination strategies, as
illustrated and explained in Chapter 5. This study supported the majority of the
hypothesised relationships either totally or partially, and discovered new relationships
that need to be investigated further by future research. Second, this study may be
considered the first comprehensive one of its kind in the Arab world and Oman in
particular explaining the concepts of destination competitiveness and community
participation, therefore contributing to the body of knowledge in tourism planning and
development literature. Third, as the inclusion of a wide array of stakeholders in the
participation process has not been comprehensive in tourism research, this study calls
for a broader list of tourism stakeholders to be included in the consultation process.
Fourth, since social exchange theory relating to people’s perceptions and attitudes is
widely used in tourism research, and stakeholder theory has mainly been used as a
strategic tool in management and less used in relation to tourism, this study tried to
combine the two theories in explaining the role of socio-economic costs/benefits and
stakeholders’ roles in tourism planning and development. Fifth, the study expands the
use of structural equation modelling (SEM) method with AMOS software. There is
scant tourism literature utilising this method in tourism research, and, as explained in
Chapter 5, it is not about SEM per se, but rather the rigorous testing of relationships
between the constructs. Finally, the study contributes to the overall body of
destination competitiveness.

Moreover, this study proposes a number of methodological contributions to the study

of tourism including: First, the use of four stages of research design for identifying the
research problem, developing the conceptual framework and data collection and
analysis. Second, utilising personal relationships and contacts in collecting data in a
country where people are less familiar with scientific research, and research per se is
underdeveloped. Additionally, such personal contacts helped in collecting a large
number of responses and overcame the shortfalls of the sampling method used in this

14
Chapter One Introduction

study. Finally, the study developed several measurement scales for stakeholders’
perceived power (community participation) based on the literature review and
refinement after pilot studies. These scales could be replicated and validated in
different research environments by future studies.

This research has implications for practical and managerial practices. First, tourism
authorities should collect appropriate information about stakeholders’ preferences
regarding tourism resources and attractions development and match them with the
appropriate competitive strategies to enhance a destination’s competitiveness. This
study demonstrates the appropriate marketing and sustainability competitive strategies
to be adopted to enhance the destination’s competitiveness. Second, cooperation and
collaboration between and among different government organisations are critical
issues to be faced and dealt with by tourism authorities if the destination is to be
competitive internationally. This policy could be complemented by collaboration with
neighbouring countries in cross-border tourism management, development and
marketing (Timothy, 1998, 2000). Third, achieving government’s national strategic
planning and at the same time ensuring stakeholders’ full participation in the planning
and development process would require the government to make compromises
between the two approaches. Another area that requires the government to make
compromises or trade-offs is between adopting a mass or alternative tourism policy.
The tourism literature explains the advantages and disadvantages of both theories
depending on the level of socio-cultural and economic developments of the
destination and the expected returns from tourism development. Fourth, whatever the
approach followed by the planning authorities, it must take into consideration the
environmental impacts of tourism. Therefore, it is suggested that close monitoring of
the environmental impacts should be enforced and the use of the Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) measure should be considered. Fifth, public knowledge and
awareness should be increased through enforcing various education programs to
achieve tourism sustainable development. This goal could be achieved by utilising the
education system as well as the mass media channels. Finally, Oman’s emphasis on
authentic and cultural tourism should not be at the expense of exploring the
advantages of and developing other growing tourism clusters or segments. This policy
could be achieved through creating a research centre to monitor international tourism
developments and trends, which would enable the country to gain a competitive edge

15
Chapter One Introduction

over other competitors such as Dubai, Jordan and Egypt in regional and international
tourism markets.

1.7 Functional Definitions

Competitiveness: Combination of assets and processes where assets are inherited

(e.g. natural resources) or created (e.g. infrastructure), and processes transform assets
to economic results (Crouch & Ritchie, 1999).

Tourism attractions: Various types of tourism products and services that tourism
provides to tourists, including natural/cultural components, heritage/historical
resources, infrastructure, hospitality, supporting facilities/services, etc. (Buhalis,
2000; Cooper et al., 1998; Gunn, 1988; Gun & Var, 2002; Pearce, 1995a, 1995b,
1997a, 1997b).

Community attachment: Extent to which individuals value a given place; the

strength of association between individuals and their residential environment; the
individual’s emotional/symbolic as well as functional feelings about the satisfaction
with economic benefits and involvement in a given place planning and development
decision-making process (Hidalgo & Hernandez, 2001; McCool & Martin, 1994;
McAndrew, 1998; Warzecha & Lime, 2001).

Tourism destination competitiveness: Destination’s ability to create value and thus

increasing national wealth by managing assets and processes, attractiveness, and
proximity, and by integrating these relationships into an economic and social model
(Ritchie & Crouch, 2000).

Tourism development impacts: Result from a complex process of interchanges

between tourists, host communities, and destinations (Mathieson & Wall, 1982).

Tourism stakeholders: Persons or groups who can affect and be affected by the
tourism business within a particular market or community and who have interest in
the planning process or in the delivery and/or outcomes of the tourism business
(Donaldson & Preston, 1995; Sautter & Leisen, 1999).

16
Chapter One Introduction

Community participation: Extent of ability of the public to participate in

community-based tourism planning decision-making for the benefit of tourism
development (Hall, 1998, 2000; Inskeep, 1991; Jamal & Getz, 1995; Murphy, 1985;
Simmons, 1994).

1.8 Conclusion and Outline of Thesis

This chapter provided an introduction to tourism destination planning and

development competitiveness concepts and theories, and presented the research
objectives to be achieved to justify the importance of further research in this area. The
research problem and hypotheses that are investigated in this study were presented,
and the methodology adopted is briefly introduced and justified. Finally, the
functional definitions were provided and the limitations of the study were identified.

Chapter 2 links the research problem with the existing literature related to tourism
planning and development, destination competitiveness, and stakeholders’
participation. The chapter introduces the different theories underpinning this study,
identifies gaps in the literature, examines various constructs of the research, and
develops a theoretical framework. On this basis, ten hypotheses are developed.

Chapter 3 justifies and presents the research methodology adopted, the development
of the survey instrument, and sampling and procedures of data analysis for both
quantitative and qualitative methods. Ethical issues and limitations of the
methodology are also covered.

Chapter 4 reports the results of the empirical analyses of the proposed theoretical
model that was tested for the hypotheses and introduces the final structural model for
this study in addition to measuring the focus groups results.

Chapter 5 discusses and evaluates the research findings, summarising the conclusions
in relation to the research problem and hypotheses from both quantitative and
qualitative perspectives; the implications are delineated, and future research
suggestions based on this study are presented.

17
18
Chapter Two Literature Review

Chapter Two
Literature Review
2.1 Introduction

This chapter reviews the literature related to the study of tourism planning,
development, and destination competitiveness. It consists of four parts: background
literature, theoretical background, conceptual framework including hypotheses and
tourism in Oman. In the first part, relevant concepts and systematic approaches to
tourism development, planning, products and services, and destination
competitiveness will be reviewed. This discussion serves as the research background
for the research problem and objectives. Second, the theoretical framework will be
provided by an introduction to background theories, such as social exchange theory,
stakeholder theory, and comparative and competitive advantage theories. Third, the
inter-relationships between the theoretical background and framework constructs will
be presented to provide the necessary background for the field’s research. Finally, an
overview of Oman’s historical, economic, political, and tourism aspects is introduced.

2.2 Part One – Tourism Background Literature

This section will put the notion of tourism into perspective by introducing the concept
of tourism, its systematic approaches (tourism’s origin-destination system and the
functioning system), and its planning and development concepts (tourism destination
development life cycle, planning perspectives, planning processes, planning goals,
components of planning, levels, types and scales of planning, approaches to planning,
sustainable development, problems of implementing sustainable development in
tourism, and politics of tourism planning). The purpose of this section is to trace the
development of the concept of tourism and to show how such developments have
enhanced the growth of destinations’ sustainability.

2.2.1 Tourism in perspective

A review of the literature reveals some difficulties in defining tourism. Such

difficulties are associated with the multidimensionality and multidisciplinary nature of
the tourism system (McIntosh et al., 1995). McIntosh et al., (1995, p.10), for instance,

19
Chapter Two Literature Review

defined tourism as “the sum of phenomena and relationships arising from the
interaction of tourists, business suppliers, host governments, and host communities in
the process of attracting and hosting these tourists and other visitors”, whereas the
World Tourism Organization (WTO) offered a broader definition in what seems to be
the officially accepted definition: “Tourism comprises the activities of persons
traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than
one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes” (in McIntosh et al.,
1995, p.11). Przeclawski (1993, p.10), however, suggested another definition, which
relates people’s movement to another place to their desires to establish contact with
new natural, social and cultural environments: “Tourism, in its broad sense, is the sum
of the phenomena pertaining to spatial mobility, connected with a voluntary,
temporary change of place, the rhythm of life and its environment and involving
personal contact with the visited environment (natural, cultural or social).”

As these different definitions indicate, tourism is a process of a change of place by

individuals or groups to fulfil personal desires through exploring and experiencing
different cultures, environments and various other activities. Since tourism is a very
complex phenomenon in terms of interaction between various people from different
cultures, places and exchanged socio-economic interests, many disciplines have
developed an interest in it, including economics (Bull, 1991; Eadington & Redman,
1991), socio-psychology (e.g. Pearce, 1982), geography (e.g. Pearce, 1979), sociology
(e.g. Urry, 1990), anthropology (e.g. Smith, 1989), marketing and management (e.g.
Buhalis 2000; Mihalic, 2000), political science (e.g. Hall, 1994, 2003), and physical
planning and ecology (e.g. Przeclawski, 1993). For example, as an economic
phenomenon, tourism functions according to economic forces, mainly those of supply
and demand, and business terms such as ‘tourism marketing’ and ‘tourism
management’ are frequently used (Eadington & Redman, 1991). Tourism is also a
social phenomenon, as tourists interact with people of host countries, fellow
travellers, and travel agents. Moreover, their motivation to travel to a particular
destination is affected by certain images and characteristics of those destinations
(Dann & Cohen, 1991). Furthermore, tourism is a psychological phenomenon. It is
related to an individual’s particular personality traits, skills, and abilities to make
decisions about travel and activities (Pearce, 1982).

20
Chapter Two Literature Review

Personal needs and desires to travel precede the decision to make the trip. Such needs
generate motives and purpose; preconceived images will be compared during the
actual visit (Pearce & Stringer, 1991). These motives were described as the push
factors for making a trip. In addition, tourism is a cultural phenomenon. It involves
the transmission of cultural norms during interactions between visitors and local
people. Tourism has become a factor of cultural change, and as there are different
forms of tourism, there are different changes and effects on different cultures and
subcultures (Smith, 1989). Each of these disciplines provides a partial rather than a
holistic approach to tourism. Thus, to understand the comprehensiveness of the
tourism multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, there is a need for a more
integrative approach to the tourism system (Przeclawski, 1993).

In sum, at its most basic, tourism is about the desire to visit places (destinations)
which constitute the centre of activities in that location (Davidson & Maitland, 1997).
Destinations stimulate and motivate visits; they are the places where tourism products
are produced to be experienced by visitors. They are also the places where local
residents experience the impacts of tourism. Gunn (1994, p.27) defined destination as
“a geographic area containing a critical mass of development that satisfies traveler
objectives”. Thus, the boundaries of a destination could be classified geographically,
for example the whole country (national scale), or a region within the country
(regional scale). In this study, the term will be used to represent the whole country of
Oman.

2.2.2 Systematic approaches to tourism

There are two key economic aspects of the tourism industry that need to be considered
– the demand side and the supply side. The former deals mainly with the degree of
risk which tourists are willing to take in exploring the available resources and
attractions in the host destination. It includes, for example, marketing aspects such as
segmentation, positioning, behaviour and motivation (Baloglu & Uysal, 1996;
Fodness, 1990; Krippendorf, 1989; Pearce, 1982). The supply aspect assesses the
attractions and resources of tourism destinations by canvassing the opinions of the
various private and public stakeholders to identify those resources most important to
(potential) tourists. It focuses, for example, on the role of government, destination life

21
Chapter Two Literature Review

cycles, and destination planning and development (Butler 1999; Leiper, 1990; Nelson
et al., 1999; Tooman, 1997). Both supply and demand aspects are equally important in
evaluating the tourism attraction system, with tourists and tourist attractions being the
central elements of the system.

One of the core components of the regional and international tourism system is the
tourist destination. It comprises multifaceted elements such as natural resources (e.g.
climate, water and landscape), authentic human resources (e.g. culture and history)
and industrial resources (e.g. museums, theme parks, facilities, infrastructure and
other physical attractions) (Butler 1999). Such attributes determine the destination’s
positioning on the regional and international tourism map.

The tourism planning literature mostly concentrates on the economic, social, cultural,
and environmental impacts of tourism, and in particular tourism development, but
tends to neglect the importance of market dynamics, political impacts, and the
requirements of the business community at both the destination and the place of origin
(Buhalis, 2000; Weaver, 2000). Several authors proposed a number of approaches to
explain and understand the concept of tourism. Such approaches are related to its
functionality and interactive roles (Gunn, 1988; Leiper, 1979; Pearce, 1995). Further,
a number of researchers suggested two fundamental system approaches to explain
tourism: the origin-destination system and the functioning system (Gunn, 1988; Gunn
& Var, 2002; Leiper, 1990; Murphy, 1985; Pearce, 1995). On the one hand, an origin
represents the demand-side of the tourism system, the region or country generating
tourists. A destination, on the other hand, represents the supply-side of tourism, in that
a certain region or country may have specific powers of attraction to entice visitors
(Uysal, 1998).

In conformity with the above approaches, Bansal and Eiselt (2004) asserted that most
researchers accepted Crompton’s (1979) ‘push-pull’ model, which divides the
tourist’s choice of destination into two forces, push and pull. The first force pushes a
tourist away from home on a vacation (motivation), without a specific destination in
mind. The second force is a region-specific enticement that pulls a tourist towards a
destination. This research is mainly concerned with the second force, the pull force.
This type of force involves the tangible characteristics or attributes of the destination

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Chapter Two Literature Review

that are related to its resources and attractiveness, which if strategically planned,
developed, positioned and marketed, should enhance destination competitiveness and
increase its appeal internationally as a destination for visiting and investment (Baloglu
& Uysal, 1996; Bansal & Eiselt, 2004).

Murphy (1985) perceived destinations as a marketplace where supply and demand

characteristics push for attention and consumption, suggesting that the tourism
resources base is a combination of physical and human resources, has seasonal
elements, and is associated with the four S’s notion of sea, sand, sun, and sex. In
contrast, Smith (1994) acknowledged the importance of travel services in creating a
product experience, and described how inputs from various destinations could
produce experiential outputs for tourists. Meanwhile, Hu and Ritchie (1993, p.26)
conceptualised the tourist destinations as “a package of tourism facilities and services,
which like any other consumer product, is composed of a number of multi-
dimensional attributes”.

2.2.2.1 Origin-destination system

The origin-destination tourism system shows that tourism consists of two types of
region: an origin, which is related to a region or a country and is generating or
exporting tourists, and a destination, which is receiving or importing tourists (Gunn,
1988; Gunn & Var, 2002; Leiper, 1990, 1994; Witt & Mountinho, 1994). The first
component (origin) is usually known as the source of tourists’ demand, while the
second (destination) is known as the tourism source of supply contributing different
attributes or attractions to tourists’ experience (Baloglu & Uysal, 1996; Bansal &
Eiselt, 2004; Crompton, 1979; Kozak, 2001; Uysal, 1998). Baloglu and Uysal (1996)
further elaborated on Crompton’s (1979) push-pull model by introducing the push-
pull motivation concept. That is, people travel because they are pushed, for instance
they have a desire to participate in sport, travel to historically important places, or
experience adventure. At the same time, pull forces attempt to motivate tourists to
experience diverse destination attractions. Further, Kozak (2001) asserted that it is
important to undertake an empirical examination of tourists’ motivation; such work
will help to identify the destination’s attributes that are to be marketed and match
tourist motivation with markets and destination features and resources.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Leiper (1990, 2004) tried to link the tourism-generating region with the tourism
destination. He introduced a model that views tourism as a system consisting of three
elements: human (tourists), geographical regions (tourist generating region, transit
route region, and tourist destination region), and industrial (travel and tourism
industry), illustrated in Figure 2.1. Leiper (2004) asserted that these elements combine
to enable tourism to occur in practice, so knowledge about the elements and their
functionality, operation and interaction with each other and their external environment
is required to understand the dynamics of tourism.

Figure 2.1 Tourism origin-destination model

Source: Adapted from Leiper (1990)

Leiper (1990) claimed that the tourism environment model has both dynamic and
static elements. The components of his model are people (tourist population),
transportation and communications, information direction (images, perception,
marketing, and promotion), attractions (things for tourist to see), people and place
(host population and culture), and services and facilities (accommodation and
shopping).

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Chapter Two Literature Review

2.2.2.2 Functioning system

Gunn (1988, 1994) introduced and Gunn and Var (2002) further developed the
functioning system model and explained the linkages between the core components of
the tourism system being the demand (market) side and supply side. The four
components of their functioning model are: population, transportation,
information/promotion, and attractions. Additionally, Gunn introduced what he called
external factors: natural resources, government policies, competition, community,
entrepreneurship, finance, organisation leadership, and cultural resources, which he
believed significantly influence the functioning system. Similarly, Jafari (1982, p.2)
referred to the system functions as “a market basket of goods and services, including
accommodation, food service, transportation, travel agencies, recreation and
entertainment, other travel trade services, and resident-oriented products and market
differentiation”. Murphy (1985) also identified a demand and supply-side with similar
components but with specific acknowledgment of the importance of the role of
intermediaries (e.g. tour operators) in selling the marketplace.

The tourism system models introduced above are generally referred to as soft and
open system models. That is, the system is considered ‘open’ because it is
interdisciplinary and recognises the technological, political, legislative, and cultural
elements of the tourism process (Laws, 1995). It is also soft, because it recognises the
interaction between stakeholders in tourist destination areas. The interdependence and
linkages of diverse elements of the model, which comprise tourist destinations and the
various effects of tourism (positive or negative) on different stakeholders, can be
understood from these models (Laws, 1995). Laws (1995) attempted to synthesise
system models in a more comprehensive model called ‘the general tourist destination
model’. He illustrates the components of the tourist destination system, which consists
of elements such as: natural or primary attractions (e.g. climate) supported by
secondary features (e.g. hotels), and destination inputs (managerial and technical
skills, investors resources, and the expectations of tourists). The model is also
concerned with tourism subsystems, such as accommodation, entertainment, and
transport, which will transfer the inputs into outputs; the quality of the outcomes for
stakeholders will be assessed by their satisfaction with their experiences. However,
the destination elements are subject to external influences, for instance taste,

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Chapter Two Literature Review

competition, technology, legislation, demographics, and politics, which are similar to

Gunn’s (1988) external factors.

In sum, systematic approaches of tourism provide a comprehensive understanding of

tourism concepts and its phenomena. A better understanding of the interrelationships
between tourism supply and demand components is appropriate for destinations’
planning, development and marketing efforts to succeed. Furthermore, a more
systematic approach shows that tourism exists due to the availability of resources and
attractions, their operation and management, marketing, and product development.
These components are of high importance to destinations’ competitiveness in an
increasingly fierce competitive marketplace.

2.2.3 Tourism planning and development concepts

In the tourism planning and development context, tourism is defined as an

interdisciplinary, multi-faceted phenomenon that involves interrelated components of
tourism products, activities, and services provided by public and private sectors (e.g.
Gunn, 1994; Gunn & Var, 2002; Pearce, 1989, 1995). An understanding of these
components is essential for successful tourism planning and development. This
section will explore in depth how destination tourism evolves by explaining its
development life cycle, planning perspectives, planning processes, planning goals,
components of planning, levels, types and scales of planning, approaches of planning,
sustainable development, problems of implementing tourism sustainable
development, and politics of tourism planning.

2.2.3.1 Tourism destination development life cycle

Similar to products and services, tourist destinations can go through different phases
of development (Butler, 1980; Debbage, 1990; Doxy, 1975; Plog, 1973), and there are
many valid reasons for tourism planning. One of these is related to the destination
life-cycle concept as defined by Plog (1973). He attributed the rise and fall of tourism
destinations to the desire of those groups in control (within destinations) to which
destinations appeal at different stages in their development history. The concept is
somewhat similar to the concept of product life cycle, which suggests that all products

26
Chapter Two Literature Review

or services have a life cycle which begins with their introduction to the market and
ends with their withdrawal from the market. In his argument, Plog (1973) has
identified two personality types: allocentric and psychocentric. The former relates to
individuals who prefer unfamiliar places and enjoy risks. They are the people who can
be considered pioneers of a destination. Once the destination becomes better known
and popular to a wider market, psychocentric types will generate a preference for it
(Leiper, 2004). Later Plog (2004) changed the term allocentric to ‘venturers’ to
express the group’s tendency to venture and seek new experiences, and
psychocentrics to ‘dependables’, the non-travelling type.

However, Plog’s (1973) theory has also been subject to criticism. Smith (1990a,
1990b), for instance, argued that the theory is unproven and defective because the
research methodology and techniques used were wrong. Then, McDonnell (1994)
cited in Leiper (2003) also tested the theory on Australian tourists visiting Bali and
Fiji. After using the same questionnaire and technique used by Plog (1973), he too
concluded that Plog ’s theory was flawed. On the other hand, one of the most widely
discussed theories in the tourism literature is the ‘tourist area (destination) life-cycle’
(TALC) concept proposed by Butler (1980) (e.g. Agarwal, 2002; Debbage, 1990;
Hovinen, 1982, 2002; Leiper, 2003; Lundtorp & Wanhill, 2001; Prosser, 1995). The
theory regards destinations as living objects and thus proposes that destinations
experience the same life cycle as animals and plants (Leiper, 2003). The theory’s
popularity stems from its description of trends that are almost universal among
tourism destination regions.

Butler (1980, pp.7-9) in his development model suggested that tourist areas as they
evolve pass through different stages of development, as illustrated in Figure 2.2.
Butler contended that most tourist destinations evolve through different development
stages, citing Mexico as an example.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Figure 2.2 Tourist area (destination) life cycle

Note:
Exploration: characterised by small numbers of tourists;
Involvement: the number of visitors increases and the local residents will start to become
involved by providing facilities to visitors;
Development: identified with well-developed tourist market and planned advertising by the
tourist-generating areas;
Consolidation: the rate of increase in numbers of visitors will start to decline even though the
total number is increasing;
Stagnation: the peak numbers of visitors will have been reached; the area will have
established its image but will no longer be attractive;
Decline: the area will not be able to compete with new attractions and new entrants into the
tourism market; and
Rejuvenation: may occur if new man-made attractions are added or advantage is taken of
unutilised natural resources.

Similarly, TALC has proven to be a useful organising framework for interpreting

destinations’ development and canvassing scenarios for future planning and progress
(Faulkner, 2003). There have been diverse views about the applicability of the model
to different destinations and the sequence of changes destinations adhere to. There
have been several conforming cases (e.g. Cohen, 1982; Cooper & Jackson, 1989;
Oglethorpe, 1984; Pearce, 1989; Weaver, 1990; Wilkinson 1987). Oglethorpe (1984),
for example, suggested that this pattern of sequence applies to Malta’s tourism, and
Wilkinson (1987) concluded that the destination life cycle concept is applicable to
Antigua, Aruba, St Lucia, and the United States Virgin Islands. In contrast, there are
also several non-conforming cases (e.g. Agarwal, 1997, 1999; Choy, 1992; Cooper &

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Jacksons, 1989; Haywood, 1986; Hovinen, 2002; Leiper, 2003); for example, Leiper
(2003) considered the model as useless and misleading, as it did not explain the
fluctuation in tourist numbers.

Similarly, Lundtorp and Wanhill (2001) tested the destination life cycle on a long-
term time series, but found that it was flawed and made no sense. Further, Choy
(1992) and Formica and Uysal (1996) argued that Butler’s model applies only to
popular tourist destinations. In a study of the Pacific Islands, Choy (1992) discovered
that the model could not be applied to all destinations. He found little evidence for the
S-shaped curve. Furthermore, Formica and Uysal (1996) asserted that, although
TALC allows for an examination of the changes a tourism destination undergoes in
relation to the evolution of its environment, there is no common rule that can be
applied to all destinations as each destination is a unique case, thus enhancing the
success of tourism planning.

The suggested use of the TALC model is for the purpose of planning and to identify
alternative strategies for the development and marketing of a tourist destination
(Choy, 1992). When strategic planning is linked with a life cycle analysis, then it is
possible to achieve sustainable tourism development alternatives available for
destinations according to their competitive position nationally, regionally and
internationally, and their stage in the TALC model (Pigram & Wahab, 1997). In
summary, the criticism of the tourist area life cycle model requires that destinations
have to step back and gain a better understanding of the factors that shape each
destination’s life cycle patterns (Haywood, 1998). This conclusion is in line with
recommendations for the product life cycle. The evolution of tourist areas and
product markets reflects the outcome of numerous markets, technological and
competitive forces which work with other factors to enhance or impede the rate of
growth (Haywood, 1998; Porter, 1980).

Although the model has not been operationalised or tested on the Oman case, the
tourism authority in Oman has placed it in the developmental stage (Ministry of
Tourism, 2006).

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Chapter Two Literature Review

2.2.3.2 Tourism planning approach

Planning is defined by Rose (1984, p.45) as “a multidimensional activity that seeks to

be integrative, it embraces economic, social, political, psychological, anthropological,
and technological factors, it is concerned with the past, present and future”. Planning
is central to tourism development and benefits all parties involved in the system.
Tourism planning has been defined as “a process, based on research and evaluation
which seeks to optimise the potential contribution of tourism to human welfare and
environmental quality” (Getz 1987, p.3). The word ‘process’ is a key concept which
distinguishes tourism planning from civil planning. Tourism planning is not a specific
profession; neither is it an activity, which could be carried out by a single organisation
or department (Davidson & Maitland, 1997). It also involves not only the numbers of
tourists and their economic returns, but also attempts to achieve development goals
(Tosun & Timothy, 2001). It is a complex and multifaceted system, and it takes place
at different geographical levels and involves different interest groups (private and
public) who interact to shape the planning and development of the tourism industry.

Murphy (1985) viewed planning as an activity concerned with anticipating and

regulating change in a system, thus promoting orderly development so as to increase
the social, economic and environmental benefits of the development process. That is,
planning can be regarded as “an ordered sequence of operations, designed to lead to
the achievement of either a single goal or to a balance between several goals” (Hall,
1970, p.4). Cooper et al. (1998) emphasised the role of the private sector in tourism
development by arguing that, to ensure an optimum rate of tourism development,
from an economic perspective, it has to be built on private/public sector partnerships
in planning and management. This assertion was confirmed by Riege et al. (2001),
who argued that tourism managers should acknowledge that competitive and
cooperative strategies are complementary rather than contradictory. Tourism
organisations often need to adopt partnership strategies in order to succeed at different
levels.

Tourism planning may be regarded as a process of comprehensive evaluation of

related issues, including development of alternative procedures and actions for
enhancing the decision-making process and the competitiveness of destination. Gunn

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Chapter Two Literature Review

(1994, p.4) suggested five basic reasons for tourism planning, which may even have
more relevance today than a decade ago:
• Tourism development has both negative and positive impacts (e.g. the
development of tourism in Spain, Turkey, the Mediterranean Islands, Bali);
• Tourism is more competitive than ever before, and there has been a proliferation
in the promotion of tourism places due to the increasing importance of the travel
and tourism industry to a nation’s GNP (e.g. mainstream: France or Spain;
niche: Australia or the Maldives);
• Tourism is now being recognised as a much more complicated phenomenon
than previously believed, due to its interdependence on several other
environmental, cultural, and competitive factors;
• Tourism has damaged many natural and cultural resources (e.g. Spain, due to
short-term thinking of bureaucracies and desire for immediate profit making);
and
• Tourism affects everyone in a community, and all people involved in tourism
should participate in the tourism process.

Some of these planning reasons will be discussed in more detail, for example, in the
review of tourism destinations’ competitiveness (section 2.3.4), impacts of tourism
development (section 2.4.2), and stakeholders’ perceived power (section 2.4.3).
Similar to Gunn (1994), Mill and Morrison (2002) argued that a lack of tourism
planning can lead to negative consequences, especially environmental degradation
and socio-cultural adversities which affect both tourists and local residents. In
particular, Mill and Morrison (2002) have articulated the symptoms of lack of tourism
planning, and identified the barriers to tourism planning, as shown in Table 2.1. They
stated the importance of destinations making the appropriate decisions to have better
choices for their future development and to avoid undesirable changes to the
environment and the community’s socio-cultural values.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Table 2.1 Symptoms of a lack of tourism planning

Types of Symptoms of lack of tourism planning

Impacts

Physical Damage or permanent alteration of the physical environment. Damage or

permanent alteration of historical and cultural landmarks and resources
Overcrowding and congestion. Traffic problems.

Human Less accessibility to services and visitor attractions for local residents
resulting in local resentment of tourism activity. Loss of cultural identities.
Lack of education of tourism employees in skills and hospitality. Lack of
community awareness of the benefits of tourism.

Marketing Failure to capitalise on new marketing opportunities. Erosion of market

shares due to the actions of competitive destination areas. Lack of
sufficient awareness in prime markets. Lack of clear image of destination
area in potential markets. Lack of cooperative advertising among tourism
businesses. Inadequate capitalisation on packaging opportunities

Organisational Fragmented approach to the marketing and development of tourism, often

involving “competitive” splinter groups. Lack of cooperation among
tourism businesses Inadequate representation of tourism interests. Lack of
support from local government authorities. Failure to act upon important
issues, problems, and opportunities of common interest to tourism.

Other Inadequate interpretation and guiding services. Inadequate programs of

directional signs. Lack of sufficient attractions and events. High
seasonality and short lengths of stay. Poor or deteriorating quality of
facilities and services. Poor or inadequate travel information services

Source: Adapted from Mill and Morrison (2002, p.119)

Some researchers attribute the defect in planning approaches to tourism development

mainly to the shortcomings of the public administration systems, political cultures,
over-politicised states, and lack of comprehensive development approaches at local
and national levels (Tosun & Jenkins, 1998). Therefore, developing countries such as
Oman need to consider adopting a sustainable, long-term planning policy approach by
using the right combination of components of the participatory, comprehensive,
integrated, systematic, and incremental/flexible tourism development approaches to
tourism planning and development. For example, development planning approaches
in any region or country should take into consideration important destination factors
such as: socio-economic indicators of the destination, socio-cultural and economic
traditions, community values, people in positions of economic and political power,

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Chapter Two Literature Review

characteristics of tourism attractions and physical environment, and the main

problems of the current tourism development (Tosun & Timothy, 2001, p.358).

In 1995 the government of Oman published a policy document entitled “Vision 2020”
which aims, among other things, at increasing the tourism sector’s contribution to the
economy. (As part of the vision, the government’s intention is to achieve an annual
GDP growth rate of 7.5%) (Ministry of Tourism, 2006). The specific objectives of the
tourism sector as laid out in Vision 2020 are to:
• Encourage the role and contribution of the private sector within the framework
of a National Tourism Development Plan,
• Increase human resources within the sector, and raise the percentage of Omani
nationals, which currently stands at 37% of the total labour force, by developing
skills in hotel management, tourism development, education and vocational
training,
• Preserve the social, cultural and environmental resources of the country within
the framework of continuous, targeted tourism development, and
• Enhance, develop and support the institutional structure responsible for tourism
development in order to enable its performance to reach its potential in the
future.

2.2.3.3 Tourism planning process

Recognition of the consequences of a lack of planning justifies the importance of

planning initiatives that both local and national governments need to prioritise to
sustain long-term competitiveness. Lang (1986) introduced a comparison of the key
characteristics of conventional planning and strategic/integrated planning approach as
shown in Table 2.2.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Table 2.2 Strategic/integrated planning vs. conventional planning

Strategic/integrative planning Conventional planning

Action-oriented; planning and Plan-oriented; planning separated from
implementation as a single process implementation
Oriented to the organisation’s mandate and Oriented to substantive issues; organisational
its internal/external environment issues are suppressed
Focused and selective All-encompassing
Situational analysis includes examination Organisation’s values not considered and its
of organisation’s values and critique of its performance not examined critically
performance
Environmental scan considers factors in Environmental scan rarely done
external environment affecting
achievement of objectives
Explicit mission statement, fully cognisant Vague goals, not tested for consistency or
of implementation capability implementability in a shared action space
Proactive, with contingency planning Proactive and reactive; no contingency planning
Strongly oriented to allocation of Planning often separated from budgeting; land
organisational resources; budget is the key becomes the key integrator
integrator
Planning process is ongoing Planning process is periodic
Builds capacity for planning and Capacity-building not an explicit objective
organisational learning
Values intuition and judgment highly Values analysis highly

Source: Adapted from Lang (1986, p.28) cited in Gunn (1988, p.18)

The major benefits of strategic planning are seen as leading to a systematic process of
gathering information about the environment, clarification of the organisation’s future
directions, providing a sound basis for decision making, and improving performance
and specifying roles and responsibilities of different players in the organisation’s
management (Bryson, 1995; Mara, 2000). It is also about allocating resources and
strengthening the organisation’s financial viability (Inglis & Minahan 2001).

Gunn (1988) and Rose (1984), as indicated earlier in section 2.2.3.2, identified
tourism product planning as a multidimensional activity that requires integration in
order to provide benefits for the destination country. Their articulation for tourism
planning integration is based on economic, social, political, psychological,

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Chapter Two Literature Review

anthropological, technological and other elements needed for tourism sustainability

and success. In particular, Gunn (1988, p.22) stated, “tourism planning as a concept of
viewing the future and dealing with anticipated consequences is the only way that
tourism’s advantages can be obtained. Tourism planning must be strategic and
integrative”. Murphy (1985), on the other hand, emphasised the importance of
community involvement in tourism planning, and that tourism should be integrated
within the existing system. Therefore, what Gunn (1988) labelled ‘strategic planning’
was offered to deal with various levels of planning scales (e.g., site, regional) such as
conservation and environmental protection, impact minimisation and haphazard
development. His ideas have led to what has come to be known in the literature as
‘planning for integrated development’.

Inskeep (1991) offered another paradigmatic approach to tourism planning, outlining

a combination of formal and functional elements known as ‘comprehensive planning’.
The approach has become known internationally as ‘sustainable tourism
development’, which is mainly based on the concept of land-use planning, and has
been prescribed by the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) as a blueprint for
developing countries as a ‘comprehensive tourism development plan’ (Alipour, 1996).
Further, Inskeep (1991, p.37) highlighted that, “urban tourism development requires
land use planning … there can be special tourism plans prepared for urban places or,
more appropriately, tourism is included as one element of the comprehensive urban
general plan”. According to Inskeep (1994, p.6), planning for tourism development
should be integrated in the tourism system. It should make recommendations that are
imaginative, innovative, feasible, and flexible to implement. He asserted that effective
tourism planning, development, and management requires institutional elements such
as:
• Organisational structure (e.g. government and private sector tourism offices);
• Tourism related legislation and regulations;
• Availability of financial capital to develop resources, facilities and
infrastructure;
• Marketing strategies and promotion programs; and
• Travel facilitation and immigration, including visa and customs procedures.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

It also includes the distribution of wealth and minimising the negative impacts of
tourism on the community within the destination area. Thus, due to the complexity
and nature of the tourism system, its planning components are drawn from different
disciplines and have to be incorporated and managed to operationalise them
effectively for the benefits of destinations and their residents. Cooperative efforts are
required from different interest groups, both private and public, to conduct different
planning activities – such as production, strategic marketing and management – in
order to achieve a comprehensive tourism planning policy. Such efforts should cater
for the interests of the wider community’s population in the local communities. Since
individuals or groups are the most affected by tourism planning actions, their
involvement in the planning and decision-making process is justifiable. Involving a
wide cross-section of participants in the planning system will bring together
conflicting goals with incompatible perceptions about tourism development in the
country (Davidson & Maitland, 1997).

In between the strategic and conventional planning approaches, Burns (2004)

introduced a middle approach to tourism planning, which he called the ‘third way’
approach. Whilst the strategic and conventional approaches to planning (Gunn, 1994;
Inskeep, 1991) may succeed in increasing tourist arrivals and number of hotels
available, they can fail to deliver development to civil society in general (Bianchi,
2002; Burns, 2004; Richter, 2001). The third way approach, which has its roots in
politics, recognises the emerging relationship between the individual and the state that
is shaped by an active civil society. According to Giddens (1998, p.26), “[a] third way
refers to a framework of thinking and policymaking that seeks to adapt social
democracy to a world which has changed fundamentally over the past two or three
decades. It is a third way in the sense that it is an attempt to transcend both old-style
social democracy and neo-liberalism”. Further, the third way seeks to develop a
number of systems, each supported by appropriate social institutions, that encourage
inter-and intra-sectoral connection and cooperation of tourism development entities,
for the benefits and satisfaction of larger stakeholder groups. Consequently, this leads
to the possibility of a destination having several different types of tourism, for
example mass tourism, ecotourism, or cultural tourism (Burns, 2004). Generally
speaking, the third way approach is a participative approach; it can provide a platform
for sustainable growth and development. The result is what is called a ‘stakeholding’

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Chapter Two Literature Review

approach with the objective of reducing resentment among the private sector, the
public sector, and the local community.

2.2.3.4 Tourism planning goals

The purposes of tourism planning are to avoid the negative physical, organisational,
marketing, human, and other impacts which might occur in the absence of integrative
planning approach (Mill & Morrison, 1985). Mathieson and Wall (1982) articulated
that the goal of tourism planning and development is attributed to the fact that tourism
increases economic benefits, improves the community infra/superstructure system,
and enhances the community’s quality of life. To achieve these objectives, Getz
(1987, p.34) emphasised the importance of involving the community in tourism
development. Such involvement is considered as:

Goal oriented (with clear recognition of the role to be played by tourism in

achieving broad societal goals), democratic (with full and meaningful citizen
input from the community level up), integrative (placing tourism planning issues
into the mainstream of planning for parks, heritage, conservation, land use and
the economy), and systematic (drawing on research to provide conceptual and
predictive support for planners, and drawing on the evaluation of planning
efforts to develop theory).

However, before identifying the goals of tourism planning, one first has to understand
and appreciate its importance.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Table 2.3 Goal setting – the possible approaches

Goal Gunn & Var Mill & Morrison Goeldner et

(2002) (1985) al. (2000)

Visitor satisfaction x x

Improve economy & business x x x

success

Sustainable resource use x x

Community integration x

Identifying alternative x
approaches to planning

Creating desirable environment x x

for destination development

Avoid conflicts and undesirable x

actions

Develop infrastructure and x

recreation facilities

Cohesion between tourism x

development and areas

Gunn and Var (2002, pp.14-22) suggested four goals for today’s vision for better
tourism development. The first goal is to ‘enhance visitor satisfaction’ on the grounds
that tourists will be satisfied if the destination is developed. The second goal is
‘improved economy and business success’ to increase rewards of ownership and
development for those entrepreneurs who risk their capital by investing in the
destination. The third goal is ‘sustainable resource use’ to protect environmental,
historical and archaeological assets. The fourth goal is ‘community and area
integration (local adaptation)’ which calls for local community involvement and
acceptance. Tourism in a destination is created through the existence of unique
attractions and events, and their sustainability has to maintain its long-term viability.

Mill and Morrison (1998) identified five purposes for tourism planning: firstly,
identifying alternative approaches to planning (e.g. marketing, development,
community awareness); secondly, adapting to unexpected circumstances (e.g. general
economic conditions, energy supply and demand situation, government regulations

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and legislation); thirdly, maintaining uniqueness of resources (e.g. natural features

and resources, local culture and social fabric, local festivals, events and activities);
fourthly, creating a desirable environment for destination development (e.g.
sustainable tourism development, clear and positive image of the area as a tourism
destination); and lastly, avoiding undesirable actions (e.g. friction and unnecessary
competition among tourism organisations and businesses, hostile and unfriendly
attitudes of local residents towards visitors).

Furthermore, Goeldner et al. (2000, p.520) identified goals for tourism planning and
development within community framework that:
• Provide a framework for raising the living standard of local people through the
economic benefits of tourism;
• Develop an infrastructure and provide recreation facilities for both visitors and
residents;
• Ensure that the types of development within visitors’ centres and resorts are
appropriate to the purpose of those areas;
• Establish a development program that is consistent with the cultural, social and
economic philosophy of the government and people of the host area; and
• Optimise visitor satisfaction.

The three approaches overlap in some components, which in total aim for appropriate
planning and creation of tourism sustainability (see Table 2.3). Through planning and
development of tourism products, a destination can achieve economic prosperity,
cultural identity, technological superiority, political stability, and enhancement of its
competitive position in the marketplace. Consequently, this research study can be
thought of as objectively attempting to achieve Oman’s tourism planning goals and
proactive means of enhancing the destination’s comparative and competitive
advantages by valuing the destination’s resources and attractions, and using better
marketing, management and control tools.

The starting point for a country’s desire for tourism development could be the
development of a strategic national tourism plan/policy. Such a development plan is
not a prerequisite for tourism development and marketing but it could add value to the
destination’s strategic competitiveness through integration of tourism products and

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Chapter Two Literature Review

components. In Oman, the Vision 2020 national plan was enacted in 1995 as
mentioned earlier. The government of Oman’s general tourism policy is stated to
“promote a market climate leading to the maximization of the contribution of the
tourism sector to the country’s GDP and its socio-economic development” (Ministry
of Tourism, 2006). The plan for tourism was set to “Be developed as an important
and sustainable socio-economic sector of the Sultanate of Oman in a manner that
reflects the Sultanate’s historic, cultural and environmental heritage and sense of
traditional hospitality” (Ministry of Tourism, 2006, p.30). Consequently, after
conducting various studies, a priority action plan for tourism development in Oman
was adopted by the government.

2.2.3.5 Components of tourism planning

The identification of tourism supply-side components such as attractions and

resources is important for tourism planning (e.g. Gunn, 1994; Gunn, & Var 2002;
Inskeep, 1991; Pearce, 1995). For the purpose of planning, the supply-side could be
considered to include five components: attractions, transportation, services,
information, and promotion (Gunn & Var 2002). This combination of resources,
attractions and services components is what Middleton (1988) called the total tourism
product, and what is described by Jafari (1982) as the tourism product basket for the
total tourism product.

According to Inskeep (1991), the components of tourism planning and development,

classified and described as tourist attractions and activities, consist of all those natural
and cultural resources and related activities that attract visitors to an area, such as
accommodation (e.g. hotels), transportation and other tourist facilities and services,
and other infrastructure and institutional elements. Inskeep (1991, pp.39-40)
explained these components within a framework of “the total natural and
socioeconomic environment from which they derive, the markets of international and
domestic tourists that they serve, and the area residents’ use of the attractions,
facilities, services, and infrastructure”.

Mill (1990) held a comprehensive view of tourism planning components to reflect the
variability in tourism planning processes and output; they are the definition of needs,

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Chapter Two Literature Review

assessment of potentials, community support, experience, and measurement and

flexibility. Destinations, in their attempt to develop tourism, expect economic benefits
(e.g. jobs, foreign exchange earning), population decline stabilisation or improvement
of local amenities and quality of life for the local people. As destinations identify their
problems and their expectations from tourism to solve such problems, they have to
assess and evaluate the country’s potentiality to attract and satisfy tourists’ needs.

The support of local communities is also essential for the success of long-term
development planning. It is important to convince people about the benefits they
would gain from tourism and then to involve them in the planning and decision-
making process before proceeding with any big tourism projects in order to avoid any
controversies and resentment during the implementation stage. Mill’s (1990) views
were similar to Inskeep’s in stressing the importance of assessing a destination’s
potential tourism resources and their quality. Those resources include man-made
resources, natural resources, infrastructure, transportation, and general resources such
as human, technological, cultural, and leadership potential. However, unlike Inskeep
(1991), Mill (1990) acknowledged the importance of identification of expected
tourism outcomes and community involvement in tourism planning development.

2.2.3.6 Levels, types, and scales of tourism planning

There are three commonly used levels of tourism planning: national, regional, and
local (Pearce, 1989; WTO, 1980). However, Inskeep (1991) differentiated between
four planning levels: international, national, regional, and sub-regional, stressing that
even small-scale tourism planning has to be accomplished in sequence and at various
levels; it has to be specific and comprehensive. Acknowledging these types and levels
of planning will enhance the possibility of achieving the planning and development
goals and delivering tourism services to visitors to ensure their satisfaction and
provide ongoing benefits to local residents of the specific region (Simmons, 1994).
Furthermore, Gunn and Var (2002, p.23) identified three different scales of planning
(the site scale, the destination scale, and the regional scale). The site scale is related to
the design and development of site projects, where various interested parties, such as
marketing experts, should be part of the designing team. The destination scale
(community-attraction complex or destination zone) is very important as all travel

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Chapter Two Literature Review

modes terminate at communities. Communities are focal points in tourism

development.

According to Gunn and Var (2002, p.25), the basic elements of planning at the
destination level are “transportation and access from travel markets to one or more
communities, one or more communities with adequate public utilities and
management, attraction complexes (clusters) that meet market needs, and efficient and
attractive transportation links between cities and attractions”. Moreover, destination
zones have to be planned carefully due to their sensitivity to economic, social,
cultural, political and environmental impacts. Regional scale planning is more
comprehensive than at site or destination zone level. In general, governments either at
local or national levels are mostly preoccupied with promotion and marketing
campaigns to attract more tourists to a destination without considering the supply-side
of the destination to handle the increasing number of visitors. Thus, the consequences
might be the degradation and depletion of resources and customer dissatisfaction.

Most planning that takes place at the specific site-level and local level is oriented
towards land use and physical development (Gunn, 1994; Hall, 2000; Inskeep, 1991,
1994; Timothy & Tosun, 2003). According to Pearce (1995, p.239), plans that are
prepared at any scale focus exclusively on that particular scale level, without
considering any backward or forward integration with other levels of administration.
International or supranational planning is limited to areas of policy instead of physical
development (Hall, 2000; Timothy & Tosun, 2003). Such planning involves the
governments of at least two countries that work together to achieve common goals,
such as environmental protection, marketing and promotion, and transportation
systems (Timothy & Tosun, 2003). The case of cooperation between Oman and Dubai
in introducing a common entry visa system is an example.

In conclusion, countries are in need of the different levels and scales of tourism
planning to ensure coherence, sustainability, and success. Sustainability could be
achieved if planning were to start at the basic level and proceed up the planning
ladder to the international level. For example, tourism planning in Oman is based on a
national master plan, which is divided further into sub-plans for local development.
The priority action plan for tourism development in Oman identified certain sites and

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Chapter Two Literature Review

zones across the country which were considered viable places for tourism
development. The government allowed the private sector to invest in site development
while the local institutions provide the necessary infrastructure. However, such a plan
has to be supplemented by incorporating international perspectives for regional and
international collaboration and cooperation.

2.2.3.7 Approaches of tourism planning

Tourism planning requires different systematic approaches depending on the level and
type of planning. The evolution of tourism’s political, socio-economic, and
technological development contributes to the shaping of different approaches to
tourism planning (Getz, 1986, 1987; Ivars, 2004; Tosun & Jenkins, 1998), especially
for developing countries. Getz (1986, 1987) identified four planning approaches,
which are not mutually exclusive: boosterism, economic, physical-spatial, and
community-oriented approaches. (1) The boosterism approach is based on a
favourable assessment of tourism that identifies it as a positive phenomenon and
ignores its economic, environmental, and socio-cultural negative impacts. However,
Hall (2000) expressed his doubt about it as a planning approach, considering it as a
way of implementation and development of a tourism method. (2) The economic
approach considers tourism as an instrument to achieve certain economic growth and
prosperity by perceiving tourism as an export industry. Government’s intervention in
its development gives priority to economic goals over other aspects such as the
environment. (3) The physical-spatial approach mainly focuses on the preservation of
the natural resources, and the management of environmental impacts caused by
tourism. Planning is integrated at different levels (local, regional, and national) for a
better comprehensive type of systematic development. This approach is also much in
line with the strategic/integrated approaches discussed above (section 2.2.3.3). (4) The
community-oriented approach promotes the idea of community involvement in
containing and controlling the negative impacts of tourism, and is based on de Kadt
(1979) and Smith’s (1989) criticism of the negative impacts of tourism on societies.
Hall’s (2000) and Murphy’s (1985) works were in line with this approach.

Ivars (2004, p.318) added two approaches to the earlier mentioned four approaches:
‘strategic approach’, and ‘planning for sustainable tourism approach’. The strategic

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Chapter Two Literature Review

approach relates to the search for competitiveness for firms and destinations. In
particular, it contributes to and reinforces four elements of tourism planning:

(1) analysis of the competitive environment as a fundamental element in the

definition of the firm’s or destination’s strategy; (2) definition of a wide time
scope for planning on the basis of foresight and prospective techniques; (3)
stress on social participation and the creation of coordination and cooperation
channels among stakeholders; and (4) the rise in value of planning as a process
that is permanent, flexible and integrated into management.

Furthermore, the planning for a sustainable tourism approach is concerned with long-
term development of tourism within the general paradigm or framework of
development.

Despite the ambiguity and the lack of a precise definition of sustainable tourism, it
generally aims at balancing between economic growth, environmental preservation
and social justice (Butler, 1993; Hall, 2000; Ivars, 2004). In particular, Ivars (2004,
p.318) established the sustainability of tourism as:

the recognition of its holistic nature that entails the consideration of all the
interrelated levels – economic, environmental, social, cultural, political, or
technological – affecting development and therefore, a multidisciplinary
approach to planning; the balance between the political and scientific-technical
components of planning, with a fundamental reinforcement of social
participation; the need for adaptation to the political and socioeconomic context,
the territorial scale and the type of geographical environment; the rise in value
of the local scale, where development problems are best diagnosed and where it
is easier to make sustainability principles operative.

On the other hand, Inskeep (1991) articulated five elements of the concept of tourism
planning: (1) continual and incremental (flexible), (2) systems-oriented (utilises
systems analysis), (3) comprehensive (holistic), (4) integrated into the whole planning
system, and (5) environmental (sustainable development). The objective is to achieve
sustainable development and community participation (local community involvement
in planning and decision making). The emphasis then is on sustainable development,
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Chapter Two Literature Review

which cannot be achieved without active community participation. In particular, three

types of participation have been mentioned in the tourism literature, including
participation in planning, decision-making, and actual development and management
of tourism’s socio-economic benefits (e.g. Hall, 2000; Inskeep, 1991; McIntosh &
Goeldner, 1986; Timothy, 1999).

According to Inskeep (1991), the systematic planning process is applicable at all

levels and types of tourism planning, but depends on each individual type of planning
undertaken. He emphasised the importance of matching the tourist products and
markets within the framework of tourism sustainable development to ensure that the
market-led tourism approach does not lead to the degradation of the environment or
the loss of socio-economic integrity of the tourism area. For example, some
developing countries such as Oman have adopted what is called a ‘product-led’
approach (Inskeep 1991). This approach implies that the destination develops only
those types of attractions, facilities, and services that it believes can best be integrated
with minimal impact on the local development patterns and society, and marketing is
done to attract only those tourists who find this product of interest to them, that is, the
avoidance of mass tourism and the emphasis on selective targeted type of tourism.

2.2.3.8 Sustainable tourism development (STD)

The previous sections introduced the fundamentals of tourism planning which helps to
support the development of tourism sustainability. Sustainable development refers to
development which takes place without degradation or depletion of resources (e.g.
Butler 1999; Davidson & Maitland, 1997). Sustainable development, as described by
the World Commission on the Environment and Development (1987, p.43) is
“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs”. According to Manning and Dougherty
(1995, p.2), sustainable development means “the use of natural resources to support
the economic activity without compromising the environment’s carrying capacity,
which is its ability to continue producing those economic goods and services”. The
aim is to maintain a delicate balance between economic growth and conflicting
culture, and the conservation of the natural and physical resources (Ioannides, 2001).

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Meanwhile, the concept of sustainable tourism development (STD) is mainly the

application of the sustainable development principles to tourism, which is highly
dependent on destination natural resources. Butler (1993, p.35) provided a
comprehensive definition of sustainable tourism development as:

Tourism which is developed and maintained in an area (community,

environment) in such a manner and at such a scale that it remains viable over an
indefinite period and does not degrade or alter the environment (human and
physical) in which it exists to such a degree that it prohibits the successful
development and well-being of other activities and processes.

Such a definition is not only concerned with natural and physical environments, but
recognises the importance of maintaining the culture and life style of local people
(Mill & Morrison, 1998).

The basic guiding principle applied in preparing the National Tourism Development
Plan for Oman was ‘Sustainable Tourism’. The government’s objectives in
incorporating sustainability into the strategic tourism development plan were to help
facilitate economic diversification, preservation of historical, cultural and heritage
integrity and identity, socio-cultural and environmental protection of nature-based
resources, maintaining a high level of tourist satisfaction to retain the destination’s
marketability and popularity and, therefore, generate economic benefits for the
destination’s larger society (Ministry of Tourism, 2006).

According to Go et al. (2003), the basic prerequisite for tourism sustainability is

allowing individuals and communities to be included and connected by using different
means of information and communication technology (ICT), including
telecommunication, knowledge-based systems, and data-based management systems.
This is what is often referred to as ‘social capital’ or ‘social trust’. This move towards
maximizing the use of ICT would require a change of thinking by individuals and
communities about the use and adaptation of new technologies in planning,
development and marketing. Information and communication technology (ICT)
becomes central to the networking of organisations and public–private partnerships
and in the way they compete (Weick, 1995).

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In sum, ICT makes feasible the cooperation and control of the process of development
and competencies within a network approach, which is related to sustainability and
high-value tourism practices (Go, 2005). From an educational perspective, tourism’s
education practices presently impede both research and tourism education
development, as well as the legitimacy of tourism studies (Echtner & Jamal, 1997).
This problem could be dealt with by developing a solid tourism curriculum that
depends mainly on tourism research (Go, 2005). Tourism research could be
positioned within Jafari’s (1989) four tourism research platforms.

Jafari (1989), in his attempt to framework tourism sustainability and tourism research,
identified four contemporary origins and evolution ‘platforms’ of sustainable tourism
as a concept: the advocacy platform, the cautionary platform, the adaptancy platform,
and the knowledge-based platform. The advocacy platform is the earlier stage of
tourism development in tourism area life cycle, which regards tourism as a vehicle of
economic development through the utilisation of possessed natural and cultural
resources. This platform is associated with mass-tourism and the laissez-faire
phenomenon (Weaver, 2004). The outcome of this stage will result in perceived
negative economic, socio-cultural, and environmental impacts, as especially noticed
in Caribbean and South Pacific and African countries (de Kadt, 1979; Lea, 1988;
Turner & Ash, 1975). The cautionary platform is more related to other developing
countries. This stage asserts that continued laissez-faire tourism development without
any remedies results in economic, environmental and socio-cultural decline of
destination. In connection with Butler’s (1980) life cycle model, both consider
conventional mass tourism as an unsustainable phenomenon. In contrast to the
cautionary platform, the adaptancy platform focuses on the virtues of small-scale
‘alternative tourism’ (Dernoi, 1981; Singh et al., 1989). The advocates of alternative
tourism consider it as authentic, unobtrusive, ‘community-controlled and equilibrium-
oriented’ (Clarke, 1997; Weaver, 1991). The last stage is the knowledge-based
platform, which is born out of the contradictions associated with the other platforms.
The construct of sustainable tourism embodies the concept of the knowledge-based
platform and is its central theme (Weaver, 2004).

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Chapter Two Literature Review

This platform aims to study tourism as a whole and strives for the formation of a
scientific body of knowledge in tourism (Go, 2005; Go & Haywood, 2003). Within
the tourism sector domain, networks and partnerships represent the predominant mode
of organising and coordinating and controlling exchange relationships within the
value-adding partnership (Go, 2005). Value-addition is defined as: “a set of
interdependent stakeholders, destinations, and institutions of higher education, which
cooperate closely to manage the development, transfer and application of both
knowledge and competencies in order to realize sustainable, high-quality tourism at
the lowest costs” (Go, 2005, p.488).

The various stakeholders, destinations, institutions and centres of higher education

represent different thinking, perceptions, experiences and expectations which may
influence tourism growth development, understanding and decision-making processes
in relation to tourism curriculum development and research. Therefore, an ICT-
supported tourism knowledge platform as suggested by Go (2005) would complement
Jafari’s (1989) knowledge-based platform and present a new type of information
sharing system to achieve sustainability and high-quality tourism. According to Go
(2005), this type of information management receives little attention in tourism
education today and may require further investigation. ICT makes feasible the
coordination and control of information exchange among various identities in the
tourism system over vast distances, and it also serves as a source of competitive
advantage (Go, 2005; Go & Haywood, 2003).

2.2.3.9 Problems of implementing STD

The implementation of STD within the context of tourism has proved to be difficult
due to three aspects: (1) in most destinations the tourism sector is fragmented and
dominated by small businesses, (2) the myopic and fragmented government
machinery, (3) national and regional policies, usually geared towards up-market
tourism clients as a means of promoting sustainability, proved to be counterproductive
(de Kadt, 1994; Ioannides, 2001; Richardson, 1987; Timothy, 1999). The sector’s and
the government’s fragmentation is related to short-term policies pursued by national
governments, such as adapting strategies which seem to neglect to include land use or
environmental policies in national strategies or national economic policies. Ioannides

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and Holcomb (2001), for example, described the case of Malta’s attempts to replace
mass tourists with up-market visitors. The attempt was a failure because the necessary
luxury-oriented projects consume more energy, water, land and other resources than
traditional budget-oriented projects. In light of the failure of Malta’s policy, Oman has
to reconsider its adopted policy of concentrating its planning, marketing and
promotion policies on attracting niche up-market tourists by developing high upper-
class tourism facilities. This strategy may burden the already scarce water and
electricity resources.

According to Buhalis and Diamantis (2001) and Butler (1993), decision makers tend
to concentrate on tourism development as a short-term strategy, neglecting the long-
term prosperity of destinations. Indeed, there seems to be a neglect of the correlation
between tourism and other sectors, such as transportation, employment, and the
environment. Further, for STD to succeed, it is important for policy makers to take
into account the role of various stakeholders in a destination, who must be given the
opportunity to be involved and to participate in collaborative efforts and decision-
making processes (Bramwell & Sharman, 1999; Burns, 1999; Hall, 2000; McCool &
Stankey, 1999; Sauter & Leisen, 1999; Timothy, 1999). According to Ioannides
(2001), STD cannot be imposed using a top-down physical planning approach alone
without accounting for the needs of local communities, tourists environmental groups,
entrepreneurs, and other public or private organisations. Similarly, McCool and
Stankey (1999, p.41) argued: “Public participation in developmental decisions is a
hallmark of many discussions of sustainable development [it is] viewed as necessary
to identifying the distributional consequences of decision making [and is] also seen as
essential to successful implementation of sustainable development projects”. Pearce
(1989), too, emphasised the importance of accounting for the overall development of
the destination area including the local communities.

Strategic planning in a sustainable tourism context offers an integrated approach to

the management of tourist destinations, employing common sense in the ownership of
resources and the direction for growth and development (Wahab & Pigram, 1997).
Linking destination strategic planning with destination life-cycle analysis makes it
possible to define sustainable options available to destinations, according to their

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Chapter Two Literature Review

international competitive position and the stage of development in the life-cycle

matrix.

Gunn (1994, p.83) summarised the importance of linking tourism planning with
tourism development by stating: “When examining environmental damage related to
tourism, a planner must distinguish the true causes. Whereas some erosion and
pollution of resources is caused by great numbers of visitors, most environmental
damage is caused by lack of plans, policies, and action to prepare for any economic
growth.”

The issues of community participation, coordination and cooperation, and

empowerment in tourism planning and development, and the decision-making process
will be explored and discussed in more detail in section 2.4.3.

2.2.3.10 Politics of tourism planning

Tourism development is the responsibility of different entities, be they government

(Ministry of Tourism), private (Chamber of Commerce), national (non-governmental
organisations), or international organisations (WTO) (O’Grady, 1981; Pearce, 1989;
Rodenburg, 1980). The relationships between these subjects are fundamental issues in
tourism planning and implementation, as each complement the role played by the
other and provide the necessary support and expertise.

Mass tourism has been criticised as being a form of foreign control of the local
economy, as failing to deliver promised economic and social benefits, and causing
social and cultural disruption to societies (Kirppendorf, 1987; O’Grady, 1981;
Rodenburg, 1980; Scheyvens, 2002). As a consequence of the debate about
advantages and disadvantages of mass tourism, the term ‘alternative tourism’ has been
introduced (e.g. Pearce, 1989; Wyllie, 2000). Therefore, sustainability and tourism
planning as a vehicle for development needs to be seen within a political context to
understand the structure of tourism planning issues as a political goal (Hall, 2000).
Evans (1997, p.8) also observed that “sustainability is, at its very heart, a political
rather than a technical or scientific construct, and the variety of interpretations of the
notion reflect this”.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Both the government and private sector have important roles to play in tourism
planning and development. The private sector’s role is to develop and operate tourism
facilities and provide services for visitors while maximising financial returns (Mill &
Morrison, 1998). Meanwhile, the role of government in tourism development can be
identified as: coordination, planning, legislation and regulation, entrepreneurship, and
stimulation (IUTO, 1974; Jenkins & Henry, 1982; Mill & Morrison, 1985).
Coordination is the process of bringing various stakeholders (groups, organisations,
and agencies) together to work for common policy objectives. Planning for tourism
occurs in different forms and at different levels. In many countries including Oman,
regional tourism development planning is considered as a government initiative and
responsibility, especially when the objective is to counter economic problems (Hall,
2000; Jenkins et al., 1998). The legislation and regulation role is to give legitimacy
and responsibility to public and private agencies to meet tourism policy goals set by
the government (Hall, 2000). The government’s involvement in tourism ranges from
issuing visas to environmental regulations. Government regulations of tourism are
related to various components of the tourism industry (Hall, 2000), and are also
closely connected to other sectors in the economic system. Meanwhile, the concept of
social tourism is introduced to mean the relationships and phenomena in the field of
tourism. Ryan (2002) suggested extending the concept to include issues of equity in
tourism. He contended that government and other organisations have to consider the
implications of a wider scope of planning needed to include political and power
objectives.

In general, government, mainly at the local level, has been recognised as being the
most important authority in establishing tourism development policies (Bouquet &
Winter, 1987; Pearce, 1989). The impacts of development (positive or negative) are
mostly felt at the local levels. Perdue et al. (1990) argued that residents who perceive
tourism most negatively tend to favour more government restrictions and taxes on the
tourism industry. As is the case with Oman, people would prefer more government
control of tourism planning due to a lack of understanding of tourism by local
citizens, and they consider the government to be responsible for protecting citizens’
interests against exploitation by strong political figures and foreign investors.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Furthermore, Crouch and Ritchie (1999), indicated that, various levels and areas of
government are currently involved in the promotion, regulation, presentation,
planning, monitoring, maintenance, coordination, enhancement, and organisation of
tourism resources. The nature and scope of government involvement and control
varies from one destination to another. Such an assertion does not rule out the
important roles played by other entities in resource deployment, such as interest
groups, business enterprises, and many individuals related to the tourism industry.
The relationship has to be based on partnership between interested parties rather than
competition among them (Lickorish, 1991a; Riege et al., 2001)

Additionally, according to Holloway (1989), the system of government and the

country’s degree of dependence on tourism usually dictate the type, level and
intensity of government intervention in tourism sector planning, development, and
management. For example, countries such as Oman which have only recently become
world tourism destinations, and where tourism has become or is becoming a
controversial issue, are more likely to adopt a more centralised role in organising and
managing tourism than other countries. A destination’s image and reputation as a
tourism hub is linked and attributed to the level and quality of the infrastructure and
services provided by the government, either national or local.

In conclusion, successful implementation of tourism planning requires public and

private initiatives, policies and actions, which are considered the essentials for
tourism planning, principles and practices. For instance, the planning authorities in
Oman draft five-year plans as part of the comprehensive strategic vision -Oman 2020.
The planning objectives are based on utilising the country’s inherited natural
resources and culture. The concern with the phenomenon of mass-tourism is much
evident in these strategies, and the concentration is more on the middle to upper-level
class tourists. Policy makers believe that this type of tourist falls within the high-
spending category, and will be more considerate in preserving local culture and
heritage. They are more nature and culture lovers than fun lovers, and that’s what the
government is targeting.

The government of Oman is taking a central approach to tourism planning, with a

minimal role played by regional or local constituents. Such a policy may be effective

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Chapter Two Literature Review

at this stage of development, but in the mid- to long-term, there must be a change in
favour of more local communities involvement and participation, as they are the ones
most affected by planning according to the logic of the stakeholder theory.

The tourism sector in Oman is solely managed by the government. The newly
established Ministry of Tourism has been charged with four key objectives (Ministry
of Tourism, 2006) which aim to:
• Increase the tourism sector contribution to the GDP from current .8% to about
5% by the year 2020,
• Increase the level of employment of Omani nationals in the sector from current
37% to 90% by the year 2010,
• Increase average annual growth rate of income from tourism by about 7% for
the period 2005-2010, and
• Be responsible for the promotion and marketing of Oman as a tourist
destination.

Even though the Ministry has established local offices in different regions in the
country, their role still does not exceed the supervision and follow-up of
implementation of small projects. The planning and decision-making processes are
centralised in its headquarters in Muscat. In addition, the Ministry has established
branch offices in some foreign countries that they consider to be potential tourist
exporting destinations (UK, Australia, Germany). These offices are responsible for
promoting Oman in the local media and working as a liaison between the Ministry
and major tourism players in those markets.

A recent study by the Ministry of Tourism recommended the restructuring of the

tourism sector organisation to improve the institutional structure of the sector by:
• Strengthening the local tourism organisational structure.
• Organising the private tourism sector into trade associations.

The study expects the implementation of these two recommendations will facilitate
the establishment of effective public–private sector partnerships in developing and
managing the tourism sector (Ministry of Tourism, 2006).

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Chapter Two Literature Review

In Part Two I will explore the different theories connected to stakeholders’ perception
of tourism development. Social exchange theory will be explained as a theoretical
underpinning for this research and its relationship to tourism development. Next,
stakeholder theory will be introduced as a managerial concept rarely applied in
tourism research. Finally, I will explain in detail the concept of competitiveness, its
historical roots and its recent application in tourism destination marketing and
management.

2.3 Part Two – Theoretical Background of Tourism Theories

A number of theories have been suggested to explain the nature of residents’

perceptions and attitudes towards the impacts of tourism, such as play theory,
compensation theory, conflict theory, dependency theory, and social exchange theory
(Ap, 1992). However, most of the studies related to relationships between different
stakeholders in destination development, and residents’ attitudes and perceptions have
utilised the social exchange theory, which has been considered the appropriate
framework to develop an understanding of residents’ perceptions and attitudes (Ap,
1992; Perdue et al., 1990). This study is no exception.

The social exchange theory articulates and explains how people react to and support
tourism development (Ap, 1992; Jurowski et al., 1997; Perdue et al., 1990; Yoon et
al., 1999, 2000). Empirical findings from these studies have suggested that people
will act to maximise benefits and minimise costs in different situations. They also
weigh total benefits against total costs that affect their decision to participate in
making decisions about development (Kayat, 2002; Lawler, 2001; Yoon et al., 1999,
2001).

Stakeholders tend to interact and exchange with tourism at different levels and modes
to maximise their perceived benefits and minimise their perceived costs. Stakeholders
tend to participate positively if the received benefits from the exchange exceed the
unexpected costs. Therefore, the implications of this theory will provide the
theoretical underpinning for this study. From a theoretical perspective, the support of
the major stakeholders during the exchange process is essential for the legitimisation

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Chapter Two Literature Review

and success of planning, development and implementation of the destination’s

competitive tourism strategies and long-term sustainability (Yoon, 2002).

2.3.1 Social exchange theory

Social exchange theory is a multidisciplinary theory that includes anthropology (Levi-

Strauss, 1969), behaviour psychology (Homans, 1991; Emerson 1976, 1981), social
psychology (Chadwick-Jones, 1976), and economics (Blau, 1969, 1991; Cook, 1978;
Ekeh, 1974). While Turner (1986, 1991) identified the central concept of social
exchange theory as ‘utilitarianism’, Emerson (1981, p.32) asserted that the central
concept of social exchange theory, which he referred to as ‘benefit’, has a different
name in the various disciplines. From this emanate reinforcement in psychology,
value in sociology, utility in economics and decision theory, rewards outcome, or
payoff in social psychology. Further, according to Molm (2003, p.2), exchange
theories share a common set of analytical concepts: actors, resources, structures, and
processes. The actors or people are individuals or groups, while their possessions or
behavioural capabilities, when valued by other actors in the process, are called
resources. Molm (2003) argued that the social exchange resources include tangible
goods, services, and capacity to provide social values such as approval and status.

From the classical economist’s viewpoint, people rationally seek to maximise their
material benefits or utilities from transactions or exchange with others in a free and
competitive marketplace, provided they have access to enough information. They will
then presumably make a rational choice (Turner, 1982). The utilitarians propose that
people will rationally weigh social cost, such as loss of identity, against material
benefits such as job opportunities to determine which alternatives will provide them
with maximum profit. Additionally, social exchange theorists such as Parsons (1968)
and Homans (1991) have attempted to formulate the utilitarian principles, which
result in recognition of the cost-benefit interaction, provided that people have access
to the information they require for successful participation in benefits and the
decision-making process. Indeed, Homans (1991, p.198) underpins this point by
arguing:

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Chapter Two Literature Review

While humans do not seek to maximize profits, they always attempt to make
some profit in their social transactions with others. While they are not perfectly
rational, they engage in calculations of costs and benefits in social transactions.
While actors do not have perfect information on all available alternatives, they
are usually aware of some alternatives, which form the basis for assessments of
costs and benefits. While there are always constraints on human activity, people
compete with each other in seeking to make a profit in their transactions. While
economic transactions in a clearly defined marketplace occur in all societies,
there are only special cases of more general exchange relations occurring among
individuals in virtually all-social contexts. While material goals typify
exchanges in an economic marketplace, individuals also exchange other,
nonmaterial commodities, such as sentiments and services of various kinds.

Similarly, Blau (1986) emphasised that the basic assumptions of the economics of
social exchange are that people enter into new social associations in the expectation of
intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, even though they continue their older associations
with others while they find them to be rewarding. He outlined the difference between
social exchanges and economic exchanges as based on the assertion that obligations
and costs incurred in social transactions are not specified in advance, as they are in
economic transactions. He also suggested that economic exchange might be
considered a special case of the whole exchange phenomenon. His argument was
based on the assumption that people’s choice between different social relations does
not imply that they have to choose the one which yields them the most profit to
maximise benefits (Blau, 1964; Chadwick-Johns, 1976).

Furthermore, in discussing the notion of power, Blau (1964, p.456) claimed that under
specified conditions, exchange processes give rise to a differentiation of stakeholder
power. People with resources at their disposal that enable them to meet others’
demands could attain power over them, provided some conditions, as specified by
Emerson (1962), are met; that is, people must not:
• Have resources that the benefactor needs;
• Be able to obtain the benefits they have to offer them from an alternative source,
which will make them independent of the benefactor;
• Be able or willing to take what they want from another person by force.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Anthropologists, in contrast to utilitarians, have recognised that social exchange or

interaction is not only about economic and material exchange, but also refers to
emotional/symbolic exchange or a social relationship (Turner, 1982). Exchange
relationships are the result of motives among people to satisfy their needs within the
social organisation. The benefits gained by those involved in the interaction process
will lead to the institutionalisation of the interaction, which will further lead to not
only serving the interests of individuals, but will constrain the social structure, which
will emerge in the social system (Turner, 1982). The exchange process available to
different groups in relation to the access they have to valued resources results in
different power, prestige, and privilege to different stakeholders (Turner, 1982).
Based on Frazer’s (1919) law of economic motives, the patterns that typify a
particular culture are a reflection of economic motives in people, who in a commodity
exchange process, attempt to satisfy their economic needs.

Malinowski (1960) was one of the early anthropologists to take a different approach
from Frazer and other utilitarians. He conceptualised the idea of nonmaterial
exchange relations, arguing that psychological rather than economic needs are the
force that initiate exchange relations and explain social behaviour. Additionally,
symbolic exchange relations are considered the basic social process which underlies
the social ranking and the integration of society into a cohesive body. Malinowski
(1960) is credited with the introduction of the ‘symbolic exchange’ concept for both
individual psychological processes and patterns of social integration in a holistic and
solid form (Turner, 1982). The outcome of Malinowski’s (1960) thinking was the
emphasis on two types of exchange perspective: the importance of psychological
processes, and the significance of emergent cultural and structural forces on exchange
relations (Turner, 1982).

Another example of anthropological thinking about social exchange theory is that of

Levi-Strauss, who contended: “It is the exchange which counts and not the things
exchanged” (Levi-Strauss, 1969, p.139). He developed a structural exchange
perspective which views the exchange in terms of its function for integrating the
larger social structure. Levi-Strauss’s (1969) explanation provided guidance on how
various types of exchange both reflect and reinforce different forms of social

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integration and organisation (Turner, 1982). He identified the various forms and
variables of social structures that are important in the analysis of exchange relations.
The exchange relations in the social system as explained by Levi-Strauss (1969) are
not restricted to direct interaction among individuals and groups, but are extended to
an indirect network of interactions with the whole social fabric. This is related to the
holistic notion of ‘symbolic exchange’ introduced by Malinowski (1960), as
explained above.

Levi-Strauss (1969) opposed the psychological interpretations of the exchange

process, especially that advocated by behaviourists. He emphasised the notions of
cultural heritage and values possessed by people that distinguish them from other
creatures. Levi-Strauss (1969) highlighted three fundamental exchange principles
(Turner, 1982, p.206):
• All exchange relations involve costs for individuals, but in contrast with
economic or psychological explanations of exchange, such costs are attributed to
society – to its customs, rules, laws, and values;
• For all those scarce and valued resources in society, whether material objects or
symbolic resources (esteem and prestige), their distribution is regulated by
norms and values. Their institutionalisation depends on their abundance or
scarcity; and
• All exchange relations are regulated by the notion of reciprocity (exchange of
values and interests).

From a behavioural psychology perspective, social exchange theory is based on the

principle that people are reward-seeking and will pursue alternatives that will provide
them with the most reward and the least punishment (Chadwick-Johns, 1976). The
concept of ‘reward’ is used to rephrase the concept of ‘utility’ in economics, while
‘punishment’ is a revised notion of the concept of ‘cost’ (Chadwick-Johns, 1976;
Ekeh, 1974). Modern exchange theorists use the term ‘reward’ to reinterpret the
utilitarian exchange heritage, while retaining the concept of ‘cost’ instead of
punishment for the purpose of clarity (Turner, 1982). Despite these modifications, the
elements of behaviourism incorporated into sociological exchange theory (Turner,
1982, p.209) are that:

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• In any situation, organisms will emit those behaviours that will yield the most
reward and the least punishment;
• Organisms will repeat behaviours in situations that are similar to those in the
past in which behaviours were rewarded;
• Repetition of behaviours will occur for only as long as they continue to yield
rewards; and
• An organism will display emotion if a behaviour that has previously been
rewarded in the same, or similar, situation suddenly goes unrewarded.

Additionally, Homans (1991) contradicting the utilitarian thinking, introduced the

concept of ‘rationality proposition’ of people’s psychological exchange behaviour.
The concept states that people make calculations about various alternative actions in
regard to value and the probability of rewards. He postulated that the more often the
action of people is rewarded, the more likely it is that they will perform the action and
repeat it. Subsequently, the more valuable the action is perceived to be, the more
likely people will perform it repeatedly, for the sake of self-satisfaction

In discussing the exchange process, Lawler (2001) added a new dimension to the
social exchange theories, which he has called the ‘affect theory of social exchange’.
The concepts of his theory are:
• The exchange outcomes (rewards and punishments) have emotional effects that
vary in intensity and form; and
• Social exchange is a typical joint activity, but the nature and degree vary from
case to case.

The ‘affect theory of social exchange’ conceptualises that “emotions or feelings are
contingent upon the exchange structure, and the outcome of the exchange will
influence how stakeholders perceive and feel about their common activities and
interactions within their common groups” (Lawler, 2001, p.321). Accordingly,
emotions/feelings, and group interaction/relations are the salient features of this
theory, which brings it to some extent close to anthropologists’ interpretations of
social exchange.

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In brief, social exchange theory rests on the principle that people are reward-seeking
and punishment-avoiding creatures, motivated to action by the expectation of profits;
that is, rewards minus costs, investments, and foregone rewards (Kayat, 2002).
Rewards are not only of a monetary nature, but social, political and/or psychological
(Napier & Bryant, 1980). In particular, since the future return from the exchange is
not specified, the individual’s or group’s decision to engage in the exchange process
depends on their expectations of ‘perceived’ benefits and ‘perceived’ costs
(Skidmore, 1975).

Social exchange theory and tourism

In the tourism literature, a number of studies have utilised the social exchange theory
to explain residents’ perceptions and reactions to tourism planning and development
(Ap, 1990, 1992; Jurowski et al., 1997; Lindberg & Johnson, 1997; Madrigal, 1993;
Mihalic, 1992; Perdue et al., 1987, 1990; Yoon et al., 1999, 2001). Most of these
studies evaluated residents’ perceptions and assessments of costs and benefits of
tourism development, and their support for further tourism development in their
particular regions. Social exchange theory involves the trading and sharing of tangible
and intangible resources between individuals and groups, where resources can be
material, social, or psychological in nature (Harril, 2004). As well, tourism
researchers developed an interest in examining the economic benefits of tourism
development, which may come at the potential detriment of social, cultural, and
environmental impacts (Harrill, 2004).

Social exchange theory has been accepted to be the appropriate theoretical means to
explain and understand residents’ attitudes and perceptions of tourism impacts and
developments (Bystrzanowski, 1989; Perdue et al., 1990; Teye et al., 2002). Teye et
al. (2002) argued that the social exchange theory logic can be applied to residents’
attitudes on the basis that residents seek various benefits in exchange for what they
are able to offer to different tourism agencies, such as resources provided to tourism
developers, tour operators, and tourists; support for tourism development; and being
hospitable and tolerating inconveniences and negative impacts created by tourism.
The acceptance of local participation and the adoption of a community approach in
tourism development and decision-making processes tend to increase the viability of

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the exchange process and create cohesiveness between residents’ expectations and
tourism development.

For example, Ap (1990) stated that social exchange theory is concerned with
understanding the exchange of resources among parties seeking mutual benefits from
the exchange relations and interpersonal situation. For the purpose of tourism
sustainability in a community, a certain exchange must occur. Participation of
community (residents, government, and entrepreneurs) in tourism development and
the attraction of tourists to their communities is mainly driven by the desire to
improve the economic and social conditions of the area (Ap, 1992). That is, residents’
participation in the tourism planning and development stage, and the operation of
tourist attractions could contribute to the wellbeing of the community by maximising
benefits to be gained from tourism returns. Furthermore, developing and attracting
tourism to a community has the purpose of achieving outcomes that seem to obtain a
better balance between the benefits and costs for residents, visitors and tourism
stakeholders. However, residents could act as impediments to tourism development by
opposing it or by exhibiting hostile behaviour toward tourism proponents and tourists
(Ap, 1992). Additionally, Ap (1992, p.669) suggested that residents evaluate tourism
in terms of social exchange, that is, in terms of expected benefits or costs obtained in
return for the services they supply. Hence, it is assumed that host residents seek
tourism development in their communities for the sake of improvements in economic,
social, political and psychological needs, satisfaction and wellbeing.

Even when certain organisations or agencies try to impose tourism on local

communities against their wishes, there are still some opportunities for communities
to experience and evaluate tourism benefits, even in unbalanced terms. Such an
exchange might be perceived negatively, but some residents perhaps find that
tourism’s economic benefits outweigh social or environmental costs. Unlike Blau
(1967), who suggested the inclusion of power on the basis that it influences one’s
level of dependence, Ap (1992, p.680) suggested that inclusion of power is necessary
because it determines the exchange partner’s ability to take advantage of the outcome
of that exchange, stressing that “power discrepancy variable did not emerge as the
most important variable in explaining the variance of perceived tourism impact”.

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Another example of the application of social exchange theory is Perdue et al.’s (1987,
1990) work on relationships between perceived impacts and the support for additional
tourism development in some rural communities in Colorado (USA). They used the
logic to explain the differences between tourism perceptions and attitudes based on
the notion of residents’ participation in outdoor recreation development in rural areas.
Perdue et al. (1990) concluded that, when judging personal benefits of tourism,
perceptions of its impacts were unrelated to socio-demographic characteristics of the
residents. Further, support for additional tourism development was related positively
to the perceived positive impacts of tourism, related negatively to the perceived
negative impacts, and related negatively to the perceived future of the community.
This means that residents appear more likely to support tourism when a rural area’s
economy is perceived to be deteriorating. Additionally, Perdue et al. (1990) found that
support for tourism development restrictions and special tourism taxes was positively
related to the perceived negative impacts of tourism and the perceived future of the
community.

Madrigal (1993) adopted the same social exchange propositions to residents from two
Arizona communities, suggesting that positive perceptions of tourism could influence
tourism decisions and that tourism-related businesses did not have much of a political
influence in their decision-making process. In contrast to Perdue et al. (1990), he
found that negative perceptions were related negatively to personal influence and
related positively to the belief that tourism businesses had too much influence. He
believed that the exchange theory is linked to an economic analysis of interaction
which focused on the mutual exchange of rewards and costs between tourism actors.
Consequently, residents seem to be willing to exchange with tourists if they can
acquire some benefits without incurring unacceptable costs. In contrast to the above
findings of Madrigal (1993) and Perdue et al., (1990), Getz (1994) in a study of
Scotland’s Spey Valley, found that the increased negative attitudes towards tourism
development suggested that residents believed that the benefits had declined or had
not matched expectations. However, Hernandez et al. (1996) in other study took a
neutral approach, speculating that, residents’ feelings towards future tourism
development resulted from uncertainty regarding the terms of the exchange.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

In a study about the relationship between economic gain as an exchange item and
support for tourism development, Jurowski et al. (1997) found that the potential for
economic gain as an exchange item had a direct and positive effect upon residents’
support for tourism. The strongest effect of the economic gain was evident on social
impacts, although it had little effect on environmental impact variables. Jurowski et
al.’s (1997) empirical findings supported their attempt to explain and to demonstrate
the existence of interrelationships between how residents weigh and balance seven
variables, such as: economic gain, resource use, community attachment, ecocentric
attitude and the residents’ perception of economic, social, and environmental impacts,
and why residents of the same community have different views of tourism
development. The principles they suggested are that residents will be willing to enter
into an exchange process with tourists and will be less opposed to tourism
development if they believe they can gain some socio-economic benefits from the
exchange without incurring unacceptable socio-cultural and environmental costs.

Following the same path, Yoon et al. (1999, 2001), studied residents’ attitudes and
support for tourism development by testing the structural effects of tourism impacts.
Residents are likely to participate in an exchange with tourists if they believe that they
are likely to gain benefits without incurring huge costs. If they perceive that the
positive impacts of tourism development exceed negative impacts, they are most
likely to become involved in the exchange and therefore support further tourism
development in their community. This conclusion supported the findings of Getz
(1994), and the findings confirmed that economic and cultural impacts are positively
associated with the total tourism impacts, while the social and environmental impacts
negatively affect the total tourism impacts. In addition, a perceived environmental
impact is found to affect local residents’ support for tourism development. There was
also a positive relationship between residents’ perceived economic impacts and total
impacts. Furthermore, regardless of the perceived benefits of tourism development,
residents perceived tourism as a contributor to social problems.

However, McGehee et al. (2002), found mixed support for social exchange theory.
Although they found a relationship between personal benefit from tourism and
support for tourism development, they did not find a relationship between personal
benefit from tourism and support for tourism planning. They attributed their findings

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to the assumption that citizens have limited trust in the ability of the community to
plan for tourism, and everyone, regardless of personal benefits, believed tourism
planning to be important. In applying social exchange theory attributes, their study
showed that attitudes toward the impacts of tourism development are partially based
on the economic, social, and environmental trade-offs for this development. On the
planning side, the theory’s implication suggests that planners have a role to play in
educating, or at least informing, those individuals highly attached to their
communities about tourism’s negative impacts, but also educating long-term residents
about the positive impacts of tourism.

The social exchange theory provides the theoretical background for this study. Since
one of the study’s objectives is to explore the notion of destination competitiveness
and how it is related to stakeholders’ participation in tourism planning and
development and the decision-making process, it is therefore necessary to look at the
connection between the theories of competitiveness, stakeholder theory, and social
exchange theory.

2.3.2 Stakeholder theory

Stakeholder theory is a theory of organisational management and examines which

stakeholders should receive management’s attention (Bridges, 2004; Mitchell et al.,
1998; Phillips, 2003; Post et al., 2002). For instance, Mitchell et al. (1998, pp.278-79)
explained that the definitions of ‘stakeholder’ range from Freeman’s (1984): “[those]
who can affect or [are] affected by the organization’s behavior” to Clarkson’s (1998)
definition: “[those who] bear some form of risk” because of the internal
organization’s behaviour. According to Center and Jackson (1995), the efforts of the
small group in an organisation are supported by their perceived power to influence the
organisation’s decision process or support from the larger group within the
organisation. Large shareholders in an organisation ultimately are the powerful
stakeholder group. The existence of government bodies, such as tourism planning and
development agencies or Ministries, act as a safeguard or guaranteeing agent to
protect the interests of small groups (e.g. small businesses, consumers) against the
exploitation of larger groups (e.g. local business elite or foreign investors).

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Powerful stakeholder individuals or groups could be any organisation’s employees or

interest groups (Bridges, 2004), who possess power to affect the outcome of a
particular issue in a particular organisation (Carroll, 1991; Heath, 1997) because, they
have access to the political process system or to the influential mass media (Nasi et
al., 1997). In conformity with stakeholder theory logic, Heath (1997) suggested that
any issue analysis must include an analysis of the power of relevant stakeholder
individuals or groups. The stakeholders’ public includes both groups involved in the
issue under consideration itself and groups with a financial interest in supporting and
enhancing the development process (Hilgartrne & Bosk, 1988).

Donaldson and Preston (1998) as well as Post et al. (2002) suggested that the concept
of stakeholder theory could be an alternative to the input-output systems theory.
While systems theory is utilised to explain the communication behaviour within and
between organisations (Farace et al., 1977), the stakeholder theory recognises the
mutual benefits and interests of both the stakeholders and the organisation. Even
though stakeholders frequently have “opposing need and/or wants” (Vercic, 1997,
p.265), and the organisation’s resources are limited, “single stakeholder bias” is an
issue that is worth attention from policy makers (Heath, 1994, p.9).

It seems appropriate for government organisations to proactively seek inputs from all
stakeholders as some of them will have stronger ‘voices’ and influences upon decision
makers than others and this, by any means, should not legitimise favouring one group
over another (Suatter & Leisen, 1999). That is, the role of an organisation is to
coordinate the interest of all stakeholders.

As a strategic management tool, the stakeholder theory articulates that the various
stakeholder groups can and should have a direct influence on managerial decision-
making processes within an organisation (Jones, 1995; Suatter & Leisen, 1999).
Freeman (1984, p.46), described the role of a management strategist as: “to be an
effective strategist you must deal with those groups that can affect you, while to be
responsive (and effective in the long run) you must deal with those groups that you
can affect”. Management must pay close attention to the genuine interests of all
legitimate stakeholders to be effective (Donaldson & Preston, 1995). Clarkson (1995),
emphasised the importance of retaining the participation of even a single primary

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stakeholder group, otherwise the organisation may become vulnerable to failure and
fragmentation. In brief, an organisation must understand three key concepts to
manage its stakeholders effectively (Freeman, 1984, p.53):
• Clear identification of the stakeholders, their respective stakes, and their
interests;
• The process necessary to manage the relationships with them; and
• Management of a set of transactions or bargains between the organisation and its
stakeholders.

Stakeholder theory and tourism

Applying the stakeholder theory concepts to tourism would require tourism planners
to realise, and be concerned with, the perspectives of diverse stakeholder groups
involved in the tourism system, and to recognise that their interests are not exclusively
touristic (Suatter & Leisen, 1999). Tourism organisations and/or planning bodies must
not underestimate the importance of various tourism stakeholders groups, which
affect or are affected by the tourism development and services or consider only the
most obvious and influential groups. For example, stakeholder theory has been
applied in tourism as a planning and management tool by Getz and Jamal (1994),
Sautter and Leisen (1999), and Yuksel et al. (1999). Meanwhile, Ioannides (2001)
applied a stakeholder framework in conjunction with the destination life-cycle
concept to analyse varying stakeholders’ attitudes toward tourism development at
different stages of destination development, with particular reference to some
Mediterranean Islands.

Thus far, stakeholder theory has been utilised to a small extent in the tourism
planning, policy and strategy development literature (Getz & Timur, 2004); however,
it is conceptualised as a normative tourism-planning tool that can be used to promote
collaboration among key players in the tourism planning system (Donaldson &
Preston, 1995; Suatter & Leisen, 1999). Planning bodies have to seek proactive
approaches to accommodate the interests of various stakeholders and to understand
their needs, and in addition must effectively manage the relationships among
stakeholders to promote better collaboration and sustainable tourism development
(Suatter & Leisen, 1999). Stakeholders’ management is one of the methodologies

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used as a framework from within which sustainable tourism development can be

delivered (McKercher, 1993; Robson & Robson, 1996).

As the tourism industry in Oman is in the early development stage, it seems necessary
that the tourism development planning authority accommodate the interests of all
relevant stakeholders to achieve its planning objectives. The regional planning may
also need to be decentralised to cater for the local communities’ interests and diversity
in regional areas.

In order to gain a better understanding about competition among destinations in

tourism products and services, we must first understand the basic nature of the
concept of competition. Little is known about competitiveness in service industries
such as tourism (Ritchie & Crouch, 2003; Pike, 2004). The following sections will
discuss the different theoretical and practical definitions and the concepts of tourism
destination competitiveness.

2.3.3 Competitiveness theories and concepts

The concept of competitiveness in the context of tourism destinations relates to both

the comparative advantage theory and the competitive advantage theory. There are
similarities and differences between the two theories. The comparative advantage
theory is more concerned with the endowments of production (resources), where
destinations could make their resources available for exploitation by local residents
and tourists. While this theory is mainly concerned with endowed or inherited
resources, the competitive advantage theory is concerned with the ability of a
destination to use those resources to achieve long-term sustainable benefits (Ritchie &
Crouch, 2003). Destinations that lack natural or industrial attributes find it difficult to
compete against those destinations that have a wealth of natural attractions.

The extant literature examined international competitiveness from two different

perspectives: the micro (firm) and the macro (nation) perspectives. The micro
perspective of competitiveness refers to the competition among firms within a nation
to gain national and international competitiveness, and the macro-dimension refers to
competition among nations (e.g. Porter, 1990; Scott & Lodge, 1985).

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Alderson (1965) cited in Hoffman (2000) was one of the first authors to recognise the
notion of ‘sustainable competitive advantage’ and argued that firms should strive to
gain unique and distinguished characteristics for themselves. Such advantages could
be presented in the form of lower prices, selective advertising appeals, and
improvements and innovations. Hall (1980) and Henderson (1983) in particular
solidified the need for firms to possess unique advantages over competitors. As a
result of this research, the development of the resource-based model of business
strategy was introduced. Further, Flagestad and Hope (2001) argued that there are
close similarities between the business organisation of the firm and a tourism
destination. Such similarities allow for the application of theories developed
concerning strategic management of the firm to the strategic management of the
destination. For them, the objective of strategic management is the creation and
maintenance of sustainable competitive advantage. In this context Ryan (2002, p.22)
argued: “Destinations are also bundles of resources, like companies”. However, even
attributes of destinations may be held in common; the way they are organised is
unique. According to Porter (1985, p.3) “competitive advantage grows fundamentally
out of the value a firm is able to cater for its buyers that exceeds the firm’s cost of
creating it”.

The literature introduced two areas of relevance to strategic management for

sustainable competitive advantage (Flagestad & Hope, 2001). First, the resource-
advantage theory which focuses on the relation between firms’ resources and their
strategy, and second, the relationships between firms’ environment and their strategic
objectives and planning.

The resource (based) advantage theory

The resource-based theory focuses on how sustainable competitive advantage is
generated by a unique bundle of resources that are at the core of the firm’s assets
(Barney, 1991; Conner, 1991; Dierickx & Cool, 1989; Grant, 1991; Mahoney &
Pandian, 1992; Wernerfelt, 1984). The theory argues that heterogeneous firms result
from a unique mixture of physical, human, and intangible resources (organisational)
(Mahoney & Pandian, 1992). It is based on the assumption that a firm’s ability to
retain supremacy above normal profit and competition is determined by the firm’s
own resource endowments. In other words, the internal strengths-weaknesses, and

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internal and external threats and opportunities analysis (known as SWOT) is

considered the basis for a firm’s competitiveness. The same logic, however, could be
extended to the national level of a destination country (Porter, 1990). Additionally,
Barney (1991, 1992) articulated that a firm’s sustained competitive advantage is
derived from the possession of resources that are: valuable, rare, difficult to imitate,
and cannot be substituted. He identified three types of such valuable resources:
physical capital, human capital, and organisational capital. The objective of his
framework was to distinguish between resources whose exploitation will generate
competitive disadvantages, resources whose exploitation will generate competitive
parity, resources whose exploitation will generate temporary competitive advantages,
and resources that generate sustained competitive advantage. Barney’s (1991)
framework was largely based on Porter’s (1985) concept of the value chain, which
can be employed to identify those activities that are at the core of the firm’s
competitive advantage.

Fladmoe-Lindquist and Tallman (1994) extended Barney’s framework to include

financial and political capital. The financial capital resource would include measures
of capital availability and the financial institutional requirements on debt and other
performance measures. The political resources would likely include measures of
currency controls, and intergovernmental relationships. The two additions would
transfer the firm from a domestic formation to a more specific international business.
Barney (1991) contended that physical resources (e.g. physical technology, plant and
equipment, geographical location, and raw material access) seldom generate
sustainable advantage because it is easy to imitate these resources. On the other hand,
Grant (1991) provided a comprehensive list of resources which added financial,
technological, and reputational resources to the previous categorisation.

The fundamental characteristic of the resource-based perspective is its emphasis on

resources as a fundamental determinant of firm performance (Rumelt et al., 1991).
Generally speaking, the differences in resource endowments are considered to be
causally related to the differences in product attributes and competitive position
(Conner, 1991). According to Peteraf (1993, p.180), superior performance is feasible
if a firm owns or controls resources which permit it to “produce more economically
and/or to better satisfy customer wants”. For Peteraf, the resource-based view of the

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firm designates four conditions that underlie the sustainable competitive advantage
concept, including: superior resources, ex-poste limits to competition (including
difficult to imitate and difficult sustainability), imperfect mobility, and ex-ante limits
to competition. Dierickx and Cool (1989) also discussed the difficulty of imitating
resources such as non-tradable fixed assets.

Perspectives on competitiveness
The extant literature on competitiveness reveals differences in defining,
understanding, and measuring competitiveness. That is, perspectives in various
disciplines show that competitiveness is a multi-faceted concept (Dwyer & Kim,
2001), and the notion of competitiveness is associated with four main perspectives
(Dwyer & Kim, 2001, p.44; Waheeduzzaman & Ryans, 1996, p.10): (1) comparative
advantage and/or price competitiveness; (2) broad schema and empirical studies; (3)
strategy and management; and (4) historical and socio-cultural environment.

According to Dwyer and Kim (2001), economists have placed more emphasis on
price and country-specific economic features of competitiveness, whereas
management and strategy experts have focused on the firm-specific characteristics.
Meanwhile, sociologists and political scientists focused on various social, political
and cultural characteristics explaining the concept of competitiveness. Clearly, each
discipline has taken a different approach to define and measure competitivenesss.

The concept of competitiveness finds its roots in economic theory and has been
adopted by other disciplines such as marketing, management and international
business to relate the phenomenon to their specific needs. According to Dunning
(2000, p.9), contemporary economic events suggest that:

The nature and composition of a country or a region’s comparative advantage,

which has been traditionally based on its possession of a unique set of immobile
natural resources and capabilities, is now more geared to its ability to offer a
distinct and non-imitatible set of location bound created assets, including the
presence of indigenous firms.

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There have been many attempts to define competitiveness because of its complexity
with both micro and macro connotations. However, despite those attempts, no clear
definition has been provided so far (Dwyer & Kim 2001). For example, the World
Economic Form (WEF) defines competitiveness as: “The ability of a country to
achieve sustained high rates of growth in GDP per capita” (National Competitiveness
Council 2002, p.2). Another definition supplied by the Organisation for Economic
Co-Operation and Development (OECD), is: “Competitiveness is the degree to which
a nation can, under free trade and fair market conditions, produce goods and services
which meet the test of international markets, while simultaneously maintaining and
expanding the real incomes of its people over the long-term” (National
Competitiveness Council, 2002, p.2). This study leans towards The OECD definition
as a comprehensive statement which incorporates market-oriented propositions and
social values. Hence, the concepts of marketing planning and competitive
development strategies are often incorporated in the concept of competitiveness
definition (Buhalis, 2000; Heath & Wall, 1992; Kozak, 2001; Poon, 1994).

As indicated above, competitiveness is rooted in multi-faceted disciplines such as

economics, management, and marketing, with each discipline making convincing
arguments in support of its contention about the concept, and reflective of the
diversity of views about its conceptualisation. Next the four main perspectives
introduced by Waheeduzzaman and Ryans (1996), and Dwyer and Kim (2001, p.49)
will be discussed.

1) Comparative advantage and / or price competitiveness

Today we find many developing countries have an increasing scepticism about their
ability to import substitution of goods and services and trade strategies, participating
in what has been termed ‘locational tournament’ to attract foreign investments and
visitors (Johansson, 1998; Stephen et al., 2001). Destinations generally use various
ways and means as a lure to promote their locational superiority and attractiveness to
international customers. However, according to Johansson (1998), the marketing
aspect of a nation’s location is still an unfulfilled gap in the economic development
literature.

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The international business literature attributes importance to country-specific

resources or comparative advantages as well as to firm-specific resources (Dunning,
1977, 1998; Ghoshal, 1987; Fahy, 2002). Further, the country-specific resources may
be subdivided into primary resources that are inherited and changing with time (e.g.
location, climate, stock of natural deposits, exchange rate, cost of labour, and taxes)
(Davidson, 1989; Dunning, 1977), and the advanced (secondary) resources or
capabilities, those categorised as sustained resources (Fahy, 2002; Kogut, 1991), soft
infrastructure (Turcq, 1995) or advanced factors of production (Porter, 1990, 1998).
These factors include the education system, its technology and organisational
capabilities, its communication and marketing infrastructure, and its level of labour
productivity (Davidson, 1989; Kogut, 1991; Lewis et al., 1993; Porter, 1990, 1998).

In terms of competitiveness, the study of international competitiveness has emerged

as a major component for international business research (Buckley, 1999). Studies
maintain that the competitiveness of a nation depends on its comparative advantages
over its competitors relative to prices of goods and services in the international
marketplace (Waheeduzzaman & Ryans, 1996). The theory of comparative advantage
argues that a nation’s factor endowments determine its competitiveness vis-à-vis other
nations. A nation’s competitiveness will then be higher if it possesses an abundance of
labour, capital, and/or natural resources at lower prices and good location (Cho,
1998). This finding contradicted Porter’s (1990) argument about competitiveness,
which related the sources of competitiveness of a certain country to the specific
factors that a country possesses and offers to firms, instead of the total amount of
factor endowment in that particular country.

The existence of comparative advantage is a major determinant of global

competitiveness (Porter, 1980). Although Porter originally identified four factors as
sources of competitiveness, he later added two more: government and chance of
events as external factors (Porter, 1990). The government plays an important role as a
regulator and institutional facilitator of trade and services in and out of a destination.
The chance of events could be either a positive or a negative factor. For instance, wars
and security issues in the Middle East are events that may deter tourists from
travelling to that area.

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In the tourism literature, researchers have explained the comparative advantage and
price competitiveness among destinations, which recognises the sensitivity of
travellers to the price factor in influencing the flow of tourists into a particular
destination (Crouch, 1994a, 1994b, Dwyer et al., 2000).

2) Broad schema and empirical studies

Empirical studies have indicated the importance of the levels of technology, exchange
rates, government policies, industrial competition, and the influence of multinational
firms in the level and intensity of competitiveness (Dwyer et al., 2000; Grant, 1991;
Porter, 1985, 1990, 1999). According to Ma (1999), a firm must build a host of
competitive advantages and achieve superior performance to gain competitiveness.
Generic advantages come from different firm attributes (ownership, access,
knowledge based), and such attributes would enhance the firm’s capabilities and
position in the marketplace. The above competitiveness factors seem to be applicable
to destinations as well.

3) Strategy and management

The strategy and management perspective recognises the importance of a firm’s
resources to gain sustainable competitive advantage (Dwyer & Kim, 2001). Prior
research has pointed to the importance of various potential sources for firm
advantage, such as market power (Porter, 1980), unique resources (Barney, 1991),
innovation (Schumpeter, 1994) and efficiency (Williamson, 1991). Resources of the
firm that offer competitive advantage are: the skills of employees, assets, cash flow,
capital/investment, human resources, and structure of the organisation, to mention a
few. These and other factors have been incorporated as well in most tourism
destination models as sources for destination competitiveness.

4) Historical and socio-cultural environment

From history, politics, and culture come the ideas that, just as the competitiveness of
nations is affected by climate, morals, power of the states and their elites, and cultural
values and perceptions, similarly for many destinations, competitiveness could be
influenced by these factors (Dwyer & Kim, 2001; Waheeduzzaman & Ryans, 1996;
Waheeduzzaman, 2002). According to Waheeduzzaman & Ryans (1996), the rise and
fall of nations have been attributed to various physical, physiological, social, and

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cultural factors. They explain that a nation might be rich and powerful simply because
it is endowed with natural and physical resources. From an international affairs
perspective, the competitiveness of a nation is related to its possessed sources of
power. The possession of sources of power (e.g. geo-demographic, military, human,
political, economic) would enable the nation to utilise such inherited or created
powers to gain competitive advantage and dominance in the marketplace. The growth
of these nations is usually influenced by historical traditions, political institutions, and
social customs. All these factors fall within the definition of political culture.

Generally speaking, while competitiveness is perceived from a micro perspective as a

firm level phenomenon, its determinants being firm-specific (assets, behaviours,
capabilities, skills, etc.), from a macro perspective, it is considered a national concern,
and its ultimate goal is to create superior positioning for the destination country, while
improving the real income of the destination’s citizens. Framing it at the national level
context, a destination’s competitiveness is usually linked to its ability to deliver goods
and services that perform better than other destinations on those experiences valued
most by tourists (Heath, 2003).

2.3.4 Tourism destination competitiveness

One of the ultimate goals of tourism planning and development is to create valuable
products for the destination’s visitors to experience, and for residents to enjoy a better
quality of life as an outcome of tourism development. A number of studies have
introduced and applied the concept of tourism destination competitiveness (Asch &
Wolfe, 2001; Buhalis, 2000; Crouch & Ritchie, 1994, 1999; Dwyer & Kim, 2001; Go
& Groves, 2000; Hassan, 2000; Kozak, 2001; Kozak & Rimmington, 1999; Mihalic,
2000; Pearce, 1997; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2000, 2003). According to Asch and
Wolfe (2001) cited in Ritchie and Crouch (2003), competition among tourism
destinations is but one manifestation of the broader scope of the new international
economic competition. As an extension of this argument, Ritchie and Crouch (2003)
added human competition in the social, technological, cultural, and political spheres.
Accordingly, while realising the importance of the economic dimension of
competitiveness, other dimensions related to tourism destination are of equal
importance, due to the uniqueness of the field (Ritchie & Crouch, 2003).

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In general, what makes a destination competitive is its ability to increase tourism

expenditure, and to attract increasing numbers of visitors while providing them with
quality services and satisfying experiences (Ritchie & Crouch, 2000, 2003). However,
such efforts should not jeopardise the welfare of local residents, and preservation of
resources and the environment for future generations. In the tourism context, the
concept of competitiveness has been examined and applied in different destination
settings, generally related to growth sustainability of destinations and prosperity of
their societies.

The following sections relate to the concepts and definitions of destination

competitiveness, tourism destination sustainable competitiveness models, and the
means for developing destination competitiveness strategies.

Concepts and definitions

As was explained in section 2.3.3, the concept of competitiveness has been adopted
from economic theory and applied to both micro (firm) and macro (nation) levels
(Porter, 1990; Scott & Lodge, 1985). In the tourism context, the concept of
destination competitiveness has been applied to different destination settings and
levels and expanded to include the notion of tourism sustainability. Strategic success
of a destination implies that the market performance of the destination is oriented
towards creating a sustainable competitive advantage, which must be viewed through
the wider dimension of connected efficiency variables such as social structure,
community involvement, assets ownership, and stakeholder relations (Flagested &
Hope, 2001).

In the tourism literature, competitiveness is considered as a “destination’s ability to

create and integrate value added products that sustain resources while maintaining
market position relative to other competitors” (Hassan, 2000, p.239). It is also defined
by Ritchie and Crouch (2000, p.306) as “the ability of a country to create value and
thus increases national wealth by managing assets and processes, attractiveness, and
proximity, and by integrating these relationship into an economic and social model”.
In addition, d'Hauteserre (2000, p.23) defined it as “the ability of a destination to
maintain its market position and share and/or improve upon them through time”.

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Considering the diversity of the industries involved in the tourism system, destination
competitiveness is usually attributed to a destination’s ability to deliver goods and
services better and cheaper than its immediate competitors.

This study adopted Ritchie and Crouch’s (2000) definition of the concept of
competitiveness, as it seems to integrate management, marketing, and planning
aspects for the sake of creating a socio-economic model for destination tourism
sustainability, and it is the most relevant to the study’s objectives

Competitiveness has often been linked to marketing planning and competitive

development strategies (Buhalis, 2000; Hall, 2000; Heath & Wall, 1992; Kozak,
2001; Pearce, 1997; Poon, 1993; Robson & Robson, 1996). Thus, the success of
integrated strategic marketing and management of destination attributes would lead to
destination competitiveness. Go and Govers (2000) link destination competitiveness
to the success of the integrated quality management of tourism destinations and
comprehensive partnership strategies. For example, Pearce (1997) described
competitiveness as destination techniques and methods that can systematically
analyse and compare the diverse attributes of competing destinations within a
planning context. Such a systematic approach should lead to a better evaluation and
comparison of destination tourism attributes/components, which may provide a good
opportunity for realisation of destination competitive advantages, and in turn better
understanding of effective tourism planning and development for both product and
destination positioning.

Destination environmental competitiveness can also be enhanced by proper

managerial and marketing efforts and increased through some environmental
marketing activities and strategies. Thus, the issue of environmental quality is a
primary concern for destination managers. This assertion supports Inskeep’s (1991)
view that maintaining overall higher level of environmental quality is important for
the competitiveness of most types of tourism destinations. Destination attractions are
considered to be a factor of tourism destination competitiveness (Ritchie & Crouch,
1993). Mihalic (2000) also looked at destination competitiveness from physical
environmental perspectives. He related competitiveness to natural and man-made
tourism components as well as social and cultural environments. Furthermore, Ritchie

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and Crouch (2000, p.2) stated that competitiveness is ‘illusory without sustainability’.
That is to say, the most effective and competitive destination is the one that creates
superior values and sustainability for its people.

2.3.4.2 Tourism destination sustainable competitiveness models

In the tourism literature different concepts and models about destination

competitiveness are introduced and discussed along with perceptions and attitudes of
residents about their perceptions of the impacts of tourism (Crouch & Ritchie, 1999;
Dwyer & Kim, 2001; Hassan, 2000; Kozak 2001; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2003).
The major theme of the majority of those studies and various models is the
improvement of the effectiveness and efficiency of destination competitiveness in
terms of creating sustainable tourism products, marketing management and societal
wellbeing to counter the growing fierce competition in the marketplace.
Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the resources, the attractiveness of the
destination and developing appropriate strategies are deemed to be of importance for
the destination’s competitiveness.

Sustainability has become a major interest in tourism planning and development. The
most detailed work undertaken so far about tourism competitiveness is that by Crouch
and Ritchie (1994, 1999) and Ritchie & Crouch (2000, 2003). They claimed that a
competitive destination is one that brings about the maximum success, value and
wellbeing for its residents on a sustainable basis. The systematic model of destination
competitiveness suggested by Crouch and Ritchie (1999) proposed that it is necessary
to investigate and understand the relationships of interplay among the determinants of
destination competitiveness. The basic foundation of this model is the national
competitiveness model and its four determinants proposed by Porter (1990). These
four determinants as proposed by Crouch and Ritchie (1999) are: factor condition
(e.g. skilled labour, infrastructure, historical and cultural resources), demand
condition-local demand (e.g. basic tourism services), related and supporting industries
(e.g. leisure and recreation, retailing), suppliers industries (e.g. accommodation,
transportation), and firm strategy, structure and rivalry.

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Moreover, the concepts of comparative and competitive advantage provide a

theoretical underpinning for the development of a model of destination
competitiveness (Crouch & Ritchie, 1999). Comparative advantage concerns a
destination’s factor endowments, both naturally occurring and created. There are five
broad categories of factor endowments: human resources, physical resources,
knowledge resources, capital resources, and infrastructure (Crouch & Ritchie, 1999;
Hill, 2001; Porter, 1990). In the tourism context, Crouch and Ritchie (1999) and
Ritchie and Crouch (2003) have suggested adding historical and cultural resources,
and expanding the infrastructure category to include tourism superstructure such as
accommodation facilities, food services, and transportation facilities. The existence
and development of these factors are considered motivating factors for tourists to visit
a destination. In addition, Crouch and Ritchie (1999) argued that a country’s natural
resources are an important source of comparative advantage in tourism. Likewise,
Grant (2002) considered the tangible and intangible resources and capabilities as
sources of comparative and competitive advantage, and Hunt and Morgan (1995, p.6)
emphasised that “potential resources can be most usefully categorized as financial,
physical, legal, human, organizational, informational, and relational”. Therefore,
resources could translate into a position of competitive advantage in the marketplace.

While comparative advantage is related to resources available to a destination,

competitive advantage is related to a destination’s ability to use these resources
effectively over the long-term (Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Hamel & Prahalad, 1993;
Thompson, 1997). According to Crouch and Ritchie (1999), a destination endowed
with a wealth of resources may not be as competitive as one, although lacking in
resources, utilises whatever little resources it has more effectively and efficiently.
They articulated that a destination that has a tourism vision, and shares this vision
with its various stakeholders understanding its strengths and weaknesses, and
developing and implementing appropriate management and marketing strategies, may
be more successful than the one which lacks vision, management and marketing
capabilities. Porter (1990) has noted that nations that are factor disadvantaged are
often stimulated to find innovative ways to overcome their comparative weaknesses
by creating and developing competitive strengths. This is the case where destinations
reach the stagnation stage, based on Butler’s (1980) Area Life-Cycle model (section
2.2.3.1).

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In general, developing strategy and competitive advantage will draw upon the
destination’s analysis, its objectives, resources, competence, activities and
competitive environment.

Development of destination competitive strategies

In the tourism literature, many studies point out that tourism destination
competitiveness is created and enhanced through certain development policies and
strategies, including marketing, management, innovation and product development,
environmental quality, and sustainable tourism (e.g. Buhalis, 2000; Crouch &
Ritchie, 1999; Flagestad & Hope, 2001; Mihalic, 2000; Poon, 1993; Ritchie, 1999;
Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2000, 2003; Yoon, 2002). Those development strategies can
be considered as a process or a mechanism to combine destination supply and demand
attributes to achieve the desired level of international competitiveness and to
maximise socio-economic benefits for its citizens. Competitiveness is the essential
goal of marketing and management strategies. Kozak (2001) with other authors
explained how tourism destinations can develop competitive strategies in more detail,
for example, through well-selected and executed programs of destination management
(Ritchie & Crouch, 1993) and market segmentation (Mill & Morrison, 2002).

Tourism destination marketing strategies in relation to demand and stage in the

destination life-cycle and destination image building could be identified as: (1)
stimulational marketing, (2) developmental marketing, (3) maintenance marketing, (4)
demarketing, (5) remarketing, and (6) conversional marketing (Kotler, & Levy, 1971;
Ashworth, 1991). Each strategy stems from a particular destination management
objective, placement in the life-cycle, and a different demand situation. Additionally,
in a destination marketing context, destinations begin to position themselves as place
brands, whereby the country’s emphasis is on brand building initiatives that are
inclusive of tourism and economic development (Morgan et al., 2003). The nation’s
brand image can shape its economic, cultural and political destiny (Anholt, 2002). A
brand should comprise at least a clear and distinct image which distinguishes it from
competitors, the ability to deliver long-term competitive advantage, and overall,
something more than physical advantage for customer satisfaction (Aaker, 1996; Hall,
2002; Kotler et al., 1996). In general, tourism marketing strategies can take three

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approaches: consumer-oriented, which focuses on core marketing strategies related to

full product/market coverage or product specialisation, market specialisation or both;
competitor-oriented, which focuses on developing, maintaining or defending a
destination’s position in the marketplace; and finally, trade-oriented, where the
emphasis is on the role of different intermediaries such as tour operators in the
distribution chain of tourism products within the total industry chain (Riege & Perry,
2000).

Furthermore, approaching competitiveness from a strategic marketing management

perspective, Poon (1993) stated that destination competitiveness is enhanced by four
competitive strategies: focus on quality and the development of human resources;
understanding the tourists’ expectations; flexibility, by listening to tourists and
modifying the product/service level for their satisfaction; and organisation,
management and marketing of the tourism industry.

Thus, in order to compete successfully in the tourism marketplace, destination

strategy has to be based on: “putting consumers first, be a leader in quality, develop
radical innovations, and strengthen the firms strategic position within the industry’s
value chain” (Poon, 1993, p.240). Within the framework of putting the consumer first,
Poon emphasised the linkage between marketing and product development (e.g.
understanding the consumer, providing a clear message about the product), satisfying
the consumer (e. g. being flexible, segmenting the market), and developing a holistic
approach to the holiday (e.g. influencing the destination’s image, collaborating with
the public sector). The rationale is for destination managers to treat tourism as a
tangible product, and then plan its development and marketing to achieve strategic
planning within the overall national plan.

Destination management is related to regular monitoring of visitors’ satisfaction and

the tracking of industry performance (Yoon et al., 1999, 2001). Frequent evaluation of
destination attributes and tourists’ expectations enables destination managers to
produce the right products for the right people at the right time. Destination managers
need to appreciate tourists’ motivations in order to develop the appropriate offerings
and brand destination for the right target market (Buhalis, 2000). Moreover, the
responsibility of destination managers is to (1) produce management and marketing

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strategies, (2) enhance the long-term prosperity of the people who live in the
community, (3) maximise visitors’ satisfaction, (4) maximise profit for local
entrepreneurs, (5) maximise the multiplier effects, and (6) optimise tourism impacts
by ensuring a sustainable development balance between economic benefits, and socio-
cultural and environmental costs (Buhalis, 2000).

Looking at competitiveness from a managerial angle, Go and Govers (2000) explored

the concept of ‘integrated quality management’ of eight European tourism
destinations to enhance their competitiveness. Go and Govers (2000) set out to show
that, in order to sustain competitiveness, nations must maximise the integration of all
tourism-related networks of organisations in public and private sectors to cater
effectively to consumer needs, and minimise the potential negative socio-cultural,
economic, and ecological impacts on the environment. The appropriate means for the
development and implementation of integrated quality management for tourist
destinations lies in an integrated approach to problem solving through relevant fields
of knowledge, such as urban and regional planning, cultural and heritage preservation,
and economic development (Go & Govers, 2000, p.87).

According to Ritchie and Crouch (2003), destination management of the

competitiveness concept can be increased by ‘resource stewardship’, which requires
destination managers to cater for the maintenance of destination resources, especially
those vulnerable to damage such as historical places. Stewardship is also concerned
with the effective and sensitive deployment of ecological, social, and cultural
resources. Clearly, the objective is to achieve a long-term sustainability of a
destination’s competitiveness. Similarly, Hassan (2000) linked market
competitiveness to sustainability and emphasised the importance of sustaining
longevity of a given destination in the marketplace and a focus on turning the
destination’s comparative advantages to competitive advantages. Further, destinations
can gain a favourable competitive position through careful analysis and responses to
the core values and needs of niche segments in the marketplace (Hassan, 2000; Kotler
et al., 1993).

From an environmental aspect, a destination’s competitiveness of natural resources

and attractions is enhanced by concentrating on certain environmental marketing and

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management activities that develop and measure the destination competitiveness

strategies (Mihalic, 2000; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993). Social and cultural environments
are also included in the broader definition of environment (e.g. Inskeep, 1991;
Matheieson & Wall, 1982). Resources and attractions are recognised as factors of
tourism destination competitiveness (Ritchie & Crouch, 1993). Mihalic (2000)
emphasised the importance of environmental quality as a factor of destination
attractiveness. Therefore, destination managers have to take proper measures to
manage the environmental quality of a given destination in order to ensure its
competitiveness and sustainability. Mihalic (2000) introduced the notion of systematic
environmental branding, which would give customers both environmental information
and confidence when purchasing the tourism product. He also suggested the use of
environmental codes of conduct to minimise the environmental impacts and manage
the environmental quality. Accordingly, even though the natural environment is an
important element of sustainability, sustainability is much more than a function of the
natural environment alone (Hassan, 2000).

In general, destination competitiveness can be improved by appropriate matching

between a destination’s various resources and attractions (Crouch & Ritchie, 1999;
Poon, 1993). The interrelationships between destination development preferences
about resources and attractions and the support for specific destination competitive
strategies are important elements for enhancing a destination’s competitiveness.

In applying the competitiveness concept to Oman’s tourism, the sector has to compete
in the competitive, crowded and dynamic markets of the developed world. The
complicating features of the market include increasing supply of new product
(developments, experiences and services) and a highly developed and organised
‘supply chain’ geared to consumer preferences for cost, time and product quality
(Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 2001, p.4). Accordingly, tourism product depends
on its market positioning, visibility to consumers, market penetration capability, and
consumer appeal. Studies carried out by various consultants confirmed Oman’s
product attractiveness and diversity was of international standard (Ministry of
Commerce & Industry, 2001). This conclusion is confirmed by various trading
companies, travel and tour operating delegations visiting the country, and the steadily
increasing number of visitors to the country, as demonstrated in section 2.5.

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However, according to the tourism authority in Oman, the limiting factors to Oman
achieving a higher rating as a competitive destination were the need to improve the
interrelated issues of competitive positioning (brand identity), and marketing and
promotions (generic, strategic and tactical marketing and promotions programs). This
shortfall is confirmed by this study’s result about the need for marketing competitive
strategies and the SWOT analysis as shown in section 2.5.

On the regional scale, the key factors affecting Oman’s competitiveness as a tourist
destination (Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 2001) are:
• Inadequate government and private sector organisational support systems to
identify and respond to commercial opportunities,
• The need to develop tourism products that appeal to different consumers, and
• The need to facilitate industry communications.

These shortcomings, as reported by a Ministry of Commerce & Industry (2001)

publication, are shared by both government and private sector stakeholders.
Therefore, the improvement and overcoming of these shortcomings require the close
cooperation and actions from all concerned stakeholders.

Due to limited empirical research, there is scant evidence that addresses international
competitive strategies in relation to destination competitiveness (Buhalis, 2000; Pike,
2004; Ritchie & Crouch, 2003; Yoon 2002). This study integrated some of the
concepts from the literature of tourism impacts relating to destinations and their
residents’ attitudes and perceptions, to create a more comprehensive conceptual
model. The proposed model expands on previous models (e.g. Jurowski et al., 1997;
Yoon, 2002; Yoon et al., 1999, 2001), with the aim of including the perceived power
of stakeholders to participate in the planning and decision-making processes as an
endogenous variable, and the perceived political impacts as a factor of tourism
development impacts. This is in addition to incorporating the media into the list of
stakeholders. Using the case of Oman, the model has been tested empirically, as
shown in Chapter 4, to investigate and evaluate the interrelationships between
different development factors and the role of stakeholders in the preferences about
development of various resources and attractions and their support for specific
competitiveness strategies of a destination.

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2.4 Part Three – Conceptual Framework and Hypotheses

The following section explores in detail the constructs comprising the conceptual
framework (Figure 1.1) such as community attachment, tourism development impacts,
stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation), and stakeholders’
preferences about tourism resources and attractions development as independent and
mediating constructs. Then, finally the composed initial model to be tested in Chapter
4 and the proposed hypotheses relationships are introduced.

2.4.1 Community (place) attachment

The linkage between peoples’ perceptions and places has been considered as a
management tool for assessing the value of their surroundings and of their natural
places, and identifying the individuals and groups to be included in the public
involvement in the development process (e.g. Moore & Graefe, 1994; Murphy, 1985;
Warzecha & Lim, 2001). However, the rate of development in the field of place and
surroundings environment, and residents’ attachment to their places is limited. It is
still not known to what kind of places people mainly develop an attachment; or what
place dimensions are more likely to motivate or arouse attachment (Hidalgo &
Hernandez, 2001; Kaltenborn, 1997). The study of feelings that people develop
toward the places where they were born or live has its roots in such fields as
geography, sociology and psychology among others (Hidalgo & Hernandez, 2001).

2. 4.1.1 The concept of place

Place focuses are the environmental settings to which people are emotionally and
culturally attached (Low & Altman, 1992). Place varies in size, scale, and scope. With
regard to scale, places can be very large (e.g. earth, nation), mid-size (e.g. cities,
communities), smaller (e.g. home, rooms), or very small (e.g. object). A place may be
viewed as an essential part of one’s self (Jorgensen & Stedman, 2001).

According to Agnew and Duncan (1989, p.2) the term ‘place’ has at least three
common meanings in social science: (1) location, that is, spatial distribution of social
and economic activities; (2) locale, which is routine social interaction in a place; and

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(3) sense of place, which means the identification with a place emotionally or
symbolically.

Place theory generally introduces place as a sort of location including a physical

setting, human activities, and human social and psychological processes relating to
the location (Brandenburg & Carroll, 1995; Proshansky et al., 1983; Tuan, 1977;
Williams et al., 1992). Place concepts are created and maintained by humans, and
place concept and meanings are changeable over time (Kaltenborn, 1997). In this
study the notion of place is used particularly to connote the term ‘destination’.
Destination managers have been able to incorporate the knowledge of place into
resource planning and management (Brandenburg & Carroll, 1995; Mitchell et al.,
1993). For example, attention is being focused on the role of place and its influence
on people’s recreation and tourism choices and experiences (Bricker & Kerstetten,
2000; Kruger & Jakes, 2003; Stedman, 2003), and the accessibility of resource
management (Cheng et al., 2003).

2.4.1.2 The concept of community attachment

There is no agreement in the literature with regard to defining the concept of place
attachment. Different terms are used, such as community attachment (Hidalgo &
Hernandez, 2001; Kasarda & Janowitz, 1974; McCool & Martin, 1994), sense of
community (Hidalgo & Hernandez, 2001; Jorgensen & Stedman, 2001; Sarason,
1988), place attachment (Corcoran, 2002; Gerson et al., 1977), place identity
(Proshansky, 1978, 1983), place dependence (Stokols & Shumaker, 1981), and sense
of place (Hummon, 1992). These terms are sometimes used interchangeably; at other
times, place attachment is used as a generic concept to include identity (Hidalgo &
Hernandez, 2001). It is commonly regarded as “an effective bond or link between
people and specific places” (Hidalgo & Hernandez, 2001, p.274). Similarly,
Shumaker and Taylor (1983, p.233) defined place attachment as “a positive affective
bond or association between individuals and their residential environment”.
Additionally, Hummon (1992, p.256) considered it as an “emotional involvement
with places”. Meanwhile, Low (1992, p.165) defined it as “an individual’s cognitive
or emotional connection to a particular setting or milieu”. Furthermore, McCool and
Martine (1994, p.30) defined it as the “extent and pattern of social participation and

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integration into community life, and sentiment or affect toward the community”. All
these definitions share in common the notions of emotional, social belonging and
participation in community activities. In addition, the concept of place attachment
includes the notion of residents’ satisfaction, which is related to the positive or
negative feelings residents have for the place where they live (Ainsworth & Bell,
1970; Hidalgo & Hernandez, 2001; Weidemann & Anderson, 1985). In this study I
used the term ‘community attachment’ in its general form to mean the whole country
of Oman as synonymous with the term ‘place attachment’.

Furthermore, individuals with a strong community attachment seem to be more

concerned about developing economic opportunities for young residents who
otherwise may be forced to move away from the community and experience some
alienation from their home or community. Consequently, those residents tend to view
tourism more positively than those whose feelings toward their place of residence are
more ambivalent (Jurowski, 1996).

2.4.1.3 Community attachment dimensions

Community attachment appears to consist of at least two dimensions: place

dependence and place identity (Bricker & Kerstetter, 2000; Proshansky et al., 1983;
Williams & Roggenbuck, 1989; Williams et al., 1995; Vaske & Kobrin, 2001).
Through personal attachment to places, people acquire a sense of belonging which
gives meaning to their lives (Bricker & Kerstetter, 2000; Buttimer, 1980; Proshansky
et al., 1983; Relph, 1976; Tuan, 1980; Warzecha & Lime, 2001). This means that
people not only have deep attachments (place identity) that are expressed through
behavioural and emotional actions, but also functional (place dependence)
attachments to their place (Bricker & Kerstetter, 2000).

Place dependence
Place dependence entails an ongoing relationship between an individual and a
particular setting in the environment. This kind of relationship could be framed in the
concept of availability of local natural resource areas (e.g. community open space)
(Vaske & Kobrin, 2001). It could also be said that place dependence is the level to
which individuals perceive strong functional association with a particular place or

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group. Depending on the personal awareness and level of available information about
alternative places or settings, people tend to form their belonging and attachment to a
particular place. According to Stokols and Shumaker (1981, p.457), place dependence
is considered as an “occupant’s perceived strength of association between him/herself
and specific places”. It includes the importance of resources in providing amenities
important for desired activities (Stokols & Shumaker, 1981; Williams & Roggenbuck,
1989), satisfying the needs of individuals (e.g. friendship ties) (McCool & Martin,
1994), and the quality of place settings to facilitate users’ particular activities in
comparison to alternative sites or settings that might satisfy the individual’s needs or
goals (Moor & Graefe, 1994; Shumaker & Taylor, 1983). This functional attachment
is embodied in the place’s physical characteristics (e.g. climbing routes, hiking trails)
(Vaske & Korbin, 2001).

For instance, the Omani society by profession is divided into three main sectors:
trading, fishing, and agriculture. The first two sectors occupy the coastal areas while
the agricultural sector, which constitutes the majority of the population, is spread all
over the country. People tend not to move from one place to another unless there is a
shortage of living resources such as water. Thus, they form a physical attachment to
the place where they make a living. However, such attachment disappears when
living resources became scarce. This notion is confirmed by the historical early mass
movements that occurred after the collapse of the ‘Marib’ dam, of people from
Yemen to different locations in the Arabian Peninsula, including Oman, where living
opportunities were abundant. So, as people gain economically from the place where
they live, they become dependent on that place and, therefore, form an attachment to
it.

Place identity
Place identity, on the other hand, is the description of the relationships between
people and places, which emphasises the role of place in forming the individual’s
sense of self-identity (Lalli, 1992; McAndrew, 1998; Proshansky et al., 1983). It
involves those dimensions related to self-identification with a particular physical
environment or place (Proshansky, 1978). It is a substructure of a more global self-
identification similar to gender identity, and characterised as “a combination of
attitudes, values thoughts, beliefs, meanings, and behavioral tendencies, reaching far

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beyond emotional attachment and belonging to particular place” (Proshansky et al.,

1983, p.61).

Breakwell (1986) proposed that identity should be conceptualised in terms of a

biological organism moving through time, and which develops through the concepts
of accommodation, assimilation and evaluation of the social world. These concepts
are governed by four principles originating in social psychology: distinctiveness,
continuity, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is related to a person’s
perception of their ability to be effective in achieving their goals. Twigger-Ross and
Uzzell (1996, p.209) modified these principles and put them into an environmental
context to suggest that attached residents will express place identification and they
will distinguish themselves from others by these identifications, whereas those who
are not attached will express no place identification. Additionally, residents attached
to the local area will express positive self-esteem from that attachment. Others will
express either negative or neutral self-esteem associated with their areas.

Thus, place identity (an emotional attachment) is a psychological investment with a

setting that develops over time (Williams & Patterson, 1999). A history of repeat
visitation due to place dependence may lead to place identity (Moore & Graefe,
1994), and may lead to the sense of belonging/purpose that gives meaning to personal
life (Proshansky et al., 1983; Ralph, 1976; Tuan, 1980). Place identity has been
described as a component of self-identity (Proshansky et al., 1983) that enhances self-
esteem (Korpela, 1995), and increases the feeling of belonging to one’s community
(Ralph, 1976; Tuan, 1980).

Moore and Graefe (1994) argued that place identity is developed over a longer period
of time in comparison with place dependence and is associated with emotional and
symbolic meanings of place identity. The Omani society is characterised as a tribal
society and thus loyalty is always given to the tribe which the person belongs to.
Tribes are usually physically distributed and located over different places. This kind
of physical location creates emotional and systematic attachment to that particular
place. People usually tend to be proud of belonging to their place due to birth or
length of residency. However, despite the increase in functional belonging, the

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emotional attachment to places is a valid phenomenon and people like to be identified

socially and culturally with their communities.

In general, it is believed that people’s attachment to place may be built by expressing

the feeling of belonging and purpose that gives meaning to their lives (Buttimer,
1980; Bricker & Keresteter, 2000; McAndrew, 1998; Tuan, 1980). This implies that
people not only have a deep and complex attachment that is expressed through
emotional and behavioural actions (place identity), but they also have functional
attachment to place (place dependency) (Bricker & Kerstetter, 2000). However, place
attachments are not static, but rather changing in accordance with changes in people,
activities and processes (Brown & Perkins, 1992).

In brief, community attachment is the extent to which people, either locals or visitors,
perceive the value of natural environmental settings in a destination. People can value
places not only because they appeal to their emotional or symbolic mind, but also
because they have high quality of facilities and activities for individuals to experience
and gain satisfaction (Moore & Graefe, 1994).

2.4.1.4 Community attachment – the tourism context

A number of studies have applied the concept of community attachment to tourism

(McCool & Martin, 1994; Sheldon & Var, 1984; Um & Crompton, 1987; Williams et
al., 1995; Yoon et al., 2001). Community attachment seems to increase with length of
residency, family ties, and social advancement (Ritzer, 1996). Um and Crompton
(1987), for instance, studied residents’ attachment to their community, which was
measured by length of residency, place of birth, and heritage. They found that the
more residents are attached to the community, the less positive they will perceive the
impacts of tourism development in their community. In addition, McCool and Martin
(1994) examined how the adverse effects of tourism development influence emotions
and feelings of community attachment. Similar to Um and Crompton (1987), they
found that residents who were strongly attached to their community viewed tourism
impacts with more concern than did those less attached to their community. However,
Stynes and Stewart (1993) found divergent views on tourism development between
newer and longer-term residents in a community. The former favoured further
development, while the latter did not and were concerned about changes in the area’s

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character. The literature on tourism impact and community development indicates that
the longer respondents lived in the community the more negative they were towards
tourism development (Allen et al., 1988; Ayers & Potter, 1989; Brougham & Butler,
1981; Goudy, 1977; Liu & Var, 1986).

For example, the government of Oman decided to allocate an area along the coast in
the town of ‘Alsawadi’ for major tourism resorts. The local people showed a kind of
resentment to the development project as they regarded it as detaching them from
their community, despite the promising economic benefits and financial compensation
by the government to relocate them.

Conversely, Allen et al. (1993) found that length of residence in ten rural Colorado
towns did not have a significant effect on attitudes toward tourism development. This
result was supported by the findings of Clements et al. (1993) in a similar study of
residents along the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Williams et al.
(1995a) also confirmed that length of residency correlated with community sentiment,
community identity, and regional identity, concluding that regional identity had a
strong correlation with attitudes toward tourism’s social and economic impacts.
However, in contrast to previous studies, Williams et al. (1995a) found that residents
who are more attached to their place perceived tourism impacts positively and
developed ties with the landscape more than with the community. In linking tourism
impacts with attachment, Jurowski et al. (1997) found that attached residents
evaluated social, and economic impacts positively, but environmental impacts
negatively. Further, Jurowski et al. (1997) reported that residents with stronger
perceptions about their community were more supportive of tourism development.

Furthermore, newcomers to a place neither feel themselves to be part of the

community, nor do they feel the need to engage in community activities. Thus, the
community’s sentiments and identity become more fragile and fragmented, which in
turn impacts upon the emotional sense of place (Corcoran, 2002). In a study of
community solidarity and rural tourism development, Huang and Stewart (1996)
suggested that newcomers to a community do not become fully integrated with
original residents because of background diversities.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

It has also been found that the perceived negative impact of tourism increases as the
distance between a resident’s home and a tourist area decreases (Belisle & Hoy, 1980;
Sheldon & Var, 1984). Conversely, attitudes tend to be more favourable among those
residents economically depending on tourism (Belisle & Hoy, 1980; Brougham &
Butler, 1981; Milman & Pizam, 1988). Additionally, birthplace was found to have
positive influences on attitudes toward community tourism change and development
(Brougham & Butler, 1981; Davis et al., 1988; Goudy, 1977; Um & Crompton, 1987).
On the other hand, Keogh (1990) reported that residents living close to a particular
development site tended to be undecided about the development impacts due to lack
of knowledge, familiarity and enough information about the development.

From the tourist’s perspective, satisfaction, past experience, and age at the first visit
seem to be significant dimensions in explaining the attachment to a particular place
(Lee, 2001). The finding of Lee’s (2001) study supports the notion of the existence of
universal and unique characteristics that influence tourist perception of, and
attachment to, a destination (Hu & Ritchie, 1993). Thus, sense of place is essential to
tourists, residents and tourism developers because it represents what is unique about
the place and what is worth developing and preserving (Walsh et al., 2001).

In brief, in scrutinising the previous literature, one can observe that earlier studies of
tourism development impacts tended to reveal that respondents largely express more
negative attitudes towards tourism development, while the latest show a shift towards
positive feelings. I attribute such changes to the level of public awareness, availability
of information and public participation.

After reviewing what has been studied and discussed in the mass planning and
development tourism literature, it is therefore hypothesised that:

H1a: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

community attachment and their preferences about tourism resources and attractions
development.

H1b: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

community attachment and tourism development impacts.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

H1c: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

community attachment and community stakeholders’ participation.

2.4.2 Impacts of tourism development

Thus far the literature has argued that residents’ attachment to the community in terms
of their belonging, length of residency, place of birth, spatial distance of residency,
personal economic reliance on tourism, and perceived ability to influence tourism
planning decisions seem to have mixed effect on their perceptions and support for
tourism development (Akis et al., 1996; 1987; Chon & Evans, 1989; Um &
Crompton, 1987; Long et al., 1990; McCool & Martin, 1994; Sheldon & Var, 1984;
Tooman, 1997; Williams et al., 1995a; Williams & Lawson, 2001; Yoon et al., 1999;
2001). These studies in general have emphasised residents’ positive feelings and
attitudes about their communities’ prosperity and belonging, and how such
perceptions influence their support for tourism development. However, other studies
found the opposite result; Belisle and Hoy (1980), for example, found that the further
the respondent lived from the tourism “zone”, the more negative the attitude toward
the industry.

Tourism is considered to contribute positively to the wellbeing of societies through

perceived socio-economic and cultural benefits. However, its negative impacts,
especially on the environment, have to be acknowledged (Cooke, 1982; Keogh, 1990;
Kirppendorf, 1987; Liu et al., 1987; Pizam, 1978). With this in mind, for tourism to
contribute to economic development, its attractiveness and resources must be
nationally and internationally recognisable and competitive. To achieve those
objectives, the destination has to provide high-quality products to satisfy the local,
regional, and international consumers. The exchange of perceived social and
economic benefits to developers and providers of tourism products is a product of
involvement and relationships among the destination’s stakeholders through the
enhancement of the destination competitiveness.

Buhalis (2000, p.98), attempting to frame destinations into their geographical

perspectives, said: “Destinations are considered to be a defined geographical region
which is understood by its visitors as a unique entity, with a political and legislative

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framework for tourism marketing and planning”. Planning for tourism occurs in a
number of forms: developments such as infrastructure, promotion and marketing;
structures such as different government organisations; and scales such as national,
international, regional, local and sectoral (Hall, 1994). Tourism and travel is now
considered one of the world’s largest industries. Economically, it contributes over
10% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), creates over 8% of all jobs, and in addition
brings in almost 9% of all capital investment (WTTC, 2006). The destination
experience is essentially comprised of regions, resources (physical and human), and
amalgams of tourism facilities (attractions) and services (Buhalis, 2000). It is widely
recognised that tourist destinations need to plan their development to be successful
and competitive. This planning process will assist a destination in minimising or
avoiding possible environmental, socio-cultural and economical costs, and declining
of its competitiveness, as previously explained (section 2.2.3) (Dowling, 1993; Yuksel
et al., 1999).

Numerous studies have investigated the impacts of tourism development and their
effect on residents’ perceptions and attitudes toward tourism development (Akis et al.,
1996; Allen et al., 1993; Ap, 1990,1992; Belisle & Hoy, 1980; Besculides et al., 2002;
Brougham & Butler, 1981; Brown, 1998; Brunt & Courtney, 1999; Jurowski et al.,
1997; Lankford, 1994; Liu et al., 1987; Liu & Var, 1986; Long et al., 1990; Tosun,
2002; Williams & Lawson, 2001; Yoon, 2002; Yoon et al., 2001). The results of these
studies indicate a wide support of communities for tourism development. Several
studies have identified the main benefits or drawbacks perceived by residents as being
economic, social, cultural, political and environmental (Allen et al., 1993; Belisle &
Hoy, 1980; Brougham & Butler, 1981; Dogan, 1989; Jurowski et al., 1997; King et
al., 1993; Lankford & Howard, 1994; Liu & Var, 1986; Mansfeld, 1992; Milman &
Pizam, 1988; Pearce et al., 1996; Tosun, 2002). Some authors also linked the
perceived impacts to personal benefits in host communities (Dogan, 1989; King et al.,
1993; Mansfeld, 1992; Pearce et al., 1996; Tosun, 2002). However, this study is the
first of its kind about Oman which tried to examine the stakeholders’ attitudes,
perceptions and reactions towards tourism planning and development. The tourism
sector in Oman is still in the very early stages of development, therefore the obvious
development impacts may not be visible yet and that may justify the lack of research
on this important issue

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Chapter Two Literature Review

In general, researchers have recognised that reactions to tourism impacts may be

affected by certain characteristics associated with residents (Allen et al., 1993;
Lankford & Howard, 1994), for example: socio-demographic factors (Belisle & Hoy,
1980; Brougham & Butler, 1981; Liu & Var, 1986; Milman & Pizam, 1988), place of
residence in terms of distance between the living place and the tourist area (Belisle &
Hoy, 1980), amount of interaction between residents and tourists (Liu, 1986; Marsh &
Henshall, 1987), economic dependence on tourism (Allen et al., 1990; Liu et al.,
1987; Thompson et al., 1979), comparing local entrepreneurs, public officials and
residents (Murphy, 1983; Thompson et al., 1979), and overall level of tourism to
economic activities (Allen et all., 1988; Liu et al., 1987; Long et al., 1990). In
addition, there are some specific factors such as length of residency (Liu & Var,
1986), economic reliance on the industry (Madrigal, 1993), and the extent of tourism
intensity in the community (Pizam, 1978). These factors affect how residents may
react in general to tourism development in their areas.

2.4.2.1 Tourism economic impacts

One of the most important sources of common benefits and costs of tourism
development is the economic impact. According to Frechtling (1994b, p.362),
positive economic impact of tourism is “an economic benefit best understood as a
gross increase in the wealth or income, measured in monetary terms, of people located
in an area over and above the levels that would prevail in the absence of the activity
under study”. Local communities in different settings and levels are greatly influenced
by the degree of their economic development (Belisle & Hoy, 1980; Frechtling,
1994a, 1994b; Husband, 1989; Jurowski et al., 1997; Liu et al., 1987; Mason, 2003;
Milman & Pizam, 1987; Murphy, 1983; Ritchie, 1988). Economic ‘backlinkages’ to
local communities, through employment or investment, are central elements
underpinning a destination’s residents’ positive appraisals of tourism (Simmons &
Leiper, 1998). Perceived economic impacts were measured in different ways relating
to: (1) benefits from tourism, (2) costs associated with its development, and (3)
control of economic affairs (Lawson et al., 1998). Lickorish (1991a), Mill and
Morrison (1998), Pearce (1989) and Mason (2003) identified the positive and negative
economic impacts of tourism as shown in Table 2.4.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Table 2.4 Examples of economic impacts

Positive economic impacts Negative economic impacts
Contribution to foreign exchange earnings Inflation; Opportunity costs (e.g. prevention
of creation of other productive industries)

Contribution to government revenues Negative effect on other sectors such as

agriculture
Contribution to regional development Increase of land prices
Generation of formal and informal Over-dependence on tourism
employment
Creation of investment opportunities Seasonality (may lead to unbalanced
development)
Increased spending Creation of economic equality

Source: Developed for this research with contribution from Lickorish (1991a), Mill and
Morrison (1998), Pearce (1989) and Mason (2003).

These benefits can be measured either at national, regional or local levels. The major
economic effects of tourism are seen as an increase in demand for particular goods
and services, the creation of employment opportunities, the creation of income for
both private and public sectors, and the creation of investment opportunities through
the increase in land and property values (Cooper & Pigram, 1984). Hence,
employment opportunities (direct or indirect) or reduced unemployment have been
considered as the most recognised economic benefit of tourism (Cooper & Pigram,
1984; Mill & Morrison, 1998; Tooman, 1997). Furthermore, tourism is considered to
be a more labour-intensive industry, so it deserves special development support (Mill
& Morrison, 1998). It is also a means of attracting investment and spending (Akis et
al., 1996), creating economic gain (Getz, 1994), and affecting residents’ standards of
living (Cooke, 1982; Lankford, 1994; Perdue et al., 1987). Consequently, it has been
hypothesised in the literature that the more a person or community depends on
tourism dollars, the more they become positive about tourism development (Harrill,
2004; Pizam, 1978; Pizam & Pokela, 1985). For example, Pizam (1978) and Pizam
and Pokela (1985) found that entrepreneurs and residents employed in tourism-related
businesses were most positive in their attitudes toward tourism development.

Oman is a country with a population of 2.3 million. The country’s major source of
income is oil which, according to the government’s projections, is expected to last for

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about 20 years. One of the major pillars of Oman’s Vision 2020 is to build a
diversified economy that depends less on oil revenues to finance development. The
tourism sector is envisaged as one of the major promising sectors that the economy
could depend upon for achieving its diversification objectives. Therefore, tourism
development could be looked at as a source of income generation for the national
budget (e.g, taxes) and local communities (e.g., employment). Currently the
government imposes a 4% levy (tax) on all tourism activities. The levy is used by the
government to finance certain tourism activities such as marketing and promotion
(e.g., international exhibitions, road shows) and upgrading the quality of tourism
services (e.g., landscaping, restoration of historic sites, human resources
development). On the jobs creation front, as described in section 2.2.3.10, the
Ministry of Tourism is taking measures to ensure that the tourism sector becomes a
means of creating jobs for the Omani people. The most challenging task for the
planning authorities is overcoming the social and cultural restrictions about people,
especially the perception of females being employed in tourism activities such as
hotels. Currently, working in a hotel, for example, is not seen as a first option for
employment seekers as it may entail working in bars or serving alcohol, which is not
an acceptable profession for many people in an Islamic society.

However, Mason (1995) and Pearce (1989) identified the negative consequences of
tourism impacts as inflation, opportunity costs, and over-dependence on tourism. In
particular, the negative effect of tourism in developing countries is mostly noticeable
in its adverse effect on the agricultural sector, by drawing people from the land and
into employment in the tourism sector (Brown, 1998). Similarly, tourism historically
is considered to influence prices of goods and services in destinations (Johnson et al.,
1994), affecting cost of land and housing (Perdue et al., 1987; Var et al., 1985), and
straining local resources (Thompson et al., 1979). For instance, land prices have been
on the rise in some areas designated by Oman’s government as potential locations for
tourism development. Even though the price increases benefited some individuals in
the local population, the major beneficiaries were the speculators. Additionally,
Cooke (1982), in a study of two British Columbia communities, found that potential
jobs and income were not viewed as significant by residents; meanwhile they
perceived tourism as increasing their cost of living. This finding was supported by a
study conducted by Upchurch and Teivane (2000) on Riga, Latvia, in which they

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found that tourists had not generally increased local revenue, raised the local standard
of living, or caused an increase in local employment. This finding is currently also
applicable to Oman. Because of the insufficiency of accommodation and tourism
facilities outside of the capital Muscat, tourists mostly tended to travel on a daily basis
between Muscat and other places. Therefore, the economic benefits to local
communities are less than expected. The increase of facilities and amenities would
encourage tourists to spend longer time in places other than Muscat and therefore
increase the length of stay and the amount spent in the country. However, the
multiplier effect of tourism economic impacts on the national level has to be
investigated and measured. Researchers also point out the negative economic impacts
of tourism such as low wages, high prices, and high cost of living, yet despite those
negative impacts, people still favour further tourism development (Anderson &
Murphy, 1986; Haralambopoulous & Pizam, 1996; Harrill, 2004).

In general, the economic impacts of tourism have important welfare implications on

local communities (Dwyer & Forsyth, 1993). The welfare of tourism has other non-
economic impacts or implications such as socio-cultural, environmental and political
impacts.

2.4.2.2 Socio-cultural impacts

Like many other socio-cultural activities, tourism may have both positive and
negative impacts and consequences, but these levels depend on the number and type
of tourists, the level of institutionalisation of tourism, and the social and cultural
circumstances of the host society (Dogan, 1989). Therefore, perception of socio-
cultural changes resulting from tourism usually may require certain reactions from
local residents to adjust their lives to the prevailing and newly created conditions
(Dogan, 1989).

The tourism literature has discussed in detail the social/cultural impacts of tourism
development on different regions and countries. In particular, the concentrations were
on the social impacts (Allen et al., 1988; Ap, 1990; Archer et al., 2004; Brunt &
Courtney, 1999; Burns & Holden, 1995; Crompton & Sanderson, 1990; Dogan, 1989;
Harrison, 1992; Krippendorf, 1987; Mathieson & Wall, 1982; Sharpley, 1994, 2003;

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Urry, 1991), and the tourist-host interaction impacts (Doxey, 1975; de Kadt, 1979;
Krippendorf, 1987; Mathieson & Wall, 1982; McIntosh et al., 2003; Murphy, 1985;
Ryan, 1991). The studies found that tourism provided cultural exchange opportunities,
and improved income, education and recreational facilities for both local residents and
tourists (Belisle & Hoy, 1980; Lankford, 1994; Liu & Var, 1986; McCool & Martin,
1994; Pizam, 1978). However, others have found that, unlike economic impacts of
tourism, the social and cultural impacts of tourism could affect residents’ perception
of tourism development (Jurowski et al., 1997; Liu & Var, 1986; Milman & Pizam,
1988; Pizam, 1978; Yoon et al., 1999, 2001).

Other examples of tourism’s socio-cultural impacts are challenges to family values

and cultural identity (Go et al, 2003), emergence of new economically powerful
groups (elites), and cultural practices adapted to suit the needs of tourists (Ap &
Crompton, 1993; Johnson et al., 1994; Sharpley, 1994). Additional impacts include
creation of congestion, traffic jams, noise, prostitution, vandalism, use alcohol and
drugs, increasing crime rates (Gunn, 1988; Johnson et al., 1994; Liu et al., 1987;
Milman & Pizam, 1988), and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS
(Petty, 1989; Wilkes & Page, 2003). Cultural impacts are specified as factors which
lead to long-term gradual changes to society’s values, beliefs and cultural practices
(Brunt & Courtney, 1999). In particular, studies have found that interaction between
local residents and tourists to some extent threatens to destroy the local traditional
culture and societies, with societies becoming culturally dependent on tourism
generating countries (Sharpley, 1994). Another impact can be the erosion of the local
language/dialect (Krippendorf, 1987; Ryan, 1991). Further, exposing religious and
historical institutions to commercial utilisation leads to loss of authenticity and local
identity (Dogan, 1989; Mathieson & Wall, 1982).

It has to be recognised that socio-cultural impacts of tourism are neither static nor
passive, but require destinations to develop cultural strategies to limit, channel, and
cope with the negative impacts of international tourism. According to Dogan (1989,
pp.221-224), among the cultural strategies people develop are: (1) Resistance, as
expressed by enmities and aggression against tourists and touristic facilities (e.g. Bali,
Indonesia), (2) Retreatism, where society closes itself to avoid contacts with
foreigners (e.g. North Korea), (3) Boundary maintenance, through balancing of

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positive economic benefits and negative socio-cultural costs, by defining a boundary

between the foreign and local cultures (e.g. Oman), (4) Revitalisation, where tourism
may play a role in reviving distinct cultural norms when they become touristic
attractions (e.g. industrialised countries); and (5) Adoption, where some sections of
societies, especially youth and educated sectors, may not object to the disintegration
of traditional culture under the impact of tourism (e.g. Egypt, East Asia).

In general socio-cultural benefits include variables such as learning, awareness,

appreciation, family bonding, community pride, ethnic identity, increased
understanding and tolerance of others, and stronger cultural identity (Besculides et al.,
2002; Driver et al., 1991;). For example, Stein and Anderson (1999 cited in
Besculides et al., 2002) found that the benefits of tourism to two different
communities were: increased pride and identity, cohesion, exchange of ideas, and
increased knowledge about the culture of the community. However, the cultural
disadvantages can be: over-development, assimilation, conflict and xenophobia, and
artificial reconstruction (Besculides et al., 2002). One of the strongest impacts of
assimilation is the loss of native language or dialect as a result of the influx of tourist
languages (Coppock, 1977; Krippendorf, 1987; Ryan, 1991). Table 2.5 compares the
socio-cultural positive and negative impacts of tourism as discussed in the literature.

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Table 2.5 Positive and negative socio-cultural impacts of tourisms

Positive socio-cultural impacts Negative socio-cultural impacts

Increases availability of recreational facilities Increases crime/robberies/vandalism
Increases availability of entertainment Increases organised crime
Improves quality of police protection Increases drug use/addiction
Improves quality of fire protection Increases alcoholism
Improves quality of life Increases smuggling
Improves understanding and image of Increases prostitution
different communities/culture
Enables meeting visitors, which is a valuable Increases sexual permissiveness
educational experience
Increases demand for historical and cultural Increases exploitation of local popularion
exhibits
Promotes cultural exchange Causes avoidance of shopping in tourist areas
Encourages a variety of cultural activities by Increases difficulty in obtaining tickets for
locals entertainment events
Preserves cultural identity of host population Robs local populations of autonomous
decision making
Increases morality, honesty, politeness and Increases the social divide between the
manners, mutual confidence, and attitude have/have nots
toward work
Preserves religious and historic places Erosion of the local language/dialect
Commercialisation of religion and religious
places

Source: Adapted from Ap, 1990; Allen et al., 1988; Archer et al., 2004; Brunt & Courtney,
1999; Burns & Holden, 1995; Crompton & Sanderson, 1990; Dogan, 1989; Harrison, 1992;
Krippendorf, 1987; Mathieson & Wall, 1982; Ryan, 1991; Sharpley, 1994; Urry, 1991.

Preserving cultural identity is an issue of particular importance to developing

countries where local societies could be exposed to different impacts usually
associated with tourism development. Communities that aim at capitalising on
tourism development must assess their own cultural and heritage identity, lifestyle and
environments (Go et al., 2003). For example, it is evident, from excavations carried
out by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage throughout the country, that Oman is a
country rich in historical sites such as forts, castles, tombs and archeological sites that
go back to the third millennium B.C. The Oman government’s efforts in preserving
these cultural sites is coordinated with the United Nations Education, Scientific and

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Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which has designated many sites as internationally

preserved or protected to maintain native species and habitats. The government of
Oman has taken the initiative to restore most of the historical sites and traditional
local markets (suqe) which could be of socio-economic value to national and local
communities such as ‘Nizwa, Jebreen, Bahla and Al-Hazem Forts’ to name a few.
These regeneration and restoration projects provide social benefits for residents and
are examples of tourism supporting conservation (Moscardo, 2000).

The government’s efforts to preserve cultural and heritage identity extended to

include preserving national dress (for example, it is compulsory to wear national dress
at government offices), establishing a number of museums, establishing a separate
Ministry of Culture and Heritage and a public authority for Handicrafts industries, and
creating a public centre to preserve and protect local songs and folklores. These
efforts will enhance the local communities’ desires to preserve their social and
cultural identity and maintain their cultural distinctiveness within an increasingly
homogenised world (Ritzer & Liska, 1997). According to Go et al. (2003, p.11),
cultural identity as an asset of development depends mainly on the establishment of
an “ethics of the heritage”. The tangible and intangible nature of the cultural assets
should be respected in conservation and development initiatives for a destination to
preserve its authenticity and distinctiveness. To achieve this goal, education,
knowledge distribution and public awareness are key factors that stimulate and
empower tourism stakeholders in the wise use and protection of national culture and
heritage. Much information about cultural heritage can be obtained from publicly
available resources which can be very easily incorporated in the formal and informal
education programs (Go et al., 2003).

The development and application of Information and Communication Technology

(ICT) will provide e-content for education to various tourism stakeholders. E-learning
and training for e-heritage will help to achieve broader knowledge and awareness to
maintain sustainable cultural and heritage growth (Go et al., 2003). This combination
of technological evolution and cultural identity with the information society may
enhance the dissemination of cultural heritage (Go et al., 2003). The Omani Ministry
of Tourism has started to utilise ICT in presenting the cultural heritage in the newly

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restored cultural sites by providing sight and sound demonstrations about the history
and nature of the local culture and providing these assets through various e-media
such as CDs, DVDs and web-based sites.

A study by MacKay and Fesenmaier (2000) provides empirical evidence to support

the notion that the manner in which people view images of a destination is mediated
by cultural background. This can be very relevant, for instance in the case where
Oman is promoting itself to Western consumers with slogans such as ‘the essence of
Arabia’. It would be of interest to identify the extent to which consumers are
prejudiced based on prior information, for instance contained in travel guides, but also
particularly in cultural media, such as books, movies or visits to museums elsewhere.
This could be of great influence on destination image and therefore destination choice
behaviour. As an example, a major cultural event in Oman is the yearly Muscat
Festival that presents authentic Omani cultural heritage and attracts many visitors
from Europe and the Middle East. Thus, there is a correlation between a destination’s
image and its identity: its authenticity, cultural heritage and natural resources.
Authenticity has been a predominant issue in tourism in general and in Oman’s
tourism vision in particular. As Urry (2003: p. 11) indicates, “the search for
authenticity is too simple a foundation for explaining contemporary tourism. There
are multiple discourses and processes of the ‘authentic’, that, driven by the Internet
evolution, are likely to expand further in future”.

In sum, the nature of Oman’s tourism attractions strategy is built upon the availability
of a distinctive cultural heritage ready to be explored and experienced by tourists
mainly from western countries, which supply the majority of Oman’s tourists. As
indicated in the Ministry of Tourism‘s strategy literature, preserving the authenticity
of local culture is a cornerstone in tourism planning and development. In fact, there is
specific attention and interest from higher levels of government in making Oman a
distinct destination in terms of cultural and heritage authenticity. City planning,
building structures and designs, tribal systems and local governance are examples of
such efforts. Such attention is translated into objectives and policies in the continuous
national development plans.

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2.4.2.3 Tourism Environmental Impacts

The protection of the environment is essential for the prosperity and continued
success of tourism destinations (Liu et al., 1987). According to Swarbrooke (1999),
there are five aspects of the environment: the natural environment, wildlife, the
farmed environment, the built environment, and natural resources. These aspects seem
to be interrelated.

In a tourism context, the literature identified that some aspects of the relationships
between tourism and the environment are unbalanced (Mason, 2003). In identifying
the physical and environmental impacts of tourism development, the literature
associated these impacts with the development of natural historical or cultural
resources, tourist service facilities, preservation of historical and cultural resources,
recreation facilities, overcrowding and noise pollution, unattractive building design of
tourist facilities and inappropriate grading of the landscape, excessive removal of
flora and fauna and disruption of natural ecosystem by inappropriate tourism
development or tourist use of the area and better infrastructure and other supporting
facilities (Davis et al., 1988; Getz, 1994; Holden, 2000; Kendall & Var, 1984;
Lankford & Howard, 1994; Liu et al., 1987; Mason, 2003; Milman & Pizam, 1988;
Ministry of Tourism, 2006; Murphy, 1983; Pizam, 1978). Table 2.6 summarises the
positive and negative environmental impacts of tourism.

Table 2.6 Tourism positive/negative environmental impacts

Tourism positive environmental Tourism negative environmental
impacts impacts
Preserves environment/national parks Increases traffic congestion
Does not contribute to ecological decline Depletes wildlife
Promotes preservation of historic Increases litter/noise pollution
buildings
Maintains wildlife habitats Increases overcrowding of outdoor recreation
areas
Stimulates measures to protect the Increases pollution of watercourses and
environment/landscape/wildlife beaches
Increases footpath erosion
Creation of unsightly structure, such as
buildings (e.g. hotels) that do not fit with
vernacular architecture.

Source: Adopted from Ap (1990), Kendall and Var (1984) and Mason (2003).

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For instance, Kendall and Var (1984) summarised the outcome of the previous
literature on residents’ perception about tourism’s negative environmental impacts as:
crowding (including traffic congestion), noise, litter, property destruction (including
crop destruction), pollution, change in community appearance, depletion of wildlife,
and ad hoc development. However, examples of the positive impacts are more and
better leisure facilities, more beaches designated as parks, and recognition of saving
historical places. Positive impacts such as development of infrastructure and
superstructure, pollution control, and public health benefits are also recognised
(Travis, 1982).

It has been recognised that people’s support for tourism development depends upon
their attitudes towards environmental concerns (Jurowski et al., 1997; Yoon et al.,
1999, 2001). For example, Jurowski et al. (1997) examined the relationships between
environmental attitudes, support for conservational policies, and preferences for
recreational facilities in a national park. They identified two distinctive groups:
‘ecocentric and anthropocentric’. The former prefers protection and regulation of the
environment, and the latter supports recreation development that would alter and
transform the environment. They concluded that diverging preferences related to
recreational facilities and/or management actions differed from one group attitude to
the other. In particular, previous studies found the existence of positive relationships
between demographic variables and environmental attitudes (Arcury, 1990; Dunlap &
Liere, 1978; Yoon, 2002). In general, the studies suggest that age, education level,
gender, and living area may affect environmental concerns and attitudes.

The Omani society could be placed within the ‘ecocentric’ framework. The
government, through the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources, is
responsible for imposing, implementing and controlling environmental laws and
regulations in the country. All industrial projects including tourism projects have to
comply with strict environmental requirements. However, tourism’s expected
environmental impacts are not assessed. The tourism planning authority, in its attempt
to manage tourist resources, aims for the use of the environmental planning approach
to plan all forms of tourism projects (Ministry of Tourism, 2006). This environmental
planning approach is expected to establish sustainable tourism carrying capacities and

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sustain an acceptable level of change to the natural and physical environments. The
planning approach is expected to provide assurances that new projects are
environmentally integrated and compatible with other environmental regulations
prevailing in the country (Ministry of Tourism, 2006). Such a planning approach
should be implemented with the unanimous consent of the relevant stakeholders of the
tourism projects. For instance, the Ministry of Tourism has recently adopted a policy
of preparing an ‘Environmental Management Plan’ for each tourist’s development
zone. The purpose of the management plan is to describe the philosophy and direction
of development and management for the tourism zone requiring greatest protection
(e.g., Ras Al Hadd tourism development zone). The objectives of the management
plan are to assure compatibility of tourism development with protection of local
culture, heritage, lifestyle and flora and fauna (Ministry of Tourism, 2006).

However, despite these environmental regulations and concerns, the environmental

regulative impacts of tourism have started to be realised. For example, many of the
prime coastal areas in Muscat and other places have been reserved as tourist locations
to be utilised by national and international investors for the purpose of building
resorts and other tourist activities.

Therefore, stakeholders’ behaviours and attitudes toward the environment may

influence their preferences and support for tourism development in their communities.
If stakeholders experience positive tourism impacts in terms of physical and
environmental conditions, they will develop and render positive support for additional
tourism development.

2.4.2.4 Tourism political impacts

The level of heterogeneity of the local population and the level of power structure
they posses may determine the differentiation of perceptions and responses to tourism
development and implementation strategies (Dogan, 1989). The local population is
usually divided into various political groups, each with a different policy focus, and
consequently their responses to tourism development differ based on their political
orientation.

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The costs and benefits of tourism are not evenly distributed within the local
community, and this disparity leads to internal power and interest conflicts (Dogan,
1989), the creation of class and racial tensions in the society (Britton, 1983), the rich
becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer (de Kadat, 1979), and redistribution of
political power (those negatively affected become hostile and resentful toward the
newly created elite), which subsequently leads to resentment and unrest (Lundberg,
1990). This issue of class and political struggle is discussed in this study only in terms
of its relation to tourism politics.

Thus, tourism development may lead to conflicts between different interest groups, be
they public, private businesses or nongovernmental organisations (e.g.
environmentalists), whose interests are differentially affected by tourism. Such
differences could develop further into hostilities and unrest, which ultimately affect
the safety and security of the destination. Studies by Dogan (1989) and Smith (1989)
found that the local manipulation of power in favour of recreational tourism activities
over more basic industries proved discordant, and split the once cohesive community
into hostile political factions.

Level of interest differences among different political groups will determine their
reaction and response to tourism. The agricultural, environmentalists and traditional
groups in a community tend to react negatively to tourism development, as they
become negatively affected by it. They will show either active resistance or passive
retreatism, depending on the level of harm. On the other hand, those whose interests
are related to the tourism industry will show some positive reaction to tourism and
will adopt it (Dogan, 1989). Additionally, Snepenger and Johnson (1991) found that
residents who identified themselves as ‘conservatives’ were more negatively disposed
to tourism development than those who identified themselves as ‘liberals’. Thus, the
political impacts of tourism are very much related to economic gain and political
power exerted by various groups.

In general, the roles and attitudes of different government political groups and
bureaucrats are important in determining official efforts to cope with different tourism
impacts. The type of political regime is important. In political pluralism, it is expected
that some groups would express antagonism to tourism, even when the majority

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approves it, while in a one-party system or an autocracy, opposition to tourism is not

allowed (Lundberg, 1990). In the main, tourism development depends on government
initiatives. Tourism cannot develop without active encouragement of the state (Dogan,
1989). The government’s role is important in such areas as visa policy, foreign
exchange requirements, and import regulations. Additionally, it plays a key role in
facilitating regulations for investment in the tourism industry, and providing the
necessary incentives for tourism development (e.g. infrastructure, supporting
services). States’ efforts to minimise the negative consequences of tourism are also
important through educating local citizens to adopt friendly attitudes toward tourists,
and use of the media to promote positive images of the destination (Wood, 1980).

The political system in Oman is characterised as an absolute monarchy. The Sultan is

the head of state and possesses ultimate authority in appointing the cabinet Ministers,
State advisors, Ambassadors and Undersecretaries. There are two legislative bodies to
support the government: ‘the Shura Council’ whose members are elected by the
people, and the ‘Majlis Al Dawleh’ whose members are appointed by the Sultan. The
authorities of both Houses are limited to reviewing laws forwarded to them by the
Sultan or the Cabinet, suggesting laws and regulations, and providing advice to the
government on social and economic matters. Neither House has the power to enforce
laws or regulations or reinforce the implementation of any law. The parliamentary
democratic experience is new in Oman and, since its inception some years back, it
was subject to frequent evaluation and development allowing people to understand,
absorb and experience its advantages before going into full-swing democratic
practices. In tourism, the authority of planning and development is in the hands of the
Ministry of Tourism. The Ministry, as the sole body responsible for tourism activities,
coordinates its efforts with other government Ministries and organisations (e.g,
Ministry of Culture & Heritage, Royal Oman Police, the Omani Centre for Investment
& Export Promotion), and the Omani Chamber of Commerce and Industry as
representative of the private sector’s interests.

In this case, the government is responsible for tourism development and planning. It
has a dual responsibility as development initiator and protector of the stakeholders’
interests. Those who feel they are negatively affected by tourism development must
negotiate an effective solution with the same agent – the government. Generally, there

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are two sides in the development equation, the government on one side and the private
sector as the other party of interest. The government usually plays the balancing role
between the private sector’s interests and local communities’ interests within the
broader framework of planning and development set up by the government.

Political balance among interest groups within a destination, political freedom, and a
government’s active role in regulating the industry are important political factors for
tourism development. Those in the political sphere who perceive tourism positively
will encourage further tourism development.

According to Hall (1994), presentation of the political impacts of tourism

development is poorly developed in the tourism literature. Ritchie (1984), in a study
on tourism events, established a general framework for the measurement of specific
variables of political impacts, as shown in Table 2.7. He emphasised the importance
of studying the political impacts at both macro and micro levels. He acknowledged
the difficulty of conducting political impact studies due to difficulties in obtaining
appropriate data. This may be attributed to “the general inapplicability of positivist or
prescriptive approaches to questions of ideology, power and structure” (Hall, 1994,
p.12). However, Hall (1992a) identified the shortfalls within this framework, as it did
not consider the importance of conflict and power relations within the political impact
studies of tourism.

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Table 2.7 Specific variables measured in political impact studies and associated
data collection and interpretation problems

Category of data Nature of variables Associated data collection

measured and interpretation
problems
Macro-political Image enhancement Degree to which an event
improves awareness and status
of city/region for commercial
and tourism purposes.
Ideological Degree to which an event
enhancement promotes awareness and status
of a particular political
ideology

Micro-political Career enhancement Degree to which an event

provides key individuals with
high visibility and improved
career opportunities.

Athletic enhancement Degree to which an event

permits greater opportunity for
local athletes to participate in
and/or learn from activities.

Source: Adapted from Ritchie (1984, p.10) cited in Hall (1994, p.11)

Politics is about power. The study of power arrangements is critically important in the
analysis of the political impacts of tourism (Hall, 1994), because power governs “the
interplay of individuals, organisations, and agencies influencing, or trying to
influence, the direction of policy” (Lyden et al., 1969, p.6). It is reasonable to assume
that the use of the conception of power, capable of identifying decisions, non-
decision, and community political structure, will provide the most benefits in
analysing the political impacts of tourism (Hall, 1994). Such political complication
and conflict of interest does not exist in Oman’s case as the political scene is
controlled by the Sultan and the appointed Cabinet. However, the legitimate worry is
that the most advantaged persons within the government circle may benefit at the
expense of those less powerful in gaining from development. On the negative side,
where conflicting interests exist, it is most likely that the interests of the politically
powerful will win out over the interests of the politically weak party (Hall, 1992). One
of the negative political impacts of tourism is the loss of local autonomy to
international investors (Krippendorf, 1987). For instance, there are several large-scale

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tourism development projects owned by international investors under construction in

different prime locations in Oman. Those investors usually dictate the investment and
development requirements, which sometimes go against the general interests of local
communities.

In general, the investigation of perceived impacts of tourism development is important

for examining a community’s preferences and support for, or opposition to, tourism
development. In particular, the perceptions held by various stakeholders of a
destination of tourism impacts are important in determining the level of tourism
development in order to gain their support for planning and development strategies.

Generally speaking, the success of any tourism planning and development initiatives
is more dependent on the active participation of destination stakeholders in the early
stages of the planning process, the availability of information to stakeholders, and the
willingness of decision makers to cooperate with interest groups for the greatest
benefit to all. The cooperation and collaboration system within the destination process
will enhance the competitiveness of the destination tourism industry through the
active support of destination stakeholders, particularly those benefiting from tourism
activities in the community.

Therefore it is hypothesised that:

H2a: There is a positive relationship between the impacts of tourism (economic,

social, political, and environmental) development on destination stakeholders, and
their preferences about tourism resources and attractions development.

H2b: There is a positive relationship between the impacts of tourism (economic,

social, political, and environmental) development on destination stakeholders, and
stakeholders’ attachment to their communities.

H2c: There is a positive relationship between the impacts of tourism (economic,

social, political, and environmental) development on destination stakeholders, and
stakeholders’ perceived power and desire to participate in tourism planning and
decision-making.

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2.4.3 Stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation)

Stakeholders’ participation in tourism planning is a potential component of tourism

planning approaches and sustainability. Stakeholders can be defined as any individual
or identified group who is affected by, or who can affect, the achievement of
corporate objectives (Bryson & Crosby, 1992; Getz & Timur, 2004; Glicken, 2000;
Ryan, 2002). Tourism planning literature emphasises the importance of local
community involvement and cooperation in the planning process (Aari, 1996; Gunn,
1994; Gunn & Var, 2002; Haywood, 1988; Inskeep, 1991; Murphy, 1985, 1988;
Scheyvens, 1999; Simmons, 1994; Telfer, 2003; Timothy, 1999; Tosun, 2000). The
community’s approach to tourism planning (Blank, 1989; Gunn, 1994; Murphy, 1985;
Simmons, 1994) and the sustainability of tourism approaches (Cooper, 1997; Hall,
1998a, 1998b, 2000; Inskeep, 1991; Jamal & Getz, 1995) depend on various
destination stakeholders’ participation. The importance of public involvement in
tourism planning is a consequence of tourism impacts on host communities. Several
tourism studies have shown that while tourism’s economic impacts are generally
welcomed (e.g. Kendall & Var, 1984; Liu & Var, 1986), many socio-cultural and
environmental consequences are perceived negatively (Cooke, 1982; Liu et al., 1987;
Pizam, 1978) (sections 2.4.2.1, 2.4.2.2, 2.4.2.3). The outcome of these studies
substantiated an increase of public participation in the decision-making process (i.e.
higher empowerment) through higher participation of stakeholders and collaboration
among concerned responsible authorities (Aas et al., 2005; McIntosh & Goeldner,
1986; Timothy, 1999; Wall, 1995, 1996a, 1996b), by introducing a more community-
oriented approach to tourism planning and development (Burns, 2004; Choi &
Sirakaya, 2005; Cooke, 1982; Fyall & Garrod, 2004; Getz, 1983; Hall, 2000;
Haywood, 1988; Murphy, 1985, 1988; Scheyvens, 2002).

2.4.3.1 Community (based) planning and development

Community-based tourism is considered as a more sustainable approach to

development than traditional mass tourism (Bramwell & Sharman, 1999, 2000;
Inskeep, 1991; Murphy, 1985, 1988). According to Murphy (1985, p.153), each
community should identify its goals and objectives, and pursue tourism to the level
that satisfies its local residents’ needs, “Tourism … relies on the goodwill and
cooperation of local people because they are part of its product. Where development

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and planning do not fit in with local aspiration and capacity, resistance and hostility
can … destroy the industry’s potential altogether”.

Additionally, Long (1993) argued that if local residents, whether individuals or

groups, are not involved in the process of planning, the implementation of well-
planned, and meaningful processes will be changed by those who are most negatively
affected by those processes. Indeed, “Plans will bear little fruit unless those most
affected are involved from the start” (Gunn 1994, p.111). The scope of community-
based planning also requires the inclusion of stakeholders other than citizens in the
decision-making process (Jamal & Getz, 1995), such as the public sector, private
businesses and organisations, and environmental advocates, who are interdependent
on the complex tourism system, with no single individual or group being capable of
acting alone to deal with tourism issues and problems (Brohman, 1996a; Gunn, 1994;
Gunn & Var, 2002; Jamal & Getz, 1995).

The multiple stakeholders sought to be included in tourism planning and development

of strategy processes are either those who have the power to influence the decision-
making process or have a stake in the performance of the tourism sector (Donaldson
& Preston, 1995; Freeman, 1984; Sautter & Leisen, 1999). From the possible
stakeholders’ list indicated in Figure 2.3, media and researchers are the ones that
received less attention in the literature. Despite the lack of research about the role of
the media (Schneider & Sonmez, 1999), it is likely that mass media influences the
international image of a region or a destination. The importance of the media stems
from its capability of reaching a large number of people locally and around the globe,
as well as the power it possesses to influence people’s perceptions, attitudes, images
and decision-making capabilities, especially in the age of modern and advanced ICT
and the ‘death of distance’. A number of possible stakeholders are identified in Figure
2.3.

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Figure 2.3 Tourism stakeholders map

Local Activist
Businesses Residents Groups
National
Business
chains
Media
Tourism destination planners
and developers
Tourists
Researchers

Employees Government Competitors

Source: Adapted from Sautter & Leisen (1999), with the media and researchers added.

According to Buhalis (2000), tourism destinations are some of the most difficult
entities to market and manage, due to the size and complexity of the stakeholders
involved in the planning and development process, the nature of economic,
environmental and socio-cultural diversities and the nature of the political system and
public policies adopted. The complexity of tourism development necessitates the
coordination of various activities by various stakeholders and by extending the use of
ICT and communication strategies (Go, 2005). Therefore, the importance of ICT and
corresponding organisational and institutional transformation as drivers of change in
the destination society should gain attention and legitimacy in the tourism education
curriculum.

As a system, tourism consists of a large number of agents, each of which behaves

according to some sets of rules and interests (Stacey, 2000). These rules and interests
are the principles of self-organisation: agents interact locally according to their own
principles and interests. Self-organisation means that “the agents in a system interact
with each other according to their own local principles of interaction” (Stacey, 2000,
p.334). Some of those agents have the capacities that enable them to respond more
effectively and successfully than others. This could be translated into management
and organisational terms to mean that some members of the organisation have more
knowledge, more understanding and more power to influence the decision-making

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process than others (Faulkner & Russell, 2000; Stacey, 2000). But such complexity of
stakeholders can be eased in the later stages of development by utilising and
manipulating better marketing communication strategies, the coordination of activities
by myriad stakeholders and the extended use of ICT. For instance, ICT could help the
rise of global brand marketing, computer reservation systems, transnational
benchmarking, education and information dissemination, and stakeholders’ consensus
building efforts (Go & Haywood, 2003). To assess the state of the art of tourism
marketing, we have to understand how academics, practitioners and other
stakeholders deal with changes and opportunities created by global ICT advancement,
the organisation of the international marketing system, the changes in the organisation
of marketing and production and their societal economic and social impacts (Go &
Haywood, 2003). Generally speaking, in evaluating destination tourism, planners
should pay closer attention to the relationship between ICT and tourism planning and
marketing (Cooper et al., 1993; Gunn, 1988) in combining multiple shopping
purposes and destination (Dellaert et al., 1998), evaluating national and city tourism
destination marketing programs (Faulkner, 1997; Go & Zhang, 1997) and the
interaction between national and regional tourism offices in distributing information
to various stakeholders, including residents and tourists (Sheldon, 1993). The
utilisation of ICT and e-business systems by destination management organisations
potentially provides key media for the purpose of those stakeholders to work together
in destination management and marketing. Therefore, managing the interests of all
stakeholders makes the process of marketing and management very challenging for
policy and decision makers. Strategies and actions should take into consideration the
wishes and interests of the majority stakeholders identified in Figure 2.3 above
(Buhalis, 2000; Sautter & Leisen, 1999).

The community of a destination is an important component of the long-term tourism

product which has an effect on everyone’s life (Murphy, 1985, 1988). The successful
planning and development of a tourist destination requires strong community support
(Getz, 1983), consensus among destination stakeholders (Ritchie, 1988), and good
guest-host relationships (Haywood, 1988), which in turn can increase the quality of
tourism benefits to both tourists and national development (Lee, 1988).

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2.4.3.2 Community empowerment and participation

Public participation in the decision-making process refers to ‘empowering’ local

residents to determine their own goals for development, and consulting with locals to
determine their hopes and concerns for tourism.

Aari (1996) described empowerment as a change in control, multidimensional,

multilevel, interactions between levels, and a process of change. The notion of
interaction between various levels of stakeholders within a community and various
dimensions is of most interest for this research to reflect upon tourism development
impacts on various community stakeholders.

In particular, Scheyvens (1999) conceptualised the multidimensional aspect of

empowerment in tourism as shown in Table 2.8. For instance, economic
empowerment allows local residents and the entire community to benefit financially
from tourism, and provides the local community with access to productive resources.
It ensures the equitable distribution of benefits among community residents.
Psychological empowerment develops self-esteem and pride in community identity
and culture attachment, traditional knowledge and natural resources (Timothy &
Tosun, 2003). Social empowerment assists in maintaining a community’s social
equilibrium and cohesion, and in building cooperation in development initiatives such
as education and other infrastructure. Finally, political empowerment is related to
representational democracy, where people are allowed to voice their opinion about
tourism development initiatives. True political empowerment means that government
agencies and groups in charge of tourism planning and development seek
contributions and feedback from community members and other related stakeholders
in the decision-making process (Arnstein, 1969; Friedmann, 1992; Lynn, 1992;
Timothy & Tosun, 2003).

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Table 2.8 Types of community empowerment in tourism development

Type Signs of empowerment

Economic Tourism brings long-term financial benefits to a destination community.

Money is spread throughout the community. There are notable
improvements in local services and infrastructure.

Psychological Self-esteem is enhanced because of outside recognition of the uniqueness

and value of their culture, natural resources, and traditional knowledge.
Increasing confidence in the community leads members to seek out further
education and training opportunities. Access to jobs and cash leads to an
increase in status for usually low-status residents, such as women and
youth.

Social Tourism maintains or enhances the local community’s equilibrium.

Community cohesion is improved as individuals and families cooperate to
build a successful industry. Some funds raised are used for community
development initiatives like education and roads.

Political The community’s political structure provides a representational forum

through which people can raise questions and concerns pertaining to
tourism initiatives. Agencies initiating or implementing the tourism
ventures seek out the opinions of community groups and individual
community members, and provide chances for them to be represented on
decision-making bodies.

Source: Adapted from Scheyvens (2002, p.60)

The empowerment of stakeholders, especially residents, must be complemented by

sufficient sources of information and familiarisation with the planning and
development of tourism projects if they are to participate effectively and in a
meaningful way, especially in the early stages of the planning process (Keogh, 1990).
The access to information sources, in relation to weighing up the advantages and
disadvantages of tourism development and how it may impact upon the lives of host
communities, in addition to incorporating tourism into the education curriculum, are
essential to encourage more public participation in the long term, particularly in
developing countries, where the flow of information and public awareness is mostly
poor and controlled by the central authorities (Scheyvens, 1999).

Din (1993) argued that local residents’ involvement in tourism initiatives and plans
required some sort of general knowledge and understanding about tourism.
Knowledge in this case means people having the power to reach out to the decision
makers and ensure that their voice and message are heard and dealt with in a positive
way, and also in being educated to understand the current circumstances of tourism

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development requirements. Participatory democracy in Oman and other developing

countries should be considered as both a matter of right and capacity to participate
(Jamal & Getz, 1999). This is the right for legitimising the right of the individual or
group to participate in the tourism planning and development decision-making
process. Any early denial of such legitimate participation can make the process of
compromising and consensus building problematic and prevent participants from
getting their concerns addressed. As people become more educated and
knowledgeable about tourism processes and impacts, they may be in a position to
have some influence in the decision-making process, and to get involved in the
evaluation of tourism’s costs and benefits to the community (Din, 1993; Lynn, 1992;
Timothy, 2000; Timothy & Tosun, 2003; Tosun & Jenkins, 1998). Historically,
academic programs, including those related to tourism education, have been initiated
and governed by national education policies (Go, 2005; Go & Haywood, 2003). The
knowledge transfer from policy makers to various stakeholders at the national or local
levels could make use of the most sophisticated ICT available. For instance, the use of
web-based media should be explored to bridge any misalignment between policy
makers and other stakeholders in the tourism destination. Such an effort would
enhance the speed of the decision-making process and efficiency in transforming
information. However, the level of participation differs from community to
community depending on the political advancement of the community, the strength of
its stakeholders and their desire to be involved in the planning process.

Arnstein (1969) developed a ladder of citizen participation with eight levels, as shown
in Table 2.9.

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Table 2.9 Ladder of participation

Level of Participation
participation Signs of participation
High Citizen control = Citizens have control over decision-making process

Delegate power = Full participation and majority in decision-making

process
Partnership = Negotiation and trade-off with persons in power

Placation = Higher level of tokenism but power still in hands of the elite

Consultation = Tokenism due to restriction of the flow of information,

but no power

Informing = Lack of power to ensure that their message will be heeded

Therapy = Non-participation; those in power will educate or cure

participants
Low Manipulation = Non-participation, contrived by some to substitute for
genuine participation

Source: Adapted from Arnstein (1969) and Telfer (2003)

While the bottom two levels of the ladder (manipulation and therapy) are labelled
non-participatory levels, in which the objective is to prevent people from participating
in the planning and decision-making process, the upper level (citizen control) is where
citizens have the majority of the decision-making positions and exert full managerial
control (Telfer, 2003). Hall (1998a), in illustrating the extent of public participation
in tourism planning, argued that rarely did the level of citizen participation rise above
that of placation. This is the situation in Oman, where tourism is considered to be in
the development stage and participation is still in the consultation platform, as will be
explained further in Chapter 5.

Public participation in Oman differs in principle and practice. The government

dominates the decision-making process in almost all fields of activities. As explained
in section 2.4.2.4, the Shura Council’s role is limited to giving advice to the
government. They review and comment on the five-year development plans and they
may review their implementation and make recommendations to the planning
authority. On the local level, people’s participation in planning and development is
very much limited to consultation through the local departments rather than full
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participation as practised in the Western World. In practice, the government would

inform the local people about the project to be implemented, sometimes even after
securing investors and the contract being awarded. However, in some cases the people
may be involved in discussing major development plans for the area, but such a
practice is not a systematic phenomenon. The government currently acts as a manager
of the tourism sector. Usually, a good manager knows the system intimately and how
to utilise it to achieve the planning objectives and implementation (Elliott, 1997). As
is the case with Oman, the manager needs to possess the specific technical expert
knowledge about the tourism sector, its operation and financial requirements. This
kind of knowledge would enable the manager to advise political and industry leaders
and the local population on the implementation of tourism policy and its
consequences. Therefore, the manager has to be effective in communicating with
industry stakeholders in competitive and maybe hostile internal and external political
and economic environments (Elliott, 1997) and in empowering the stakeholders by
making them better informed about the various plans for tourism and, therefore,
allowing their voices to be heard and positively listened to by the planning authorities.

This policy of industry management enacted by the government must change in due
course as the tourism industry matures. Efficient information and communication
systems are essential factors for successful implementation of tourism policy,
particularly because of the fast-moving changes in tourism supply and demand. To
ensure effective and positive results, the government needs to be prepared to engage
in negotiation, coordination and conciliation with other stakeholders and those who
may be affected by the planning and decision-making process and implementation of
tourism projects.

Perception of negative impacts of tourism is related to the failure of planning and

development, and management processes to meet community expectations and
community-level participation should result in more positive management outcomes
of impacts to the level of residents’ satisfaction (Hall, 1998a; Haywood, 1988;
Murphy, 1988). Lankford and Howard (1994) found that more positive perceptions of
tourism were associated with those residents who felt they had some control over the
tourism process in their community, while those who felt powerless were more likely
to have had concerns for tourism development. Similarly, Madrigal (1993) found that

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residents who believed that they were able to influence tourism decisions and
outcomes were more positive about tourism, while those who believed that tourism-
related activities had too much political influence had more negative perceptions.

Involvement in the benefits of tourism

The other part of participatory tourism is residents’ involvement in the benefits of
tourism, as has been demonstrated in Scheyvens’ (1999) concepts of economic, social,
psychological and political empowerment. This type of involvement means that
residents may gain personal benefits from tourism development. A community
tourism planning approach should also include the creation of opportunities for
residents to form and own small businesses, to work in tourism-related businesses, to
receive training, and to be educated about the possible impacts of tourism
development in the area (Timothy, 1999). For example, the ‘Ras Al Hadd and Ras Al
Junayz’ Master Plan laid out the various services and infrastructures (e.g., schools,
roads, children’s playgrounds, health centres, small businesses) as part of the
development plan of the area. The spillover effect on completion of the development
plan would benefit the local communities tremendously. The planning authorities
envisaged consulting local residents about the implementation plan to increase the
people’s awareness about the expected positive and negative consequences of the
development process. Additionally, Brohman (1996a, 1996b) believed that a large
proportion of the local population should benefit from tourism, rather than only
bearing the costs. Thus, increasing incomes, employment, and education of locals are
the most apparent objectives of involving community members in the benefits of
tourism development (Brohman, 1996a, 1996b; Echtner, 1995; Pearce et al., 1996;
Timothy, 1999). The maximisation of benefits to communities requires the
collaboration of various identities within the tourism destination.

2.4.3.4 Collaboration in tourism planning

The literature has shown an increasing emphasis on tourism planning to allow the
involvement of multiple stakeholders affected by tourism, including residents, public
authorities, tourists, and business interests (Jamal & Getz, 1995; Keogh, 1990;
Lickorish, 1991a, 1991b; Ritchie, 1993; Sautter & Leisen, 1999; Yuksel et al., 1999).
These studies pointed out the importance of collaboration among stakeholders in the

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planning process. For example, Jamal and Getz (1995, p.188) defined these
collaborative efforts as “a process of joint decision making among autonomous, key
stakeholders of an inter-organisational, community tourism domain [designed] to
resolve planning problems of the domain and/or to manage issues related to the
planning and development of the domain”.

Theories of collaboration have acknowledged the importance of the human factor in

policy creation and implementation. However, they have not explicitly acknowledged
the role that individuals or groups can bring to the process, or the importance of
broader power relations in which individuals operate (Reed, 2000). Therefore, the
involvement of a destination’s stakeholders in the formulation and evaluation of
policies and their participation in the decision-making process will ensure their
commitment to the implementation of policies and plans, which in turn will ultimately
enhance the destination’s competitiveness and the community’s welfare.
Collaborative planning in tourist destination is usually recognised as involving direct
dialogue among the concerned and potential stakeholders, including the private sector
planners. This dialogue leads to negotiation towards shared vision, decision-making
and consensus building about tourism goals and objectives (Bramwell, 2004;
Bramwell & Lane, 2000; Bramwell & Sharman, 1999; Jamal & Getz, 1999).

From a developing country’s perspective, there seem to be five types of collaboration

that need to exist in developing sustainable tourism (Timothy, 1998), that is, between:
government agencies (e.g. department of transportation and department of tourism);
private and public sectors (e.g. hotel sector and ministry of tourism); different levels
of administration (e.g. national and provincial); same-level politics across state
borders (e.g. different states); and private-sector services (e.g. tour operators and
airlines).

The notion of collaboration from an organisational perspective has been the subject of
frequent discussion (Fyall et al., 2000; Gunn, 1994; Jamal & Getz, 1995; Long, 1996,
1997). Looking at the issue of collaboration within inter-organisational theory, Gray
(1989) suggested that it takes place when there is a complex problem and a single
organisation cannot solve it alone. Getz and Jamal (1994) also used the inter-
organisational theory to assess stakeholders’ collaboration in tourism planning in

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Canada’s Canmore and Bow Corridor, while Jamal and Getz (1995) used the same
theoretical understanding to examine community-based visioning for tourism
development. The importance of collaboration in decision making in the tourism
sector stems from the multisectoral and interdependence nature of the industry
(Inskeep, 1991), the rapid economic, social, environmental, and political change
(Murphy, 1985; Smith, 1991; Witt & Moutinho, 1989), financial and budgetary
constraints, and political and public pressure for accountability (Osborne & Gaebler,
1992).

Thus, collaboration improves the coordination of policies and related actions to the
decision-making process, and promotes consideration of the economic,
environmental, socio-cultural, and political impacts of tourism (Bramwell & Sharman,
1999). Orbasli (2001) indicated that the coordinated efforts between the tourism
stakeholders are both very complex in the sense of the varied interests of each
stakeholder and differ from country to country depending on the level of
organisational and institutional developments and democratisation. To achieve a
balance between the various interests and the required tourism development, firstly
there is a need to bridge potential legislative gaps and cultural differences within the
tourism destination to establish a participatory relationship between the initiators and
recipients of development or change (Go et al., 2003). Thus, as Richards and Hall
(2000) indicated, the top-down, distributive empowerment models tend to be
unsuccessful, creating more tensions than they can resolve.

The interplay between government, industry and civil society, and the increasing role
of public–private relationship in policy-making is an outcome of the downsizing of
the public sector’s role in tourism development (Dredge, 2006). The networking
approach in the general notion tends to mean that strategic actions are efforts by
various participants to influence, change or preserve their positions in networks in
which they are associated (Mullins, 1996). These efforts have to be coordinated for
the best interests of all stakeholders and the destination. This type of networking is a
useful framework for product development, management and marketing. Networking
is seen as an important conduit for managing public–private relationships and
understanding structural characteristics of tourism governance (Palmer, 1996). In

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addition, the interorganisational relationships are formed and managed within the
networking system.

Jamal and Getz (1995) suggested that ideally destination stakeholders who may be
affected by the actions of other stakeholders should have the right or at least given the
opportunity to be part of the networking system and participate, to minimise their
exposure to risk, provided they have the resources, skills and knowledge required for
positive involvement. Building on work by Jamal and Getz (1995), Reed (1997)
emphasised the notion of power relations among participating stakeholders,
contending that power inequality among stakeholders could be overcome by involving
major stakeholders in the process and thereby satisfy their needs. Additionally, those
with power disadvantages could be excluded from collaborative agreements if they
lacked resources and capacity. Hall (2000, p.83) described the collaborative or
interactive approach towards tourism planning by as “planning with rather than
planning for” stakeholders.

The success of the planning process requires the existence of an ultimate agent to lead
the establishment of the collaboration process and oversee the implementation
progress. The lack of a single authority responsible for tourism planning and
development, and decision-making processes, may lead to confusion among private
businesses (Hall, 2000). This suggests the need for government to take a leading role
in planning and development. For example, in Oman, the Ministry of Tourism and the
Ministry of National Economy are the two main government organisations
responsible for tourism planning and usually take the leading role in planning and
development. However, other government organisations such as the Ministry of
Regional Municipalities and Water Resources (e.g., Regional Planning, services such
as landscaping and garbage collection, water resources, environment regulation and
protection), Royal Oman Police (e.g., visa regulations, safety and security), Ministry
of Commerce & Industry (commercial licensing, soft loans), Ministry of Labour
Forces (working permits, training) are also key players in tourism development. This
interorganisational collaboration is achieved through the Ministerial Committee
responsible for coordinating tourism planning and development. Meanwhile,
collaboration with other identities such as the Oman Chamber of Commerce &
Industry is achieved through the Tourism Committee of the Chamber with wide

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representation from both public and private organisations. Inter-organisational

collaboration on one side and community involvement on the other is a valuable asset
for obtaining a coherent and well-structured plan. Moreover, in a battle for planetary
sustainability, such democratic forms of partnerships and collaborations among
various stakeholders are a valuable mechanism for addressing community-based
development and growth conflicts of the tourism sector (Jamal & Getz, 1999)

The study of politics is about the study of power (Hall, 1994). To Lasswell (1950)
‘politics is about power, who gets what, where, how, and why’. Power in the social
exchange setting is known as the ability of one or more actors to influence the
outcome of another actor’s behaviour or perception (French & Raven, 1959; Lippit et
al., 1952; Wrong, 1979). It is about the possession of the power to influence and
control resources that other individuals or groups in the exchange formula need and
value. Hall (1994, p.2) pointed out that, “the mainstream of tourism research has
either ignored or neglected the political dimension of the allocation of resources, the
generation of tourism policy, and the politics of tourism development”. As mentioned
in section 2.4.2, residents in particular, and stakeholders in general, are exposed to
different types of tourism impacts including political impact.

The notion of power from a host community’s perspective can be illustrated by the
increasing attention given to community tourism development. Such attention stems
from two directions: firstly, the concern that negative consequences of tourism
development should be minimised and controlled; secondly, from an economic
perspective, that tourism is used as a means to diversify and revitalise the economy,
especially in rural areas and developing countries (Ap, 1992). The recommended
decision-making process in both cases could be a ‘bottom-up’ approach, where
stakeholder participation focuses on the initial stages of planning and development
without ignoring the ‘top-down’ approach as recommended by the World Tourism
Organisation (1994), concentrating on bringing together different group efforts, and
providing them with necessary support (Ap, 1992; Hall, 2000). Then, any tourism
destination policy, planning and development should cater for the interest of all
stakeholders involved in the exchange process to guarantee the success of policies and
the competitiveness of the destination in the marketplace.

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Healey (1997) argued that various constraints, such as power inequality and
institutional practices, could impede the influence of stakeholders’ collaboration and
participation. Thus, it is important to build capacity and promote horizontal forms of
collaboration, where stakeholders with legitimate and often conflicting interests can
engage in a consensus-building process about their lives in the community. Ritchie
and Crouch (2003), for example, recommended the using of a round-table process for
the purpose of consensus building among diverse stakeholders.

The implementation of a proactive approach towards tourism planning which requires

the involvement of various stakeholders, decentralisation of power and a transparency
in decision-making processes, may face political and bureaucratic obstacles,
particularly in developing countries. However, the involvement of stakeholders in
tourism planning will be influenced by factors such as their awareness, the level of
interest in particular issues and their impacts, and the openness of decision makers to
encourage outside participation (e.g. Jamal & Getz, 1995; Marsden & Murdoch,
1998). Timothy (1998, 1999, 2002) has identified additional constraints to community
participation in tourism planning as:

• inadequate representation due to power structure within the community;

• lack of information flowing from decision-makers to recipients, including

insufficient knowledge of the education process,

• lack of knowledge about tourism costs and benefits,

• inadequate information and communication systems,

• a less developed and inappropriate role played by the mass media in educating
people and increasing public awareness,

• lack of public funding and time commitment for incremental planning; and

• allocation of funding between central and peripheral areas.

In an Indonesian study, Timothy (1999) found that the major constraints to local
community participation are attributed to cultural and political traditions, poor
economic conditions, lack of expertise, and lack of understanding by residents.

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2.4.3.5 Participation in developing countries

Community involvement in decision-making processes is a new concept in most

developing countries (Mitchell, 1994). However, as argued above, if local residents
are to benefit from and avoid the costs of tourism, they must be given the opportunity
to participate in tourism planning and gain financially from tourism development.
Yet, in developing countries, tourism benefits are concentrated in the hands of a few
local elites and foreign corporations (Sproule, 1995; Timothy, 1999). A further
problem is related to the administrative structure of government (Hall, 2000). The
institutional structure of government between local and national levels and the degree
of centralisation of decision making may act as an impediment to participatory
planning. Since resource allocation is resolved at the local level, it seems that the
planning decision-making should occur at the local level as well. However, the
national government should act as protector of residents’ interests against possible
exploitation by the powerful local political interest groups.

According to de Kadt (1979), the practical experiences of local people in political

decision-making in the developing world tend to be limited, due to dominant local and
national groups that intentionally keep them away from the decision-making process.
Haywood (1988) supported this claim in his suggestion that public participation is
impossible in many developing countries where government officials are not
interested in supporting or encouraging representational democracy. Consequently,
participation in tourism planning and development in many developing countries is a
form of ‘tokenism’ characterised by information restriction and lack of power to
participate – see Table 2.9 (Hall, 2000; Wall, 1995). Additionally, a lack of expertise
and understanding on the part of government officials, and the absence of
understanding about tourism on the part of the local population, are impediments to
positive and effective public participation in planning and decision-making (Timothy,
1999). Wahab (1997) attributed the lack of an institutional system in many developing
countries that allows people’s active participation in tourism planning and
development to the fact that the tourism industry is considered a national concern and
subject to full government control. The situation in developing countries of
government control of decision-making processes and the lack of information sources,
public awareness and institutional systems is also applicable to Oman. However, in
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the case of Oman, this could be attributed to the immature nature of the tourism
industry, which the Ministry of Tourism is still in the development stage of organising
and restructuring.

Thus, it is important for tourism planners and managers of developing countries to

consider the needs of all stakeholders, and refrain from imposing particular foreign
ideologies and experiences on traditional societies (Timothy, 1999). Smith (1985,
p.142), in particular, emphasising the importance of involving stakeholders in
planning in developing countries said: “In Third World societies, the cleavages are
great and the policies are devised by the educated, upper class urbanites for
application on rural, uneducated, lower class, poor people. As such, many
development policies are not designed by the people they are supposed to benefit …
thus, policies and programs may be very inappropriate”.
Therefore, it is hypothesised that:

H3a: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

participation and their preferences about the development of tourism resources and
attractions.

H3b: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

participation and the various impacts of tourism development.

H3c: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

participation and their attachment to their communities.

2.4.4 Destination tourism resources and attractions

Many tourism destinations possess natural and industrial comparative advantages to

attract tourists from different places. For the success of the destination, such resources
and attractions have to be planned, managed, and evaluated for the best interests of
the destination and its stakeholders. Butler (1999) argued that tourism should be seen
as a dynamic system subject to change, and therefore resources were needed to attract
and sustain tourism and its associated development. That is, tourism resources and
attractions are considered as a mix of dynamic supply-side factors that drive visitors
to a destination. Buhalis (2000, p.98) has identified six major components of the
resources and attractions of tourism destinations, as they are discussed in the tourism
literature: (1) Attractions (natural, man-made, heritage, etc.); (2) Amenities

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(accommodations, catering facilities, etc.); (3) Accessibility (transportation system);

(4) Ancillary services (supporting and essential facilities used by tourists such as
banks, telecommunication, etc.); (5) Activities (all activities provided by destinations
to please customers, and to occupy them during their visits); and (6) Available
packages (pre-arranged travel packages by principals and intermediaries).

The destination attractions and resources, including natural/cultural components,

heritage/historical resources, infrastructure, hospitalities, supporting facilities/
services, transportation/accessibility, sports/recreation activities, costs of services,
human resources, and safety, are considered the basics for understanding the
framework of tourism planning, and essential components for successful tourism
development (Buhalis, 2000; Cooper et al., 1998; Gunn, 1994; Gunn & Var., 2002;
Pearce, 1989, 1995,1997). The abundance and proper management of these resources
may lead to destination growth and prosperity. Maintaining and developing these
resources is also essential for destination competitiveness (Go & Govers, 2000;
Inskeep, 1991).

The tourism literature shows that many researchers have studied and evaluated
destination resources and attractions from different angles and identified them as
tourism products (Gunn, 1988; Hu & Ritchie, 1993; Mihalič, 2000; Murphy, 1985;
Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2000, 2003; Yoon et al., 2001). Such products must be
planned, developed, managed and marketed for utilisation by domestic and
international visitors and local inhabitants. The process requires the involvement and
efforts of different entities in the community to ensure benefits for all.

Several researchers also studied tourism attractions and resources extensively and
evaluated their contributions to destination attractiveness (Hu & Ritchie, 1993; Kozak
& Rimmington, 1998; Leiper, 1990; Var et al., 1977). Earlier studies primarily
investigated resources and attractions from the demand-side perspective. Moreover,
attractions and resources have been considered the major determinants or factors in
tourism destinations’ competitiveness (Murphy et al., 2000; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993,
2000, 2003; Yoon, 2002). That is, if a destination has an abundance of natural and
industrial resources and attractions, then it could have a competitive advantage over
regional or international competitors (Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Go & Govers, 2000;
Hassan, 2000; Ritchie & Crouch, 2000, 2003).

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Mihalič (2000) suggested that destination attractions and resources should be

acknowledged as sources of comparative and competitive advantage factors in
destination competitiveness. These factors are the essential motivators for visiting a
destination and essential components for destination sustainability and prosperity
(Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Ewert & Shultis, 1997; Hassan, 2000).

Gearing et al. (1974) provided a comprehensive resource inventory list in determining

the attractiveness of Turkey as a tourism destination. The attributes were grouped as
follows: (1) Natural factors (e.g. general topography, flora and fauna, rivers); (2)
Social factors (e.g. local architecture, mosques, art museums); (3) Historical factors
(e.g. the existence, condition, and accessibility of ancient ruins); (4) Recreational and
shopping facilities (e.g. the offering of hunting, fishing, skiing); (5) Archaeological
and ethnographic features (zoos, botanical gardens, museums); and (6) Infrastructure,
food, and shelter (e.g. hotels, restaurants vacation villages). This grouping of
attributes is applicable to any destination aiming to position itself as a niche attractive
destination.

However, if a destination possesses a mixture of tourism attributes to be experienced

by tourists, then the strategic planning should be focused on capitalising on the
development of those attributes. In a study of South Korean destinations’
attractiveness, Kim (1998) asserted that the tourism product comprises a number of
activities, services, and products including lodging, food and beverages,
transportation, local goods and entertainment. Tourism resources are either natural or
built (e.g. sun, sea, landscape, cultural and heritage assets, and amenity attractions).
To Kim, these two categories are not mutually exclusive, and have to be balanced for
destination positioning interest and tourist satisfaction. Using mixed attribute
categories, Hu and Ritchie (1993) listed resource dimensions such as cultural
attractions and recreation opportunities, with a single source, for example festivals,
climate and food. Similarly, Ferrario (1979a & 1979b) listed casinos, spa sports, and
zoos, with technology and participation in the local life. According to Gunn (1994),
attractions are predominantly based on natural and cultural components. Yet, despite
the popularity of human-made attractions, it has not been at the expense of attractions
based on resources, which is the most powerful force of the supply side of tourism.
Hence, he acknowledged what has been explained in section 2.2.2.2 as the effect of

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external factors on the functioning system. Further, he suggested that, for best tourism
development, all supply components should be kept in balance and harmony with
market demand.

From market competitiveness/positioning in an environmentally sustainable tourism

industry perspective, Hassan’s (2000) conceptual model of competitiveness focused
on environmental sustainability factors associated with travel destination. He posited
four determinant factors: comparative advantage, demand orientation, industry
structure, and environmental commitment. The factor related to this section of the
study is the comparative advantage factor, which includes factors associated with both
macro and micro environments that are essential for market competitiveness, such as
climate/location, cultural heritage, history/artefacts, safety/health, environmental
quality, information accessibility, and tourist supporting services. Other resources and
attractions complementing destination competitiveness attributes are transportation,
hospitality, entertainment, human resources, communication, and other man-made
attractions ( section 2.3.3). Consequently, places that lack most of these attributes are
recognised as having ‘a comparative disadvantage’ (Evans et al., 1995; Hsu et al.,
2004). According to Ritchie and Crouch (2000), comparative disadvantages could
provide a strong stimulus for finding or developing alternative advantages or
overcoming the existing weaknesses. They concluded that it is not what destinations
have but how to properly utilise what they already have.

Similarly, Mihalic (2000) studied destination appeal as a factor of competitiveness.

He said that destination appeal refers to destination attractiveness. He specified
several elements of attractiveness such as: natural features, climate, cultural and social
characteristics, tourism superstructure, cost/price levels, and uniqueness – for example
unique religious centres, or unique geography. These attractions are considered as
destination environmental quality and part of the total tourism system and attraction
(Gunn & Var, 2002; Hassan 2000; Inskeep, 1991; Ritchie & Crouch, 2003).
According to Inskeep (1991), the quality of natural attractions is part of quality
destination. Destinations are bundles of resources. At the strategic level, destinations
seek to configure their tourism product, and to sustain it through the adoption of a mix
of environmentally friendly and economically viable policies to attract more visitors
(Ryan, 2002). However, there are important factors that might deter visitors from
making their trips such as: security and safety, particularly political instability (e.g.

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Gulf War); health and medical concerns (e.g. poor quality of sanitation, diseases such
as SARS, which hit some Asian destinations); laws and regulations, including visa
requirements; and cultural distance (Mihalic, 2000; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993). These
factors could be serious impediments to a destination’s planning and development and
marketing efforts.

Oman is a destination endowed with natural, historical, environmental, heritage and

social resources and attractions. The tourism development strategy is based on
capitalising on these capabilities, which distinguish the destination from its
neighbours in the region and, therefore, give it comparative and competitive
advantages. The existing resources and attractions need to be evaluated and upgraded
to meet acceptable international standards without affecting their authenticity and
characteristics. The demographic diversity (e.g, sea, mountains, desert) of the country
adds to the appeal to tourists. The last decade has witnessed an accelerated growth
rate of new types of tourism addressing the special interest tourist and so called “niche
market”. The nature of the resources and attractions Oman currently possesses enable
it to be a destination for some of these new types of tourism (e.g., yachting, eco-
tourism, health and spa) besides leisure tourism (Ministry of Tourism, 2006). For
example, there is a growing demand for eco-tourism both worldwide and in Oman
(Ministry of Tourism, 2006). This growing demand for recreation and nature hikes
coupled with a growing awareness of the attractions of eco-tourism has steadily
increased in the neighbouring Gulf countries. This growth has contributed to the
emergence of Oman as a ‘legitimate destination for eco-tourism (Ministry of Tourism,
2006). However, a conflict exists between the demand for growth of eco-tourism, and
the resultant need to use natural resources for tourism activities, and the need to
preserve these precious resources and assets for the benefit of future generations.

Each destination possesses different levels of attractions and resources, which require
frequent auditing and evaluation to ensure their viability and suitability. Resources
and attractions must be of environmental quality to satisfy customers’ needs. Each
destination’s offering of attractions and resources will determine its competitiveness
in the fiercely competitive tourism marketplace. The attractions provide the
motivations and the magnetism necessary to persuade an individual to visit a
particular place (Alhemoud & Armstrong, 1996; Beerli & Martin, 2004). Clear vision,

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proper planning and development, community involvement, solid and flexible

management and marketing strategies of destination attractions and resources are
prerequisite destinations have to consider for long-term growth and prosperity of
societies and for building the destination’s image.

Therefore it is hypothesised that:

H4: There is a positive relationship between the development of tourism resources

and attractions, and the support for destination competitive strategies.

Conceptual framework
The conceptual framework shown in Figures 1.1 and 2.4 summarises and pulls
together what has been introduced and discussed in the mass tourism literature. The
framework depicts the expected tourism stakeholders’ perceived attitudes about and
support for competitive destination strategies as they are related to Oman’s tourism
stakeholders’ preferences about tourism resources and attractions development, and
the interrelationships between various factors that affect both the preferences about
tourism resources and attractions development and their declared support for
competitive destination strategies.

Figure 2.4 A conceptual framework for tourism destination competitiveness

Tourism development Community

impacts (TDI) participation (CP)
+ H2c
Economic +H3 Participation
Socio-cultural Collaboration
Environmental Empowerment
Political + H1c
+ H1b + H2a
+ H3a
+H2b +H3b
Support for
Development competitive
Community preferences about destination
+ H4 + H4
attachment (CA) tourism resources/ strategies
attractions (DPRA) (SCDS)
Place identity
Place dependence +H1a

Source: With parts from Jurowski et al. (1997) and Yoon (2002)

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Chapter Two Literature Review

As presented in Figure 2.4 above, the constructs of the conceptual framework include
tourism development impacts (TDI), community attachment (CA), stakeholders’
perceived power (community participation) (CP), development preferences about
tourism resources and attractions (DPTRA) and support for competitive destination
strategies (SCDS). Tourism stakeholders’ participation and involvement in the
tourism planning and decision-making process is considered a potential element in the
success of destinations’ tourism planning and development processes. The review of
the mass tourism literature related to the topic justifies the development and testing of
this model which depicts the likely relationships between different factors that may
have a direct or indirect effect on people’s preferences about tourism resources and
attractions development and their likely support for competitive destination strategies.
On the basis of the comprehensive literature review, gaps have been discovered and
the theoretical framework has been plotted. It is also assumed that the three
exogenous constructs are correlated: tourism development impacts, community
attachment, and stakeholders’ perceived power. The stakeholders’ support for tourism
competitive strategies is considered the ultimate endogenous variable. The
relationships between the exogenous (independent) constructs and the endogenous
(dependent) construct are mediated by another endogenous variable, which is the
people’s preferences about tourism resources and attractions development. This
mediating variable in this case could be considered as a dependent variable. It also
intervenes between the three exogenous and the ultimate endogenous constructs.
Empirical and qualitative methods were used to test the relationships between and
among these variables as explained in Chapters 3 and 4. The constructs, directions
and relationships have been identified as shown in Figure 2.4. The direction of each
arrow represents the linkages and relationships of constructs. Additionally, each
linkage between constructs represents positive hypotheses as predicted and suggested
in the research process. Those hypotheses were tested quantitatively to confirm or
disconfirm what had been hypothesised based on previous research findings and then
results were tested qualitatively through focus groups discussions.

Drawing on stakeholders’ experiences and knowledge would help in enhancing the

process of evaluating a destination’s competitive resources and attractiveness. Of
particular relevance are their perceptions, attitudes and behaviours about the
influencing factors on tourism planning and development process regarding tourism

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Chapter Two Literature Review

impacts (economic, social, cultural, political, and environmental), community

attachment, and perceived power. Such factors have received little attention in the
past (Hall, 1994; Yoon, 2002). This study will explore the interrelationships between
these constructs in order to reach a conclusion about the favourable competitive
strategies the stakeholders are willing to support and the level of power and degree of
stakeholders’ participation in the decision-making process.

The research problem is defined as: ‘How does the interrelationship between
destination-specific situational factors, stakeholders’ perceived power (community
participation), and community attachment, impact on the development of Oman’s
tourism resources and attractions, and in turn the support of its competitive
strategies? Furthermore, what effects may these interrelationships have on the
government’s approaches in formulating and implementing tourism development and
marketing policies?’, and the hypotheses are:

H1a: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

community attachment and their preferences about tourism resources and attractions
development.

H1b: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

community attachment and tourism (economic, social, political, and environmental)
development impacts.

H1c: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

community attachment and community participation.

H2a: There is a positive relationship between tourism (economic, social, political, and
environmental) development impacts on destination stakeholders, and their
preferences about tourism resources and attractions development.

H2b: There is a positive relationship between tourism (economic, social, political,

and environmental) development impacts on destination stakeholders, and
stakeholders’ attachment to their communities.

H2c: There is a positive relationship between the impacts of tourism (economic,

social, political, and environmental) development on destination stakeholders, and

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Chapter Two Literature Review

stakeholders’ perceived power and desire to participate in tourism planning and

decision-making.

H3a: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

participation and their preferences about tourism resources and attractions
development.

H3b: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

participation and the various impacts of tourism development.

H3c: There is a positive relationship between tourism destination stakeholders’

participation and their attachment to their communities.

H4: There is a positive relationship between the development of tourism resources

and attractions, and the support for destination competitive strategies.

2.5 Part Four – Tourism in Oman

2.5.1 Introduction

The Sultanate of Oman is located in the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.
It borders Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the west, the Republic of
Yemen in the south, the Strait of Hormuz in the north and the Arabian Sea in the east
(see Figure 2.5, Map of Oman). Oman’s coastline of some 1,700 kilometres fronts on
to the Arabian Sea (an extension of the Indian Ocean), the Gulf of Oman and the
Strait of Hormuz, which is the access to the Arabian Gulf. The country encompasses a
variety of geographical features of mountains, coastal plains and deserts. Summer
temperatures can become very hot, including in the capital city of Muscat on the north
coast. Summer temperatures are more moderate in the southern area, where the
country’s second major city of Salalah is located, because of the effects of a summer
monsoon period. This season provides an opportunity to attract regional tourists from
the Gulf area providing them with cooling relief during the period when the Arabian
Gulf countries are experiencing their hottest weather. However, winter temperatures
are moderate all over the country, giving the country a touristic advantage to attract
western tourists during this season. Among the 22 Arab countries, Oman probably is
one of the few with the potential to attract all of the tourists it can accommodate. With
its “spectacular mountains, sunny skies, mild climate, beautiful beaches on the
Arabian Sea and the rich cultural and archeological heritage, Oman could easily

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become a winter vacation Mecca for northern Europeans” (Curtiss, 1995). The
average rainfall is light, but occasional heavy rains can occur in the mountains.

The Sultanate of Oman is a country with a total population of about 2.3 million ,of
which about 1.7 million are Omani nationals (Ministry of National Economy, 2003),
and occupies an area of approximately 309,500 square kilometres. Its strategic
location puts it at the junction of the World’s three large continents: Asia, Europe, and
Africa, which makes it a potential focal point for trade and industry between the
different continents.

Oman enjoys stable social, political, and economic systems and has excellent relations
with neighboring countries, which enables the country to play a potential role in
promoting regional political and economic cooperation. Oman enjoys a rich cultural
heritage, an abundance of scenic beauty and has a lot to offer tourists and business
visitors alike.

Figure 2.5 A touristic map of Oman

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Chapter Two Literature Review

2.5.2 A brief history of Oman

The country has a long and interesting history, which provides many of its tourist
attractions. There are numerous examples of settlements dating back to the third
millennium BC. It was known in the past by the name of ‘Majan’, which means the
‘Mountains of copper’. In fact, the northern region was famous for producing and
exporting copper, starting in about 2000 BC and continuing to the present (Inskeep,
1994). The ancient tribes are believed to have inhibited the southern part of Oman,
which used to be a part of Ubar, ‘the lost city’. It was the centre of the frankincense
trade. Frankincense has been produced and exported from the southern region since
the first century AD. Historical documents show that the Queen of Sheba offered this
aromatic gem to King Solomon (Ali & Al Raisi, 2004). The country is unique for its
traditional underground irrigation system and techniques known as the falaj system.
This system is still working and widely used since its introduction in the fourth
century BC (Inskeep, 1994).

Historically, Oman is known as a seafaring nation. Omanis have journeyed to the

Indian subcontinent from 1000 BC. Oman, which boasts a renowned maritime history,
is the home of the legendary ‘Sinbad the Sailor’, (McQuillan, 2001). During the
seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, Oman became a colonial power and controlled
Mombasa and Zanzibar – important trading centres at the time in East Africa. Its navy
had a fleet of ships including the Sultana, which visited New York in 1840, the first
Arab ship to do so (McQuillan, 2001). During the twentieth century, the country’s
economy was based only on agriculture and fishing until oil was discovered in 1967.
Oil production has significantly changed the economic and social characteristics of
the country and provided the resources for rapid economic development and a rise in
the people’s income levels, especially since His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said took
over the throne from his late father in 1970.

Omanis are an easygoing tolerant people with a great sense of humor and their own
flexible brand of Islam (McQuillan, 2001, p.4). According to McQuillan (2001),
Oman is “a safe, if expensive, country in which to travel to, with much to see and a lot
to experience”. In contrast to many other countries in the region, an important feature
of Oman for continuing its development of international trade including tourism is its
tolerance of foreigners’ religions and lifestyles, social beliefs, customs, and its

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Chapter Two Literature Review

traditional Arabic flavour. Two of the slogans used in promoting Oman are ‘the
essence of Arabia’ and ‘bring a friend to Oman’. The slogans refer to the nature of the
Omani people and promising visitors that they will experience something unique and
different.

2.5.3 Economic overview

Market-oriented policies and private sector development are two of the primary policy
approaches practised by the Omani government. Since 1974, when the first
development strategy was adopted by Oman, the salient feature was to establish a free
competitive private enterprise economy with equal opportunities for all (Ministry of
National Economy, 2003). After three decades of development efforts, Oman still
confronts many challenges, mainly due to the fact that the economy is still heavily
dependent on oil production and exports, with oil production of about 700,000 barrels
(Ministry of National Economy, 2004) accounting for about one third of GDP
(US$21.6 billion), some 90 percent of export earnings, and two-thirds of budget
revenue (IMF, 2005). Based on government sources, proven oil reserves are currently
estimated to last for about 16 years (IMF, 2005). However, efforts are being made to
enlarge these reserves and recover them through continued exploration and the
application of new technology, in addition to bringing down the production cost. The
annual per capita GDP in 2003 was US$ 9,260 at a growth rate of 20.3% over the
figures of 2002 (Ministry of National Economy, 2004).

Forty-one percent of Oman’s nationals are under 15 years of age (Ministry of

National Economy, 2004), and one of the government’s priorities is to create
employment opportunities for the increasing number of school leavers. Considering
the current dependence on oil revenue to finance government development projects,
and realising that oil is a finite resource, the government has adopted a long-term
development strategy (Oman Vision 2020) to diversify the economy and depend on
income generating sources other than oil, such as manufacturing and tourism.

2.5.3.1 Foreign Trade

Oman’s total exports in 1980 were US$3, 37 million which rose to US$5, 50 million

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in 1990, then increased further to US$11.6 billion in 2003. Of these, oil exports
accounted for 80%, re-export 13.2%, and non-oil Omani origin products 6.8%.
Imports on the other hand, increased from US$1,555 million in 1980 to US$2,80
million in 1990 and to US$6.6 billion in 2003 (Ministry of National Economy, 2004).
The country is attempting to maximise the benefits from the oil and gas reserves by
establishing a number of heavy hydrocarbon-based industries such as refineries, an
aluminum smelter, and liquid natural gas for export, fertiliser projects (urea and
ammonia), steel, and petrochemical projects. These major projects, along with the
establishment of a Free Trade Zone in the south (Salalah) and the expansion of sea
and airports, are expected to enable the country to utilise its strategic position as a
major trading hub. The projects as well are expected to generate employment
opportunities for the local people.

2.5.3.2 Oman 2020 Vision

Oman’s sixth five-year development plan (2001-2005) introduced the strategies and
policies of diversifying the sources of revenue. Oman’s economy is facing current and
future challenges (Ministry of National Economy, 1997, pp.224-225) such as:
• The expected gradual decline of oil reserves.
• The weak interconnection between the oil sector and other production and
services sectors.
• The low level of efficiency and quality of in-production and services sectors,
which affects the country’s competitiveness capabilities.
• The increase in the size of the General Budget deficit.
• The weak private sector and its limited role in the national economy.
• The decline in the rate of private savings and their direction towards non-
tradeable service production.
• The lack of sufficient coordination between educational and training outputs in
relation to the need to cope with rapid developments in the area of technology.

After realising the challenges facing Oman’s economy in the future, the government
set the long term strategic plans, the Vision of Oman 2020, to maintain financial and
economic sustainable growth. The plan was based on certain potentials available to
the country (Ministry of National Economy, 1997):

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• Charismatic leadership.
• Political stability, social harmony and security all over the country.
• The following of free-market policy and respect of individual property rights.
• The available natural resources and the strategic location of the country.

The vision for Oman’s economy aims at carrying out a substantial transformation in
the structure of the national economy by developing a multiplicity of income sources,
instead of depending mainly on a depleted source like oil. Accordingly, the oil
contribution to GDP is expected to decrease to 9% by 2020, and the contribution of
other non-oil sectors such as gas is expected to increase to 10%, trade and tourism to
reach 18%, from which tourism’s contribution is expected to reach 3%, from 0.8%
currently. Such gradual transformation is what is called economic diversification.

2.5.4 Tourism in Oman

Tourism is one of the promising economic sectors to which the government has given
priority in its economic development policy, as it is considered mostly capable of
providing a sustainable source of income and employment. Through stimulating
private sector investments, the tourism sector is expected to achieve an average
annual growth rate of 6.1% (Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 2004).

The government in the period between 1989 and 1991, with the cooperation of World
Tourism Organisation (WTO) and the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), commissioned Shankland Cox Limited, a consultancy firm, to prepare a
tourism strategy for Oman. The study was comprehensive and still forms the basis for
tourism planning and development of the country. The study took account of all
aspects that had a bearing on the industry. The strategy objectives were to provide a
basis for the controlled development of tourism in the economic interest of the
Sultanate. The major objectives as set by Shankland and Cox study (1991, p.4) were:
• To develop a strategy for tourism which reflects the singular attractions of the
Sultanate in relation to domestic and international markets;
• To base the strategy primarily on attractions of a cultural, environmental or
scenic nature rather than on climatic or littoral geography;

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• To maximise the potential economic benefits of tourism within limits imposed

by the need to protect cultural values and the environment; and
• To provide opportunities for diversifying the economy and reducing regional
economic disparities.

As can be seen, the study presented the framework for future planning and
development of the tourism industry in the country. It is mainly situated to suit those
tourists who appreciate the scenic and cultural values, and to fit the objective of the
government’s intention to target quality tourists (Shanklan Cox, 1991; Inskkep, 1994).
Mass tourism of the “winter sun, sand and sea” type is to be completely avoided.
Tourism development that does take place will be carefully monitored to determine its
environmental and socio-cultural effects (Inskeep, 1994). The plan examines all the
components of tourism including the institutional elements. The plan indicates that the
cultural roots of Oman lie in its historic towns and villages, and that these settlements
are the focus for experiencing the historical, cultural and lifestyle of the people. Since
tourism is to be based on the inherited features of Oman, special types of theme parks
and casinos are not considered (Shanklan Cox, 1991; Inskeep, 1994). This approach
also reflects the development objective of not encouraging coastal tourism (the sun,
sea, and sand type of mass tourism). However, these policies have since been revised
in regard to theme parks and coastal tourism only. The government is encouraging
private sector to invest in amusement parks development and promoting the
development of coastal tourism by joint-venturing with local and foreign investors to
build coastal resorts and tourist villages. But the policy of concentrating on quality
tourists rather than mass tourism is still a valid one.

The number of tourists who visited Oman during 2002 was 1,112,291 from different
nationalities, mainly from the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC). The
tourists stayed for 1,299,026 nights and spent RO 92 million (US$239) million. The
total number of operating hotels and hotel serviced apartments reached 124 by the end
of 2002, including 6,068 rooms and 9,208 beds (Ministry of National Economy &
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003).

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Chapter Two Literature Review

2.5.4.1 A profile of Oman’s visitors

The Ministry of National Economy and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
commissioned a study of the visitors to Oman to understand their characteristics and
to determine how to position Oman as a tourist destination in order to increase its
market share of international tourism.

The total number of visitors to Oman during 2001 and 2002 was about 1,095,152 and
1,112,291 respectively. The group of tourists from the Gulf countries ranked first in
terms of numbers. They reached about 654,951 and 716,738 tourists in 2001 and 2002
respectively. Table 2.10 and Figure 2.6 show the distribution of the number of
inbound tourists by nationality.

Table 2.10 Number of inbound tourists by nationality

Year 2001 2002
Nationality Number (000) % Number (000) %
G.C.C 600 59.8 717 64.5
Other Arabs 42 3.8 23 2
Asians 149 13.6 110 9.9
Europeans 172 15.7 205 18.5
Other 77 7.1 57 5.1
Total 1040 100 1112 100
Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003
Figure 2.6 Number of inbound tourists by nationality

2001 2002
Other
Other 5%
7% Europe
G.C.C
Europeans ans G.C.C
Other Arabs 18%
17% Other Arabs
Asians Asians Asians
Asians G.C.C
14% 58% Europeans 10% G.C.C Europeans
65%
Other Other Other Other
Arabs Arabs
4% 2%

Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

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Chapter Two Literature Review

When it comes to gender groupings, males constituted about 59% of the total number
of inbound tourists, and agewise, 52% of the tourists were in the age bracket 25-44.
The total number of tourists’ distribution by sex and age group in 2002 is shown in
Table 2.11 and Figure 2.7.

Table 2.11 Number of inbound tourists in 2002 by sex and age group

Age Group 15 or Less 16-24 25-44 45-64 65 & More Total

Sex
Number
(000) 120 54 393 85 2 654
Male % 18.4 8.3 60.1 13 0.3 100
Number
(000) 158 53 189 56 2 458
Female % 34.5 11.7 41.3 12.2 0.4 100
Number
(000) 278 107 582 141 4 1,112
Total % 25 9.7 52.3 12.7 0.3 100
Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

Figure 2.7 Number of inbound tourists in 2002 by sex and age group

70
60
50
40 Male %
30 Female %

20
10
0
15 or 16-24 25-44 45-64 65 &
Less More

Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

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Chapter Two Literature Review

As is indicated in Table 2.12 below, the main purpose of visiting Oman in 2002 was
to visit relatives and friends. This is a reflection of the increasing number of tourists
from the GCC countries, mainly Dubai, due to cultural and family ties and climate
proximity in the southern part of Oman during summertime, followed by leisure and
recreation (35%). This indicates that the government should develop strategies to
cater mainly for the interests of these two segments through the establishment of
theme parks and coastal resorts and other related tourism facilities.

Table 2.12 Number of tourists by purpose of visit

Year 2001 2002
Number (000) % Number (000) %
Purpose of visit
Leisure & Recreation 380 34.7 391 35.1
Visiting Relatives &
Friends 466 42.5 445 40
Business 149 13.6 160 14.4
Other 100 9.2 116 10.5
Total 1,095 100 1,112 100
Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

Figure 2.8 Number of tourists by purpose of visit

2002

50
40
30
20
10
0
Leisure & Visiting Business Other
Recreation Relatives &
Friends

2002 %

Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

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Chapter Two Literature Review

The United Arab Emirates is the main source of tourists to Oman, either citizens or
residents. In 2002 they constituted about 86% of total number of inbound tourists. The
nationalities of those coming from UAE include British, Indians, German, French,
Swiss and others as indicated in Table 2.13 and Figure 2.9. Taking this fact into
consideration necessitates the need for alliances (cooperation and collaboration)
between the public and private sectors in the two countries in the area of tourism
development and marketing. In particular, alliances in destination marketing achieve
the objectives of both the private sector, in the form of financial gain, and the public
sector in the form of economic, political and social benefits to societies (Gunn, 1988;
Crompton, 1990; Palmer & Bejou, 1995; Fyall & Garrod, 2004).

Table 2.13 Inbound tourists by nationality and country of residence – relative

share (%)
Nationality U.A.E British Indian German Other Total
Country Of Residence
U.A.E 69.4 9.7 7.9 1.5 11.5 100
U.K 0 95.7 0 0 4.3 100
India 0 0 100 0 0 100
Germany 0 0 0 100 0 100
Other 0 14.2 3.8 0 82 100
Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Figure 2.9 Inbound tourists by nationality and country of residence (%)

120

100

80 U.A.E
U.K
60 India
Germany
40
Other
20

0
U.A.E British Indian German Other

Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

Based on the survey, the number of one-day tourists who visited the sultanate
constituted 27% of the total number of the inbound tourists, and they are mainly G CC
citizens. About 41% of the total tourists who visited the country spent between two
and six nights.

The majority of inbound tourists stayed in hotels, hotel apartments or furnished flats
(56%), followed by those staying with families or relatives (38%). Table 2.14 shows
the distribution of inbound tourists among different types of accommodation. The
number of hotels and hotel apartments had reached 124 in 2003, providing the market
with an accommodation capacity of 6078 rooms (Ministry of National Economy,
2003). However, when the new projects (e.g. Barr Al Jissah, Al Sawadi, and The
Wave) under construction are completed, they are expected to add more capacity to
the available number of rooms.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Table 2.14 Inbound tourists in 2002 by nationality and place of stay

Nationality G.C.C Other Arabs Asians Europeans Other Total
Place of stay

Hotel &Hotel Apartment 80 10 50 159 32 331

Furnished Flats 122 1 1 1 2 127
With Relatives/Friends 233 5 28 21 21 308
Other 26 3 7 15 1 52
Total 461 19 86 196 56 818
Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

Figure 2.10 Inbound tourists in 2002 by nationality and place of stay

250

200
Hotal &Hotal Apartment
150 Furnished Flats
100 With Relatives/Friends
Other
50

0
s
bs
.C

ns

e r
n

th
.C

ia
ra

ea

O
As
rA
G

op
e

r
Eu
th
O

Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

When it comes to inbound tourists’ expenditures during 2002, it was estimated at

about RO 91.9 million (about US$239 million). The study shows that in terms of total
expenditure, Europeans ranked first and GCC citizens ranked second. Table 2.15 and
Figure 2.11 show the total expenditures based on nationalities and types of
expenditure items. It is noticeable that accommodation and food form 46% of the total
expenditure and air tickets comes in second place. These two segments provide
investment opportunities for local and foreign private sectors and sources for
employment opportunities.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Table 2.15 Total expenditure of inbound tourism in 2002 by nationality and

items of expenditure
Other
Nationality G.C.C Arabs Asians Europeans Other Total
Expenditure Items
Air Tickets 6,014 462 3,346 15,332 3,818 28,972
Accommodation 7,569 640 2,571 13,410 1,826 26,016
Food 5,336 325 1,525 7,776 1,486 16,448
Shopping 6,306 128 625 2,729 810 10,598
Other 4,856 232 896 3,136 708 9,828
Total 30,081 1,787 8,963 42,383 8,648 91,863
Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

Figure 2.11 Total expenditure of inbound tourism in 2002 by nationality and

items of expenditure

18,000
16,000
14,000 Air Tickets
12,000 Accommodation
10,000
Food
8,000
6,000 Shopping
4,000 Other
2,000
0
ns

er
.C

s
ab

an

th
.C

ea
Ar

O
As
G

op
er

r
Eu
th
O

Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

Looking at Table 2.16 and Figure 2.12 below, we can notice that the expenditures of
tourists who visited the country for leisure and recreation in 2002 formed about 50%
of the total tourist expenditure. The expenditures on official, commercial and
professional businesses ranked second, at 33% of the total expenditure.

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Table 2.16 Total inbound tourism expenditure in 2002 by purpose of visit

Other
Nationality G.C.C Arabs Asians Europeans Others Total
Purpose Of Visit
Leisure & Recreation 19,789 239 1,071 22,705 2,262 46,066
Visiting Relatives & Friends 3,460 202 1,165 3,364 1,537 9,728
Business 5,735 990 5,058 14,045 4,798 30,626
Others 1,096 355 1,670 2,270 52 5,443
Total 30,080 1786 8,964 42,384 8,649 91,863

Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

Figure 2.12 Total inbound tourism expenditure in 2002 by purpose of visit

100000

90000

80000

70000
Purpose Of Visit
60000 Leisure & Recreation
Visiting Relatives & Friends
50000
Business
40000 Others
Total
30000

20000

10000

0
G.C.C Other Asians Europeans Others Total
Arabs

Source: Adapted from Ministry of National Economy & Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2003

2.5.4.2 The development of Oman’s tourism

In its efforts to sustain tourism development, the government of Oman (Ministry of

Tourism), in cooperation with World Tourism Organisation (WTO) and the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), held an

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international conference in 2005 on Built Environment for Sustainable Tourism

(BIST), to emphasise the policy objectives, aims and expectations of the Omani
authority of tourism development in the country. The conference acknowledged the
growing economic importance of tourism, its forecast global growth, geographical
spread into newer destinations and role in the overall development process (Times of
Oman, 2005). The conference stressed the importance of the numerous implications
of tourism to societies, especially with respect to the socio-cultural identity of the host
societies and to their built and natural environments. The role of governments (local,
national) in tourism development, marketing and management are essential issues to
be considered. Governments play the major role in creating and protecting the ideals
of sustainable development encompassing economic viability, social and cultural
advancement, and environmental protection that are applicable to all types of tourism
around the world. But as we have learned from the literature in Chapter (2), third
world countries are the most negatively affected by tourism, and they are the most in
need of controlling measures to protect the socio-cultural fabrics of the host societies.
According to the outcomes of the conference, both central and local governments and
the private sector have to strive to achieve the following objectives (Times of Oman,
2005, p.1):
• Promote the use of strategic tourism planning procedures for ensuring
sustainable tourism development for the built environment.
• Adopt policies and strategies relating to the development of tourism
infrastructure that ensure a better urban environment for both residents and
tourists.
• Implement planning processes that are transparent, equitable, and democratic.
• Align within tourism development plans and projects the requirements of
development objectives, the needs of local communities, and respect for the
environment.
• Ensure that the tourism-built environment reflects and respects cultural
diversity.
• Promote and disseminate awareness of best practice in the sphere of the built
environment amongst policy makers, developers, employers, employees, and
tourists.
• Provide information and guidance that allows visitors and residents to interpret
the distinctive built environments for individual destinations.

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• Monitor the impact of tourism on the built environment.

• Promote and establish partnerships among tourism stakeholders, public and
private, in order to ensure an orderly and sustainable development of tourism
infrastructures that respect local cultures and economics.
• Ensure legislative and regulatory frameworks safeguard and enhance the natural,
cultural and built heritage by wherever appropriate encouraging sensitive
adaptation of heritage sites to reinforce destination image and generate resources
for conservation.
• Provide appropriate incentives to ensure that the principles of sustainability are
central to large-scale as well as small-scale tourism development.
• Ensure the highest respectful integration possible of the tourism facilities in the
landscape to minimise its impact, while respecting the natural and biological
components of its environment.

What is missing from these recommendations and others not mentioned above is the
call on authorities for real and direct involvement of tourism stakeholders, especially
local communities, in different stages of the planning and development processes.
Calling for establishing partnerships is not sufficient to guarantee involvement. The
government of Oman intended from this conference, as we can observe from its
recommendations, to confirm its long-standing established policy of tourism
development that is based on inherited cultural features. Such a policy granted the
country its distinctive natural image among its rivals in the region for marketing
promotion initiatives. The theme is crystal clear, with the emphasis on cultural
heritage, environmental protection, preserving social identity, and linkages among
these factors for anticipated economic gains.

The government has prioritised tourism as one of the drivers of the new economy and
recognised that its development could be best achieved through a serious and result-
driven partnership with the private sector (OCIPED, 2004). The government is
encouraging investors to participate in the growth phase of Oman’s tourism industry,
and is providing potential investors with a package of some investment incentives (Al
Balushi, 2003) such as:
• 50 year renewable lease for lands.
• Reduced rental rates for the first 10 years of the project.

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• Government soft loans with low interest rates and repayment grace period.
• Income tax relief for up to 10 years.
• No restrictions on profits transfer or capital import.
• Readily available sites in terms of infrastructure.
• Up to 70% foreign ownership and up to 100% may be approved in certain
circumstances.
• Processing of approvals and licences on behalf of the investor.
• Competitive labour situation.
• Training opportunities for local employees.

The intention of these investment packages and opportunities is to attract more

foreign investors to achieve the purpose of the tourism development plans and
objectives set in Vision 2020. The achievement of the objectives will enable the
country to build its competitiveness capacity as a favourable touristic destination for
visitation and investment.

2.5.5 Oman’s destination competitiveness

Tourism numbers to, and expenditure within, a destination are primarily associated
with the destination’s international reputation and competitiveness. Tourism
competitiveness is “a general concept that encompasses price differentials coupled
with exchange rate movements, productivity levels of various components of the
tourist industry, and qualitative factors affecting the attractiveness or otherwise of a
destination” (Dwyer et al., 2000, p.11). The ultimate goal of competitiveness then is
to maintain and increase the real income of its citizens (Garelli, 2000; Porter et al.,
2001; Dwyer et al., 2003). In general the goal is to increase the standard of living of
people (Dwyer et al., 2003).

Oman is rich in natural assets and cultural heritage, and the country provides an
attractive and safe destination for tourists to experience. With features such as
wildlife, cultural heritage including UNESCO listed forts, an extensive coastline with
spectacular sandy beaches, sunny climate, variety of water sports and recreation,
unique archaeological sites of world significance, different types of hotels including
one of the world’s best (Al-Bustan Palace Hotel), Oman is truly the essence of Arabia

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(OCIPED, 2004). However, tourism is considered by all standards as an infant

industry in Oman. The industry faces many challenges, which it is expected will
continue in the future unless authorities take corrective measures to deal with them, in
order for it to develop and be a competitive destination. Ali & Al Raisi (2004, p.70)
and Shankland Cox (1995) ranked some of the immediate challenges to tourism
development in Oman based on significance:
1. Lack of market identification;
2. Lack of proper marketing and advertising;
3. Lack of integration among business sectors within the industry;
4. Lack of infrastructure;
5. Lack of institutional coordination, i.e. between government and other tourism
businesses;
6. Lack of information availability;
7. Lack of inexpensive employment and training availability for local staff;
8. Lack of basic facilities;
9. Cultural/religious constraints; and
10. Private and foreign investment.

In sum, Oman’s tourism competitiveness capabilities depend on a number of

substantial strategic opportunities as listed in Table 2.17 below:

Table 2.17 Summary of Strategic Opportunities

Investment Institutional Product Market Location/Access
Opportunities Opportunities Opportunities Opportunities Opportunities
Buoyant Government Quality, Established Proximity to
regional commitment to diversity and travel & trade major source
economies & tourism depth of natural partners & market (Europe
consumer development and cultural distribution & UK, India and
demand assets channels South-East Asia
High Existing Existing quality Competitive Proximity to
investment industry infrastructure new product UAE cities and
interest networks components positioning airports
Safe, clean and Muscat’s Regional
secure established competitive air
environment market services
positioning
‘Niche’ and Developing road
special interest network
market potential

Source: adopted from Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 2001

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Chapter Two Literature Review

2.5.5.1 Oman’s SWOT analysis

For the country to be competitive in tourism and overcome the above-mentioned

obstacles, it has to evaluate the strengths of the industry’s attributes, avoid and
eliminate the related weaknesses, make use of available opportunities, and wisely
manage the foreseen threats (SWOT) which might impede the industry’s development
and growth (Shakland & Cox, 1995; Alston, 2003; OCIPED, 2004; Nouveau monde
Le Tourisme, 2004; Ali & Al Raisi, 2004).

Strengths
The major tourism strengths of Oman include:
• The scenic values of the coastal areas and the mountains (diversified
landscapes).
• The sparkling sandy beaches.
• Significant natural attractions such as the turtle nesting areas, the marine
environment, the mountain environment, the picturesque wadis (valleys), and
the desert sands.
• The UNESCO listed archaeological sites such as the Ubar (the lost city).
• The high quality urban environments.
• The significant heritage assets that exist in different locations around the
country, the traditional markets, unique old villages, and the traditional
underground irrigation system (falaj).
• The unique folklore and traditional music and dances.
• The diverse tourism experiences that are available in different parts of the
country.
• Polite, tolerant and hospitable people.
• Political, economic and social stability.
• Safety and security.
• The multiplication of number of visitors in the last 10 years.
• Excellent hotels and service levels.

Weaknesses
• Visa restrictions on certain nationalities.
• Limited supply of basic amenities outside of Muscat the capital.
• Limited nightlife.
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Chapter Two Literature Review

• Poor tourism infrastructure outside the capital.

• Lack of proper market research and planning of public services including
immigration.
• Inability to deal with huge crowds at the airport terminal.
• Language and education (especially languages other than English).
• Limited information about local handicrafts, their history and importance.
• Limited availability of qualified and experienced local labour for the tourism
industry.
• Lack of international and professional awareness due to poor packaging and
marketing of the country and lack of promotion/joint ventures with travel
operators.
• Lack of cooperation among government agencies responsible for tourism
marketing, planning and development.
• Lack of image.
• Lack of direct flights from many destinations.
• Insufficient number of hotels.
• High prices of services and amenities.

Opportunities
• Expansion of its air routes internally and externally.
• Regional dispersion of tourism centres.
• Promotion for business conferences, international exhibitions and special events.
• Use of Oman’s natural resources for adventure sports activities like mountain
climbing, wadi (valley) tracking, diving, etc.
• Use of its diverse culture to attract and cater for the interests of different
nationalities.
• Adopt a regional cooperation and collaboration strategy for tourism
development and promotion.
• As an alternative destination to Dubai, to capitalise on Dubai’s capacity
limitation in peak months.
• Develop strategic alliances between public and private sectors.
• Establish Oman as a strategic trading hub, which in turn will encourage
visitation.
• Human resources development.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

Threats
• Lack of total approach and use of proper marketing tools.
• Continual crises in the Gulf and the Middle East.
• Competition from other places in the region (e.g. Jordan, Egypt, Dubai).
• Development of special festivals by other countries at the same time as the
tourism season in Oman.
• High prices and taxes.

2.5.5.2 Oman’s ranking

The World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Competitiveness Monitor system
tracks a wide range of information, which indicates to what extent a country offers a
competitive environment for travel and tourism development. The Monitor aims to
stimulate policy makers, industry investors, academics and all other interested parties
to recognise the crucial role they play in maximising the contribution of travel and
tourism for the benefit of everyone and to ensure that the development of the industry
is sustainable.

The Competitiveness Monitor offers an analytical framework (WTTC, 2004) which:

• Provides an ongoing record of policy indicators and developments which impact
travel and tourism;
• Compares national performance statistics, policies and agreements;
• Indicates the effectiveness of national policies to attract foreign direct
investment and tourist expenditure in a globally competitive market; and
• Highlights the importance of long-term planning and the need to factor travel
and tourism into all government policy developments and decisions.

The WTTC carried out an analysis of Oman’s competitiveness based on

predetermined factors developed by the organisation’s experts for the purpose of
measuring countries’ competitiveness, and gathering information about each
particular country. The factors of comparison were price competitiveness, human
tourism, infrastructure, environment, technology, human resources, trade and tourism
openness and social indicators. The factors or indicators of destination
competitiveness are many and varied (Dwyer et al., 2003). Different models have
been developed and introduced by (e.g. Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Dwyer & Kim 2002;
Hassan, 2000; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2003; Ritchie et al., 2000), as, has been

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explained in different places in this study, which are a composite of similar indictors
used by WTTC. The country’s ranking is indicated in Table 2.18 and Figure 2.13.
The value of each index ranges from 0 to 100 to show the level of performance of the
country relative to other countries. An index value of 0 represents the lowest
achievement and 100 shows the highest achievement. The index values of 0 and 100
also correspond to the minimum and maximum values of the actual data, so that the
comparison of achievement is a relative comparison.

In general, Oman falls in the average category (amber colour). For Oman to move up
on the ladder of competitiveness, it has to capitalise on its strengths mentioned earlier
and try to deal with the weaknesses presented by the analysis, particularly in the
factors of price competitiveness index, human tourism and resources and the
environment as shown in Table 2.18 and Figure 2.13.

Table 2.18 Oman’s competitiveness ranking

Oman Index Value Ranking

Price Competitiveness 31 91

Human Tourism n/a n/a

Infrastructure 45 84

Environment 31 145

Technology 39 113

Human Resources 29 123

Openness 44 109

Social 62 58

Source: Adapted from World Travel & Tourism Council (2004)

Index value: (least competitive is 0.0; most competitive is 100.0)

Ranking : (most competitive is number 1; least competitive is number 212)
N/A : (data not available)

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 Chapter Two Literature Review

Figure 2.13 Oman’s competitiveness ranking in different categories

Source: Adapted from World Travel & Tourism Council (2004). Green, amber and red colours
indicate respectively, above average, average and below average performance.

Figure 2.14 below shows Oman’s competitiveness position in comparison to its

immediate tourism competitors in the Middle East region based on WTTC ranking
factors discussed above.

Figure 2.14 Comparison between Oman and its immediate competitors in the area

120
Bahrain
100 Egypt
Emirates
80 Jorden
Kuwait
Oman
60
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
40 Seychelles
Singapore
20 Yemen

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Source: Developed for this study based on WTTC (2004) figures.

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Chapter Two Literature Review

2.5.5.3 Tourism marketing and promotion

For Oman to test its viability and attractiveness as a tourism destination, the country
commissioned feasibility and market research on major target markets such as the UK
and France. The studies were based on consumers’ and tour operators’ perceptions,
awareness and beliefs of Oman in these two markets. The findings of the studies
analysed the SWOT of the tourism industry and pinpointed the appropriate measures
the country should take to introduce itself as an alternative destination to visit.
Awareness, local partnerships, very proactive tourism offices in major target markets,
government sharing promotion costs with foreign tour promoters, information
availability and excellent proactive media relations are some of the main
recommendations presented by the qualitative findings of these studies.

Oman already has in place travel and trade companies with access to Gulf countries
and international markets to expedite marketing campaigns to reach and build a viable
consumer base (Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 2001). Understanding the
operating priorities and growth strategies of tourism companies will give Oman
tourism a strategic advantage in formulating an industry business plan, marketing
strategies and planning future infrastructure. This could be achieved through
understanding the well-established market positioning of the Gulf countries,
introducing competitive new products to those already existing in Oman and the
region, enhancing the well-established position of the capital, Muscat, taking
advantage of destination location by proximate to source markets in Europe and Asia,
and maximising Oman’s appeal to the high-yield niche and special interest markets
that are now experiencing high growth (Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 2001;
Ministry of Tourism, 2006).

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Chapter Two Literature Review

2.5.6 Conclusion

This section diagnosed the tourism industry of Oman. It introduced synopses of

Oman’s geography, economy, trade and history. The country’s tourism principles
within the general framework of the country’s development strategy have been
mentioned. A brief statistical discussion of the tourists’ component of the industry has
been evaluated, and the country’s competitiveness in tourism explained. A SWOT
analysis for Oman shows the potentiality of government and private sector
involvement for the sake of development of the tourism industry.

Based on the outcome of this chapter, the next chapter will explain in detail the
research methodology approaches used for the purpose of this research to answer the
research problem and test the proposed conceptual framework hypotheses.

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Chapter Three Methodology

Chapter Three
Methodology and Research Plan
3.1 Introduction

In seeking information about the development of destination tourism resources and

attractions, and support of planning and marketing stakeholders for tourism
competitiveness strategies, gaps in the literature have been identified in Chapter 2,
(sections 2.3 & 2.4). A theoretical framework shown in section 1.2 was tested
empirically on the case of Oman. In addition, a pool of stakeholders’ perceptions,
opinions, and demographic attributes was collected from both secondary and primary
sources to identify items to help resolve the research problem. The study is
explanatory and descriptive in nature, and it is based on both quantitative and
qualitative analysis to investigate the relationships between destination-specific
situational factors (economic, socio-cultural, political, environmental), stakeholders’
perceived power (community participation), place attachment, impact on the
development of Oman’s tourism resources and attractions, and in turn the support of
its competitive strategies.

3.2 Research Paradigms

The research propositions elicited from the analysis of social exchange theory,
stakeholder theory, competitiveness theories, and development models are tested on
Oman’s tourism stakeholders. The data were collected in relation to each variable
identified in the conceptual framework developed as per Figure 1.1 in section 1.2. The
nature of the research problem as well as the independent, mediating and dependent
variables identified to analyse the research problem are within the framework of the
post-positivist research paradigm. The emphasis on triangulation in the post-positivist
paradigm is suited for this research as different levels of analysis are required to cater
for the deficiencies of the data collection method to be adopted in this study, and
because the variables with their diverse measures require both quantitative and
qualitative analysis to provide the necessary elucidation.

The research methodology is influenced by philosophical propositions and

assumptions such as ontology and epistemology about the nature of knowledge and

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kind of entity that exists (Packer, 2003). According to Girod-Seville and Perret (2001,
p.13), “All research work is based on a certain vision of the world, employs a
methodology, and proposes results aimed at predicting, prescribing, understanding or
explaining”. Epistemology can be defined as “a general set of assumptions about the
best ways of inquiring into the nature of the world” (Easterby-Smith et al., 2002,
p.31), and is often considered before the researcher decides on the appropriate method
to use in his/her research.

A paradigm can be defined as “The entire constellation of beliefs, values, and

techniques which is shared by members of a given community, and it denotes one sort
of element in that constellation, the concrete puzzle-solutions which, employed as
models or examples, can replace explicit rules as a basis for the solution of the
remaining puzzle of normal science” (Kuhn, 1970, p.175).

That is, a paradigm acts as a guide or map, dictating the kinds of problems scientists
should address and the explanations that are acceptable to them (Sarantakos, 1998). It
is related to assumptions about the social world, which include elements of
epistemology, theory and philosophy with methods, and provides a view of how
science should be done (Punch, 1998).

Numerous researchers have reviewed the philosophy of research design and proposed
four types of paradigms: positivism, post-positivism (also referred to as realism),
constructivism, and critical theory (e.g. Creswell 2003; Denzin & Lincoln, 1998;
Easterby-Smith et al., 2002; Guba & Lincoln, 1994; Perry et al., 1999; Peter & Olson,
1989; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998). A summary of philosophical assumptions related
to each paradigm is presented in Table 3.1, and the methodological implications of
different epistemologies within social and behavioural science are presented in Table
3.2.

The outcome of both results is correlated and compared with findings within the study
and with previous research findings in the field of tourism development and
destination competitiveness.

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Chapter Three Methodology

Table 3.1 Assumptions of different philosophical paradigms

Paradigm Positivism Post- Constructivism Critical theory

positivism

Ontology: Realist/ Naïve Critical realism: Relativist/critical Critical/historical

The reality that the realism/ relativism: realist:
researcher apprehension:
investigates. Reality is real. Reality is relative
Reality is real. Imperfectly/ (multiple Virtual reality
probabilistically. subjective (multiple realities co-
Asks: What is realities co- exist).
reality? What is it exist).
that we know? Is knowable, Knowable Can be known.
the true nature through Is constructed in
can be probabilities. people’s minds. Shaped by social,
discovered. economic, ethnic,
Triangulation of Locally and political, cultural and
Governed by sources is specifically gender values,
unchangeable required to try to constructed crystallized over
natural laws. know it. according to time in real and
what people created historic
believe it to be. structures.

Epistemology: Dualist/ Modified dualist/ Transactional/ Transactional/

The relationship Objectivist: objectivist: Subjectivist: Subjectivist:
between reality and (subjective
the researcher. knower and
objective world).
Asks: What
constitutes
knowledge/science.
Findings are Findings are Findings are Findings are
true. probably true. created. mediated by values.

Methodology: Primarily Triangulation of Primarily Any with a critical

The technique used quantitative quantitative and qualitative stance. Dialogical/
by the researcher to methods. qualitative methods. Dialectical
investigate that methods.
reality.

Asks: How do we
gain knowledge?

Source: Adapted from Denzin & Lincoln (1998); Girod-Seville & Perret, 2001; Gliner &
Morgan (2000); Guba & Lincoln (1994, 2004); Perry et al. (1999); Punch (1998); Sarantakos
(1998)

Table 3.2 below explains the different epistemologies associated with different
research paradigms and methods. This research, as indicated earlier, fits within the

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post-positivism paradigm utilising both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The

techniques used survey as a dominant method complemented with less structured
open-ended focus group discussions. The outcomes of both results correlated and
compared with previous research findings in the field of tourism planning and
development, marketing management, and destination competitiveness.

Table 3.2 Methodological implications of different epistemologies within social

and behavioural science

Social Science Epistemologies

Elements of
Methods Social
Positivism Post-positivism
constructivism

Aims Discovery Exposure Invention

Starting points Hypotheses Suppositions Meanings

Designs Quantitative Quantitative Qualitative

and/or Qualitative

Techniques Experiment Survey Survey Unstructured

Semi-structured interviewing
interviewing

Analysis/interpretation Verification/Falsification Probability Sense-making

Outcomes Causality Correlation Understanding

Comparison

Source: Adapted from Creswell (2003, p.6) and Easterby-Smith et al. (2002, p.34)

3.2.1 Positivism

Positivism is a research paradigm widely used in the social sciences. Rudner (1966,
p.10) defined it as “a systematically related set of statements, including some law-like
generalization, which is empirically testable”. This statement translates to a vigorous
research tool that consists of a set of measurable statements used by a researcher on
targeted respondents to obtain measurable feedback on a specific phenomenon or
research problem. The key idea of positivism is that the social world exists externally,
and it has to be measured through objective methods rather than through sensation,
reflection or intuition (Easterby-Smith, 2002). Further, positivism is based in realist

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ontology, where external reality is real and true, and governed by unchangeable
natural law (Guba, 1990a; Guba & Lincoln, 1994).

Methodologically, the objectives of the research inquiry include the measurement and
analysis of causal relationships (hypotheses testing) between various variables across
time and context under controlled conditions. The primary data collection techniques
include experiments and surveys which are driven by natural laws and mechanisms.
The research mode of inquiry is deductive in nature based on testing prior theories.
However, positivists do not involve or interact with respondents, and treat them
independently. This notion ignores the importance and significance of respondents to
reflect deeply on the problem situation under investigation more freely (Easterby-
Smith et al., 2002; Robson, 2002). Positivism is commonly associated with
quantitative methods (Punch, 1998). This research used the basis of positivism
principles in providing and testing causal relationships between the different
constructs that constitute the conceptual framework of the study. However, this
positivist approach is not complete and sufficient by itself for the purpose of this
study without the support of some qualitative data to enhance its internal and external
validity and reliability.

3.2.2 Constructivism

Guba and Lincoln (1981) claimed that whatever initiatives or programs are to be
implemented, in whatever circumstances, they would be constructed through a
process of reasoning, change influence, negotiation, persuasion and arbitration. Whilst
the experimentalists might only have consideration for experiment and controlled
subjects, and the pragmatists look towards policy makers, the aim of constructionists
is to accommodate ‘stakeholders’ and ‘evaluators’ and specify that human meaning is
the defining feature of pluralistic empirical social inquiry (Pawson & Tilly, 1997).

Constructivism attempts to investigate the roots of social phenomena, each

investigation being unique and its findings not able to be generalised to another
similar phenomenon (Leung, 1999). According to Guba and Lincoln (1989, p.45)
“phenomena can be understood only within the context in which they are studied;
findings from one context cannot be generalised to another problems nor their

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solutions can be generalised from one setting to another”. The aim of the researcher is
to understand how people invent structures to help them work out what is going on
around them (Easterby-Smith et al., 2002). Constructivists adopt critical relativism
ontology (Perry et al., 1999). It is believed that external reality is relative, only exists
in multiple subjective mental constructions in people’s minds, and aims to create
idiographic knowledge (Guba, 1990a; Lincoln, 1990). Constructivism is developed
and constructed in people’s minds according to what they perceived or believed it to
be.

Epistemological constructionist paradigm is subjectivist, with both the inquirer and

the inquired viewed as one entity, which is different from positivism or critical theory.
However, constructivism, like critical theory, enquires about values that lie behind a
finding. Value findings are created through personal interaction between and among
interviewers and respondents, while the interpretation of constructions is done through
hermeneutic and dialectic techniques (Anderson, 1986; Guba & Lincoln, 1994;
Lincoln, 1990; Perry et al., 1999; Peter & Olsen, 1989). Methodologically, the aim of
constructivism is to generate a substantial consensus construction (Guba, 1990a; Guba
& Lincoln, 1994; Lincoln, 1990). The method must be hermeneutic and dialectic
(Lincoln, 1990). It is mainly a qualitative method, and the data collection interview
techniques are mostly semi-structured and unstructured. This type of methodology is
partially adopted as part of the triangulation (pragmatic) approach in this research as a
supportive method for the major quantitative part.

3.2.3 Critical Theory

Critical theorists use a humanistic alternative to social inquiry. Ontologically, the

critical theorists make the same assumptions as the critical realists that an external
reality does exist and can be known, but cannot be apprehended (Guba & Lincoln,
1994; Knicheloe & McLaren, 2000). They base this assumption on the grounds that
social reality cannot be seen but through virtual reality. Ideologically it is based on
oriented enquiry (Guba, 1990a), and assumes social realities, which are shaped by
social, economic, ethnic, political, cultural and gender values accumulated over time
in real and historic structure (Perry et al., 1999). Epistemologically, assumptions are
subjective and findings are grounded in social and historic routine and considered

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value dependent (Anderson, 1986; Gabriel, 1990; Guba & Lincoln, 1994; Hunt, 1990;
Peter & Olson, 1989). Methodologically, critical theorists seek to eliminate false
consciousness of participants and facilitate transformation, and could use any data
collection techniques with a critical stance. Any critical stance would put it in a
different and distinguishable position from the positions of manipulationists and
interventionists (Guba, 1990a). However, this paradigm is not suitable for this
research because the aim of the researcher is not to transform and liberate people from
emotional and social structure (Guba, 1990a, 1990b; Lincoln, 1990), and the research
enquiry is not as well grounded in historical studies.

3.2.4 Post-positivism

Post-positivism, sometimes called realism or critical realism, is similar to positivism

but with some differences. It takes an ontological position that external reality is real
and exists, but it is imperfectly knowable and understandable through probability, due
to humans perceiving it with their imperfect intellective mechanisms (Burrell &
Morgan, 1989; Gabriel, 1990; Guba, 1990a). Epistemologically, the post-positivist
researcher aims for objectivity within the framework of being a subjective knower in
an objective world; however, the findings are not the absolute truth. According to
Easterby-Smith (2002, p.34), “The assumed difficulty of gaining direct access to
‘reality’ means that multiple perspectives will normally be adopted”.
Methodologically, post-positivism mostly uses multiple methods of inquiry (Quali +
Quanti or Quanti + Quali) sequentially or concurrently, as will be explained further in
section 3.3. The primary data collection inquiry techniques used by post-positivist
researchers are surveys and structured or semi-structured interviews. The
understanding and analysis of tourism stakeholders’ interactions, perceptions and
attitudes require the types of post-positivist philosophy which necessitate a complex
system of inquiry to unveil the substances and realities of the research problem. This
could be achieved through triangulation. In contrast to other paradigms, post-
positivism advocates the development of models from prior theory to get closer to
reality and ‘truth’, even though precise knowledge of reality is imperfect and
uncertain (Healy & Perry, 2000). On a methodological basis, the post-positivist
paradigm and its emphasis on triangulation suits the requirement of this research, and
is deemed the appropriate method to answer the research problem. The triangulation

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of quantitative and qualitative methods within the post-positivist paradigm would

allow overcoming the limitations of the rigidity of the methodological techniques of
data collections of the other paradigms. This research, therefore, sits on the post-
positivism (realism) paradigm.

This research, as mentioned above, fits within the post-positivism paradigm utilising
both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The techniques used were survey
questionnaires as a dominant method complemented with focus group discussions,
using seminar type visual presentation and discussion.

3.3 Triangulation

When a single research method is found inadequate by itself, methodological

triangulation is used to ensure that the most comprehensive approach is utilised to
solve the research problem (Morse, 1991). Triangulation means looking at the same
phenomenon or research question from more than one source of data; gathered
information can be used to corroborate, elaborate or illuminate the research problem
(Griggs, 1987; Hurmerinta-Peltomaki & Nummela, 2004). It limits the personal and
methodological biases and enriches the study’s generalisability (Decrop, 1999).
Quantitative research methods are characterised by the approach of deductive theory
testing. Qualitative research methods were rarely mentioned in textbooks on business
research (Bonoma, 1985; Easterby-Smith et al., 2002; Gummesson, 2000), and only
recently has qualitative research started to gain more acceptance amongst researchers
in management and marketing disciplines.

Easterby-Smith et al. (2002, p.3) summarises the major differences between applying
quantitative and qualitative research methods as:

In the past, much attention has been given to describing, coding and counting
events, often at the expense of understanding why things are happening. This
has led to a predominance of quantitative research methods which are geared,
for example, to find out how many people hold particular views, or how
corporate performance can be measured. By contrast, qualitative methods might
concentrate on exploring in much greater depth the nature and origins of

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people’s viewpoints, or the reasons for, and consequences of, the choice of
corporate performance criteria.

The knowledge claims, the strategies, and the method of collecting data are the major
contributors to selecting the appropriate research method (Creswell, 2003). Table 3.3
sets out a comparison between three approaches of research methods.

Table 3.3 Alternative combinations of knowledge claims, strategies of inquiry,

and methods

Research Knowledge claims Strategy of Methods

approach inquiry

Quantitative Post-positivist Experimental design; Measuring attitudes;

assumptions survey rating behaviours

Qualitative Constructivist and Ethnographic and Field observations;

Emancipatory narrative design Open-ended
assumptions interviewing

Mixed methods Pragmatic Mixed-method Closed-ended

assumptions (triangulation) design measures; open-
ended observations

Source: Adapted from Creswell (2003, p.20)

Mixed research method (triangulation) is where the researcher primarily attempts to

base knowledge claims on pragmatic grounds (consequence-oriented, problem-
centred, and pluralistic) (Creswell, 2003). Triangulation is used for a number of
reasons. Sarantakos (1998, p.169) identified four reasons for using two methods in the
research process:
• to obtain a variety of information on the same issue;
• to use the strengths of each method to overcome the deficiencies of the other;
• to achieve a higher degree of validity and reliability; and
• to overcome the deficiencies of single-method studies.

Additionally, the decision of selecting mixed methods should be based on the fact that
some important elements of the research problem would remain unresolved if only
one research method were used (Bryman, 1992). Thus, according to Jick (1979), the
purpose of the mixed methods is to capture a complete, holistic picture of the subject

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under investigation, with a view to uncovering something that might not be

discovered with a single research method.

The terms ‘triangulation’ and ‘mixed methods’ are used synonymously in this study,
bearing in mind that mixed methods represent one form of triangulation.
Triangulation can be separated into four types (data sources, methods, investigators,
theories), which, in combination can lead to potentially more meaningful, richer, and
more generalisable results (Decrop, 1999; Denzin, 1978, 1989; Jick, 1979).

Data triangulation entails the use of a variety of data sources such as primary and
secondary data. This means comparing and cross-checking the consistency of
information derived from different sources of data at different times (Patton, 2002). In
this study I used both primary and secondary data sources to formulate the research
problem, to understand the problem environment, to test the conceptual framework,
and to verify the study findings.

Investigators triangulation is concerned with using several different researchers to

investigate and interpret the same collected data. This type of triangulation method is
used individually or among research teams. It is a type of editing of work process to
check the viability of collected data and confirm the plausibility of interpretations
(Decrop, 1999). This type of triangulation method is not used in this study.

Theoretical triangulation involves using multiple perspectives to interpret the same

set of data. When the field is multidisciplinary, such as tourism, the researcher may
investigate the topic quantitatively, qualitatively or both from different angles such as
anthropology, psychology, sociology, marketing, management, and economics.
Hernandez et al. (1996) used theoretical triangulation by testing three theoretical
frameworks to confront the emerging findings of their study of understanding locals’
reaction to tourism. Similar to Hernandez et al.’s study, this study draws on the
strengths of different disciplines and uses different theories related to management,
psychology and tourism development.

Method triangulation means using different methods to study a single problem. This
can be a different quantitative or qualitative method or a combination of both, as will

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be further explained later. This process of triangulation of methods is seldom a

straightforward process because it is likely that quantitative methods and qualitative
methods will answer different questions that do not easily come together to provide a
single, complete and accurate picture of the situation (Denzin, 1978; Patton, 2002).
However, such a method will provide the researcher with the tools and ability to
compensate for the deficiency of using a single method (Denzin, 1978). For this
reason this study will endorse the utilisation of methods triangulation.

Furthermore, triangulation is used to expand the understanding from one method to

another, and to converge or confirm findings from different data sources (Creswell,
2003). In mixing data collection methods, quantitative and qualitative data are
collected either simultaneously or sequentially, depending on the research priority
(equal or unequal), to understand the research problem and the place in the research
process in which ‘mixing’ of the data occurs, such as in the data collection, analysis,
or interpretation phase of inquiry (Bryman, 1992; Creswell, 2003; Creswell et al.,
2003; Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2003). Combining these features would lead us to accept
the definition of mixed methods study as to “involve the collection or analysis of both
quantitative and/or qualitative data in a single study in which the data are collected
concurrently or sequentially, are given a priority, and involve the integration of the
data at one or more stages in the process of research” (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2003,
p.11).

Even though triangulation is generally accepted as a method to produce more reliable

and valid results than the use of a single research method, there are some researchers
who do not agree with this proposition (Sarantakos, 1998). Researchers such as
Blaikie (1991), Lamnek (1988 cited in Sarantakos, 1998) and Silverman (1985) argue
that generalisation of the advantage of triangulation is unfounded, and the process
does not necessarily guarantee better results. They claim that, even if the use of
different research methods supports and enhances each other’s findings, all findings
might not be acceptable or valid.

Lamnek (1988 cited in Sarantakos, 1998, p.169) said that the use of triangulation
might be associated with serious methodological problems; for instance:

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• triangulation and single-method procedures can be equally useless if they are

based on wrong conditions and wrong research foundations;
• triangulation can be used as a way of legitimising personal views and interests;
and
• triangulation therefore is not suitable for every issue.

I am aware and do acknowledge the existence of some of the above-mentioned

problems and limitations associated with triangulation. However, I still consider
triangulation as the most appropriate method for this study. Triangulation enabled the
production of valid data and concrete analysis that contributed to the construction of
solid theoretical, methodological and practical contributions and recommendations.
The triangulation of quantitative and qualitative methods results in the most accurate
and complete description of the phenomenon under investigation (Johnson &
Christensen, 2000, 2004; Patton, 2002; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998).

In this study, I collected diverse types of data sequentially about destination

competitive strategies, tourism development impacts and how the Omani people
perceived tourism development in the country. The study was built on prior studies
and theories in the area of tourism destination management and marketing, and
tourism planning and development for the sake of testing the conceptual framework
developed in Chapter 2 (Figure 2.4, section 2.4). This research incorporated
quantitative and qualitative methods in a four-stage process:

Step 1: Executive interviews to refine the research problem. The study in its first
phase, as shown in Figure 3.1, began with conducting and collecting cross-sectional
secondary data from different literature sources such as books, periodicals, national
and international newspapers, government records and other studies about the topic.
In addition, various scholars around the world were contacted electronically in an
attempt to become acquainted with the notion of tourism competitiveness and to
define the research problem. This was followed by a few face-to-face informal
interviews with different executives in Oman and Australia to further refine the
research problem.

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Step 2: Pilot studies to develop and refine measures and survey questions. At this
stage, the theoretical framework and the measurement scales were developed based on
a priori theories and review of the mass tourism literature. Therefore, the survey
instrument was piloted at different stages of development. In the first stage, the
questionnaire was reviewed by some academic scholars to establish its
appropriateness, clarity and ease of understanding. Some amendments were suggested
and then implemented. Secondly, the instrument was then pre-tested on various
undergraduate and postgraduate students to make sure it was understandable. Again, a
few corrections were suggested and applied. Finally, after translating the survey
instrument from English to Arabic, it was piloted on a number of Omani stakeholders
representing the intended segments identified in Table 3.9. The pre-testing of the
survey instrument established its reliability which exceeded the recommended 0.7
level (Hair et al., 2003).

Step 3: (Interviewer-assisted) surveys for theory explanation (main part). The third
stage was the collection of primary data from various tourism stakeholders in Oman,
as specified in Chapter 2, section 2.4.3.1, and Figure 2.3. It involved collecting and
analysing data quantitatively as the main part of this study to test the proposed
theoretical framework and hypotheses (see section 3.6.1 for details).

Step 4: Semi-structured focus group interviews to evaluate quantitative findings. The

qualitative part was conducted sequentially, and involved presenting the empirical
findings to three different focus groups to evaluate and confirm the quantitative
findings. The data was then integrated at the analysis and interpretation stages for
presentation (see section 3.6.2 for details).

Figure 3.1 below depicts the research design adopted in this study. The design is a
combination of quantitative and qualitative methods as will be explained and
discussed later in sections 3.6.1 and 3.6.2. The emphasis then will be on further
exploring steps 3 and 4 of the research design.

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Figure 3.1 Research Design

Stages 1 & 2: Discovery-Oriented Model Development Stage 3: Model Test Stage 4: Research Results

LITERATURE- FIELD-BASED INSIGHT

BASEDPERSPECTIV E
- Tourism planning and development FIELD- BASED QUALITATIVE PRE-TEST OF SCALES
literature review to identify extant MODEL CONFIRMATION - Focus groups of senior executives
components of destination’s - Reactions and insights on non-
competitiveness Gauge/assess face validity of model - Identification / development of MODEL significant and significant results
- Integrate and synthesize constructs and by discussing the research with scales VALIDATION - Elucidate study contributions to
components. different stakeholders and academic - Pretest with domain experts in public policy
- Explicate and delineate relationships experts industry and academia - Construct validation
between and among constructs. (quantitatively & qualitatively) - Exploratory and
confirmatory
factor analysis
- Compute
reliabilities
PRELIMINARY FINAL CONCEPTUAL MODEL - Examine convergent DISCUSSIONS
CONCEPTUAL MODEL and discrimination Results &
FIELD-BASED SURVEY OF IMPLICATIONS
validity
- Assimilate literature-based - Modify preliminary conceptual TOURISM STAKEHOLDERS - Model Test
perspectives to build model to balance parsimony,
- Structural
conceptual model theoretical rigor, and management - Six groups of tourism stakeholders in equation
- Integrate and synthesize relevance Oman LITERATURE-BASED
modeling (SEM)
constructs and scales - Refine construct definitions - Convenience sampling method INSIGHTS
- Identification of
- Explicate and delineate
final structural - Reconciling results and extant
relationships between and
model for Oman tourism planning literature
among constructs
- Elucidate study contributions to
tourism planning and development
theory

These boxes involved These boxes involved collecting These boxes involved researcher’s
drawing on extant data from senior mangers through assimilation of literature and field-
literature focus groups and mail surveys based perspectives and model testing.

Source: Developed for this research after Menon et al. (1999)

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3.4 Justification of the Research Methodology

A quantitative research method is one in which the researcher primarily uses a

positivist or post-positivist approach in claiming and developing knowledge (e.g.
cause-effect relationships, hypothesis testing, use of measurement) with the intention
of theory-testing, employing inquiry techniques such as experiments and surveys, and
collecting data using instruments that yield statistical data. The research questions are
primarily how, why in interviewing or who, what, where, how type questions in survey
research. The research problem of this study focuses on how and what as indicated in
Chapter 1, section 1.2.

Yin (1994) identified three conditions for determining the appropriate strategy for a
particular research:
• the form/type of research problem and questions to be asked;
• the extent of control the researcher has over behavioural events; and
• the degree of focus on contemporary as opposed to historical events.

Table 3.4 below shows the five research strategies and the three conditions as
prescribed by Yin (1994).

Table 3.4 Selecting the appropriate research method

Strategy Form of research Requires control Focuses on
problem of behavioural contemporary
events? events?
Experiment How, why? Yes Yes
Survey Who, what, where, how No Yes
many, how much?
Archival Who, what, where, how No Yes/No
analysis many, how much?
History How, why? No No
Case study How, why? No Yes

Source: Adapted from Yin (1994, p.6; 2003, p.5)

A qualitative research method is one which focuses on the process of production

rather than the product itself (Patton, 1990). In this type of method the inquirer makes
knowledge claims based on an individual’s experiences and social and historical

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meanings with the intention of theory-building. It uses different strategies for data
inquiry such as narratives, ethnographies, grounded theory, or case studies. The
researcher uses open-ended and emerging data for the purpose of developing themes
from the data (Creswell, 2003).

There is an increased use of qualitative techniques in the post-positivism paradigm

alongside the traditional quantitative techniques of positivism, although the qualitative
method is primarily used as a way to check the validity of the research findings
(Blaxter et al., 2001). However, there are several criteria identified by researchers
which need to be applied before choosing the right strategy.

As shown in Table 3.5 below, the researcher has to explore and realise the differences
between the four major decisions which have to be considered in selecting a mixed
method strategy of inquiry.

Table 3.5 Decision choices for determining a mixed methods strategy of inquiry
Implementation Priority Integration Theoretical
perspective
Non-Sequence Equal or either one At Data Collection Explicit
concurrent

At Data Analysis

Sequential- Qualitative
Qualitative first
At Data interpretation

Implicit

Sequential- Quantitative
Quantitative first
With some combination

Source: Adapted from Creswell (2003, p.211) after Creswell et al. (2003)

In the research design stage, the researcher has to decide whether s/he intends to
collect both quantitative and qualitative data in phases (sequentially) or collect it at
the same time (concurrently). Based on the initial purpose and intent of the researcher,
either quantitative or qualitative data is collected first. When the intent is to test a
prior theory and prove causal relationships, as is the case with this study, the

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quantitative data is collected first, and then followed at later stages with qualitative
data to gain further understanding of the research problem and to help explain the
quantitative results. The process is called the sequential triangulation data collection
method. This method is used when the researcher uses two different methods in an
attempt to confirm, cross-validate, or corroborate findings within a single study
(Creswell, 2003; Greene et al., 1989; Morgan, 1998; Steckler et al., 1992). The
sequential explanatory strategy is characterised by the collection and analysis of
quantitative data followed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data (Creswell,
2003). The priority typically is given to the quantitative data, as is the case with this
study. The purpose of the sequential explanatory design is to use qualitative results to
assist in explaining, interpreting, evaluating and confirming the findings of the
primarily quantitative study (Creswell, 2003; Morse, 1991). Furthermore, the use of
different methods to examine a topic might result in a more robust and generalisable
set of findings (higher external validity) (Scandura & Williams, 2000). However,
some of its limitations are that it requires great effort and expertise to deal with two
different methods at the same time; it may cause difficulty in comparing findings; and
the researcher might not be clear about how to deal with or to resolve the
discrepancies that arise out of the results of the study.

A second factor that determines the choice of methodological strategy is whether

greater priority or weight is granted to the quantitative or the qualitative method. The
priority might be equal or skewed towards either the qualitative or quantitative data
collection method. Unlike the case in the design stage, here the priority is given to
either method throughout the research process. The process is described as including
the introduction of the study, the use of literature, the statement of purpose of the
study and the research problem, the data collection, the data analysis, and the
interpretation of results (Creswell, 2003; Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2003). The mixed
method researcher may choose to give equal priority to both quantitative and
qualitative methods, or give more emphasis to either qualitative or quantitative
method. This emphasis may result from constraints of data collection, the need to
understand one type of data before proceeding to the next, or just because the
audiences prefer the quantitative or qualitative method (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2003).
In this study, although both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, priority

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and emphasis was given to the quantitative method. The qualitative method was only
used to confirm, evaluate, validate and enhance the numerical findings.

After deciding that a mixed research design is needed, the researcher then has to
determine the rationale for the mixed design. He/she has to understand what s/he
wants to achieve by applying this method and how such a method would help in
answering the research problem (Johnson & Christensen, 2004). The major purposes
for mixing methods are: triangulation, complementarity, development, initiation, and
expansion (Greene et al., 1989). Triangulation is when the researcher tries to
converge and corroborate results from applying different research methods, as is the
case with this study. By using quantitative and qualitative methods in this study, the
purpose is to seek convergence of results to increase credibility of the research
findings. By using mixed methods the researcher’s intention could be to achieve
complementarity. This is achieved when the researcher seeks elaboration, evaluation
and enhancement, and clarification of the findings of one method from the other
method (Greene et al., 1989; Johnson & Christensen, 2004). Development is used
when the researcher attempts to use the results of one method to help inform the other
method. Initiation is when the researcher seeks to discover paradox and contradiction
that might help in reframing or refining the research problem or questions from one
method to the other. Finally, expansion seeks to extend the breadth and depth of
inquiry by using different methods and research components (Greene et al., 1989;
Johnson & Christensen, 2004). These rationales guided and framed the justification of
the development of the research design of this study.

The integration (mix) of the types of data could take place at the data collection stage,
the data analysis stage, the interpretation stage, or a combination of stages (Teddlie &
Tashakkori, 2003). In the data collection stage, the mixing might involve using open-
ended questions with close-ended questions on the survey. At the data analysis and
interpretation stage, the mixing might take the form of transforming qualitative
themes or codes into quantitative items or scales in the interpretation section of the
study. The decision to be taken is at what stage the integration should take place, and
that would primarily depend on the sequential nature of the research and the priority
assigned to different investigation methods. In regard to this study, the integration
took place at the interpretation and reporting stages. The thematic qualitative data

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were used in textual form (e.g. quotations, opinions) to enhance the empirical
findings.

As the study attempts to measure Oman’s tourism’s stakeholders’ perceptions and

attitudes and their preferences about tourism resources and attractions development
and types of supporting competitive strategies for implementation, it was found that it
was worth going deeper into the imagination of some of the stakeholders and explore
how they perceive tourism effects on the community and their future projections as
planning authorities in terms of planning, development and community participation.
The integration of their qualitative thoughts into the quantitative empirical findings
granted the study the needed richness, trustworthiness and reliability.

In summary, no matter what the purposes of the study, all studies using mixed
methods aim at a similar final result: to validate the research results, to complement
each other, to inspire the research process and/or facilitate interpretation of the results.

Despite the fact that there is a need to select a methodology that generates
generalisation, realism and precision (McGrath, 1982), all research methodologies are
flawed in some respect (Dennis & Valacich, 2001). Using both quantitative and
qualitative methods compensated for each method’s weaknesses if used alone. Kaplan
and Duchon (1988) addressed the need and desire to combine quantitative and
qualitative methods, as no one approach to research can prove to be reliable, valid,
and meaningful by itself. Henderson (1990, p.181) also argued that it is possible to
combine qualitative and quantitative methods in both the positivist and
phenomenological paradigms. She concluded, “The value of multiple methods is that
they lead to multiple realities”. Meanwhile, Hartmann (1988) was critical of using a
single research method and over-emphasis on quantitative research in the field of
leisure and tourism. He used both quantitative and qualitative methods in collecting
data about young American and Canadian tourists during a European excursion. Thus,
triangulation was ensured in this study by using a combination of research methods.
Both the initial findings and the methods inspired the process.

The rationale for conducting this research both quantitatively and qualitatively, in
addition to what is mentioned above, was to test the impacts of the interrelationships

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between Oman’s tourism stakeholders in relation to their perceptions and attitudes

towards tourism resources and attractions development, and their support for
competitive strategies. In addition, the use of both methods helped in overcoming the
deficiency associated with the convenience and quota sampling data collection
techniques adapted for this study. Furthermore, the rationales for selecting Oman as a
context were:
• Oman is placing great emphasis on developing the tourism industry as part of its
economic diversification program and employment generator;
• Oman is one of a large number of developing countries striving to diversify its
economy, maximise the utilisation of natural resources and attractions, and
provide social welfare for the population; and
• I am a native of Oman, hold a senior position in government, and have wide
experience and numerous contacts within the government and the private sector.
These factors facilitated easy access to data and to the stakeholders’ network.

In light of the foregoing discussions and explanations, this research is in the post-
positivist paradigm because it deals with an external and social reality (Hunt, 1990;
Trochim, 2002; Perry et al., 1999) that demonstrates how tourism development factors
impact on local stakeholders, and hence a multiple method approach appeared to be a
reasonable proposition. Quantitative and qualitative research methods contributed to
gaining better understanding of the phenomena under investigation; provided high
rigor, reliability, and validity to the study; and combined depth with breadth in the
study outcome.

3.5 Research Methods Used in Tourism Research

Qualitative research methods nowadays are widely used in market research and are
gaining wide acceptance in the social sciences (e.g. Bonoma, 1985; Easterby-Smith et
al., 2002; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Walle, 1997). In travel and tourism research,
anthropologists and sociologists have used qualitative research, with the exception of
research in consumer behaviour (Decrop, 1999; Riley & Love, 2000). When it comes
to economy, geography, psychology or marketing, researchers tend to use quantitative
approaches (Decrop, 1999). According to Riley (1996, p.22), “The majority of
tourism marketing research has relied on structured surveys and quantification”. The

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qualitative methods were used explicitly in the exploratory stage to initiate and
provide information for further quantitative investigation or to subordinate and
enhance the empirical findings. Therefore, the literature suggests a domination of the
positivist paradigm in many aspects of leisure and tourism research (Decrop, 1999;
Hartmann, 1988; Riddick et al., 1984).

Walle (1997, p.528) explained that as tourism is becoming a multidisciplinary field,

tourism researchers should explore the variety of tools and techniques available to
them, and they should acknowledge that, “All the methods of social science are, in
essence, tradeoffs allowing one option by abandoning other alternatives”.
Furthermore, he suggested that tourism researchers should “establish situations where
scientific tools and subjective interpretations can best the employed (and vice versa)”.
Consequently, the use of quantitative and qualitative research methods in tourism is
both useful and appropriate. Despite quantitative methods being dominant in the field,
they have their own limitations, such as their inability to deal with vital problems
facing marketing and tourism scholars. So they are supplemented with qualitative
methods to deal with such limitations. Triangulation of research methods is
commonly used in tourism research. For example, Markwell (1997) used both
participant observation and semi-structured interviews, and Corey (1996) used focus
group (content analysis) techniques and structured questionnaires (quantitative
analysis). Hernandez et al. (1996) subjected their study findings to three theoretical
frameworks to understand local residents’ reaction to tourism, and Dann (1996) used
open-ended interviews and photo-driving techniques. Aas et al. (2005) used survey
questionnaires, and semi-structured and unstructured interviews to study two themes
related to tourism development (collaboration and stakeholders’ involvement in
development).

Even though this research process started inductively, it is of a deductive nature and
inquiry as it was driven by an a priori theoretical framework abstracted from previous
literature in the field, and the quantitative method has taken precedence. However, the
qualitative enquiry was used to complement the quantitative findings.

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3.6 Research Design

The following sections provide an overview of the quantitative (step three) and the
qualitative (step four) research methodology approaches and designs employed in this
study, including the unit of analysis, measurement and research instrument, data
collection methods, sampling methods, data analysis techniques, validity and
reliability, and methodology limitations.

3.6.1 Step three – quantitative method (survey)

This section explains the quantitative approach used in this study such as unit of
analysis, data collection procedures, the use of questionnaire in three different ways,
the measurement scales for the conceptual framework constructs, study population,
convenient and quota sampling methods, and data analysis techniques.

3.6.1.1 Unit of analysis

The unit of analysis refers to the level of aggregation of the data collected during the
subsequent data analysis stage (Sekaran, 2000), or the level of investigation
(Zikmund, 2003) of collected data by focusing specifically on objects such as entire
organisations, groups, departments, ventures or activities, and individuals. For this
study, the unit of analysis was individuals within government and private sector
domains in Oman, as well as residents, and inbound tourists. The aim was to approach
those individuals and organisations mostly related to tourism development in the
country. Respondents provided an aggregate or accumulated views of their
perceptions and opinions about the destination resources and attractions preferences
for development; and what policy alternatives and measures would be necessary to
gain their support for competitive destination strategies.

3.6.1.2 Data collection procedures

Data can be collected using a number of methods: for instance, face-to-face interviews
(e.g. mall-intercept), telephone interviews, participant observation, and mail and
personally administered surveys (Aaker et al., 2000; Burns & Bush, 2000; Neuman,

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1997, 2003; Sekaran, 2000; Zikmund, 2003), or through the Internet (Comley, 1997;
Dillman, 2000; Forrest, 1999).

Surveys collect data from a sample of the population and analyse it quantitatively.
Surveys have different generic advantages and disadvantages (see section 3.6.1.3
below). The generic advantages might not be totally applicable to the Oman case, as
difficulty was anticipated in generating a high response rate. This is due to the lack of
an efficient mailing system, the lack of mailing addresses for many people, and the
public’s unfamiliarity with scientific research. However, surveys are considered one
of the most appropriate and commonly used sources of information for tourism
analysis, planning and decision-making (Pizam, 1994; Simmons, 1994; Smith, 1995).

3.6.1.3 The use of questionnaires

The major method used in this research to collect data was the use of questionnaires.
Questionnaire is a self-report data instrument that each respondent fills out as part of
participating in a research study (Johnson & Christensen, 2004; Teddlie &
Tashakkori, 2003). Researchers use questionnaires to obtain information about the
attitudes, feelings, behaviours, perceptions, experiences, and personalities of
participants (Johnson & Christensen, 2004). The questionnaire could be purely
quantitative based on a structured and close-ended questionnaire, where all
participants fill out the same questionnaire and all items provide the same option of
answers from which respondents have to select. The questionnaire is structured
around a type of scale like the ‘Likert scale’ (Likert, 1932). The second type of
questionnaire is a ‘mixed questionnaire’ (Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2003). This type of
questionnaire is similar to the pure quantitative type, but includes a mixture of
completely open- and closed-ended items. In addition, a single item may also be
‘mixed’ as shown in the example below:

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Tourism in Oman has resulted in:

1.Crime 4. Prostitution
2.Drug use 5. None
3.Robberies 6. Others: please specify

In constructing a questionnaire, the researcher must consider some important

principles of questionnaire format to allow respondents to answer the questions fairly
easily and quickly. Table 3.6 provides the major principles of questionnaire
construction.

Table 3.6 Principles of questionnaire format

• Make sure the questionnaire items match the research objectives.
• Understand the research participants.
• Use natural and familiar language.
• Write items that are clear, precise, and relatively short.
• Do not use “leading” or “loaded” questions.
• Avoid double negatives.
• Avoid double-barrelled questions.
• Determine whether an open-ended or closed-ended question is needed.
• Use mutually exclusive and exhaustive response categories available for closed-ended
questions.
• Consider the different types of response categories available for closed-ended
questionnaire items.
• Use multiple items to measure abstract constructs.
• Consider using multiple methods when measuring abstract constructs.
• Use caution if you reverse the wording in some of the items to prevent response sets in
multi-item scales.
• Develop a questionnaire that is easy for the participant to use.
• Always pilot-test the questionnaire.

Source: Adapted from Johnson and Christensen (2004, p.166)

In this study I made sure that the above-mentioned generic principles were carefully
considered when constructing the questionnaire. Such consideration allowed easy
cooperation from participants.

Questionnaires are often an important component in triangulation methods, and have

their own strengths and weaknesses as shown in Table 3.7. The researcher should

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maximise the utilisation of the questionnaire’s strengths and minimise the weaknesses
as much as possible to produce valid and reliable data.

Table 3. 7 Strengths and weaknesses of questionnaires

Strengths Weaknesses

• Good for measuring attitudes and • Need validation.

eliciting other content from • Must be kept short.
research participants. • Might have missing data.
• Inexpensive (especially mail • Possible reactive effects (e.g.
questionnaire and group- response sets, social desirability).
administered questionnaire).
• Non-response to selective items.
• Can administer to probability
samples. • Response rate possibly low for mail
questionnaires.
• Quick turnaround.
• Open-ended items possibly resulting
• Can be administered to groups. in vague answers.
• Perceived anonymity by • Open-ended items possibly reflecting
respondents possibly high. differences in verbal ability,
• Moderate high-measurement obscuring the issues of interest.
validity for well-structured and • Data analysis sometimes time-
well-tested questionnaires. consuming for open-ended items.
• Low dross rate for closed-ended
questionnaires.
• Ease of data analysis for closed-
ended items.
Source: Adapted from Teddlie & Tashakkori (2003, p.306)

A questionnaire was prepared for this study based on the developed conceptual
framework, and distributed personally to targeted groups of stakeholders and posted
on the Internet. Participants were interviewed and then handed a copy (in English or
Arabic) of the questionnaire (see questionnaire in Appendix I). A professional
translator translated the questionnaire from English to Arabic and visa versa. In
addition, a covering letter was attached to each questionnaire to encourage
participation, explain the objectives of the research, and inform the participants that
information would be used solely for the purpose of this research (Zikmund, 2003). A
covering letter from the Omani Ministry of Tourism was also attached for some
segments such as government organisations, hotels, travel agents etc., to encourage
them to participate in the study.

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In this study, three different types of survey techniques were utilised: mall-intercept
(moderated) interview, self-administered drop-off, and on-line surveys. Survey, then,
was the main instrument used to collect quantitative data. Each technique’s strengths
and weaknesses will be explained further to justify its use in this research.

Mall-intercept interview surveying was used to collect primary data. This popular
tourism research tool (Litvin & Kar, 2001) is a face-to-face personal interview that
takes place in shopping malls or major road intersections. This method is less
expensive and more convenient compared to other research methods, as it requires the
individual to stop at the shopping entrance or at the street corner and ask people to
participate (Hair et al., 2003; Litvin & Kar, 2001; Mehta & Sivadas, 1995). Mall-
intercept surveying by design always introduces an element of convenience sampling
compared to random sampling efforts, as respondents are restricted to the specific
locales selected for interviews (Litvin & Kar, 2001). Hence, the mall-intercept
respondents may not result in an exact representation of the general population, and
this may limit how far one can generalise the results (Hair et al., 2003). However, I
managed to minimise this deficiency by using what is called within-triangulation
method (Hurmerinta-Peltomaki & Nummela, 2004). This method refers to the use of
multiple research strategies within one methodological approach (convenience and
quota sampling) and (mall-intercept, drop-off, and Internet surveys). Furthermore, as
respondents may be reluctant to provide confidential information to the interviewer, a
relatively high incidence of refusal was expected in the case of Oman (Zikmund,
2003). Through using the quota sampling method alongside the convenience sampling
method, I attempted to make the sample as representative of the population as
possible. In addition, I trained male and female interviewers to conduct and collect the
questionnaires in the most appropriate, efficient and professional ways. The process
took place over three months at different times in shopping malls in the Oman capital,
Muscat, and six other major cities out of Muscat. There were not any differences
between the various malls in terms of response rate.

The participants were given the option to fill in the questionnaire on site with
assistance from the interviewer or, after explaining to them the intentions of the
research, take it home and post it after filling it out. Those who chose the latter
method because of time constraints were provided with a self-addressed and stamped

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envelope and a contact number to use if they needed any clarification or had any
concerns.

Since tourism is a new phenomenon in Oman, some participants had some difficulties
in comprehending some of the concepts, a factor that is also due to people’s level of
education. In general, the questionnaire wording and concepts were clear, as indicated
by the pilot testing results and declared by the majority of intercepted respondents.
Despite its shortfalls, the mall-intercept method has been well embraced by tourism
researchers, particularly when studying behaviours, opinions, and attitudes of the
population and travellers (Litvin & Kar, 2001).

Self-administered drop-off questionnaire method was utilised for government,

private business and tourism faculties and students (researchers). The rationale for
using a drop-off questionnaire is the small number of individuals within some groups
(stakeholders) under investigation, and the network of personal contacts that I have
within government and business bodies. For example, the number of tourism related
businesses (e.g. tour operators) in Oman is relatively small, and so it was possible to
contact most of them directly. The questionnaire was printed in six different colours
to represent six different targeted groups or segments, as shown in Table 3.9. The
purpose of colouring was to allow easy tracking and follow-up of questionnaires
handed to each identity. The Ministry of Tourism took charge of the distribution of
the questionnaire to different government agencies and businesses. The questionnaire
was sent officially with a supporting covering letter from the Ministry of Tourism
asking diverse agencies and organisations to participate in the survey. This procedure
resulted in a large response rate.

The on-line survey research is conducted either through an e-mail questionnaire or

self-administered form posted on a website. An e-mail survey is any data collection
form that is sent to an e-mail address of the respondent and returned by e-mail to the
researcher. A website survey form is defined as “any survey research in which a
questionnaire or response form is posted at a web-site and accessed by respondents
who connect to the site either through links or by using the Web-site URL (Universal
Resources Locator) (Sackmary, 1998, p.2). On-line surveys are known to have many
advantages over conventional mail, telephone, and intercept surveys. For example,

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they guarantee fast responses by allowing immediate delivery of the survey and easy
feedback (Hwang & Fesenmair, 2004; Tierney, 2000). They have greater response
accuracy by reducing response error, interviewer bias, inputting error, and sampling
distribution problems (Dann & Dann, 2001; Dillman, 2000; Forrest, 1999). The on-
line survey was also an appropriate method to overcome the obstacles associated with
the convenience sampling method which is used in this study as explained in section
3.6.1.7. It has a comprehensive geographical coverage and is a less expensive method
compared to mail survey or interviews. However, it is still subject to some limitations
such as: firstly, coverage error, because the probability of being included in a sample
is not equal for most Internet users. Secondly, it is an unrepresentative sampling frame
(Bachmann et al., 1996; Bradley, 1999; Hwang & Fesenmair, 2004; Tse et al., 1995).
Those who have access to the survey website might not represent the targeted groups
of respondents or be representative of the whole population, and in addition, the
sample might be subject to bias. According to a publication of the Ministry of
Information (2003), there are about 50,000 Internet subscribers in Oman, although the
Central Intelligence Agency (2002) estimates the number of Internet users in Oman to
be about 180,000 (total population is 2.3 million). Thirdly, problems related to e-mail
delivery: a high percentage of e-mail addresses tend to be invalid or inaccurate
(Oppermann, 1995). Unfortunately it is difficult to find a quality and accurate e-mail
list (Sackmary, 1998). Fourthly, selection bias, as neither e-mail nor website surveys
allow for control and self-selection of respondents. The self-selection bias may lead to
repeat respondents. Finally, a problem related to software quality and accuracy:
researchers sometimes encounter the issue of incompatibility among web browsers
and related software programs (Comley, 1996; Sackmary, 1998). It is expected that
not all browsers will work effectively with on-line surveys.

For this study a website was created for the survey and advertised in different Omani
discussion forums. The respondents were asked to contact me directly if they had any
question or comment. The website was designed to allow the questionnaire to be
transmitted automatically to a specially created e-mail address for this study. This
method was applied because of the unavailability of a composite system of e-mail
addresses in Oman available to researchers or any third party. However, the tried
method showed some success. Some of the respondents sent e-mail messages praising
the study and appreciating the survey content. Although occasional difficulties with

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compatibility and breakdown of the system were encountered, the technical support I
received from the website designer was very effective in responding to these issues.
Since this technique of collecting data was primarily used to enhance and validate the
results of the other two techniques used in this study, and is not a popular method of
collecting data in Oman, the participants’ number was satisfactory, and respondents
did not report any difficulties with the wording or general understanding of the
questionnaire.

In summary, this research chose the survey method to collect data which was
administered through the use of the mall-intercept method, mainly for residents, the
drop-off method for government and private businesses organisations, and researchers
and on-line method for the general public (see Table 3.9).

3.6.1.4 Measurement scales and research instrument

The conceptual framework of this study attempted to empirically test the relationships
proposed among three independent variables: tourism development impacts, place
attachment, and stakeholders’ perceived power. One mediating dependent variable
was preferences about tourism resources and attractions development, and one
ultimate dependent variable was support for competitive destination strategies. These
relationships are shown in Figure 1.1, section 1.2.

The measurement scales for this study were developed from the literature review and
relevant theories, and previous empirical studies. The study measured stakeholders’
perceptual, behavioural knowledge, and attitudinal aspects about tourism, based on
measures used in the literature. The summated rating method, with a 5-point Likert
scale (ranging from 1=strongly agree, highly preferable and highly favourable to
5=strongly disagree, highly not preferable and not favourable at all) was used for the
measurement of perceived tourism development impacts, community attachment,
stakeholders’ perceived power, development preferences, and support for
competitiveness strategies. The scale consists of a set of items of equal value and a set
of response categories constructed around a continuum of agreement/disagreement
concerning a particular attitudinal element to which respondents were asked to
respond (Pizam, 1994; Sarantakos, 1998; Zikmund, 2003).

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Ko and Stewart (2002) and Maddox (1985), recommended the use of a Likert type
scale in tourism impact research due to its high validity (convergent and
discriminant). The scale is popular because the method is simple to administer
(Zikmund, 2000), has a high degree of validity and reliability, provides single scores
from a set of items, allows ranking of the respondents, is relatively easy to construct
(Sarantakos, 1998), and is an interval scale (Aaker et al., 2000). According to Hair et
al. (2003, p.424), Likert scales are “best suited for research designs that use self
administered surveys, personal interviews, or most online methods”. However, a
disadvantage of the Likert scale method is that it is difficult to know what a single
score means, and the many types of responses to the various questions may produce
the same total scores (Sarantakos, 1998; Zikmund, 2003). As there might be some
ambiguity as to what the middle choice means to different respondents (such as:
uncertain, acceptable, and neither disagree or agree), there is discussion in the
literature about the desirability of having such a middle choice and the difficulty in
achieving equal items in the scale (Black, 1999; Kimmon, 1990; Sarantakos, 1998).
Even though the middle score might not be included in the final analysis, it has to be
included in the survey to avoid depriving respondents from their right to express their
feelings accurately, and limiting them to only positive or negative answers.

For the purpose of this study, the survey was divided into eight parts: a) tourism
development impacts to measure the perceived impacts of tourism development, b)
community attachment, to measure place identity and dependence, c) development
preferences about destination attractions, d) tourism destination competitiveness
strategies, e) community perceived power and level of participation, f) media role, g)
tourists’ purpose of visit and perceptions, and h) the socio-demographic items. Table
3.8 shows the different measured variables with corresponding example statements,
measured scales and previously registered internal reliability.

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Table 3.8 Measurements and scales of items

Measured Variable Example statement Measurement scale Previous
internal
reliability
Tourism development Tourism has created more (1) Strongly agree 0.79
impacts significant jobs for the (5) Strongly disagree Yoon (2002)
community
Place attachment I am very much attached to (1) Strongly agree 0.87
my community (5) Strongly disagree Werzecha &
Lime (2001)
Development Development of nature-based (1) Highly preferable 0.88
preferences about tourism (5) Highly unpreferable Jurowski
destination attractions (1994)
Tourism destination The development of a strong (1) Highly favourable 0.94
competitiveness destination image (5) Highly unfavourable Yoon (2002)
strategies

Community participation I have ability/opportunity to (1) Strongly agree New items to

influence my community’s (5) Strongly disagree be evaluated
future
Media role Media play an important role (1) Strongly agree New items to
in promoting Oman’s tourism (5) Strongly- disagree be evaluated
Tourists’ purpose of visit What is the purpose of your
and perceptions visit? Different options given
to them
Socio-demographic Age, gender, employment,
education, and length of
residency

Source: Developed for this research

The following section details the measurement scales and their items in measuring all
the constructs in the study.

1. Independent variables:
a) Measurement of tourism development impacts
The measurement scales for assessing the economic, socio-cultural, environmental
and political development impacts of tourism were developed from the literature and
previous studies. This study investigated the residents’ perceptions of tourism
development in Oman. The investigation shows the relationships between total
tourism development impacts and tourism development. The relationship between the
individual items of tourism development impacts has correlated both directly and
indirectly to support more development and destination competitive strategies (e.g.

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Akis et al., 1996; Ko & Stewart, 2002; Liu et al., 1987; Liu & Var, 1986; Yoon, 2002;
Yoon et al., 1999, 2001).

There were twenty-five statements that were adapted from previous studies for the
measurement scale of this construct (section 2.4.2). The original scale reported in
Yoon (2002) produced 0.79 internal consistency of reliability on the scale. A five-
point Likert scale ranging from (1) strongly agree to (5) strongly disagree was used
(see Appendix ΙI – Part A). The reliability of this measurement scale will be discussed
in Chapter 4.

b) Measurement of community attachment

Community attachment has been measured by using two theoretically distinctive
concepts: place identity and place dependence (Bricker & Kerstetter, 2000;
Proshanski et al., 1983; Williams et al., 1992, 1995; Williams & Roggenbuck, 1989;
Williams & Vaske, 2003). Place identity has been measured according to the extent to
which there is an association of emotional and symbolic feelings about a given place,
and place dependence is measured according to the level to which individuals
perceive themselves as functionally associated with a place or group of places
(Korpela, 1995; Moore & Graefe, 1994; Proshansky et al., 1983; Stokols &
Shumaker, 1981; Shumaker & Taylor, 1983; Tuan, 1980; Vaske & Korbin, 2001;
Williams & Patterson, 1999; Williams & Roggenbuck, 1989).

For this construct, eleven items shown in Table 3.10 have been used to represent the
concepts of place identity and place dependence (Chapter 2, section 2.4.1). These
items are primarily based on studies by Moore and Graefe (1994), Warzecha and
Lime (2001), and Williams et al. (1992). In a study by Warzecha and Lime (2001) of
two different locations, they reported reliabilities of the scales measurement as 0.87
and 0.91 respectively. Williams et al.’s (1992, 1995) study evaluated 61 potential
community attachment questionnaire items and reported a high overall scale of 0.93.

In this study a five-point Likert scale ranging from (1) strongly agree to (5) strongly
disagree was used to measure community attachment items (see Appendix ΙI, Part B).

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c) Measurement of stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation)

Stakeholders’ perceived power to participate has been measured by three theoretical

concepts: participation, collaboration, and empowerment (e.g. Fyall et al., 2000;
Gunn, 1994; Jamal & Getz, 1995; Murphy, 1985; Scheyvens, 1999; Simmons, 1994;
Timothy, 1999; Tosun, 2000). For this construct sixteen items have been used to
represent the concepts of stakeholders’ perceived power as explained in Chapter 2,
section 2.4.3. These items were developed based on the comprehensive literature
review as introduced in Chapter 2. A five-point Likert scale ranging from (1) strongly
agree to (5) strongly disagree was used to measure stakeholders’ perceived power
items. Since these items are new measurement scales for this study, the reliability and
validity of the scale were evaluated through data analysis (see Appendix ΙI, Part E).

2. Mediating variable (dependent variable):

Measurement of stakeholders’ references about tourism resources/attractions
In order to measure tourism stakeholders’ preferences about tourism destination
resources and attractions, a total of twelve items have been developed and adapted
from previous studies that measured host communities’ support of tourism
development (e.g. Jurowski, 1994 cited in Yoon, 2000; Jurowski et al., 1997; Yoon et
al., 2001). A study by Jurowski (1994, cited in Yoon, 2000), who developed and
tested the original scale, reported an internal consistent reliability of 0.88, while Yoon
et al. (2001) showed that the construct reliability was 0.76.

For this construct, tourism stakeholders were asked to indicate their degree of
preferences about tourism resources and attractions development. A five-point Likert
scale of (1) highly preferable and (5) highly not preferable was used to measure the
items (see Appendix ΙI, Part C).

3. The ultimate dependent variable:

Measurement of support for destination competitive strategies

Twenty-five items that asked respondents to indicate if they supported or opposed the
proposed destination competitive strategies measured tourism destination competitive
strategies scale. The scale has been based on Yoon’s (2002), the literature review, and
tourism destination theories (Buhalis, 2000; Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Dwyer & Kim,

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2001; Hassan, 2000; Mihalic, 2000; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2003; Ritchie et al.,
2000). Yoon (2002) reported reliability consistency of 0.94.

A five-point Likert scale was used to measure tourism destination competitive

strategies and the degree of support for or opposition to each suggested strategy. The
scale ranges from (1) highly favourable to (5) not favourable at all (see Appendix ΙI,
Part D).

In summary, the five-point Likert scale was used as an instrument for measuring
various construct items in the study. In this study, care was taken in constructing
measurement and scaling procedures in the development of the questionnaire design.

3.6.1.5 Study population

The study population can be defined as the entire group under study as specified by
the objective and aim of the research (Pedhazur & Schmelkin, 1991; Sekaran, 2000;
Zikmund, 2000). Since the objective of this study was to investigate Oman’s tourism
stakeholders’ perceptions, attitudes and behaviours towards tourism planning,
development, impacts and level of participation, the population of this study was
determined to be the tourism stakeholders as indicated in Chapter 2. It was important
to identify the target population including members and organisations that are or are
not related to tourism activities as explained in Table 3.9. Examples include
government Ministries, private businesses, residents, tourists and tourism faculties
and students (researchers).

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Table 3.9 The Proportionate numbers of samples

Stakeholders Numbers (n)

Government:
Managers/Officers/Head of Department (but not clerical staff).
150
Split between tourism related Govt. Departments (30%); others
(70%)

Residents (both national and foreigners):

Nationality: Omanis (75%): Non-Omanis (25%)
Sex: Males (60%); Females (40%). 300
Age groups: 18-24; 25-34; 35-44; 45-54; 55-64; 65+

Business: Tourism related (50%); Non-Tourism related (50%) 100

Tourists 50

Academic Faculty and students 80

Media including advertising agencies 20

Total 700

3.6.1.6 Sampling size and method

Sampling is the process of selecting units (individuals, groups, organisations) from a

population of interest, so that, by studying the data collected, the results may be
generalized back to the population from which they were chosen (Denscombe, 2003;
Neuman, 2003; Sekaran, 2000; Zikmund, 2003). Samples can be divided into two
groups: those that are based on the principles of randomness from probability theory
and those that are not, and called nonprobability sampling (Neuman, 1997). Table
3.10 highlights differences between the two groups.

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Table 3.10 Types of samples

Non-probability Probability
Haphazard: Select anyone who is Simple: Select people based on a true
convenient random procedure.
Quota: Select anyone in predetermined Systematic: Select every kth person
groups. (quasi-random).
Purposive: Select anyone in a hard-to- Stratified: Randomly select people in
find target population. predetermined groups.
Snowball: Select people connected to Cluster: Take multistage random samples
one another in each of several levels.

Source: Adapted from Neuman (1997, p.205)

The study used convenience and quota sampling methods from identified and
independent sample frames. In quantitative research, sample size is associated with
the paradigm which guides the research and the nature of the target population
(Sarantakos, 2005). Depending on the size of each category of stakeholder, a
proportional sample from each category was selected to represent that particular
category and provide sufficient data for statistical analysis. The selection of sampling
units was based on the researcher’s intuitive judgment, desire and knowledge (Hair et
al., 2003). Then the degree to which the sample may or may not represent the defined
target population depends on the sampling approach and the researcher’s ability to
control and execute the selection process (Hair et al., 2003). The first draft of the
questionnaire was also piloted on a convenience sample.

Convenience and quota sampling are commonly used in market research to overcome
problems associated with random sampling, and guarantee that a sufficiently large
sample will be drawn from relevant subgroups of the population for statistical
comparison (Moser & Kalton, 2001). This quota-based convenience sampling method
sometimes makes the sample size and cost involved prohibitive; some quotas may be
increased or decreased, depending on the study particulars. In order to achieve a 95%
confidence level and a 5% sampling error, as is the case in probability sampling, the
required sample size is approximately 400 respondents (Akis, et al., 1996). The total
population of Oman is 2.3 million, and those in the age bracket of 18-65 comprise
about 50% of the total population (Ministry of Commerce & Industry, 2004). Based

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on this information, the estimated sample size for this size of population was 327
(Gliner & Morgan, 2000; Johnson & Christensen, 2004). Hence, large samples do not
always guarantee a higher degree of precision, validity, and success. The quality of
the research results depends on several factors and sample size is only one of them
(Sarantakos, 2005).

To ensure the reliability and validity of the study, and to make it roughly
representative of the population, the aim for this study was to secure at least 700
respondents across different segments as shown in Table 3.9.

3.6.1.7 Convenience and quota sampling methods

Convenience sampling refers to “sampling by obtaining units or people who are most
conveniently available”, while quota sampling is “to ensure that various subgroups in
a population are represented on pertinent sample characteristics to the exact extent
that the investigators desire” (Zikmund, 2000 pp.380, 383). Sometimes, a convenience
sample is all that is available to a researcher, and has to be utilised as the most
appropriate means (Bernard, 2000); or the researcher is forced to use the convenience
sampling method because of practical constraints (Johnson & Christensen, 2004), as is
the case with this study. Quota sampling as asserted by Bernard (2000, p.175) is “an
art that often approximates the results of probability sampling at less cost and less
hassle than strict probability sampling”. Despite its unbiased stance, this type of
method could give a good approximation of population parameters. This method is
used when the researcher wants to ensure that the desired number and appropriate
subgroups are identified and included in the survey (Hair et al., 2003). In this study
different segments/subgroups of the population have been included in the survey and
the interview process as identified in Table 3.9 and discussed in sections 3.6.1.3 and
3.6.2.

For this study, as the population groups vary in size, they were surveyed
proportionately. Only convenience and quota sampling methods are possible in Oman.
House-to-house scientific random sampling cannot be carried out here as is done in
other parts of the world. This is because of the difficulty in approaching households
for interviews due to the conservative nature of the society. Also, the inefficiency and

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ineffectiveness of the mailing system in Oman will not guarantee that all randomly
selected samples will receive the questionnaire. Additionally, not all expected
respondents may have a mailing address. Thus, most of the interviews are conducted
by intercepting individuals in the street, in their offices, or in public places such as
malls, shops, or parks. In this study, the convenience and quota sampling system was
followed, where data was collected from a certain number of respondents in each
segment so that it approximately represented the proportion of the population
distribution or the specific target audience distribution, utilising the government’s
official national census. In effect, certain quotas were maintained to ensure that the
sample finally interviewed represented the population ratios of age, gender and
regionality. Different public venues in different areas of the country were chosen, so
that the sample being collected was also spread across the country.

3.6.1.8 Data analysis

After data has been collected from a hopefully representative sample of the
population, the next step is to code and analyse it to test the research hypotheses. The
SEM with AMOS.5 software program was used for the quantitative data analysis. A
scale purification process was conducted over all sample items to edit data, using
Cronbach’s coefficient alpha to delete any item where its item-to-total correlation was
such that its elimination improved the corresponding alpha values (see Appendix IV-
CD, part C) (Lankford & Howard, 1994; Parasuraman et al., 1988). Using coefficient
alpha assisted in determining the internal consistency of the items to be measured
(Lankford & Howard, 1994). The use of the coefficient alpha measure assisted in
ensuring the convergent and discriminate validity, and increased the reliability of the
survey instrument (Pizam, 1994). This measure is the most commonly accepted
formula for assessing the reliability of a measurement scale of multi-point items
(Peter, 1979; Pizam, 1994).

The items that survived the reliability analysis were subjected to exploratory and
confirmatory factor analysis using Maximum Likelihood Estimation method (ML)
(see Chapter 4, section 4.7.1) as a data reduction technique for further validation,
examining the multidimensionality of the stakeholders’ attitudes scale, and ensuring
that no items related to the topic were neglected or excluded from the survey

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questions. Furthermore, the collected data were analysed descriptively using SEM to
test the theoretical framework variables and the construct measures (see details and
results in Chapter 4)

3.6.1.9 Statistical method for the hypotheses test – structural equation modelling
(SEM)
This study adopted structural equation modelling (SEM) as a statistical method in
testing hypotheses because SEM has been used as a tool in testing relationships
among observed latent variables (Byrne, 2001; Hoyle & Panter, 1995). In particular,
SEM has been considered to be a confirmatory method of testing a specified theory
about relationships between theoretical constructs (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1992). The
SEM is designed to evaluate how well a proposed conceptual model that contains
observed indicators and hypothetical constructs explains or fits the collected data
(Bollen, 1989; Byrne, 2001; Hoyle & Panter, 1995; Kline, 2005). It also provides the
ability to measure the structural relationships among sets of unobserved latent
variables, while explaining the amount of unexplained variance of the variables
(Davies et al., 1999; Hoyle, 1995; Byrne, 2001; Yoon, 2002).

According to Byrne (2001, p.3), the SEM is “a statistical methodology that takes a
confirmatory (i.e. hypothesis-testing) approach to analysis of a structural theory
bearing on some phenomenon”. Then a structural theory is used to test and explain
relationships among various constructs. Through the SEM procedure, the
simultaneous examination of a series of interrelated dependence relationships among
a set of latent unobserved constructs is possible (Reisinger & Turner, 1999; Yoon,
2002).

Measurement model
There are two distinct components of the structural equation modelling: 1) the
measurement model and 2) the structural equation model. First, the measurement
model is the component of a general model in which latent constructs are prescribed
(Yoon, 2002). It is considered as the ‘null model’ (Garson, 2005). The latent
constructs are unobserved variables disguised by the covariances among two or more
observed indicators (Hoyel & Panter, 1995). The measurement model is that part of
the SEM model which deals with the latent (unobserved) variables or constructs and
their indicators (observed variables). According to Garson (2005, p.3) the pure

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measurement model is “a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model in which there is

unmeasured covariance between each possible pair of latent variables, there are
straight arrows from the latent variables to their respective variables, but there are no
direct effects (straight arrows) connecting the latent variables”. The measurement
model is evaluated by using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) because CFA
focuses on the link between factors and their measured variables, within the
framework of the SEM (Byrne, 2001); thus, the measurement model specifies the
posited relationships of the observed indicators to the latent constructs (Yoon, 2002).

According to Anderson and Gerbing (1988), confirmatory measurement models

should be evaluated and re-specified before the final measurement and the structural
equation models are examined. Therefore, before testing the overall measurement
models, each construct in the model has to be evaluated and analysed separately
through a series of model identification steps. Further, when each construct has shown
an acceptable fit to the model, then all constructs should be evaluated together to
produce a final model that is meaningful as well as statistically acceptable. The
measurement model is evaluated using goodness-of-fit measures. Thus, the
measurement model has to be firstly approved as valid before proceeding further to
the structural model testing and analysis (Garson, 2005).

Structural model

The structural model is the hypothetical model that prescribes relationships among
latent constructs and observed variables that are not indicators of latent constructs
(Hoyle & Panter, 1995). It is the set of exogenous and endogenous variables in the
model, together with direct effects (straight arrows) connecting them (Garson, 2005).
This model is known as the component of a general model that relates the constructs
to other constructs by providing path coefficients (parameter values) for each of the
research hypotheses. Each estimated path coefficient can be tested for its statistical
significance for the hypotheses’ relationships, while including standard errors (SE),
and can calculate critical ratio (CR) or t-values (Bollen, 1989; Byrne, 1998, 2001;
Hair et al., 1998).

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In the structural model, a specific structure between exogenous constructs and latent
endogenous must be hypothesised, and the measurement model for exogenous
constructs and latent endogenous must be determined (Hair et al., 1998). Commonly,
maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), for example, is utilised for the model
estimation because it allows for the analysis of models involving latent constructs and
non-zero error covariances across structural equations (Garson, 2005; Kline, 2005)
(see section 4.6.1 for more details about MLE).

Evaluation of structural equation modelling

When evaluating measurement and structural models, two major types of overall
model fit measures are used: Absolute Fit measures and Incremental Fit measures
(Byrne, 1998; Hair et al., 1998; Hoyle & Panter, 1995; Hu & Bentler, 1995). First, an
absolute fit index is used to directly evaluate how well an a priori theoretical model
fits the sample data. Indexes of absolute fit typically gauge ‘badness-of-fit’, though
optimal fit is indicated by a value of zero (Hoyle & Panter, 1995). Second,
incremental fit index assesses the proportionate fit by comparing a target model with a
more restricted, nested baseline model. This index concerns the degree to which the
model in question is superior to an alternative model, and typically gauges ‘goodness-
of-fit’ (Hoyle & Panter, 1995).

There are different indexes to measure and evaluate the structural equation models.
Thus, most researchers who have evaluated and compared extant indexes encouraged
reporting multiple indexes of overall fit representing the two above-mentioned
measures (Bollen, 1998; Garson, 2005; Hoyle & Panter, 1995; Kline, 1998; Tanaka,
1993). For example, Kline (1998, p.130) recommended at least four tests, such as chi-
square; goodness-of-fit index (GFI); normed fit index (NFI) or comparative fit index
(CF); non-normed fit index (NNFI); and standardised root mean square residual
(SRMR). In this study I used indexes such as chi-square (χ2); degree of freedom (DF);
Akaike information criterion (AIC); root mean square residual (RMR); root mean
square error of approximation (RMSEA); normed fit index (NFI); relative fit index
(RFI); Tucker Lewis index (TLI); comparative fit index (CFI); goodness-of-fit index
(GFI); adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI); and Hoelter’s critical n (CN). These
indexes will be explained further in Chapter 4.

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3.6.2 Step four – focus groups

I conducted three focus groups to seek additional verification, clarification,

confirmation, and elucidation, and thus provide further depth to the findings of the
quantitative research stage and address some of its limitations. The second key
purpose was an evaluation of the accuracy and robustness of my interpretations. As
Yin (1993) pointed out, qualitative data can be represented by perceptual and
attitudinal dimensions, and real-life events are not readily converted to numerical
values. Moreover, opinions and expectations about tourism planning and development
strategies can differ depending on which population or occupational groups are
considered (Krippendorf, 1987). Based on this argument, it was felt that the sample to
be chosen for this study should consider this perspective. Hence, participants for focus
group interviews were selected from three different stakeholder segments, specified in
Table 3.9 (government related and non-related tourism officials and private sector
representatives).

The following section explains the qualitative research method used to further explain
the research problem. I also address the sampling method, data collection method and
steps of the data analysis.

3.6.2.1 Sampling method

In contrast to quantitative research, qualitative research usually uses small samples,

based on purposeful sampling, of participants who are studied in-depth through
utilising various approaches such as in-depth interviews, case studies, focus groups,
and observations (Easterby-Smith et al., 2002; Fern, 2001; Gummesson, 2000; Miles
& Huberman, 1994; Patton, 1990; Smithson, 2000; Walle, 1997). This study aims to
collect data from three different groups about their feelings, perceptions and opinions
about the study’s quantitative findings.

Patton (2002) recommended 15 strategies of purposeful sampling to select individual

cases. This study adopted three of them. First, I used the ‘convenience sampling
method’ based on my wide-reaching personal network of local contacts within
government and businesses spheres in Oman, which assisted me in obtaining
responses for the desired themes under investigation in a country where market

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research is not frequently used (Easterby-Smith, 2002). Second, I used ‘homogeneous

sampling’, to conduct focus groups with a small (6-12), homogeneous group of people
with similar backgrounds and experiences (Patton, 2002), thus reducing variations in
thinking, yet allowing sufficient variation for contrasting opinions (Hair et al., 2003).
Indeed, group cohesion and closeness are important in providing confidence to group
participants to contribute positively to discussions (Davis, 1969; Fern, 2001). Each
group consisted of eight participants representing the middle and top management
hierarchies in both government and private sector organisations. They are considered
the top planners and decision makers in their organisations and, having been
nominated by their superiors in the case of the government groups, they were in
addition the most knowledgeable about the topic to be discussed. Third, I used
‘confirming and disconfirming’ cases to confirm and elaborate on the findings, adding
to them richness, depth, and credibility (Patton, 2002).

3.6.2.2 Sample size

It is not necessary to study a large number of respondents to gain an in-depth

understanding of the topic under study (Gummesson, 1991). Furthermore, Patton
(1990, p.184) asserted that there are no specific rules for deciding the sample size in
qualitative research, but the sample size depends on “what you want to find out, why
you want to find it out, how the findings will be used, and what resources (including
time) you have for the study”. Similarly, Yin (2003) emphasised that there is no
limited number of respondents but an adequate number to achieve literal and
theoretical replication. Whilst literal replication means that each case study must
predict similar results to previous or future investigated cases, theoretical replication
predicts contrasting results but for anticipated reasons. Generally, this study achieved
both types of replications. For instance, the three focus groups confirmed the general
findings of the survey method, and also each focus group predicted similar results to
the group preceding it. Meanwhile, the three focus groups revealed some
contradicting views regarding issues such as community participation, mass versus
alternative tourism and environmental impacts, which were attributed to participants’
different socio-economic backgrounds and interests.

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According to Lincoln and Guba (1985), information consideration and redundancy are
the major criteria in determining the size of sample in purposeful sampling. Since the
objective of conducting the qualitative part for this study was to solicit elucidation and
confirmation of the empirical quantitative results as mentioned earlier, I selected three
groups, each with eight participants. Groups’ participants were selected on the merits
of their position, influence over decision-making processes, experience, and
involvement in the goal setting and strategy making of tourism planning and
development in Oman. Other criteria used were the distribution across age and gender
to achieve balanced views and semi-equal representation to enhance reliability and
validity of the results. Furthermore, I did not allow my decision in selecting
participants to be affected by particular informants in seeking evidence and accurate
data.

3.6.2.3 Data collection method

The data for this study, as mentioned above, were collected from different informants
from public and private organisations. Eight respondents from the two main
categories (government and private sector) were selected for participating in the focus
group interview. I considered participants’ perceptions and opinions (either positive or
negative) and decision-making power about tourism planning and development and
competitiveness strategies as a selection tool. Further, I coordinated the selection
process in regard to government participants with top senior officials at the Ministry
of Commerce and Industry and Ministry of Tourism, as well as the Chairman of the
Tourism Committee at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry for inviting
participants from relevant tourism bodies and agencies.

Focus group interviews concentrated on three major themes concerning tourism

among the participants: tourism impacts (economic, socio-cultural, political and
environmental), tourism management and competitiveness strategies, and the practical
implications of the research findings. The participants were decision makers at
different levels and thus were expected to enrich the study findings. In addition, new
ideas and themes emerged, and contradicting views and disagreements between
participants in some issues were evident (to be discussed briefly below and in more
detail in Chapter 4, section 4.11).

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I moderated all discussions, with two research assistants who helped in conducting
and preparing the logistics for each of the group interviews. Whilst I was well
prepared and confident in my role, and understood the characteristics of a successful
moderator, my personal relationships with most of the participants helped me a great
deal in communicating with participants in a less formal interviewing environment.
This provided a relaxed atmosphere for participants to voice their opinions freely,
with no constraints or reservations. Interviews were audio-taped and recorded by
shorthand for easy retrieval and referencing during the transcription and analysis
stages.

I also familiarised myself with the qualitative research skills guidelines, as suggested
by Patton (1990) and Yin (1994), before and during the data collection process in
order to maximise the benefits of the collected qualitative data. First, I made sure that
the data collection process was not routinised. The process started with building trust
and rapport (Johnson & Christensen, 2004), discussing how the discussion should be
structured, then discussing general issues related to the area of tourism, and then
drifting gradually to tourism in Oman. The formal work started with the presentation
of a brief visual slide show summarising the research in general and focusing on the
practical implications of my empirical findings followed by discussion. When the
participants raised new issues, I followed with additional probing to expand on the
existing knowledge and gain a better understanding of their agreement or
disagreement with the quantitative results. Second, I was flexible enough to modify
some questions or change the sequence of the topic questions in the interview guide to
link events or thoughts together. Finally, the interview team tried to control bias by
listening to all participants’ discussions, letting them express their opinions and
perceptions freely even when disagreeing with each other, and I remained open to
different and contrary views during the discussion process.

3.6.2.4 Focus group interviews

Interviews can be conducted using different techniques in a structured or semi-

structured approach (Easterby-Smith et al., 2002; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Patton,
1990; Rubin & Rubin, 1995). There are three types of qualitative interviews as

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discussed by Patton (1990): the informal conversational interview, the standardised

open-ended interview, and the interview guide approach.

(1) The informal conversational interview type is the most spontaneous and loosely
structured interview approach (Johnson & Christensen, 2004; Patton, 1990). In this
method the interviewer discusses the area of interest in general terms, then builds on
the topics that emerge during the discussion. There is no interview protocol prepared
for the interview (Johnson & Christensen, 2004; Patton, 1990).

(2) The standardised open-ended interview (highly structured) type, whereby the
interviewer enters the interview with a standardised interview guide similar to an
interview guide used in the quantitative interviewing, except that open-ended items
are common (Johnson & Christensen, 2004). This type of interviewing method is
more highly structured than the interview guide approach, because the interviewer can
vary slightly from the interview guide. A disadvantage of this method is that it
provides less flexibility in tailoring the interview to particular individuals and
circumstances, and standardised wording of questions may constrain and limit the
relevance of questions and answers (Patton, 1990).

(3) The interview guide approach (semi-structured) is less structured than the
previous type because the interviewer enters into the session with a plan to explore a
specific topic and to ask specific open-ended questions (Johnson & Christensen, 2004;
Patton, 1990). The topics and questions are structured in an interview guide.
However, the interviewer does not have to follow the themes or questions in the set
order, and can change the wording and sequence of any question listed in the
interview guide (Johnson & Christensen, 2004; Patton, 1987, 1990). Additionally the
interviewer must try to keep the interview process on track and not allow the
interviewee to go off on a topic that is not relevant to the study. The guide helps in
making interviewing different groups systematic and comprehensive by deciding in
advance the issues to be explored (Patton, 2002). A guide is essential in conducting
focus group interviews because it keeps the groups’ interactions focused and specific
to the topic while allowing individuals’ reactions to emerge (Patton, 2002). The three
focus groups provided several advantages and limitations as shown in Table 3.1
(Patton 2002, p.386):

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Table 3.11 Benefits and drawbacks of focus group interviews

Benefits Drawbacks

Cost effective data collection Number of questions to be asked is greatly

restricted due to group setting

Interactions between participants enhanced Time available for every participant is

data enquiry and quality limited

Allowed quick assessment of the extent to Participants who realise that their viewpoint
which respondents’ perceptions and views is a minority perspective may refrain from
were relatively consistent and shared or speaking up and risk negative reaction
diversified

Sharing of experiences can be enjoyable for Limited confidentiality for individuals

participants

Source: Patton (2002, p.386)

During the groups discussion process I managed to manipulate the power

relationships among participants. That is, when I noticed some participants, mainly
females, were reluctant in speaking out their opinions, I tried to ask them personally
and directly about what they thought about the issue under discussion, encouraging
them to speak out and get involved actively in the discussion. Thus, I tried to get all
participants involved, preventing one or two participants from dominating and
controlling the discussion scene, and thereby playing an active role in facilitating the
discussions (Ansay et al., 2004; Holstein & Gubrium, 1995; Morgan, 2002).

The interview guide approach is related to what is called the ‘rapid approach’ of
analysis strategy (Krueger & Casey, 2000). As noted above, my goal was to gain
insight and understanding into focus group participants’ thinking and ideas, their
opinions and perceptions of the study in general and the practical implications of the
findings in particular. Therefore, I chose a less structured approach with fewer
questions, a more flexible allocation of time within the interview time frame, and is
preferred to gain a depth of understanding into participants’ perceptions and thinking
(Ansay et al., 2004; Morgan, 2002). It also allowed for the emergence of new issues
and themes that I had not originally foreseen (Fife, 2005).

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Easterby-Smith et al. (2002, p.87) explained that open-ended semi-structured

interviews are appropriate when “it is necessary to understand the constructs that the
interviewee uses as a basis for her opinions and beliefs about a particular matter or
situation” or when “one aim of the interview is to develop an understanding of the
respondent’s ‘world’ so that the researcher might inffluence it, either independently,
or collectively as in the case with action research”. The intention, according to Patton
(1990, p.196), is to allow the participants to reveal what is in their minds which
cannot be observed, such as their “feelings, thoughts, and intentions … behaviours
that took place at some previous point of time … the meanings they attach to what
goes on in the world”.

Capitalising on the advantages posited by the third approach, ‘semi-structured

interview guide’, and time availability of participants, what is called the ‘funnel’
interview method (part of the semi-structured approach) was chosen as the most
appropriate method for interviewing (Morgan, 1997). In this method each group
begins with a combination of, for example, a less structured approach that
concentrates on a free discussion and then moves to a more structured discussion of
specific research issues or questions (Morgan, 1997; Patton, 2002). For this research,
the interviews focused on a particular set of questions drawn from the interview guide
based on various tourism literature and the quantitative findings, but were still open-
ended to allow probing and not to predetermine the answers (Morgan, 1997; Patton,
2002; Robson, 2002).

3.6.2.5 Interview guide

The interview guide or instrument is a major device for increasing the reliability of
qualitative research in general (Patton, 1990; Yin, 2003) and is one of the most
important parts of the focus group process (Greenbaum, 1998), because it provides an
outline of the discussions to be held during focus group sessions. There are two types
of format to be considered when developing the interview guide: topic guide versus
questioning route (Krueger, 1994). The topic guide is a list of topics or issues that are
to be addressed in the focus group discussion. The list consists of words or phrases to
remind the moderator of the topics to be discussed (Krueger, 1994). The questioning
route, however, is a sequence of questions in complete sentences (Krueger, 1994). I

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adopted the topic guide approach for the development of the interview process and
discussion for the focus groups. Topics and questions were developed according to the
research problem and themes abstracted from the quantitative findings. The topics
reflected the factors representing the major constructs related to tourism development
impacts, tourism resources and attractions development, destination competitive
strategies and community participations. The focus group interview guide is attached
in Appendix ΙΙI.

3.6.2.6 Qualitative data analysis

Collected qualitative data was sorted and coded thematically into useful themes. The
codes emerged from the data as well as from a priori established ideas in the literature
and the findings of the quantitative data (Stroh, 2000). Such a process allowed
comparing and contrasting ideas in the interviews, and checking the substance of the
codes by constantly referring back to the original interview texts when required
(Stroh, 2000). This process was planned prior to conducting the interviews to ensure a
systematic management of data, and rigour and validity of collected information.

Building on the quantitative data, I looked to further evaluate, interpret and

understand the relationships between key constructs depicted in the theoretical
framework (Chapter 1, Figure 1.1), and the similarities and differences between
statements, issues and themes either postulated by me or raised by focus group
participants (Marshall & Rossman, 1999; Neuman, 2003; Robson, 1986). I focused on
understanding the meaning people placed on a particular phenomenon discussed by
the groups rather than objective measurement of themes or constructs (Riege, 2003).
After transcribing discussions from the audio-tapes and comparing them with
shorthand notes and other notes taken by one of my assistants, the data was grouped
under predetermined themes. Thereafter, the analysis process started by searching for
patterns among participants’ discussions and identifying new themes that emerged
during the interview process. Finally, focus group findings were correlated with the
findings following the quantitative data analysis to discover convergent/divergent
opinions of participants indicating what is similar, what is different, and why
(Eisenhardt, 2002).

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3.6.2.7 Data analysis techniques

A review of the qualitative research methods literature indicated that there is little
attention given to the analysis of focus groups data, particularly in utilising focus
groups for evaluation purposes of quantitative data and the validity of its analysis
techniques (Nelson & Frontczak, 1988; Smithson, 2000; Vaugh et al., 1996). The
amount of analysis required with focus groups for a particular research is usually
determined by the purpose, objectives, and time frame of the research (Krueger &
Casey, 2000; Stewart & Shamdasani, 1990). There are different analytical techniques
among focus group researchers (e.g. content analysis, note-based analysis, tape-based
analysis). For this research, tape-based analysis was used to analyse data. The process
involved careful listening to the audio-tapes and accordingly the preparation of an
abridged Arabic transcript that is shorter than the usual focus group transcript as it
only includes comments that are directly related to the topic under discussion plus the
moderator’s own comments at the end of group sessions (Krueger, 1994). The
transcript is then translated into English to be used in data analysis and interpretation.

In regard to analysing data, Miles and Huberman (1994) identified at least three
stages: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. These
stages would include certain analysis techniques (e.g. contact summary sheet, codes
and coding, pattern coding, memoing). In this research project, the data was coded
according to the predetermined themes from literature and quantitative data results.
New themes that emerged from the interviews were coded separately and then merged
into a bigger system (Easterby-Smith et al., 2002). Finally, I analysed the findings to
understand the data in the context in which it had been collected. I used data reduction
and coding techniques with the aim of selecting, focusing, simplifying, abstracting,
and transforming the data (Miles & Huberman, 1994). The various techniques used in
displaying data as postulated by various authors include the creation of tables and
matrices of categories, cross-case synthesis, narrative text, quotation, and tabulating
the frequency of different issues (Griggs, 1987; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Neuman,
2003; Patton, 2002; Yin, 2003).

Since the interest on focus groups in this research was in the broadest sense (Vauge et
al., 1996), I read through the transcripts to search for big themes and patterns that
matched and confirmed the empirical findings themes. First, I performed a cross-case

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examination comparing data from the three focus groups with quantitative findings
(Miles & Huberman, 1994; Yin, 2003). Second, I considered the dynamics of the
discussion and comments by participants in an attempt to find narrative linkages
between concepts and themes and looking for internal consistency within and among
the groups and in the individuals’ contributions within the group (Ansay et al., 2004).
Finally, I abstracted quotations for the purpose of added support and confirmation of
the quantitative results. Moreover, direct quotes enhanced the rigour of the findings
and provided the necessary support and trustworthiness, as well as support and
soundness to the interpretation of findings and data analysis (Griggs, 1987; Patton,
2002).

3.6.3 Validity and reliability as a quality assurance system

An issue with any research instrument is that it accurately and consistently measures
what it is meant to measure, which means it should be valid and reliable. Reliability is
achieved by using research instruments that produce the same results from the same
conditions each time they are used, and tells about an indicator’s dependability and
consistency (Buckingham & Saunders, 2004; Lidgreen & Crawford, 1999).
Meanwhile, validity is achieved by using research instruments that measure what they
are intended to measure, and if the indicator captures the meaning of the construct of
interest (Buckingham & Saunders, 2004; Lidgreen & Crawford, 1999). The term
reliability refers to how free the used scale from random error. Gable and Wolf
(1993), for example, mentioned the sources of error as: inadequate sampling of items,
administering the same instrument on two different occasions, developing of parallel
forms of an instrument to measure the same concepts, and number of items and
theoretical errors in developing a measurement scale. Each type of error is addressed
with a specific means of reliability instrument. In this study, internal consistency is
one of the main instruments used to deal with sources of error such as inadequate
sampling of items and the situational factors when using a single administration of the
instrument (Gable & Wolf 1993; Nunnally, 1978). The internal consistency of the
scale is usually assessed by using Cronbach’s coefficient alpha, calculating the
correlation between item to total, and the overall Cronbach’s alpha of the
measurement scale. The acceptable level of reliability as recommended by Nunnally
(1978) is when Cronbach’s coefficient Alpha is .70 or more. However, it is possible to

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see scales reported with lower alphas, for example, in the range of .60 to .69 (Morgan
& Griego, 1998). Table 3.12 summarises the discussion of different types of validities
and reliability in regard to quantitative research.

Table 3.12 Types of validity and reliability, and strategies used to assess them
Types of validity Definition Action strategies
& reliability followed
Content or face The degree to which the content of an Literature review;
validity indicator reflects the intended concept Feedback from experts;
(Parasurman, 1991; Neuman, 2000; Pre-testing of questionnaire;
Burns & Bush, 2000) Confirmatory factor
analysis.
Internal validity The degree to which relationships Data analysis
between variables have been correctly
interpreted (Punch, 1998; Neuman,
2000).
Construct validity The degree to which a construct Literature review;
achieves empirical and theoretical Pre-testing of questionnaire;
meaning (Steenkamp & van Trijp, Data analysis.
1991)
External validity The degree of generalisation of Data collection;
research findings (Punch, 1998; Data analysis.
Neuman, 2000)
Convergent validity The degree of association between two Data analysis
different measurement scales which are
supposed to measure the same concept
(Davis & Cosenza, 1993)
Discriminant validity The degree to which the measurement Data analysis
is different from other scales supposed
to measure different constructs (Davis
& Cosenza, 1993)
Reliability A measure is reliable to the extent that Clear statement and
independent but comparable measures multiple indicators in the
of the same trait or construct agree questionnaire;
(Churchill, 1979) Pre-testing of questionnaire;
Factor analysis.

Source: Adapted from Rao (2002) after Lawley (1998) with other sources acknowledged in
the table

Meanwhile, validity and reliability can be achieved in qualitative research, as is the

case with quantitative research (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Patton, 2002; Robson, 1993;
Yin, 2003; Easterby-Smith et al., 2002). Trustworthiness is a vital issue in conducting
research (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). There are four widely used criteria to demonstrate
the trustworthiness of qualitative research: internal validity (credibility), external

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validity (transferability), construct validity (confirmability) and reliability

(dependability) (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Patton, 2002; Miles & Huberman, 1994;
Yin, 2003). Table 3.13 shows the case techniques for qualitative validity and
reliability tests.

Table 3.13 Case study tactics for four design tests

Tests Case study tactics Phase of research in which
tactic to occur

Construct validity Use multiple sources of Data collection

(Confirmability) evidence
Data collection
Establish chain of evidence
Composition
Have key informants review
draft case study report

Internal validity Do pattern-matching Data analysis

(Credibility)
Do explanation-building Data analysis
Address rival explanations Data analysis
Use logic models Data analysis

External validity Use theory in single-case Research design

(Transferability) studies
Research design
Use replication logic in
multiple-case studies

Reliability Use case study protocol Data collection

(Dependability)
Develop case study database Data collection

Source: Developed for this research

3.6.3.1 Validity is concerned with the accuracy of measurement; that is, a valid scale
measures what it is supposed to measure (Churchill, 1995; Davis & Cosenza, 1993).
There are four major types of validity to evaluate and establish if the measures are
valid and accurate: content validity, convergent validity, construct validity, and
discriminant validity (Churchill, 1995; Davis & Cosenza, 1993; Neuman, 2003;
Zikmund, 2003), in addition to using internal and external validities to test the
soundness, fit, logic and generalisation of the research.

Internal validity or credibility concerns whether the relationship among the variable’s
measures is original; it refers to the true value of the findings, and in this study, to the
legitimate identification of a causal relationship between various variables (Sackett &

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Larson, 1990; Scandura & Williams, 2000). It is related to causality (a cause-effect

relationship between and among variables) (Yin, 2003). In quantitative research it
means whether the independent-dependent variable relationships are correctly
interpreted (Punch, 1998). In qualitative research it refers to the soundness of cause
and effect relationships discovered during the research process (Drucker-Godard et
al., 2001; Yin, 2003). It is a way to establish a phenomenon in a credible way
(Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Such credibility could be established in the process of
research design, data collection and data analysis (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Miles &
Huberman, 1994; Patton, 2002).

In this study there are three independent constructs (variables), one dependent
construct (variable), and one mediating construct (variable). The aim is to test and
interpret the relationships between various variables as they are hypothesised and
show if their relationships persist when other possibilities (e.g. controlling for the
mediating variable) are eliminated. The objective is to increase the confidence of
relationship between independent and dependent variables, and to achieve valid
comparison and internal logic of the research process and findings (Punch, 1998). The
result of the internal validity is reported in Chapter 4. The internal validity of the
qualitative part of this study was established by the earlier literature review and prior
theories in the field of tourism and destination competitiveness, on which I developed
the research problem and the theoretical framework. In fact, the researcher’s
assumptions and theoretical orientation increase the credibility of the research and
research findings (Easterby-Smith et al., 2002; Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Patton, 2002).

External validity or transferability concerns the generalisability of the research

findings to the population beyond the targeted population and selected cases
(Drucker-Godard et al., 2001; Yin, 1994). It refers to generalising across times,
settings, and individuals (Sackett & Larson, 1990; Scandura & Williams, 2000).
Sackett and Larson (1990, p.430) stated “external validity is the type of validity
closest to our definition of generalizability”. It also refers to examining how
applicable the research findings are to other settings or groups (Lincoln & Guba,
1985). Where survey research aims to achieve statistical generalisation, case study
research relies on analytical generalisation (Yin, 2003). The aim of analytical
generalisation is to transfer a particular set of results and generalise it to a broader

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theory. The use of both survey data and qualitative data (focus group interviews)
improved generalisability of collected data for this study (Scandura & Williams,
2000). Transferability was also achieved at the research design, data analysis and
interpretation stages by using participants representing three different groups. The
outcome of the focus groups’ discussions was utilised as quotes in the analysis and
discussion chapters.

Content validity is the degree to which the content of the indicator reflects the
intended concept (Neuman, 2000, 2003; Burns & Bush, 2000). It is the degree to
which the evidence suggests that the items, tasks or questions on the questionnaire
adequately represent the area of interest (Johnson & Christensen, 2004). This research
followed some of the recommended procedures (e.g. Davis & Consenza, 1993) to
strengthen the content validity of the study. The beginning was the exploratory stage
where a wide scope of literature was reviewed to gain an understanding of prior
research in the study area and to establish the validity of previous tested constructs.
This then followed with presenting the items to experts for review, judgment, and
comments for establishing the degree to which the content-related evidence supported
the validity of the items (Johnson & Christensen, 2004). This step in fact enabled me
to delete and/or amend some of the items in the survey instrument.

Construct validity or confirmability is to determine whether a theoretical construct

can be inferred from the research operations, such as scores from a test (Teddlie &
Tashakkori, 2003; Johnson & Christensen, 2000). In other words, it is when the
theoretical implications are consistent with the resulting empirical evidence (Davis &
Cosenza, 1993; Parasuraman, 1991; Sackett and Larson, 1990). It is concerned with
how well the measures employed in the study fit the theories for which the study was
designed (Scandura & Williams, 2000). Therefore, the intention is to test for the
measurement flaws. Additionally, it refers to the formation of suitable operational
measures for the concept being investigated (Drucker-Godard et al., 2001; Rudner,
1994; Yin, 1994). Further, it is related to the objectivity of research, particularly in the
process of data collection and data analysis (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Yin, 2003).
Construct validity in this study is established when the data are statistically analysed
using exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis and structural
equation modelling (SEM), and is reported in Chapter 4. Additionally, the study’s

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findings were reviewed by two SEM experts to test their consistency with the
theoretical implications. Furthermore, this study’s construct validity was established
by making use of previous theory, and using multiple questions for the same
construct, in addition to using triangulation, as explained in section 3.3, by using
multiple sources of evidence. Yin (2003) similarly recommended using multiple
sources of evidence in qualitative research, but also establishing ‘chains of evidence’
and having the case findings and report reviewed by key informants. For the purpose
of enhancing the focus group results validity in this study, a summary of the
discussions outcome was presented to some participants to confirm the findings.

Convergent validity occurs when multiple indictors are associated with one another in
a consistent way to form a single measure (Neuman, 2003). For this research multiple
items have been used to measure the different variables (independent, mediating, and
dependent). Additionally, SEM was used to test the standardised factor loading of
different indicators to test convergent validity.

Discriminate validity is the opposite of convergent validity. It states that indicators

may establish a negative association with opposing constructs (Neuman, 2003). It
represents the distinctiveness of the factors measured by different sets of indicators
(Kline, 1998).

Discriminant and convergent validities were assessed by using confirmatory factor

analysis (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988) and SEM to confirm the factors underlying a
latent construct (Scandura & Williams, 2000). The results are reported in Chapter 4,
section 4.9.

3.6.3.2 Reliability or dependability: the reliability of a measuring instrument is

defined as its ability to measure consistently the phenomenon it is designed to
measure (Sekaran, 2000). It refers to the consistency of using the same measure
concepts, so that other researchers are able to get the same results when using the
same measures (Drucker-Godard et al., 2001; Rudner, 1994; Yin, 2003). Additionally,
it means, “the information provided by indicators (e.g. questionnaire) does not vary as
a result of characteristics of the indicator, instrument, or measurement device itself”
(Neuman, 1997, p.138). Then, reliability is concerned with stability, consistency and

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replication of measures (Davis & Cosenza, 1993; Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Neuman,
2003; Punch, 1998; Sekaran, 2000; Teddlie & Tashakkori, 2003; Zikmund, 2003).
Therefore, the aim of reliability in general is to minimise the errors and biases in the
study (Yin, 2003). The use of an interview guide qualitatively and case study database
can assist in achieving this goal (Yin, 2003). In this research an interview guide has
been developed and piloted on a small number of informants to ensure reliability. A
measure is considered reliable if it produces consistent results every time and is
relatively free from random error (Zikmund, 2000). This condition could be met
through the use of a standardised structural process for collecting and analysing data.
Reliability of this research is established by clearly conceptualising all constructs
(variables) of the study, increasing the level of measurement by ensuring precise
measurement, by using multiple indicators of variables, and by using pre-tests, pilot
studies, and replication (Neuman, 1997).

Additionally, all constructs (variables) have been conceptualised and operationally

defined. All but one construct have been operationalised and tested by previous
researchers in the tourism discipline (tourism development impacts, community
attachment, development preferences of resources and attractions, and support for
strategic destination competitive strategies), while I developed the ‘community
participation’ construct. Thus, as it has been explained above, multiple indicators have
been used, because it was found to be better than a single indicator (Neuman, 1997). It
is more stable and minimises systematic errors.

The covering information sheet on the questionnaire explained the purpose and
expected benefits of the outcome of this research, stressed the importance of the
respondent’s participation, and assured the participants that their responses would be
confidential. A post-reliability measure was additionally carried out by conducting
factor analysis to ensure the internal reliability of the questionnaire. The result of the
factor analysis is presented in Chapter 4. Thus reliability was considered and
established in this study. A more detailed assessment of validity and reliability of data
collected will be discussed further in Chapter 4 when data are statistically analysed.

In brief, validity tells us if the indicators capture the meaning of the construct or
variable we are interested in. Valid research is considered to be “plausible, credible,

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trustworthy, and therefore, defensible” (Johnson & Christensen, 2000). Reliability

tells us about the dependability and consistency of measures or indicators. If
indicators show a low degree of validity or reliability, then the final result of the study
is questionable (Neuman, 2003)

3.7 Methodology Limitations

Bearing in mind the advantages and disadvantages associated with convenience and
quota sampling, they are the most useful methods in the Oman study, given the
research budget and other constraints noted in section 3.6.1.7. Other expected
limitations of the methodology used in this research were:
1. Even when employing convenience and quota sampling methods, mainly in the
mall-intercept case, it was expected that certain people would not cooperate with
interviewers due to a number of factors:
• Lack of awareness of the importance of surveys;
• Level of education in general, and the level of awareness about tourism in
particular;
• Some females were reluctant to disclose their age or to express their frank
opinion in the presence of their relatives or husbands. In addition, a few
refused to be interviewed at all because of cultural constraints;
• Politically, some respondents showed some reluctance in expressing their
frank opinions about policies to strangers; and
• Issues of anonymity or confidentiality of information partially impeded
cooperation. However, the assistant interviewers and I took maximum care
to assure the participants of their rights to anonymity, to decline to answer
any individual question, and to withdraw from participation at any time
during the study.
2. Differential interviewer techniques might give different interpretations to the
same questions, which could be a source of bias (Zikmund, 2000). I took
maximum care to coordinate and unify the interviewing techniques to ensure
uniformity of style and interpretation.
3. The assistant interviewers used for the quantitative stage could be themselves a
source of bias. As they faced more refusals from different respondents’ quota
groups, there was the possibility that they might divert to different more

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cooperative sub-groups. However, I ensured that interviewers showed patience

and did not attempt to ignore certain groups.
4. The intention from the qualitative sampling in this study is not to draw a
generalisation or representation of the targeted population, but to conduct a deep
investigation of certain themes and patterns and confirm the practical
implications. Therefore, this method did not require carrying out deep and
sophisticated analytical analysis.
5. Historically, there were problems associated with internal and external validity
that confront qualitative research (Sashittal & Tankersley, 1997). However, the
triangulation method applied in this study to a great extent overcame such
problems.

Any shortfalls in quantitative and qualitative methods were dealt with by recognising
their existence and taking precautionary measures to address them when they
appeared.

3.8 Ethical Considerations

The primary intention of research ethics is to protect individual participants and

organisations from harm, danger or any negative consequences from research
activities (Emory & Coper, 1991). Ethical considerations in research require
appropriate treatment of the sponsors and the respondents, and should address all key
ethical issues related to the research process, such as anonymity, privacy, deception,
accuracy and confidentiality (Christians, 2000; Emory & Cooper, 1991; Miles &
Huberman, 1994; Neuman, 2003; Zikmund, 2003).

For this study, ethical clearance has been obtained from the Griffith University Ethical
Committee prior to proceeding with the data collection process. Meanwhile, ethical
consideration was adopted as a major principle in this study. I assured participants
that ethical issues, such as the researcher’s responsibility to protect the public from
misrepresentation, and avoiding practices that may humiliate or mislead respondents,
would be followed, and that respondents’ privacy and the confidentiality of their
opinions were guaranteed. Through an information sheet associated with the
questionnaire I very clearly spelled out the intent of the research, the objectives, the

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purpose and the expected benefits, to avoid any confusion on the participants’ side.
The participants were also given an ‘Informed Consent Sheet’ to sign. Moreover, their
names, contact addresses and telephone numbers were left optional, to preserve their
anonymity.

3.9 Conclusion

This chapter identified that, even though this research is mainly in the positivist
tradition, it used a triangulation (mixed) research method. It justified the use of the
mixed method as the most appropriate method for this study. The application of
quantitative method by using the survey technique was explained. Different
techniques such as mall-intercept, self-administered drop-off, and internet methods
were used. To enhance the quantitative findings, I used personal semi-structured in-
depth focus group interviews to add qualitative insight into the rigour of the study. A
conceptual framework was developed and its constructs and variables defined.
Quantitative and qualitative processes were developed. Measurement development
issues were analysed and the validity and reliability of the survey instrument
established and explained. Sample selection, data collection methods and data
analysis methods were identified and justified for both methods. Finally, ethical
considerations related to data collection methods were explained.

In the next chapter, the collected data will be analysed and briefly interpreted
quantitatively and qualitatively in relation to the research problem and the proposed
conceptual framework.

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Chapter Four
Data Analysis and Results
4.1 Introduction

The methodology used to collect data for this research was described in the previous
chapter. This chapter describes and presents the results and findings of data collection
and statistical methods applied. First, preliminary tests of the collected data are
presented including the process of data coding and screening (section 4.3),
demographic profile of respondents and the geographical distribution of the study
respondents (section 4.5). Next, the results of the descriptive statistics of the
measurement scales for the five constructs – (1) tourism development impacts, (2)
community attachment, (3) stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation),
(4) tourism resources and attractions development, and (5) destination
competitiveness strategies – are reported (section 4.6). Further, factor analysis results
of the five measurement scales are reported (section 4.7), the overall measurement
model versions are introduced (section 4.8), and validity and reliability are approved
(section 4.9). The results of the hypotheses tests applied using Structural Equation
Modelling (SEM) with AMOS version 5 program are presented and interpreted
(section 4.10). Finally, the focus groups data analysis is reported (section 4.11).

4.2 Data Collection

Since the major focus of this study was an investigation of tourism stakeholders’ role
in tourism development and destination competitiveness, the study unit of analysis
was tourism stakeholders in Oman including its residents, tourists, government and
private sector employees, media and tourism students and faculties (researchers).

The main questionnaire was given to (1226) tourism stakeholders (section 3.6.1.5) in
the period from February to April 2005 (see Appendix I).

As reported in Table 4.1 a total of 978 surveys were returned. This number comprised
a response rate of 80 percent.

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Table 4.1 Survey response rates

Segment Surveys Responses (n) Percent (%)

handed out (n)

Government 200 200 100

Residents 626 534 85

Businesses 140 103 73

Tourists 100 37 37

Academic faculty & students 100 81 81

Media 60 23 38

Total 1226 978 80

4.3 Data Preparation

The collected data in this study was transformed into a form of data suitable for
analysis (Luck & Robin, 1987). This process ensured that the basic data procedures
were complete by coding data, transcribing the categorical data, entering the data into
SPSS, and cleaning and screening the data to identify the missing data and outliers.

4.3.1 Data coding

Upon completion of the data collection, the coding process started. The questionnaire
was generally pre-coded except for some ‘open-ended’ questions which were left
optional for respondents’ comments. Answers to a total of 113 questions were
examined for coding accuracy and consistency with the pre-coded data (Davis &
Cosenza, 1993). Since there were some variations in sample numbers in each category
of the demographic variables such as age groups, education level and marital status, I
have recoded them to ensure an adequate representative sample of respondents in each
category. Also, the order of the measurement scale is recoded, the 1 = ‘Strongly
Agree’ changed to 1 = ‘Disagree’, 2 = ‘Agree’ and 3 = ‘Strongly Agree’. The
rationale for recoding and changing the order was to balance the agreement and
disagreement scales, and it seems the more positive the response, the larger the
number, which makes interpretation of outcomes easier.

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4.3.2 Data cleaning and screening

The coded data were prepared and transferred into an SPSS file for analysis. Before
proceeding, the collected raw data were edited to ensure that the original
questionnaires met the acceptable standard. That is, the 978 questionnaires were
checked for any inconsistencies, incompleteness, accuracy and eligibility of
respondents (Churchill, 1995; Malhotra, 1999).

After data had been edited and transferred into the SPSS file, errors were checked
through data cleaning and screening. This process included identifying missing data,
inconsistent responses and outliers (Hair et al., 1998; Malhotra, 1999). A total of 1226
surveys were distributed to tourism stakeholders, resulting in 978 completed surveys,
producing an 80 percent response rate. Despite the disagreement on what is the
acceptable response rate for results to be valid and generalisable, it has been
suggested that a total response rate of at least 75 percent for all segments means that
the results will not be significantly affected by a non-response bias (Babbie, 1990;
Neuman, 2003). The results of this survey were checked for its out-of-range values by
examining the minimum and maximum values for each question, so that means and
standard deviations were credible (Hair et al., 1998; Tabachinck & Fidell, 2002). No
out-of-range values were found and means and standard deviations were found to be
acceptable. Then the distribution of variables was checked and a moderate normality
of distribution of variables was found, as shown by checking the skewness, kurtosis
and histograms of items (see Appendix IV-CD, part A). The next step of data
screening was searching for and dealing with missing values.

4.3.3 Missing values

It was discovered that most questionnaires contained missing data; however the
percentage of missing data varies from variable to variable. The majority of missing
data was found in questions related to the variables of ‘stakeholders’ perceived
power’ and ‘community attachment’, where missing data accounting for 33.5 percent
of the total 978 responses as shown in Table 4.2 (reasons below). With regard to
items, ‘nature of business of your organisation’ claimed the most missing data for a
single question, accounting for 44.8 percent of the total 978 responses. However,
these questions were not discarded and were included in the final data analysis.

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Since, structural equation modelling was utilised in this study, as analysis technique is
sensitive to missing values, I decided to deal with missing values in the five constructs
by merging them with the ‘disagreement’ scale. Before taking such a decision, I
considered merging the missing values with either the ‘disagreement’ scale or the
‘neutral’ scale. I found it more appropriate to merge with the first as the number of
‘disagreement’ responses was small and would not have had any major effect on the
final analysis. I considered that participants failed to answer some questions because
they disagreed with the contents of those questions, lacked understanding owing to
their education level or lacked confidence. As I noted in Chapter 3 (see section
3.6.1.7), people in Oman are not familiar with surveys and have little confidence or
trust for new phenomena such as measuring opinions. They are also culturally driven
and prone to show positive opinions. It was therefore decided not to delete cases with
missing values as this may have caused a reduction of sample size (Hair et al., 1998;
Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). That is, if all cases with missing values had been
discarded, more than two-thirds of the sample size would have been lost, leaving a
total sample of 375 responses. For this reason, I decided to recode and merge the
responses, thus retaining the whole number as valid cases. This decision helped in
producing an adequate structural model in later stages of the analysis process. After
checking data for missing values, the next step was checking for outliers.

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Table 4.2 Valid versus missing values

Variable name (valid and missing data) N %
Tourism development impacts:
Valid cases 678 71.7
Cases with missing values 267 28.3
Community attachment:
Valid Cases 678 71.7
Cases with missing values 267 28.3
Stakeholders’ perceived power:
Valid cases 602 63.7
Cases with missing values 343 36.3

Development preferences about destination attractions:

Valid cases 879 93.0
Cases with missing values 66 7.0
Tourism destination competitiveness strategies:
Valid cases 775 82
Cases with missing values 170 18

4.3.4 Outliers

The data were screened for any possible outliers or extreme values because it has been
suggested that structural equation modelling is sensitive to outliers (Hair et al., 1998).
Outliers may occur for a number of reasons (Hair et al., 1998; Tabachnick & Fidell,
2001). First, the data may not have been entered or coded correctly. Therefore, data in
this study were double-checked by two independent experts in SPSS and SEM
programs. Second, an outlier may represent a number of a population that was not
intended to be included in the sample, which is not really the case in this study. Third,
a missing value indicator may be interpreted as an actual value. Finally, the
membership of that outlier is valid but its value is more extreme than a normal
distribution. In brief, the full set of data was examined for outliers by examining the z-
scores. The testing revealed that there were few outliers, but it was decided to
maintain them as researchers have been cautioned not to delete outliers too easily
(Hair et al., 1998).

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4.4 Profile of respondents

4.4.1 Demographic Characteristics of Oman’s Tourism Stakeholders

The demographic characteristics of tourism stakeholders in this study were measured

by age, gender, employment, education, marital status, nationality, place of residency,
length of residency, nature of business of employing organisation, place of residency,
and segments distribution. All questions were designed to be represented by nominal
scales. The summary of demographic characteristics of respondents is presented in
Table 4.3. The following discussion provides brief comparisons between different
demographic characteristics of sample populations collected for this study. However,
the socio-demographics were used only for the purpose of ensuring the sample
distribution across different categories for the sake of generating maximum
generalisation, as is explained below, but not to control and explain the study
outcomes.

The questionnaire was distributed to different segments of stakeholders to provide a

wide array of responses that adequately reflected the tourism stakeholders concerned
in tourism planning and development. In terms of segment distribution of respondents,
residents constituted 56.6% of total respondents, government employees (separate
from residents) accounted for 21.4%, businesses 10.9%, academic faculty and
students 8.6%, and media 2.5%.

The respondents comprised male (67.6 %) and female (32.4 %), even though the real
population gender distribution is equal, but due to socio-cultural constraints, females
were less willing to participate in the survey, as has been explained in section 3.7 on
methodology limitations. Age groups have been recoded after merging small
segments; the results showed that 42.3 % of respondents were aged between 25 and
34 years, followed by age ranges of 35-44 (26.4%), then 18-24 (20.4%), and 45+
(11%). Accordingly, the results indicated that the majority of respondents (68.7%)
were middle-aged (between 25 and 44 years old). This result is a reflection of the
nature of the Omani society, where about 63 percent of the total populations are
between 15-64 years of age (Ministry of National Economy, 2004). The respondents
were fairly normally distributed across all age groups (see Appendix IV-CD, part A).

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Education levels of tourism stakeholders showed that 38.2% of respondents held four-
year college degrees, 33.5% had reached secondary school education level (12 years),
while 14.5% held postgraduate degrees. This implies that the majority of respondents
(66.4% – two-years college, four-years college, and postgraduate) were highly
educated. From a marital status perspective, 64.1% of respondents were married, and
35.9 were single. If considering the data before recoding, the widows and divorced
respondents would constitute only 2.4% of total respondents.

In terms of respondents’ employment, it was found that the government employs

50.7% of respondents and 31.0% are employed by private sector organisations. This
result was reflected in the people’s type of employment, where 68.5% of the
respondents were engaged in non-tourism related business either in government,
private sector or self-employment. Of the total respondents, 53.6 % considered
themselves as working with non-tourism related organisations; however, the
remaining percentage were related directly or indirectly to the tourism industry. The
relatively high employment in tourism related sectors is an indication of the
potentiality of the sector as an essential dynamic sector for employment generation.

The respondents’ nationality indicated that 75.1% of respondents were Omani

nationals. This is an accurate reflection of the percentage of foreigners in the total
population of 25% (Ministry of National Economy, 2004). The place of residency of
the Omani nationals indicated that 45.3% of respondents lived in the capital Muscat,
and 17.7% in the Sharqiyah region. In terms of respondents’ average length of
residency in their provinces, the nominal values revealed that 70.9% of respondents
were residents of the same place for more than 20 years, followed by 11-20 years
(16.9%). These results revealed how closely the Omani people are attached to their
communities and are not frequent movers.

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Table 4.3 Summary of demographic characteristics of respondents

Variables Frequency Valid Percent (%)

(N=945)
Age (n=937)
18-24 191 20.4
25-34 396 42.3
35-44 247 26.4
45+ 103 11.0
Gender (n=931)
Male 629 67.6
Female 302 32.4
Employment (n=931)
In government 474 50.7
In private sector 290 31.0
Other 171 18.3
Employment related to tourism (n=870)
Yes 274 31.5
No 596 68.5

Education (n=931)
Up to secondary 312 33.5
2-year college 128 13.7
Graduate 356 38.2
Post-graduate 135 14.5
Marital status (n=918)
Single 330 35.9
Married 588 64.1
Other
Nationality (n=936)
Omani nationals 703 75.1
Foreigners 233 24.9
Length of residency (n=635)
0-10 years 78 12.3
11-20 years 107 16.9
21+ years 450 70.9

Nature of business (n=522)

Tourism related 242 46.4
Non-tourism related 280 53.6

The geographical distribution of respondents was examined and reported in Table 4.4.
Oman was divided into seven destination regions (provinces) according to the
government’s administrative distribution. They are: Muscat, Sharqiyah, Dhofar,
Dhakliah, Batinah, Musandam, and Dhahirah (see map of Oman in Appendix V). One
region, Alwista, was excluded as I found it not be a potential source of information for

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this study. A total of 52.9% of respondents lived in Muscat, 15.3% lived in Batinah,
and 9.9% in Musandam. During the recording process, I made sure that questionnaires
were collected from all targeted destination regions; however, the response rate was
not reflective of the actual population distributions. This was due to people’s
willingness to participate in the survey and level of effort put in by the interviewers.

Table 4.4 Stakeholders geographical distribution

Region Frequency Valid percent

Muscat 499 52.9

Sharqiyah 68 7.2
Dhofar 75 8.0
Dhakiliyah 51 5.4
Batinah 143 15.3
Musandam 92 9.9
Dhahirah 13 1.4

Total 941 100.0

Tourists 37

If respondents were segmented demographically, the outcome would be as shown in

Figure 4.1 below. The demographic characteristics were distributed in three clusters
among the four quadrants. Cluster one, mainly in the top right quadrant, represents
stakeholders 25-44 years of age, employed in government, married, and holding a
graduate degree. Cluster two in the lower right quadrant represents postgraduate
foreign respondents, over 45 years old, who hold graduate degrees, and mainly work
in the private sector. These two clusters can be interpreted as representing respondents
with a higher to lower positive perception about tourism development. However,
cluster three (falling within three quadrants – top right and left, and lower left)
represents respondents classified as Omani nationals with up to two years of college
education, between 18 and 24 years old, and single. This cluster group possessed
either higher or lower negative feelings about tourism development in the country.

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Figure 4.1 Respondents demographic distribution

Joint Plot of Category Points

age group
Education level
Employment
1.0
Marital status
Employed in Govt
Nationality

25-34 years
0.5 Omani National
35-44 years
Graduate
Dimension 2

Up to Secondary Married
0.0
Single 2-Years College

18-24 years
-0.5 Post Graduate

other
Employed in Pvt sect
-1.0
Foreigners

45+
-1.5
-2.0 -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

Dimension 1
Variable Principal Normalization.

4.5 Descriptive Analysis of Measurement Scales

This section explains the different descriptive statistics for the different constructs of
the conceptual framework of this study (see Chapter 2, section 2.4). A higher mean
score indicates a high respondents’ rating of the item after recoding the order of the
measurement scale (see section 4.3.1).

4.5.1
5.1 R
Results
esults of tourism
tourism development impa
impacts
cts

The results of the descriptive statistics analysis for

for the
the tourism
tourism development impacts
scale are presented in Appendix VI (part 1). This measurement scale consisted of 25
items reflecting the perceived economic, socio-cultural, environmental and political
impacts of tourism development. Respondents were asked to provide answers to each
item based on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1=strongly agree to 5=strongly
disagree. After recoding (section 4.3.1), a higher mean score indicates a high
respondents’ rating of the item.

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Based on the descriptive statistic analysis, the mean score of each item shows that
from an economic perspective, respondents tended to strongly agreed that tourism
increases job opportunities for the people of Oman (M=2.58, SD=.599), and they
agreed that tourism has created high investment, development, and infrastructure
spending in the economy (M=2.24, SD=.698). Additionally, they strongly agree that
foreign investment is good for tourism in Oman (M=2.22, SD=.746). They also
agreed that tourism has given economic benefits to local people and small businesses
(M=2.19, SD=.679), and they agreed that tourism’s economic benefits outweigh
negative socio-cultural and environmental impacts (M=1.70, SD=.734). However,
respondents disagreed that tourism creates more jobs for foreigners than for local
people (M=1.40, SD=.688).

From a socio-cultural perspective, respondents tended to strongly agree that tourism

provides an incentive for the restoration of historical buildings and for the
conservation of natural resources (M=2.47, SD=.624), and agreed that tourism
increases the availability of entertainment (M=2.32, SD=.643). Additionally,
respondents agreed that tourism encourages a variety of cultural activities by the local
population (M=2.30, SD=.637). Further, they agreed that tourism improves public
utilities in the community (M=2.28, SD=.700), transport infrastructure (M=2.17,
SD=.678), and encouraged a variety of cultural exchanges between tourists and
residents (M=2.05, SD=.705). Also, tourism resulted in positive impacts on the
cultural authentic identity of respondents’ communities (M=1.71, SD=.750). In
contrast, respondents agreed that tourism causes changes to the traditional culture of
the community (M=1.88, SD=.775) in terms of, for example, lifestyle and language
dialect.

From an environmental perspective, respondents tended to agree that people have the
right to modify the natural environment to suit their needs (M=1.92, SD=.774); on the
other hand they agreed that when people interfere with nature, disastrous
consequences may result such as environmental degradation and the disappearance of
certain species (M=1.74, SD=.771). However, respondents disagreed that the private
sector was severely abusing the environment (M=1.39, SD=.672), and they disagreed
that the construction of hotels and other tourist facilities destroyed the natural
environment (M=1.35, SD=.659).

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Politically, respondents tended to strongly agree that the community should have
more opportunities for participation in the development process and larger authority to
suggest control and restrictions of tourism development in the community (M=2.15,
SD=.774), and agreed that tourism brings political benefits to society (M=1.74,
SD=.709).

Generally speaking, the above results indicate that respondents appreciated the
economic and socio-cultural benefits of tourism without hiding their moderate
concern about some cultural, environmental and political negative consequences of
tourism development. Respondents tended to strongly agree that Oman would have a
wealth of natural resources if stakeholders learnt how to properly develop them
(M=2.57, SD=.64). Hence, by and large they showed strong agreement for the support
of tourism industry in their communities. Additionally, they strongly agreed that mass
tourism was a good development strategy for the country’s growth (M=2.22,
SD=.720), and strongly agreed that the benefits of tourism outweighed negative
impacts (M=1.83, SD=.778).

When respondents were asked to indicate their perception about the existence of
crime, drug use, robberies, prostitution, and other negative consequences as caused by
tourism, 61.9 percent of respondents did not believe that tourism was responsible for
these activities in Oman. Indeed, only 15.7 percent believed that tourism in Oman
enhanced prostitution, 8.5 percent thought that tourism caused the increase of crime
rates, 7.7 percent attributed the increase of drug use to tourism, and 2.7 percent
believed tourism was responsible for robberies. Other negative impacts caused by
tourism as foreseen by respondents were: encouraging alcohol consumption,
promoting western values which create a foreign influence on the local traditional
society’s values and lifestyle, resulted in some traffic problems and more road
accidents, caused destruction to the natural environment, and brought diseases such as
HIV.

4.5.2 Results of community attachment

The results of the descriptive statistics for stakeholders’ community attachment are
presented in Appendix VI (part 2). A total of 11 items were measured by a five-point

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Likert scale ranging from 1=strongly agree and 5=strongly disagree. After recoding
(section 4.3.1), higher mean scores indicate a high community attachment. The
purpose of this scale was to measure respondents’ emotional and functional
attachment to their communities. It does not only represent the linkage between
people and their community, but is also a reflection of their belonging to and
identification with that community.

Based on the mean scores of the emotional and symbolic attachment to community
items (1, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), the data analysis revealed: that respondents were very
proud of their communities (M=2.73, SD=.536); that the community they are living in
means a lot to them (M=2.70, SD=.537); that their communities make them feel like
no other place can (M=2.57, SD=.665); that they would prefer to spend more time in
their communities than in other places (M=2.45, SD=.695); and that they would be
sorry to leave if they had to move away from the community (M=2.41, SD=.758).

From the functional and value attachment to community perspective, respondents

expressed moderate value attachment to the community where they lived by their
willingness to invest their talents or time to make the community a better place for
visitors (M=2.62, SD=.614), and expressing high functional attachment to the
community (M=2.58, SD=.587). Additionally, respondents strongly believed that they
would be affected by any positive or negative events in the community (M=2.58,
SD=.661), and they considered their communities as the best places for what they
want to do (M=2.40, SD=.753). However, respondents did not show a high agreement
with two items: ‘I get more satisfaction being in my community than from visiting
any other place’ (M=2.28, SD=.861) and ‘the time I spend in my community could
have been spent just as easily and enjoyably somewhere else’ (M=1.99, SD=.891).

In general, the results indicated that tourism stakeholders in Oman have stronger
emotional attachment to their communities than functional and value attachment. This
can be explained by the nature of the Omani society, which could be characterised as
a traditional and tribal society.

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4.5.3 Results of stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation)

The results of the descriptive statistics for stakeholders’ perceived power is presented
in Appendix VI (part 3). A total of 16 items were measured on a five-point Likert
scale ranging from 1=strongly agree to 5=strongly disagree. After recoding (section
4.3.1), higher mean scores indicate a higher perceived level of participation,
collaboration and empowerment of tourism stakeholders. The aim of this scale is to
measure the level of satisfaction stakeholders generally have with their level of
participation in tourism planning and decision-making process, the level of
collaboration between stakeholders, and the level of empowerment granted to them by
the planning authority in Oman.

Based on respondents’ data analysis about their satisfaction with the level of
participation they tended to show strong support for tourism development in their
communities (M=2.06, SD=.84), and they strongly believed that the citizens of Oman
required a shared vision about tourism (M=2.05, SD=.81). Additionally, respondents
believed that public involvement in the planning and development of tourism would
lead to preserving local culture, traditions, and lifestyle (M=2.04, SD=.82). They also
agreed that the public should have the opportunity, and even be encouraged, to
participate in planning and decision-making (M=1.98, SD=.82). Further, respondents
expressed their willingness to attend community meetings to discuss important
tourism issues if they were asked to do so (M=1.89, SD=.84). Meanwhile,
respondents showed a weak opinion about particular issues of participation: ‘public
participation is not a priority in the short-term for government planners’ (M=1.38,
SD=.64), and ‘the government usually consults us about tourism planning’ (M=1.31,
SD=.60). These results indicate that respondents are seeking better involvement in
tourism planning and they are sceptical about government objectives of involving the
community in the decision-making process.

On the level of people’s empowerment to participate, respondents strongly agreed that

the people’s representatives in the Shura Council (Parliament), those who are elected
by the public, should be empowered to have input into the tourism planning process
(M=2.00, SD=.83). Further, they agreed that the people with power in the community
(for example, landowners and business and professional people,) generally supported
tourism development (M=1.89, SD=.83), were able to voice their opinions about

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tourism planning and development (M=1.78, SD=. 80), and had the ability or
opportunity to influence their communities’ future (M=1.74, SD=.76). Respondents to
a lesser degree agreed that the public lack the power to participate and influence the
decision-making process (M=1.59, SD=.76), and lack understanding about tourism
(M=1.51, SD=.71). But, they had mixed feelings about whether or not the planning
responsibility for tourism should be left only to the government (M=1.40, SD=.66).

In between the desire for a high level of participation and the existing level of
satisfaction about empowerment, respondents believed that the government should
have more control over tourism activities despite their support for some sort of mass
tourism approach to development (M=1.98, SD=.83). This kind of contradiction or
compromise will be elaborated upon further in Chapter 5. However, respondents
believed that there is a lack of collaboration and cooperation among government
authorities responsible for tourism planning (M=1.73, SD=.79).

In sum, respondents generally expressed a mixed feeling of satisfaction with the level
of involvement and power they possess to influence the tourism planning and
development decision-making process. However, because tourism is a new industry in
Oman and stakeholders do not have sufficient knowledge about the industry, they
believed the national planning decision should remain in the hands of government
authorities.

4.5.4 Results of preferences about tourism resources/attractions development

The results of the descriptive statistics for preferences about tourism resources and
attractions development for both local residents and tourists are presented in
Appendix VI (part 4). A total of 12 items were measured on a five-point Likert scale
ranging from 1=highly preferable and 5=not preferable at all. After recoding (section
4.3.1), the higher mean scores indicate the strong preferences of respondents on each
item of the various development options.

According to the reported preferences of tourism stakeholders about priorities of

resources and attractions development in Oman, respondents highly preferred the
improvement of infrastructure such as roads, transportation, and access facilities

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(M=2.64, SD=.59), the development of nature-based tourism (e.g. deserts, sea,

mountains and caves, Wadis (Valley), camping, parks) (M=2.61, SD=.62), the
development of information centres for tourists (M=2.60, SD=.64), the development
of cultural or historic-based attractions (e.g. museums, folk villages, local historical
sites, traditional markets) (M=2.60, SD=.63), the development of supportive visitor
services such as hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues (M=2.51, SD=.66), the
development of small independent businesses (e.g. gift shops, guide services, camping
grounds) (M=2.48, SD=.67), the development of pre-arranged tour packages
(M=2.48, SD=.67), and the development of sports facilities and activities (M=2.44,
SD=.69). However, respondents preferred to a lesser degree the development of
business/convention meeting events and facilities (M=2.38, SD=.72), the development
of cultural and folk events (e.g. concerts, art and crafts, dances, festivals) (M=2.33,
SD=.76), and the development of mass tourism attractions designed for a large
number of tourists (e.g. large Disney-like theme parks and resort complexes)
(M=2.28, SD=.77). The result from the last item seems to contradict respondents’
earlier result of strong support for attracting mass tourism (see section 4.6.3).

The above results indicate that Oman’s tourism stakeholders were more concerned
with the development of tourism resources and attractions infrastructure and related
tourism services such as hotels, restaurants, etc. Additionally, respondents showed
strong preferences for cultural, historical, and nature-based tourism development.
Such preferences seem to fall in line with the government’s planning policies and
strategies as explained in section 4.11 and Appendix V.

4.5.5 Results of support for tourism competitiveness strategies

The results of the descriptive statistics for strategies favoured by respondents to

support destination competitive strategies are presented in Appendix VI (part 5). A
total of 26 items were measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1=highly
favourable and 5=highly not favourable at all. After recoding (section 4.3.1), higher
mean scores indicate strong preferences of respondents on each item of the various
competitive strategies.

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The measurement scores of the different items shown on Appendix VI (part 5)

indicate a mean scores range of between 2.05 and 2.59. The highest mean score
indicates that the most favoured strategy was ‘protecting and improving more wildlife
habitat’ (M=2.59, SD=.64), followed by ‘encouraging the media to play an active role
in promoting the marketing mix’ of the country (M=2.58, SD=.64), ‘education and
training programs for present and future industry personnel’ (M=2.58, SD=.66), ‘the
development of safety and security programs and systems for tourism and the tourism
community’ (M=2.58, SD=.65), and ‘cooperation and coordination among
government authorities responsible for tourism planning and development’ (M=2.54,
SD=.66). Additionally, respondents were highly in favour of the ‘development of a
strong destination image’ (M=2.54, SD=.64), ‘promoting ethical responsibility
towards the natural environment’ (M=2.52, SD=.69), and the ‘development of a
unique and meaningful branding of the country’ (M=2.50, SD=. 68). Other top
favoured strategies related to tourism sustainability and marketing strategies
emphasised that, ‘local authorities and agencies have a role as facilitators for tourism
development in local regions’ (M=2.50, SD=.68), ‘expanding educational
opportunities for the visiting public in terms of natural/environmental quality and
protection’ (M=2.48, SD=.68), ‘the central government plays the leadership role in
marketing the country as a tourism destination’ (M=2.48, SD=.71), ‘environmental
considerations in the marketing of tourism’ (M=2.47, SD=.67), ‘tourism marketing
and promotion for targeting international tourists and visitors’ (M=2.46, SD=.70),
‘collaboration and cooperation with neighbouring countries in planning and marketing
tourism’ (M=2.45, SD=.68), and ‘expanding educational opportunities for tourists in
terms of natural/heritage attractions quality and protection’ (M=2.44, SD=.69). The
top 10 strategies rated by respondents as the most highly favourable for the country
are shown in Table 4.5.

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Table 4.5 Top ten favourable destination competitive strategies

Strategy item Mean Standard
(M) Deviation
1. Protecting and improving more wildlife habitat 2.59 .641
2. Encouraging the media to play an active role in promoting the 2.58 .639
marketing mix.
3. Education and training programs for present and future industry 2.58 .662
personnel
4. The development of safety and security programs and systems for 2.58 .647
tourism and the tourism community
5. The development of a strong destination image 2.54 .638

6. Cooperation and coordination among government authorities 2.54 .658

responsible for tourism planning and development
7. Promoting ethical responsibility towards the natural environment 2.52 . 689
8. Local authorities and agencies have a role as facilitators for 2.50 .683
tourism development in local regions
9. The central government plays the leadership role in marketing the 2.48 .707
country as a tourism destination
10. Expanding educational opportunities for the visiting public in 2.48 .675
terms of natural/environmental quality and protection

On the other hand, the lowest mean scores indicating somewhat less favourable
strategies were ‘increasing tourists’ length of stay’ (M=2.05, SD=.792), followed by
the second lowest score: ‘the selection of appropriate target markets (e.g. Germany,
Japan, England) (M=2.06, SD=.791). These results at this stage of analysis are
somewhat surprising and unexpected. However, in the final SEM analysis (see
section 4.7.10), these two items were shown as essential elements of the ‘destination
marketing management and activities’ construct.

The above results indicate that tourism stakeholders in Oman are more in favour of
competitiveness strategies that were related to tourism sustainability, marketing and
promotion, education for both locals and visitors about the local culture and
environment, and cooperation and collaboration locally and regionally. These
strategies as expressed by respondents explaining the nature of the tourism industry in
Oman. The industry is considered in its infancy , a stage where people are more
sensitive towards nature and culture. The results of selecting the most preferable
strategies for the country to be competitive reflected respondents’ knowledge and

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awareness level of the tourism industry and the level of tourism development in the
country.

In addition to the above-mentioned preferred strategies, tourism stakeholders in the

‘open ended’ question have mentioned other strategies which they believed of high
importance to the country as well. These strategies are: ‘maintaining and promoting
the exposure of a clean country’, ‘creating more facilities’ like rest-houses and other
amenities, ‘encouraging local investments’, ‘creating more sports facilities’,
‘upgrading infrastructure’, providing proper signs in English’, ‘increasing the number
of small and middle range hotels and good restaurants in the internal regions’,
‘utilisation of many touristic sites not yet utilised’, and ‘providing proper training for
airlines and tour operators staff’.

4.6 Measurement Model

Each measurement model of the five constructs can be examined through a series of
processes of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis
(CFA).

Factor analysis is a general scientific method for analysing data (Rummel, 1970), and
it is the name for one of the multivariate techniques that is used to determine the
underlying structure in a data matrix (Hair et al., 1998). The major reasons for
conducting factor analysis are: to determine patterns of relationships, parsimony or
data reduction, structure of a domain, classification or description of empirical
typology, scaling for rating, hypothesis testing, data transformation, mapping
phenomenological terrains or theory building (Rummel, 1970). This research utilised
factor analysis in its general form and ‘maximum likelihood estimation’ in particular
as a data reduction method.

Factor analysis analyses a large set of variables by identifying the common and
unique sets of variances called factors or components. This technique allows the
researcher to condense and reduces information to a manageable number of related
variables prior to using them in other analyses such as multiple regression or
multivariate analysis of variance. Additionally, it helps the researcher to determine the

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number of latent variables underlying a set of items, and to define the substantive
meaning of variables that account for variations among the large number of items in
the questionnaire (DeVallis, 1991). Factor analysis can be either exploratory in nature,
where data are searched for the underlying structure and to explore the
interrelationships among a set of variables, or confirmatory, where the researcher
seeks to confirm a structure that has already been identified by previous research
aiming to confirm hypotheses or theories concerning the structure of the underlying
set of variables. In this study the objective was to use exploratory factor analysis
(EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for data reduction purposes by using
the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (ML) method.

4.6.1 Maximum likelihood estimation

Maximum likelihood estimation (ML) is an estimation method commonly used in

structure equation models (Chou & Bentler, 1995). It is a procedure which iteratively
improves the parameter estimates to minimise a specified fit function (Hair et al.,
1998). In particular, when the observed data are normally distributed and the collected
sample is large enough, the ML method is suggested to estimate the parameters
because it creates accuracy, simplicity of computation and correctness of outcome. It
is considered a robust method of estimation even when the normality distribution
assumptions are violated (Anderson & Gerbing, 1984; Chou & Bentler, 1995; Tanaka,
1993). Maximum likelihood (ML) was utilised in this study because the collected
usable sample data was large (N=978), observed indicators were continuous, and the
normal distribution of the observed variables were met based on the results of
skewness and kurtosis.

In conducting factor analysis, including maximum likelihood estimation, certain

assumptions have to be made such as assessment of the data suitability for factor
analysis, normality, factor extraction, and factor rotation and interpretation. Before
proceeding with factor analysis, the researcher should ensure the normality of
distribution of variables (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). If variables are normally
distributed this would produce reliable results. Multivariate normality is important to
determine the number of factors and measures such as ‘skewness and kurtosis’ used to
assess the normality of scales. The descriptive statistics analysis proved the

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approximate normal distribution of variables of this study, as explained in section 4.6.

Sample size and strength of relationship among items are the two main issues for
assessing the data suitability. When it comes to the appropriate sample size for
conducting factor analysis, there is a little agreement on the best number; the general
recommendation is that the larger the better to ensure higher reliability of correlation
coefficients among the different variables (Tanaka, 1987). Tabachnick and Fidell
(2001, p.588) suggested that, “it is comforting to have at least 300 cases for factor
analysis”; other authors such as Nunnally (1978) recommended a 10 to 1 ratio, which
means 10 cases for each item to be factor analysed, five cases being sufficient in most
cases (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). The number of cases in this study – 941,
excluding the tourists’ number of 37 respondents (a different type of questionnaire) –
fulfilled this condition and it was adequate enough to proceed with checking other
conditions.

The second issue was checking the strength of the interrelationships (inter-
correlations) among the items. Using SPSS version (12.1) produced the correlation
matrix among different items. Tabachnick and Fidell (2001) suggested that the
correlation matrix for items has to show some coefficients (R) greater than 0.3 to be
considered for factor analysis. I inspected (R) for correlations in access of 0.3. This
issue is discussed when investigating each separate construct in the next sections.
Other issues related to the factorability of data are the inspection of Bartlett’s test of
sphericity which should be significant (p<. 05), and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO)
measure of sampling adequacy which should range from 0 to 1, with .6 suggested as
the minimum value for a good factor analysis (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). The
results of these tests are discussed in the following sections.

The third issue is factor extraction to determine the smallest number of factors to be
used to best represent the interrelationships among the set of variables. Different
techniques are available for extraction such as the maximum likelihood estimation
approach utilised in this study. In this approach the researcher continues to experiment
with factors manipulation until a satisfactory solution and the suitable number of
factors are retained (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). Measures such as Kaiser’s criterion
or eigenvalue, Screet test, and parallel analysis were used to determine the adequate
number of factors to retain. In this study I used the Kaiser’s criterion or eigenvalue to

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present the amount of the total variance which represents that particular factor.
Factors with eigenvalue of 1.0 or more are retained for further investigation
(Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). If the eigenvalue for any item is close to zero then this is
an indication of the existence of multicollinearity or singularity which should be dealt
with by deleting the item (see Appendix VII).

The final assessment measure is the factor rotation and interpretation. There are two
approaches to rotation, resulting in either orthogonal (uncorrelated) or oblique
(correlated) factor solutions. According to Tabachnick and Fidell (2001), orthogonal
rotation produces results that are easy to interpret. For this study I tried both
techniques before concluding that the orthogonal approach produced better results.
There are different rotation techniques used within the orthogonal approach. The most
commonly used one is the Varimax method which attempts to minimise the number of
variables that have a high loading on each factor (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). As a
rule of thumb, only variables with a loading of .32 and above are interpreted
(Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). Accordingly, the greater the loading, the more the
variable is a pure measure of the factor. Comrey and Lee (1992) suggested that
loadings in excess of 0.71 (50% overlapping variance) are considered excellent, .63
(40% overlapping variance) very good, 0.55 (30% overlapping variance) good, 0.45
(20% overlapping variance) fair, and 0.32 (10% overlapping variance) poor. The
choice of the cut-off point for the size of loading is left to the researcher’s preference.
The loading and percentage overlapping variance for this study is discussed in the
following sections.

4.6.2 Exploratory factor analysis for tourism development impacts

The measurement scale for tourism development impacts consisted of 24 items.

Factor analysis was used for the purpose of condensing the number of items in a small
number of factors. Maximum likelihood estimation method was used with varimax
rotation, so the results were independent and not correlated. Regarding the sample
size (N=941) of variable, which is equivalent to 100 percent of the total analysed
items, a 30 to 1 ratio was achieved, and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of
sampling adequacy was .849, which indicates that the sample was large enough to

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perform factor analysis. That is, a 10 to 1 ratio of the sample size is commonly found
acceptable (Hair et al., 1998).

The 24 items were exposed to factor analysis to identify the underlying factors, and
latent root criterion (eigenvalue) value of above 1.0 and a factor loading of 0.30 were
used as a benchmark for including items in a factor. After exposing the 24 items to
different extraction trials to determine the number of factors, I found that extracting 3
factors was more representative of the observed factors established in the literature,
and they accounted for 36.242 percent of the total variances.

Consequently, as an initial analysis, the Anti-image matrix indicated that most of

values were negative or had a small value of partial correlation. The Bartlett test of
sphericity, which tests the presence of correlations among the variables, indicated that
the chi-square was 4630.716 (df=276) with a significance of p<.001. These
examinations confirmed the appropriateness of carrying further factor analysis. As
presented in Tables 4.6 to 4.8, three factors after the rotation were derived from the 24
indicators and interpreted as the following:

Factor 1, labelled ‘Socio-cultural’, accounted for 14.629 percent of variances with an

eigenvalue of 4.780, and included 13 items. This factor related to issues related to
community infrastructure, entertainment, heritage, and culture. The item having the
highest loading was ‘tourism benefits outweigh negative impacts’ followed by
‘tourism provides an incentive for the restoration of historical buildings, and for the
conservation of natural resources’ and ‘Oman has plenty of natural resources if we
learn how to develop them’.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.6 Factor one: tourism socio-cultural impacts

Factor
Indicator
loading > .3
1. Tourism benefits outweigh negative impacts .660
2. Tourism provides an incentive for the restoration of historical
.594
buildings, and for the conservation of natural resources
3. Oman has plenty of natural resources if we learn how to develop them .572
4. Tourism brings political benefits to society .559
5. Tourism improves public utilities in the community .544
6. Tourism increases the availability of entertainment .532
7. Mass tourism is a good development strategy for the country .530
8. Tourism causes changes to the traditional culture of the community .527
9. Tourism improves transport infrastructure .524
10. Overall, I am in support of tourism industrial in my community .516
11. Tourism has encouraged a variety of cultural exchange between .498
tourists and residents
12. Tourism encourages a variety of cultural activities by the local
.476
population
13. The community should have authority to suggest control and
.471
restrictions of tourism development in the country

Factor 2, ‘Economic impacts’ accounted for 12.182 percent of variances with an

eigenvalue of 2.244, and included 7 items. The item having the highest loading was
‘tourism creates more jobs for foreigners than for local people’ followed by ‘tourism
economic benefits outweigh negative socio-cultural and environmental impacts’, then
‘tourism has created high investment, development, and infrastructure spending in the
economy’.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.7 Factor two: tourism economic impacts

Factor
Indicator
loading>. 3
1. Tourism creates more jobs for foreigners than for local people .670
2. Tourism’s economic benefits outweigh negative socio-cultural and .656
environmental impacts
3. Tourism has created high investment, development, and infrastructure .634
spending in the economy
4. Tourism has given economic benefits to local people and small .585
businesses
5. Tourism has resulted in positive impacts on the cultural identity of .566
our community
6. Tourism increases job opportunities for the people of Oman .521
7. Foreign investment is good for tourism in Oman .382

Factor 3, ‘Environmental impacts’, explained 9.432 percent of variances and had an

eigenvalue of 1.674. The 4 items in this factor are concerned with different costs
community may encounter as a consequence of tourism development. The highest
loading item in this component is ‘construction of hotels and other tourist facilities
destroys the natural environment’ followed by ‘the private sector is severely abusing
the environment’ and ‘when people interfere with nature, it can produce disastrous
consequences’.

Table 4.8 Factor three: environmental impacts

Factor
Indicator
loading > .3
1. Construction of hotels and other tourist facilities destroys the natural
.668
environment
2. The private sector is severely abusing the environment .637
3. When people interfere with nature, it can produce disastrous
.489
consequences
4. People have the right to modify the natural environment to suit their
.308
needs

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4.6.3 Confirmatory factor analysis for tourism development impacts

The methodology adopted here was to split the sample of 941 (excluding tourists)
tourism stakeholders into two sub-samples (sample 1, sample 2), using a procedure
that randomly allocates participants to the two samples. The rationale for splitting the
sample was to allow the analyst to refine the model based on a random sample from a
target population (half of the original sample) and test its stability by comparing
goodness-of-fit estimates to those obtained via another sample from that population
(the other half sample). A model comparison in which the values given to items and
scales did not vary significantly across samples would support the conclusion that the
tested model was factor invariant, that is, the theoretical model was invariant across
these samples. Both samples were screened for multivariate outliers, for univariate
skew, and for univariate and multivariate kurtosis (Mardia’s coefficient of
multivariate kurtosis). The decision was taken to use all cases for both samples.

Since structural equation modelling (SEM) was utilised for testing the hypotheses in
this study, violation of the univariate or multivariate normality could have invalidated
statistical hypothesis testing (Byrne, 1995, 2001; Hair et al., 1998, Kline, 1998). This
is because lack of normality could inflate the chi-square statistics and produce a bias
in critical value to determine the coefficient significance. However, this violation is
deemed to exert less impact on the performance of chi-square statistic and fit indexes
in comparison with the impacts of sample size, assumptions regarding the
independence of latent variables, and estimation methods (Hu & Bentler, 1995).

Generally speaking, the normality of variables can be tested by skewness and kurtosis
(Byrne, 1998, 2001; Kline, 1998). Skewness can be divided into two types: positive
skewness, where the distribution shows an asymmetric tail extended towards the
positive values, and negative skewness, which shows a distribution with an
asymmetric tail extended towards the negative values. Kurtosis explains the relative
peakedness or flatness of a distribution compared to normal distribution. A positive
kurtosis indicates a relative peak, and a negative kurtosis indicates a relative flat. As a
rule of thumb, Byrne (1998) suggested that the variables can be considered as
moderately non-normal if they show skewness ranging between 2.00 and 3.00 and
kurtosis values between 7.00 and 21.00.

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The results of skewness and kurtosis of this study fell within the acceptable threshold
level mentioned above. The results for the eight constructs are presented in (Appendix
IV-CD, Part B). The three factors were then exposed to CFA to determine the
underlying factor loadings of the items in each factor. The results are presented in
Figure 4.2.

Figure 4.2 Initial standardised CFA for three-factor solution with 24 items

.03 .21
err soc4 soc4 chg to trad cult .46 env7 Dest nat env err env7
.22 .08
.28 env18 modify nat env err env18
err soc5 soc5 cltrl exchnge
.16 Env .52 .27
.18
err soc6 soc6 impact cult iden env19 pple intrfr cse env disas err env19
.47 .71 .51
.23 .22
.40 env20 priv sect abus env err env20
err soc8 soc8 improve pub util
.23 .48
err soc10 soc10 restrn of bldgs & env .48
.32
.56
err soc11 soc11 incrs ent Soc
.18 .43
.13
err soc12 soc12 benf outwghs neg impct .68 .32
.46 .62 ec1 incrse job opprt err ec1
err soc15 soc15 impr trans infra .47 .34
.38 .48 .75 .56 ec2 inv,dev,infra spnd err ec2
err soc16 soc16 cltrl activ for lcl .58 .30
.22
ec3 econ bnft pple & bsns err ec3
err soc22 soc22 mass trsm .53 .55
.01
.23 .30 -.08
Econ ec9 jobs for foreigners err ec9
err soc23 soc23 Ovll suppt .16
.40
.31 ec13 econ bnft outwghs oth err ec13
.43 .10
.28 ec21 plty ntrl rscs err ec21
err pol14 poli14 poltcl impact .18
.09
ec24 Frgn invest good err ec24
err pol17 pol17 comm ctl

[Note: For full items (indicators) names see Appendix I]

This three-factor solution was entered into a CFA with sample 1 as entry data with a
view to identifying a statistically acceptable version of the model. The three-factor
solution illustrated in Figure 4.2 featured some high correlations between error terms,
as indicated by the modification indices (MI: See Appendix IV-CD, part B).
Consequently, the model presented misfit and needed modification. Therefore,
thirteen additional CFAs were undertaken, each after excluding a single item. As
indicated in Appendix IV-CD (part B) the CFA at the thirteen rounds were conducted
after excluding items soc4, soc5, soc6, soc8, soc12, soc23, poli4, po17, env18, ec9,
ec13, ec21, and ec24, with each of these decisions based on the strength of association
of that item with other items. The deletion of the thirteen items produced an adequate
better fitting model as demonstrated in Figure 4.3 and Table 4.9.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Figure 4.3: Standardised CFA for three-factor tourism development impacts

with 11 items

.21
.46 env7 Dest nat env err env7

Env .55 .30

env19 pple intrfr cse env disas err env19
.70 .49
.12
env20 priv sect abus env err env20
.26
err soc10 soc10 restrn of bldgs & env .51
.35
.59
err soc11 soc11 incrs ent Soc
.09
.70 .32
.49 .62 ec1 incrse job opprt err ec1
err soc15 soc15 impr trans infra .40 .48
.38 .57 .56 ec2 inv,dev,infra spnd err ec2
err soc16 soc16 cltrl activ for lcl .69 .40
.16
ec3 econ bnft pple & bsns err ec3
err soc22 soc22 mass trsm .63

Econ

[Note: For full items (indicators) names see Appendix I]

Figure 4.3 illustrates an 11-item three-factor solution based on the tourism

development impacts questionnaire. The 24-item solution was completely
unacceptable (see Table 4.9, below) not to mention the results of the non-normality of
the multivariate distribution of this model. However, under these conditions, the 11-
item model exhibited significantly more acceptable goodness-of-fit than the 24-item
model as per the chi-square difference test as mentioned later, as well as minimising
the set of out-of-range parameter values.

The most widely adopted dimensions for classifying fit indices are the absolute versus
the incremental distinction of fit indexes (Bollen, 1989; Gerbing & Anderson, 1993;
Tanaka, 1993). The absolute fit index assesses how well an a priori model reproduces
the sample data using indexes such as GFI, AGFI, and CN. Indexes of absolute fit
typically gauge ‘badness- of-fit’ where optimal fit is indicated by a value of zero
(Hoyle & Panter, 1995; Hu & Bentler, 1995). In contrast, the incremental fit index
measures the proportionate improvement in fit by comparing a target model with a
more restricted one using indexes such as NFI, TLI, and CFI. These indices gauge
‘goodness-of-fit, where larger values indicate greater improvement of the model
under-consideration over an alternative model (Hoyle & Panter, 1995; Hu & Bentler,
1995).
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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.9 Estimates of Goodness of Fit for the Three Factor Models
Note: DF = Degrees of Freedom; AIC = Akaike information criterion; RMR = root mean square
Model 24-item model 11-item model
Chi square 1069.946 62.999
df 249 41
Probability 0.000 0.015
Chi/Df 4.297 1.537
AIC 1171.946 112.999
RMR .045 .018
RMSEA .084 .034
NFI .584 .926
RFI .539 .900
TLI .604 .963
CFI .642 .972
GFI .831 .976
AGFI .796 .962
Hoelter (CN) 127 427
residual; RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation; NFI = normed fit index; RFI = relative
fit index; TLI = Tucker Lewis index; CFI = comparative fit index; GFI = goodness-of-fit index; AGFI
= adjusted goodness-of-fit; IFI = incremental fit index; CN = Hoelter’s critical n.

As indicated in Table 4.9, a range of estimates of goodness-of-fit for the revised

model was highly acceptable. An initial step was to examine the effect of dividing the
chi-square value (CMIN) by the degrees of freedom (DF). This operation results in a
ratio (CMIN/DF) with an ideal value of 0 and a threshold of acceptance at the level of
3. That is, acceptable values fall in the range of 0-3. In these terms, the 24-item model
exceeded the threshold whereas the 11-item model exhibited a value of 62.999 with
41 degrees of freedom that is significant at the level of .05 (p= .015) and CMIN/DF =
1.537, which is in the 0-3 range.
These Chi-square values can be used to compare the two models directly, either by
utilising the Chi-square difference test or a variation of this test based on the Akaike
Information Criterion (AIC). The Chi-square difference test examines the significance
of the chi-square value obtained from a combination of the difference in chi-square
values and the difference in degrees of freedom. The Chi-square difference test
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indicates the 11-item model to be significantly better fitting than the 24-item model. A
variant on this test, using Chi-square differences based on an information theoretic
measure, the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), that takes the relative complexity of
the two models into account and adjusts for the number of parameters estimated in the
model (Hu & Bentler, 1995), also indicated the 11-item model to be significantly
better fitting than the other model. Another measure that could be used to compare
models is the Hoelter Critical N (CN), where the mean of the sampling distribution of
CN for a given model was positively related to the sample size (Hu & Bentler, 1995).
A cut-off value of substantially greater than 200 would be required to accept the
model as significant. Noting that, large sample size usually affects positively the
significance of the final model. The 24-item model did not meet this criterion, while
the 11-item model exceeded the minimum value as shown in Table 4.9

Two measures that could be broadly described as based on the population discrepancy
include the root mean square residual (RMR) and the root mean square error of
approximation (RMSEA). In both cases, when the model fits the sample ideally, these
measures give values of 0 for the discrepancy, with .05 as an acceptable threshold
value. It is clear from the above that RMR falls within the acceptable range for both
the 24- and 11-item models, and RMSEA exceeds the threshold in the 24-item model,
but within the acceptable range for the 11-item model.

Two other measures that estimate goodness-of-fit include the goodness of fit index
(GFI) and the adjusted GFI (AGFI). The GFI is the measure of the relative amount of
variances and covariances in S that are accounted for by the implied model ∑
(Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1992). Here the adjusted GFI takes into account the number of
degrees of fit involved. The values for these measures range between 0 and 1, with 1
indicating that the tested model fits the data completely. Again, 0.90 is regarded as an
acceptable threshold value. Here, neither measure achieved the 0.90 threshold level
for the 24-item model, whereas the two measures did achieve the .90 level for the 11-
item model.

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Table 4.10 Standardised Regression Weight Factor Loadings

Beta (β)
Item A Direction Item B S.E. C.R. P
estimates
Q1A7 <--- Env .46 .040 7.730 ***
Q1A19 <--- Env .55 .048 8.531 ***

Q1A20 <--- .70 .049 9.607 ***

Env
Q1A10 <--- Soc .51 .031 12.057 ***
Q1A11 <--- Soc .59 .031 12.057 ***
Q1A15 <--- Soc .70 .033 14.498 ***
Q1A16 <--- Soc .62 .031 12.592 ***
Q1A22 <--- Soc .40 .036 7.805 ***
Q1A1 <--- Econ .56 .031 10.837 ***
Q1A2 <--- Econ .69 .037 13.197 ***
Q1A3 <--- Econ .63 .035 12.090 ***
Note: Env = (environmental impacts), Soc = (socio-cultural impacts), Econ= (economic impacts).

This examination of estimates of fit was supplemented by an examination of the

significance of standardised regression weights. As shown in Table 4.10, above, latent
variable 1 socio-cultural impacts (Soc) was significantly associated with 5 of the 12
items, latent variable 2 economic impacts (Econ) was significantly associated with 3
items and latent variable 3 environmental impacts (Env) was significantly associated
with 3 items. It is clear from the above that these factor loadings were large relative to
their standard errors.

An examination of the standardised residuals showed that most of the items

approximate between -1 and 1.9, with none of the residuals approximating values of 2
or 3. In short, insomuch as none of the standardised residuals exhibited extreme
values, this examination also suggested that the model fits the data fairly well.

Further, the highest squared multiple correlation which assessed the extent to which
the measurement model was adequately represented by the observed measures was
.495 (Item Q1A20 ‘The private sector is severely abusing the environment’), and the
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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

lowest squared multiple correlation was .160 (Item Q1A22 ‘Mass tourism is a good
development strategy for the country’). Then, it could be interpreted that
approximately 50% of the variance of Item Q1A20 was explained by the tourism
development impacts. Additionally, the item indicated the highest standardised
loading of .70, meaning that the item was the highest relative indicator in measuring
tourism development impacts. However, attention should be given to Item Q1A22
having the lowest loading (.40), because this item could contribute to a poor fit in the
overall measurement model.

Examining the invariance of the factor structure

The final stage in this testing process was to compare the goodness-of-fit of the model
based on sample 1 with an equivalent test based on sample 2. AMOS provides
automated procedures for doing this.

As indicated above, four comparisons were carried out to examine factor invariance,
such that in addition to the unconstrained model comparison (model 1), the three
models were compared with measurement weights constrained (model 2), with
structural covariances constrained (model 3), and finally with measurement residuals
constrained (model 4), as shown in Table 4.11.

Table 4.11 The chi-square fit statistic for the four tested models

Model NPAR CMIN DF P CMIN/DF

1. Unconstrained 50 132.889 82 .000 1.621
2. Measurement weights 39 139.988 93 .001 1.505
3. Structural covariances 36 141.515 96 .002 1.474
4. Measurement residuals 25 150.886 107 .003 1.410

As indicated previously, dividing the chi-square value (CMIN) by the degrees of

freedom (DF) results in a ratio (CMIN/DF) that, as shown in Table 4.11 above, fell in
the very acceptable range of 0-3 for the four models in question. What this indicates is
that the model in question is acceptably invariant across the two sample groups.

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Table 4.12 Baseline Comparisons for the four models and the two samples

NFI RFI IFI TLI

Model CFI
Delta1 rho1 Delta2 rho2
1. Unconstrained .919 .892 .967 .956 .967
2. Measurement weights .915 .899 .970 .964 .969
3. Structural covariances .914 .901 .971 .966 .970
4. Measurement residuals .908 .906 .971 .971 .971

Table 4.12 above provides a further set of indices for inspection. It is clear that these
indices, reported previously in discussing the 11-item model, exceeded the 0.90
threshold of acceptance, except for the (RFI) for the Unconstrained and the
Measurement weights models, where it is close to the 0.90 threshold. This pattern of
highly acceptable goodness-of-fit indices generalises across the range of other indices.

In summary, the 11-item three-factor solution for the tourism development impacts
measurement instrument turns out to have adequate model fitting qualities. Mainly,
the measurement items related to socio-cultural, economic and environmental
impacts, relatively important indicators in measuring tourism development impacts in
this study.

4.6.4 Exploratory factor analysis for community attachment

The measurement scale for community attachment consisted of 11 items. Since the
scale was derived from previous studies, it is treated as one factor. Maximum
likelihood estimation was also used as a reduction method. The sample size was
(N=941). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy is .925.
The one factor accounted for 45.213 percent of the total loading variances. The Anti-
image matrix indicated that most of values were also negative or had a small value of
partial correlation. The Bartlett test of sphericity indicates that the Chi-square was
4633.522 (df=55) with a significance of p<.001. These examinations confirmed the
appropriateness of carrying further factor analysis (see Appendix VII). Table 4.13

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presents the one-factor loadings derived from the 11 indicators and interpreted as the
following:

Table 4.13 Exploratory factor analysis for community attachment

Factor
Item Loading
> 0. 3
1. I get more satisfaction being in my community than from visiting any other
.764
place
2. This community is the best place for what I like to do .746
3. I am attached to my community’ .746
4. This community makes me feel like no other place can .733
5. I would prefer to spend more time in my community .722
6. This community means a lot to me .692
7. I am proud of my community .637
8. If I have to move away from my community, I would be sorry to leave .636
9. I would be affected by whatever happens (positive or negative) in the
.588
community
10. The time I spend in my community could have been spent just as easily and
.564
enjoyably somewhere else
11. I am willing to invest my talent or time to make the community an even
.514
better place for visitors

The factor with highest loading is ‘I get more satisfaction being in my community
than from visiting any other place’, followed by ‘This community is the best place for
what I like to do’, then ‘I am attached to my community’.

4.6.5 Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for community attachment

The measurement scale for community attachment comprises 11 observed items.

Since all 11 items were treated as one factor, they were all interred into the CFA
analysis process utilising the Maximum Likelihood procedure.

The results of the initial estimation of the proposed model were not acceptable for a
well-fitting model. Figure 4.4 represents the initial one factor hypothesised model.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Figure 4.4 Initial CFA for one-factor solution with 11-items

.56
er pd1 pd1 pref time in comm
.56
er pd2 pd2 attchd to comm
.48
.75
er pi3 pi3 comn mns lot
.75
.29
er pd4 pd4 time spt in comm enjoy .70
.60 .54
er pd5 pd5 comm satis .78
.57
.75
er pd6 pd6 comm bst plce Com Attach
.74
.54
er pi7 pi7 comm fls bttr than oth .65
.43 .61
er pi8 pi8 proud of comm .58
.38 .49
er pi9 pi9 sorry to leave
.34
er pi10 pi10 posit & neg effects
.24
er pi11 pi11 willing invest talent

[Note: For full items (indicators) names see Appendix I]

This one-factor solution was entered into a CFA with sample 1 as entry data with a
view to identifying a statistically acceptable version of the model. The one-factor
solution illustrated in Figure 4.4 featured some high correlations between error terms,
as indicated by the modification indices (MI: See Appendix IV-CD, part B).
Accordingly, seven additional CFAs were undertaken, each after excluding a single
item. As indicated in Appendix IV-CD (part B), the CFA at the seven rounds were
conducted after excluding items pd1, pd2, pi3, pd4, pi8, pi9, and pi10, with each of
these decisions based on the strength of association of that item with others. Deletion
of the seven items produced a better fit model with 4-items as shown in Figure 4.5.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Figure 4.5 CFA for one-factor community attachment model with 4 items

er pd5 pd5 I get mor satisfaction being in my community than from visisting other places

.81

pd6 This community is the best place for what I like to do

er pd6 .84
Community
.73 Attachment
pi7 This community makes me feel like no other place can
er pi7

.44

er pi11 pi11 willing to invest my talent or time to make the community better place for visitors

Figure 4.5 illustrates a 4-item one-factor solution based on the community attachment
questionnaire. The 11-item solution was slightly unacceptable (see Table 4.14, below)
and, based on various estimates indices and the non-normality of the multivariate
distribution, could also have been acceptable. However, under these conditions, the 4-
item model exhibited significantly more acceptable goodness-of-fit than the 11-item
model as per the chi-square difference test, as well as minimising the set of out of
range parameter values.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.14 Estimates of goodness of fit for the one factor model

Model 11-item model 4-item model

Chi square 261.089 3.260
df 44 2
Probability 0.000 .196
Chi/Df 5.934 1.630
AIC 305.089 19.260
RMR .024 .006
RMSEA .102 .037
NFI .891 .995
RFI .863 .985
TLI .884 .994
CFI .907 .998
GFI .903 .997
AGFI .855 .983
Hoelter (CN) 110 868

As shown in Table 4.14, a range of estimates of goodness-of-fit for the revised model
was highly acceptable.

The chi-square value of 261.089 with 44 degrees of freedom was statistically

significant (p<.001) and accordingly not acceptable for the hypothesised model. The
probability value associated with chi-square represents the likelihood of obtaining a
chi-square value that exceeds the chi-square value when a null hypothesis is true.
Thus, it can be concluded that the proposed hypothesised model of community
attachment represents unlikely conditions with the current specified model and should
be rejected and re-modified in terms of estimating the parameters. However, the 4-
item model exhibited a value of 3.260 with 2 degrees of freedom that is significant at
the level of .05 (p=.015) and CMIN/DF=1.630, which is in the 0-3 range.

Other indices that could be used to compare the goodness-of-fit indexes of the two
models are the RMR, RMSEA, GFI, AGFI, CFI, and NFI. It is clear from the above
that RMR falls within the acceptable range for both the 11-item and 4-item models,

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

and RMSEA exceeds the threshold in the 11-item model and within the acceptable
range for the 4-item model.

The values of GFI are within the 0.9 acceptable thresholds for both models, even
though it is higher for the 4-item model. But, the AGFI is slightly less than the cut-off
point for the 11-item model and falling with the acceptable level for the 4-item model.
The CFI values for both models are within the 0.90 acceptable level; however, the
NFI values for the 11-item model are slightly low.

Table 4.15 Standardised regression weights factor loadings

Beta (β)
Direction S.E. C.R. P
Estimate
Q1B5 <--- Com Attach .81 .034 19.325 ***
Q1B6 <--- Com Attach .84 .031 20.427 ***
Q1B7 <--- Com Attach .73 .029 16.973 ***
Q1B11 <--- Com Attach .44 .029 9.267 ***

This examination of estimates of fit was also supplemented by an examination of the

significance of standardised regression weights. As shown in Table 4.15, above, latent
variable community attachment was significantly associated with the 4-items: ‘I get
more satisfaction being in my community than from visiting any other place’, ‘This
community is the best place for what I like to do’, ‘This community makes me feel
like no other place can”, and ‘I am willing to invest my talent or time to make the
community an even better place for visitors’. It is clear from the above that these
factor loadings were large relative to their standard errors.

Further, the highest squared multiple correlation which assessed the extent to which
the measurement model was adequately represented by the observed measures was
.710 (Item Q1B6 ‘This community is the best place for what I like to do’), and the
lowest squared multiple correlation was .192 (Item Q1B11 ‘I am willing to invest my
talent or time to make the community an even better place for visitors’). Then, it could
be interpreted that approximately 71% of the variance of Item Q1B6 was explained by
the community attachment construct. Additionally, the item indicated the highest

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

standardised loading of .84, meaning that the item was the relatively highest indicator
in measuring community attachment.

Examining the invariance of the factor structure

The final stage in this process was to compare the goodness-of-fit of the model based
on sample 1 with an equivalent test based on sample 2.

Similar to what has been done previously, three comparisons were carried out to
examine factor invariance, such that, in addition to the unconstrained model
comparison (model 1), the two models were compared with measurement weights
constrained (model 2), and finally with measurement residuals constrained (model 3).

Table 4.16 The chi-square fit statistic for the three tested models
Model NPAR CMIN DF P CMIN/DF
Unconstrained 16 8.939 4 .063 2.235
Measurement weights 12 11.239 8 .189 1.405
Measurement residuals 8 12.937 12 .374 1.078

The ratio of (CMIN/DF), as shown in Table 4.16 above, fell in the very acceptable
range of 0-3 for the three models in question. This means that the 4-item community
attachment model is acceptably invariant across the two sample groups.

Table 4.17 Baseline Comparisons for the five models and the two samples

NFI RFI IFI TLI

Model CFI
Delta1 rho1 Delta2 rho2
Unconstrained .993 .978 .996 .988 .996

Measurement weights .991 .986 .997 .996 .997

Measurement residuals .990 .990 .999 .999 .999

Table 4.17 above provides a further set of indices for inspection. It is clear that these
indices, reported previously in discussing the 4-item model, exceed the 0.90 threshold

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

of acceptance in all measurement indices. This pattern of highly acceptable goodness-

of-fit indices generalises across the range of other indices.

In summary, the 4-item one-factor solution for the community attachment

measurement instrument turns out to have more than adequate model fitting qualities.
The four items represented both the community dependence and community identity
dimensions.

4.6.6 Factor analysis for stakeholders’ perceived power (community

participation)

The measurement scale for stakeholders’ perceived power consisted of 16 items. The
MLE method was used. The sample size was (N=941). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin
(KMO) measure of sampling adequacy was 0.932. The one factor accounted for 44
percent of the total loading variances. The Bartlett test of sphericity indicates that the
Chi-square was 3607.49 (df=120) with a significance of p< .001 (see Appendix VII).

The item with highest loading on the factor was ‘Public involvement in planning and
development of tourism will lead to preserving local culture, traditions, and lifestyle’
(0.809), followed by ‘The citizens of Oman require a shared vision about tourism’
(0.786), then ‘The people’s representative in the ‘Shura council’ (parliament) should
be empowered to have input into the tourism planning process’ (0.765).

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.18 exploratory factor analysis for community participation

Factor
Item loading
> 0.3
1. Public involvement in planning and development of tourism will lead to
.809
preserving local culture, traditions, and life style
2. The citizens of Oman require a shared vision about tourism .786
3. The people’s representative in the ‘Shura council’ (parliament) should be
.765
empowered to have input into the tourism planning process
4. The public should have full opportunity, even encouragement, to participate in
.763
planning decision- making
5. People with power sources (e.g., land, business, and skills) generally support
.770
tourism development
6. The government should have more control over tourism activities .721
7. I would be willing to attend community meetings to discuss an important tourism
.719
issue
8. I support tourism in my area .736
9. I have ability/opportunity to influence my community’s future .690
10. Residents are able to voice their opinions about tourism planning and
.661
development
11. There is a lack of collaboration and cooperation among government authorities
.629
responsible for tourism planning
12. The public lack power to participate and influence the decision making process .629
13. Citizens lack understanding about tourism .513
14. Public participation is not a priority in the short-term for government planners .480
15. The planning responsibility should be left to the government .432
16. The government usually consults us about tourism planning .424

The 16-item one factor EFA was used further in the CFA to test the goodeness-of-fit
of this model to collected sample data.

4.6.7 Confirmatory factor analysis for community participation

The measurement scale for stakeholders’ perceived power comprises 16 observed

items. The respondents were asked to indicate how strongly they perceived their
involvement in community tourism development planning. Since all 16 items were
treated as one factor, they were all interred into the CFA analysis process.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

The results of the initial estimation of the proposed model were not acceptable for a
well-fitting model and did not produce satisfactory results. Figure 4.6 represents the
initial one factor hypothesised model.

Figure 4.6 Initial CFA for one-factor solution with 16-items

.45
err1 emp emp1 ability enfl comm ftre
.13
err6 emp emp6 plan left to gov
.67
.57 .62
.37
err10 emp emp10 repstve empwmt col2 ctzn shrd vision trsm err2 col
.50 .76 .79 .20
err14 emp emp14 pple resrces supp dev .71 .45 col8 ctzns lck undrstdg err8 col
.27
.40 .63 .52 col9 pblc lck pwr to pctpte err9 col
err16 emp emp16 resdts vce opins Com Part .49
.70
col11 gov ctl trsm activts err11 col
.76 .58 .34
.58 col12 lck of coop btn gov auth err12 col
.70
err3 par par3 public partic dec mkg
.49 .37
err4 par par4 attnd comm mtg .41
.14 .81
err5 par par5 gov consults us .75
.17
err7 par par7 pblc pctn not prior gov
.65
err13 par par13 pblc involv plnng prsve cltre
.56
err15 par par15 spprt trsm in area

[Note: For full items (indicators) names see Appendix I]

This one-factor solution was entered into a CFA with sample 1 as entry data with a
view to identifying a statistically acceptable version of the model. The one-factor
solution illustrated in Figure 4.6 featured some high correlations between error terms,
as indicated by the modification indices (MI: See Appendix IV-CD, part B).
Accordingly, eight additional CFAs were undertaken, each after excluding a single
item. As indicated in Appendix IV-CD (part B), the CFAs at the eight rounds were
conducted after excluding items emp1, emp6, par3, par7, par15, col2, and col8, and
col9, with each of these decisions based on the strength of association of that item
with others. Deletion of the eight items produced a better fit model with 8-items as
shown in Figure 4.7

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Figure 4.7 CFA for one-factor model for development preferences about
destination attractions with 8 items

da1 da1 development of nature-based tourism

da2 da2 development of attractions for large number of tourists

.45

dr5 dr5 development of small independent businesses .51

.63

dr6 dr6 development of cultural and folk events .65

.76 Development of resources / attractions

dr7 development of pre-arranged tour packages
dr7
.66

dr8 development of outdoor recreation facilities, programs & events .54

dr8

.59
dr9 dr9 improved roads, transportation, and access facilities

dr12 dr12 business/convention meeting events & facilities

Figure 4.7 illustrates an 8-item one-factor solution based on the stakeholders’

perceived power (community participation) questionnaire. The 16-item solution was
an indication of a model misfit (see Table 4.19, below) and, given the non-normality
of the multivariate distribution, could also have been acceptable. However, under
these conditions, the 8-item model exhibited significantly more acceptable goodness-
off-it than the 16-item model as per the chi-square difference test, as well as
minimising the set of out of range parameter values.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.19 Estimates of goodness-of-fit for the one factor model

Model 16-item model 8-item model

Chi square 610.130 39.761
df 104 20
Probability 0.000 .005
Chi/Df 5.867 1.988
AIC 674.130 71.761
RMR .037 .016
RMSEA .102 .046
NFI .833 .972
RFI .807 .961
TLI .835 .980
CFI .857 .986
GFI .843 .978
AGFI .794 .961
Hoelter (CN) 100 373

As shown in Table 4.19 above, a range of estimates of goodness-of-fit for the initial
model was highly not acceptable. The chi-square value of 610.130 with 104 degrees
of freedom was statistically significant (p<.05) and accordingly not acceptable for the
hypothesised model. Thus, it can be concluded that the proposed hypothesised model
of stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation) represents unlikely
conditions with the current specified model and should be rejected and re-modified in
terms of estimating the parameters. However, the revised 8-item model exhibited a
value of 39.761 with 20 degrees of freedom that is significant at the level of .05
(p=.005 and CMIN/DF=1.988), which is in the 0-3 range.

A variant on this test, using chi-square differences based on an information theoretic

measure and the AIC, also indicates the 8-item model to be significantly better fitting
than the other model. Additionally, the Hoelter Critical N (CN) indicates that the 16-
item model did not meet this criterion (CN=100), while the 8-item model exceeds the
minimum value (CN=373).

Other indices used to compare the goodness-of-fit indexes of the two models are the
RMR, RMSEA, GFI, AGFI, CFI, and NFI. It is clear from the above that RMR falls

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 Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

within the acceptable range for both the 16-item and 8-item models; however, other
values are below the 0.9 acceptable thresholds for the 16-item model, and within the
acceptable level for the 8-item model.

Table 4.20 Standardised regression weights factor loadings

Beta (β)
Direction S.E. C.R. P
Estimate
Q5E10 <--- Com Part .755 .034 18.472 ***
Q5E14 <--- Com Part .725 .034 17.458 ***
Q5E16 <--- Com Part .654 .034 15.213 ***
Q5E4 <--- Com Part .631 .037 14.531 ***
Q5E5 <--- Com Part .374 .028 7.946 ***
Q5E13 <--- Com Part .837 .032 21.470 ***
Q5E11 <--- Com Part .725 .035 17.443 ***
Q5E12 <--- Com Part .543 .036 12.095 ***

This examination of estimates of fit was complemented by an examination of the

significance of standardised regression weights. As shown in Table 4.20 above, latent
variable community participation was significantly associated with the 8-items. It is
clear from the above that these factor loadings were also large relative to their
standard errors.

Further, the highest squared multiple correlation was .70 (Item Q5E13 ‘Public
involvement in planning and development of tourism will lead to preserving local
culture, traditions, and life style’), and the lowest squared multiple correlation was .14
(Item Q5E5 ‘the government usually consults us about tourism planning’). Then, it
could be interpreted that approximately 70% of the variance of Item Q5E13 was
explained by the stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation) construct.
Additionally, the item indicated the highest standardised loading of (.84), meaning
that the item was the relatively highest indicator in measuring stakeholders’ perceived
power (community participation).

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Examining the invariance of the factor structure

To compare the different models for stakeholders’ perceived power (community
participation), four comparisons were carried out to examine factor invariance, such
that, in addition to the unconstrained model comparison (model 1), the three models
were compared with measurement weights constrained (model 2), and finally with
measurement residuals constrained (model 3).

Table 4.21 The chi-square fit statistic for the tested models
Model NPAR CMIN DF P CMIN/DF
Unconstrained 32 115.056 40 .000 2.876
Measurement weights 24 118.199 48 .000 2.462
Measurement residuals 16 124.721 56 .000 2.227

The (CMIN/DF) ratio result, shown in Table 4.21 above, fell in the very acceptable
range of 0-3 for the models in question. What this indicates is that the model in
question is acceptably invariant across the two sample groups.

Table 4.22 Baseline comparisons for the three models and the two samples
RFI IFI TLI
Model NFI CFI
Delta1 rho1 Delta2 rho2

Unconstrained .960 .944 .973 .963 .973

Measurement weights .959 .952 .975 .971 .975
Measurement residuals .956 .956 .976 .976 .976

Table 4.22 above provides a further set of indices for inspection. It is clear that these
indices, reported previously in discussing the 8-item model, exceed the 0.90 threshold
of acceptance in all measurement indices. This pattern of highly acceptable goodness-
of-fit indices generalises across the range of other indices.

In summary, the 8-item one-factor solution for the stakeholders’ perceived power
measurement instrument turns out to have more than adequate model fitting qualities.
Three of the eight items in the model represent items related to community-needed
empowerment; three items represent respondents’ desire for more community
participation, and two items represent items related to collaboration and cooperation

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

between government authorities and with other neighbouring countries. This is a

reflection of respondents’ desire to have a mixture of different types of involvement in
tourism development and decision-making.

4.6.8 Factor analysis for preferences about tourism resources / attractions

development

The measurement scale for stakeholders’ preferences about tourism resources and
attractions development consists of 12 items. The maximum likelihood estimation
method was used. The sample size was (N=941). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO)
measure of sampling adequacy was .927. The one factor accounted for 39.512 percent
of the total loading variances. The Bartlett test of sphericity indicates that the Chi-
square was 4060.490 (df=66) with a significance of p<.001 (see Appendix VII). The
item with the highest loading on the factor is ‘Development of pre-arranged attractive
and flexible tour packages’ (.721), followed by ‘Development of information centres
for tourists’ (.715), then ‘Development of supporting visitor services (hotels,
restaurants, entertainment, etc.)’ (.672) (see Table 4.23 below).

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.23 Exploratory factor analysis for one factor development of tourism
attractions
Factor
Item loading >
0.3
1. Development of pre-arranged attractive and flexible tour packages
.721
2. Development of information centres for tourists .715
3. Development of supporting visitor services (hotels, restaurants,
.672
entertainment, etc)
4. Development of small independent businesses (e.g. gift shops, guide
.650
services, camping grounds)
5. Improved roads, transportation, and access facilities
.649
6. Development of sports facilities and activities .646
7. Business/convention meeting events and facilities
.638
8. Development of cultural and folk events (e.g. concerts, art and crafts,
dances, festivals) .634
9. Development of outdoor recreations facilities, programs and events (e.g.
.633
hikes, bike rides, climbing, sailing, surfing)
10. Development of cultural or historic-based attractions (e.g. museums, folk
villages, local historic sites, traditional markets) .575

11. Development of attractions designed for a large number of tourists (e.g.

.493
theme parks and large resort complexes)
12. Development of nature-based tourism (e.g. deserts, sea, mountains and
caves, and Valleys (Wadis) camping, parks) .464

4.6.9 Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for development preferences about

destination attractions

The measurement scale for development preferences about destination attractions

comprises 12 observed items. The respondents were asked to indicate how much each
tourism attraction was preferred in the country. Since all 12 items were treated as one
factor, they were all interred into the CFA analysis process.

The results of the initial estimation of the proposed model were not acceptable for a
well-fitting model and did not produce satisfactory results. Figure 4.8 represents the
initial one-factor hypothesised model for community participation.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Figure 4.8 Initial CFA for one-factor solution with 12-items

1
er da1 da1 Dev nature-bsd trsm

1
er da2 da2 Dev attract larg N

1
er da3 da3 Dev hist attract

1
er da4 da4 Dev supp svce
1
er dr5 dr5 Dev small busns 1

1
er dr6 dr6 Dev folk events Dev Pref
1
er dr7 dr7 Dev tour packs
1
er dr8 dr8 Dev rec facil

1
er dr9 dr9 Improv tspt
1
er dr10 dr10 Dev info ctrs
1
er dr11 dr11 Dev sprt activity
1
er dr12 dr12 Bus facil

[Note: For full items (indicators) names see Appendix I]

This one-factor solution was entered into a CFA with sample 1 as entry data with a
view to identifying a statistically acceptable version of the model. The one-factor
solution illustrated in Figure 4.8 featured some high correlations between error terms,
as indicated by the modification indices (MI: See Appendix IV-CD, part B).
Accordingly, four additional CFAs were undertaken, each after excluding a single
item. As indicated in Appendix IV-CD (part B), the CFA at the four rounds were
conducted after excluding items da3, da4, dr10, and dr11, with each of these decisions
based on the strength of association of that item with others. Deletion of the four
items produced a better fit model with 8-items as shown in Figure 4.9

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Figure 4.9 CFA for one-factor model for development preferences about
destination attractions with 8 items

er par4 par4 I would be willing to attend community meetings

er par5 par5 the government usually consults us about tourism planning

.63

er emp10 emp10 the people's representatives in parliament should be empowered .37

.76
er co11 col11 the government should have more control over tourism activities
.72
Community Participation
.54
er col12 col12 there is a lack of collaboration among government authourities
.84

er par13 par13 public involvement in planning leads to preserving local culture .73

.65

er emp14 emp14 people with power sources generally support tourism development

er emp16 emp16 residents are able to voice their opinions about tourism planning

Figure 4.9 illustrates an 8-item one-factor solution based on development preferences

about the destination attractions questionnaire. The 12-item solution was slightly
unacceptable (see Table 4.24, below). However, under these conditions, the 4-item
model exhibited significantly more acceptable goodness-of-fit than the 11-item model
as per the chi-square difference test, as well as minimising the set of out of range
parameter values.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.24 Estimates of goodness-of-fit for the one factor model

Model 12-item model 8-item model

Chi square 219.353 25.201
Df 54 20
Probability 0.000 .194
Chi/Df 4.062 1.260
AIC 267.353 57.201
RMR .022 .011
RMSEA .081 .023
NFI .891 .974
RFI .867 .963
TLI .896 .992
CFI .915 .994
GFI .923 .987
AGFI .889 .976
Hoelter (CN) 156 589

As indicated in Table 4.24, a range of estimates of goodness-of-fit for the initial

model was unacceptable. The chi-square value of 219.353 with 54 degrees of freedom
was statistically significant (p<.05) and accordingly not acceptable for the
hypothesised model. Thus, it can be concluded that the proposed hypothesised model
of development preferences about destination attractions represents unlikely
conditions with the current specified model and should be rejected and re-modified in
terms of estimating the parameters. However, the 8-item model exhibits a value of
25.201 with 20 degrees of freedom that is significant at the level of .05 (p=.194 and
CMIN/DF=1.260, which is in the 0-3 range.

The chi-square difference test indicates the 8-item model to be significantly better
fitting than the 12-item model. A variant on this test, using chi-square differences
based on an information theoretic measure and the AIC, also indicates the 8-item
model to be significantly better fitting than the other model. Additionally, the Hoelter
Critical N (CN) indicates that the 12-item model did not meet this criterion (CN=156),
while the 8-item model exceeds the minimum value (CN=589).

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 Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Other indices that were used to compare the goodness-of-fit indexes of the two
models were the RMR, RMSEA, GFI, AGFI, CFI, and NFI. It is clear from the above
that RMR falls within the acceptable range for both the 12-item and 8-item models,
and RMSEA slightly exceeds the threshold in the 12-item model and within the
acceptable range for the 8-item model.

The values of GFI are within the 0.9 acceptable thresholds for both models. However,
the AGFI is slightly less than the cut-off point for the 12-item model and falling
within the acceptable level for the 8-item model. The CFI values for both models are
within the 0.90 acceptable level; however, the NFI values for the 12-item model are
slightly lower than the 0.90 level.

Table 4.25 Standardised regression weights factor loadings

Beta (β)
Direction S.E. C.R. P
Estimate
Q3C1 <--- Dev Pref .45 .030 9.367 ***
Q3C2 <--- Dev Pref .51 .036 10.905 ***
Q3C5 <--- Dev Pref .63 .030 14.058 ***
Q3C6 <--- Dev Pref .65 .033 14.577 ***
Q3C7 <--- Dev Pref .76 .028 17.991 ***
Q3C8 <--- Dev Pref .66 .031 14.889 ***
Q3C9 <--- Dev Pref .54 .026 11.523 ***
Q3C12 <--- Dev Pref .59 .033 12.832 ***

The examination of the significance of standardised regression weights shown in

Table 4.25 above indicated that the latent variable development preferences about
destination resources and attractions were significantly associated with the 8-items. It
is clear from the above that these factor loadings were also large relative to their
standard errors. Further, the highest squared multiple correlation was .582 (Item
Q3C7 ‘Development of pre-arranged attractive and flexible tour packages’), and the
lowest squared multiple correlation was .199 (Item Q3C1 ‘The development of a
strong destination image’). Then, it could be interpreted that approximately 58% of

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

the variance of Item Q3C7 was explained by the community participation construct.
Additionally, the item indicated the highest standardised loading of .76, meaning that
the item was the relatively highest indicator in measuring development preferences
about destination attractions.

Examining the invariance of the factor structure

To compare the different models for development preferences about destination

attractions, three comparisons were carried out to examine factor invariance, such that
in addition to the unconstrained model comparison (model 1), the two models were
compared with measurement weights constrained (model 2), and finally with
measurement residuals constrained (model 3) as shown in Table 4.26 below.

Table 4.26 The chi-square fit statistic for the three tested models
Model NPAR CMIN DF P CMIN/DF
Unconstrained 32 58.667 40 .029 1.467
Measurement weights 24 72.343 48 .013 1.507
Measurement residuals 16 76.587 56 .035 1.368

Dividing the chi-square value (CMIN) by the degrees of freedoms (DF) results in a
ratio (CMIN/DF) that, as shown in Table 4.26 above, fell in the very acceptable range
of 0-3 for the three models in question. This is an indication that the model in question
is acceptably invariant across the two sample groups.

Table 4.27 Baseline comparisons for the five models and the two samples

NFI RFI IFI TLI

Model CFI
Delta1 rho1 Delta2 rho2
Unconstrained .971 .959 .991 .987 .991
Measurement weights .964 .958 .988 .986 .988
Measurement residuals .962 .962 .990 .990 .990

Table 4.27 above provides a further set of indices for inspection. It is clear that these
indices, reported previously in discussing the 8-item model, exceed the 0.90 threshold

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

of acceptance in all measurement indices. This pattern of highly acceptable goodness-

of-fit indices generalises across the range of other indices.

In summary, the 8-item one-factor solution for development preferences about the
destination attractions measurement instrument turns out to have more than adequate
model fitting qualities. Six of the eight items in the model represent items related to
development of tourism resources, while the remaining two represent the development
of attractions items. This is an indication of people’s preferences for the development
of resources as a priority over the development of attractions.

4.6.10 Factor analysis for support for tourism competitiveness strategies

The measurement scale for stakeholders’ support for tourism destination

competitiveness strategies consists of 26 items. The maximum likelihood estimation
method was also used with varimax rotation. The sample size was (N=941), equal to
100 percent of the sample size. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling
adequacy was .957. The varimax rotation extraction produced three components
(factors). The three factors accounted for 43.74 percent of the total loading variances.
The Anti-image matrix indicated that most of values were negative or had a small
value of partial correlation as well. The Bartlett test of sphericity indicated that the
Chi-square was 2489.065 (df=105) with a significance of p<.001 (see Appendix VII).

The Rotated Factor Index exhibited a few items loading on more than one factor, so I
decided to run two extra EFA to delete those overlapping items. This exercise
produced two clean factors with 14 items for the destination competitiveness
strategies construct.

The maximum Likelihood analysis method was also used in CFA. The Kaiser-Meyer-
Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy was .920. The varimax rotation
extraction confirmed the existence of only two factors.

Factor 1, ‘Sustainable destination management and practices’, related to the different

notions of tourism sustainability and consists of 7 items accounting for 19.263 percent
of total rotated loading values and eigenvalue of 1.670. The highest loading strategy

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

item is ‘recording information to monitor the attitudes of the local population towards
the tourism industry’, followed by ‘expanding educational opportunities for tourists,
in terms of natural/environmental/cultural/heritage attractions quality and protection’;
the third strategy item is ‘promoting ethical responsibility towards the natural
environment’ (see Table 4.28 below).

Table 4.28 Destination sustainable management and practices

Loading
Item
factor
1. Expanding educational opportunities for tourists, in terms of
.707
natural/environmental/cultural/heritage attractions quality and protection
2. Encouraging local citizen participation in decision-making about tourism
.691
development
3. Promoting ethical responsibility towards the natural environment .690
4. Expanding educational opportunities for the visiting public in terms of
.677
natural/environmental quality and protection
5. Protecting and improving more wildlife habitat .660
6. Environmental considerations in the marketing of tourism .634
7. Recording information to monitor the attitudes of the local population
.570
towards the tourism industry

Factor 2, ‘Destination marketing management and activities’, concerns marketing and

promotion strategies management. It consists of 7 items accounting for 24.477 percent
of total variances and eigenvalue of 5.558. Items with the highest loading value were
‘Tourism marketing and promotion for marketing to international tourists and
visitors’, followed by ‘Increasing tourism spending’, and ‘The establishment of
standards for tourism facilities’ (see Table 4.29 below).

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.29 Destination marketing management and activities

Loading
Item factor >
0.3
1. Tourism marketing and promotion for marketing international tourists and .692
visitors
2. Increasing tourists’ spending .620
3. The establishment of standards for tourism facilities .587
4. Overcoming seasonality (peak and off-season) in tourists’ visits .583
5. The selection of appropriate target markets (e.g. Germany, Japan, England) .517
6. Increasing tourists’ length of stay .508
7. The development of strong destination image .502

4.6.11 Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for tourism destination

competitiveness strategies

The measurement scale for tourism destination competitiveness strategies, after

deleting nine items through exploratory factor analysis, comprises 14 observed items.
The respondents were asked to indicate how much they favoured each tourism
strategy for the country to be competitive. The results of the initial estimation of the
proposed model produced a slightly well-fitting model and satisfactory results. Figure
4.10 represents the initial two factor hypothesised model.

Figure 4.10 Initial CFA for two-factor destination competitiveness strategies

solution with 14-items

.39
.34 ds15 recd info lcl attit er ds15
er dm1 dm1 Dev image .49
.62
.32 ds17 protect wildlife er ds17
.58 .70 .51
er dm2 dm2 Selct tgt mkts
.57 .71 ds18 promo respnsb for env er ds18
.45 .67 .50
er dm4 dm4 ovrcme seasnlty .67 .71 ds19 expd educ opport public er ds19
.27 Dest Sust .53
.52 .73
er dm5 dm5 incrse lngth stay Destn Mktg .68 ds20 encrge lcl ctzn pctn er ds20
.46 .68 .46
.61 .67 ds21 env cnsdr mkt trsm er ds21
er dm7 dm7 mktg promo
.37 .44
.65
er dm8 dm8 incrse trst spdg ds22 coop of gov author er ds22
.42
er dm9 dm9 est std trsm facil

[Note: For full items (indicators) names see Appendix I]

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

This two-factor solution was entered into a CFA with sample 1 as entry data with a
view of improving the initial model and producing a better acceptable version of the
model. The two-factor solution illustrated in Figure 4.10 featured one high correlation
between error terms, as indicated by the modification indices (MI: See Appendix IV-
CD, part B). Accordingly, only one additional CFA was undertaken, after excluding
that particular item. As indicated in Appendix IV-CD (part B), the CFA after the first
round was conducted after excluding item ds22, where the decision was based on the
strength of association of that item with others. Deletion of that item produced a much
better fitting model with 13-items as shown in Figure 4.11 below.

Figure 4.11 CFA for two-factor model for tourism destination competitiveness
strategies with 13 items

.39
.34 ds15 recd info lcl attit er ds15
er dm1 dm1 Dev image .49
.63 ds17 protect wildlife er ds17
.32
.58 .70 .54
er dm2 dm2 Selct tgt mkts
.57 .74 ds18 promo respnsb for env er ds18
.45 .64 .50
er dm4 dm4 ovrcme seasnlty .67 .71 ds19 expd educ opport public er ds19
.27 Dest Sust .53
.52 .73
er dm5 dm5 incrse lngth stay Destn Mktg .67 ds20 encrge lcl ctzn pctn er ds20
.46 .68 .44
er dm7 dm7 mktg promo .61 ds21 env cnsdr mkt trsm er ds21
.38 .65
er dm8 dm8 incrse trst spdg
.42
er dm9 dm9 est std trsm facil

[Note: For full items (indicators) names see Appendix I]

Figure 4.11 illustrates a 13-item two-factor solution based on the tourism destination
competitiveness strategies questionnaire. The 14-item solution was somewhat
acceptable (see Table 4.30 below), but the 13-item model exhibited significantly more
acceptable goodness-of-fit than the 14-item model as per the chi-square difference
test, as well as minimising the set of out of range parameter values.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.30 Estimates of goodness-of- fit for the one factor model
Model 14-item model 13-item model
Chi square 164.869 117.520
df 76 64
Probability 0.000 0.000
Chi/Df 2.169 1.836
AIC 222.869 171.520
RMR .020 .018
RMSEA .050 .042
NFI .929 .943
RFI .915 .930
TLI .952 .967
CFI .960 .973
GFI .954 .964
AGFI .937 .949
Hoelter (CN) 279 337

As indicated in Table 4.30, a range of estimates of goodness-of-fit for the revised

model was highly acceptable. The chi-square value of 164.869 with 76 degrees of
freedom was statistically significant (p<.05). Thus, it can be concluded that the
proposed hypothesised model of tourism destination competitiveness strategies should
not be completely rejected but needs to be re-modified in terms of estimating the
parameters. However, the 13-item model exhibited a value of 117.520 with 64 degrees
of freedom that is significant at the level of .05 (p=.000) and CMIN/DF=1.836 which
is in the 0-3 range.

The chi-square difference test indicated the 13-item model to be significantly better
fitting than the 14-item model. A variant on this test, using Chi-square differences
based on an information theoretic measure and the AIC, also indicated the 13-item
model to be significantly better fitting than the other model. Additionally, the Hoelter
Critical N (CN) indicates that both models exceeded the minimum value (CN= 279
and 337 respectively).

Other indices that were used to compare the goodness-of-fit indexes of the two
models are the RMR, RMSEA, GFI, AGFI, CFI, CFI, NFI, RFI and TLI. It is clear

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 Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

from Table 4.31 that all the above indices indexes fall within the acceptable range of
values for both models, even though they are higher for the 13-item model.

Table 4.31 Standardised regression weights factor loadings

Beta (β)
Direction S.E. C.R. P
Estimate
Q4D1 <--- Destn Mktg .58 .029 12.676 ***
Q4D2 <--- Destn Mktg .57 .036 12.320 ***
Q4D4 <--- Destn Mktg .67 .034 15.187 ***
Q4D5 <--- Destn Mktg .52 .036 11.111 ***
Q4D7 <--- Destn Mktg .68 .031 15.352 ***
Q4D8 <--- Destn Mktg .61 .037 13.510 ***
Q4D9 <--- Destn Mktg .65 .031 14.469 ***
Q4D15 <--- Dest Sust .63 .032 14.182 ***
Q4D17 <--- Dest Sust .70 .028 16.362 ***
Q4D18 <--- Dest Sust .74 .030 17.521 ***
Q4D19 <--- Dest Sust .71 .029 16.653 ***
Q4D20 <--- Dest Sust .73 .031 17.230 ***
Q4D21 <--- Dest Sust .67 .029 15.353 ***

This examination of estimates of fit was supplemented by an examination of the

significance of standardised regression weights factor loadings. As shown in Table
4.31 above, latent variable destination marketing efforts and activities were
significantly associated with 7-items (Q4D1, Q4D2, Q4D4, Q4D5, Q4D7, Q4D8,
Q4D, 9), and the latent variable destination sustainable management and practices was
significantly associated with 6-items (Q4D15, Q4D17, Q4D18, Q4D19, Q4D20,
Q4D21). It is clear from the above that these factor loadings were also large relative
to their standard errors.

Further, the highest squared multiple correlation was .542 (Item Q4D18 ‘Promoting
ethical responsibility towards the natural environment’), and the lowest squared
multiple correlation was .270 (Item Q4D5 ‘Increasing tourists’ length of stay’). Then,

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

it could be interpreted that approximately 54% of the variance of Item Q4D18 was
explained by the tourism destination competitiveness strategies construct.
Additionally, the item indicated the highest standardised loading of .74, meaning that
the item was the relatively highest indicator in measuring support for tourism
destination competitiveness strategies.

Examining the invariance of the factor structure

To compare the different models for development preferences about destination

attractions, four comparisons were carried out to examine factor invariance, such that
in addition to the unconstrained model comparison (model 1), the two models were
compared with measurement weights constrained (model 2), and with measurement
residuals constrained (model 2) (see Table 4.32 below).

Table 4.32 The chi-square fit statistic for the four tested models

Model NPAR CMIN DF P CMIN/DF

Unconstrained 32 58.667 40 .029 1.467
Measurement weights 24 72.343 48 .013 1.507
Measurement residuals 16 76.587 56 .035 1.368
Independence model 16 2027.723 56 .000 36.209

As indicated previously, dividing the Chi-square value (CMIN) by the degrees of

freedoms (DF) results in a ratio (CMIN/DF) that, as shown in Table 4.32 above, fell
in the very acceptable range of 0-3 for the three models in question. What this
indicates is that the final model of destination competitiveness strategies is acceptably
invariant across the two sample groups.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.33 Baseline comparisons for the four models and the two samples
NFI RFI IFI TLI
Model CFI
Delta1 rho1 Delta2 rho2
Unconstrained .971 .959 .991 .987 .991
Measurement weights .964 .958 .988 .986 .988
Measurement residuals .962 .962 .990 .990 .990

Table 4.33 above provides a further set of indices for inspection. It is clear that these
indices, reported previously in discussing the 13-item model, exceed the 0.90
threshold of acceptance in all measurement indices. This pattern of highly acceptable
goodness-of-fit indices generalises across the range of other indices.

In summary, the 13-item one-factor solution for development preferences about the
destination attractions measurement instrument turns out to have more than adequate
model fitting qualities. Seven of the thirteen items in the model represent items related
to destination marketing efforts and activities, while the remaining six items represent
destination sustainable management and practices. This is an indication of people’s
preferences for both strategies related to sustainability of the tourism industry in the
country accompanied by marketing management strategies.

4.7 Overall Measurement Model

This section will introduce the various revision of the final overall structural model of
this study.

4.7.1 The proposed and first revised model

In order to estimate the overall measurement model, this study utilised a two-split data
sample instead of using the entire sample (N=941) for CFA. The rationale was to
address whether the hypothesised model in one sample replicated a second
independent sample from the same population. Then the two models were compared
to test their replication and validation.

The overall measurement model consisting of eight final measurement models of the
constructs, after conducting both EFA and CFA with the observed indicators, was

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

determined based on theoretical and statistical soundness. The eight constructs

represent that the best-fitting models to be included in the final model are socio-
cultural impacts, economic impacts and environmental impacts. These three impact
constructs represent the tourism development impacts variable after the EFA,
community attachment, stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation),
preferences about tourism resources and attractions development, destination
marketing efforts and activities, and destination sustainable management and
practices. The last two factors represent the support for the destination
competitiveness strategies construct after the EFA, as shown in Figure 4.12.

Figure 4.12 Overall hypothesised measurement model of eight constructs (initial

model)

Sociocult impct fs
.12
.06 .10 .34
.02
.40 Envir impct fs Dest Mktg fs err destmktg
.14.08 .35
.16.04 .35
.28.07 Econ impct fs -.03-.01 Dest Sus fs err destsust
.28 .07
.02
.08.13
-.10 .26 .47
.09 Com Attach fs
.13 .41
-.09
Com Part fs .07
.17
.19
Dev Pref fs

err dev pref

The proposed model depicts the hypothesised relationships between the various
constructs; however the model turned out to be saturated and did not produce
significantly acceptable results as shown by the p-value (p<.05) and (c.r value=±1.96)
in Table 4.34 below.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.34 Standardised regression weights for the initial model

Beta (β)
Item Direction Item S.E. C.R. P
Estimate
DEVPREFF <--- SOCCULTF .28 .047 5.890 ***
DEVPREFF <--- ENVIRIMP -.10 .042 -2.335 .020
DEVPREFF <--- ECONIMPF .13 .045 2.817 .005
DEVPREFF <--- COMATTFS .07 .042 1.608 .108
DEVPREFF <--- COMPARTF .17 .044 3.948 ***
DESTMKFS <--- SOCCULTF .12 .044 2.666 .008
DESTSUSF <--- SOCCULTF .10 .044 2.385 .017
DESTMKFS <--- ENVIRIMP .02 .038 .634 .526
DESTSUSF <--- ENVIRIMP .08 .037 2.146 .032
DESTMKFS <--- ECONIMPF .14 .041 3.459 ***
DESTSUSF <--- ECONIMPF -.01 .041 -.307 .759
DESTMKFS <--- COMATTFS -.03 .038 -.840 .401
DESTSUSF <--- COMATTFS .07 .038 1.807 .071
DESTMKFS <--- COMPARTF .02 .040 .436 .663
DESTSUSF <--- COMPARTF .26 .040 6.494 ***
DESTMKFS <--- DEVPREFF .47 .042 11.244 ***
DESTSUSF <--- DEVPREFF .41 .041 9.867 ***

The proposed model, SEM final version 1, was revised as shown in Figure 4.13. The
initial model was subjected to 8 steps of deleting connections between the 8 latent
variables and between errors.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Figure 4.13 The SEM final revised model (version 1)

Sociocult impct fs .12

.12 .34
.40 Dest Mktg fs err destmktg
.14
.34 .34
.28 Econ impct fs Dest Sus fs err destsust
.29
.09 .25 .47
.13 .40
Com Part fs
.16
.18
Dev Pref fs

err dev pref

Note: Sociocul impact = socio-cultural impacts factor; Econ impact = Economic impacts factor; Com
par = Community participation; Dev pre = Development preferences; Dest mktg = Destination
marketing efforts; Destsus = Destination sustainable activities.

The revised model consists of three exogenous variables: socio-cultural impacts,

economic impacts, and community participation, one mediating variable and two
endogenous variables, preferences for resources and attractions development,
destination marketing efforts and activities and destination sustainable management
and practices. The goodness-of-fit statistics for the revised model produced generally
reasonable results, as shown in Table 4.35 below.

Table 4.35 Measurement Indices for the final revised version 1 model.
Model Indices
(version 1)
Chi square .396
df 2
Probability 0.820
Chi/Df .198
AIC 38.396
RMR .005
RMSEA .050
NFI .999
RFI .996
TLI 1.018
CFI 1.000
GFI 1.000
AGFI .000
Hoelter (CN) 7143

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

This examination of estimates of fit was supplemented by an examination of the

significance of completely standardised factor loadings, which resulted in a range
between .11 to .47. These completed standardised loadings were used to determine the
relative importance of the observed variables as indicators of the constructs. As shown
in Table 4.36 below, the relationships between the endogenous and exogenous
constructs are generally significant, even though some of the relationships show weak
significant relationships, for instance, between ‘Socio-cultural impacts’ and both
destination marketing efforts and activities (Dest Mktg) and destination sustainable
management and practices (Des Sus); economic impacts (Econimp) and both
development preferences about tourism resources and attractions (DevPref) and ‘Des
Mktg’. This is an indication of the importance of the role of the mediating variable
‘Dev Pref’ in these relationships as it explains about 0.8 (80%) of the total variance
relationships of the dependent variables (Des Mktg, Des Sus).

The latent variable socio-cultural impacts was significantly associated with

(development preferences about tourism resources and attractions, destination
marketing efforts and activities and destination sustainable management and
practices), the latent variable economic impacts was significantly associated with
(development preferences about tourism resources and attractions and destination
marketing efforts and activities), the latent variable community participation was
significantly associated with (destination marketing efforts and activities and
destination sustainable management and practices), and the latent variable
development preferences about tourism resources and attractions was significantly
associated with (destination marketing efforts and activities and destination
sustainable management and practices). It is clear from the above that these factor
loadings were also large relative to their standard errors.

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Table 4.36 Standardised regression weights for the final revised model
Beta (β)
Direction S.E. C.R. P
Estimate
DEVPREFF <--- SOCCULTF .29 .047 6.087 ***
DEVPREFF <--- ECONIMPF .13 .045 2.878 .004
DEVPREFF <--- COMPARTF .16 .043 3.595 ***
DESTSUSF <--- COMPARTF .25 .037 6.642 ***
DESTSUSF <--- DEVPREFF .40 .041 9.876 ***
DESTMKFS <--- DEVPREFF .47 .041 11.455 ***
DESTMKFS <--- ECONIMPF .14 .039 3.674 ***
DESTMKFS <--- SOCCULTF .12 .043 2.806 .005
DESTSUSF <--- SOCCULTF .12 .041 2.908 .004

Furthermore, the highest squared multiple correlation was .34 for each of (destination
marketing efforts and activities and destination sustainable management and
practices) and the lowest squared multiple correlation was .181 (development
preferences about tourism resources and attractions). Then, it could be interpreted that
approximately 68% of the variances of ‘destination marketing efforts and activities’
and ‘destination sustainable management and practices’ could be explained by the
tourism destination competitiveness strategies construct.

Additionally, the correlation between the three latent variables, socio-cultural impacts,
economic impacts and community participation showed a significantly strong
relationship between socio-cultural and economic impacts (.4). This is no surprise as
the two constructs came from the same measurement scale. There was a moderate
relationship (.28) between socio-cultural impacts and community participation, and a
weak relationship (.09) between economic impacts and community participation.
Also, there is a strong significant correlation (.34) between error covariance of
‘destination marketing efforts and activities and error covariance of ‘destination
sustainable management and practices’. The two constructs also represent one
measurement scale.

4.7.2 The alternative model

The first revised model provided a well-fitting model, but excluded two of the major
exogenous constructs ‘community attachment’ and ‘environmental impacts’. The
tourism literature, as explained in Chapter 2, suggests that both constructs are of

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 Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

significant quality and are important measures of tourism destination stakeholders’

support for competitiveness strategies. It is therefore reasonable to include both
constructs this time as mediating and exogenous variables, as shown in Figure 4.13.
Nine additional relationships (paths) were added and tested to enhance understanding
of how repositioning community attachment and environmental impacts in the model
would enhance the goodness-of-fit of the model while retaining all hypothesised
constructs. The model showed acceptable goodness-of-fit, but the p-value of some
connections was relatively high (p< .05) and the t-values or c.r. values were not within
the level of ± 1.96 as shown in Figure 4.13 and Table 4.37.

Table 4.37 Standardised regression weights for the alternative model

Beta (β)
Direction S.E. C.R. P
Estimate
DEVPREFF <--- SOCCULTF .29 .047 6.087 ***
DEVPREFF <--- ECONIMPF .13 .045 2.878 .004
DEVPREFF <--- COMPARTF .16 .043 3.595 ***
COMATTFS <--- SOCCULTF .20 .047 4.235 ***
COMATTFS <--- COMPARTF -.14 .047 -3.019 .003
DESTSUSF <--- COMPARTF .26 .037 6.969 ***
DESTSUSF <--- DEVPREFF .40 .041 9.763 ***
DESTMKFS <--- DEVPREFF .47 .041 11.494 ***
DESTMKFS <--- ECONIMPF .15 .038 3.797 ***
DESTMKFS <--- SOCCULTF .12 .043 2.851 .004
DESTSUSF <--- SOCCULTF .11 .042 2.563 .010
ENVIRIMP <--- SOCCULTF .05 .054 .970 .332
ENVIRIMP <--- ECONIMPF .03 .050 .631 .528
ENVIRIMP <--- COMPARTF .10 .048 1.971 .049
ENVIRIMP <--- COMATTFS .08 .047 1.672 .095
DESTMKFS <--- COMATTFS -.03 .038 -.883 .377
DESTSUSF <--- COMATTFS .07 .038 1.937 .053
ENVIRIMP <--- DEVPREFF -.12 .050 -2.341 .019

Consequently, the three connections have been deleted in order to generate the final
model, as shown in Figure 4.14. The three relations exhibited t-values out of the
acceptable level of ±1.96 and not significant at (p < .05), as marked by bold in the
table above.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Figure 4.14 Overall final structural model for destination competitiveness

err com attach

.04
Com Attach fs

.09
.20
.02
.09
Envir impct fs err env impact
Sociocult impct fs .12
-.14 .03
.10 .34
.10
.40 Dest Mktg fs err destmktg
.14
.34 .35
.11
.28 Econ impct fs Dest Sus fs err destsust
.29 -.09

.09 .26 .47

.13 .40
Com Part fs
.16
.18
Dev Pref fs

Note: Sociocul impact = socio-cultural impacts factor; Econ impact = Economic impacts factor; Com
par = Community participation; Dev pre = Development preferences; Dest mktg = Destination
marketing efforts; Destsus = Destination sustainable activities; Com Attach = Community attachment;
Envir impct = Environmental impacts.

The final revised structural equation model for competitive destination strategies
showed a strong goodness-of-fit and its estimation yielded a chi-square value of 7.712
with 7 degrees of freedom (p< .05), which was not statistically significant.
Additionally, all of the goodness-of-fit statistics shown in Table 4.38 supported the
final revised alternative model as a well-fitting model to the data and suggested that
this model could be a final structural model to be tested for the proposed hypotheses
in this study. The statistical indices shown in Table 4.38 were all within the
acceptable threshold for a well-fitted acceptable model.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.38 Measurement indices for the final structural model for destination
competitiveness strategies
Model Indices
Chi square 7.712
df 7
Probability .359
Chi/Df 1.102
AIC 65.712
RMR .021
RMSEA .015
NFI .989
RFI .957
TLI .996
CFI .999
GFI .996
AGFI .979
Hoelter (CN) 861

Having estimated the parameters of the measurement model, the hypothesised model
as a whole was examined by using measurement indices representing the three types
of fit indices: absolute fit indices, incremental fit indices, and parsimonious fit indices.
The results are shown in Table 4.38 above.

First of all, the absolute fit indices measure how well an a priori model reproduces the
collected sample data, in other words, how closely the model compares to a perfect fit
(Bollen, 1989; Hu & Bentler, 1995). These indices include chi-square of the estimated
model, goodness-of-fit (GFI), average goodness-of-fit (AGFI), root mean square
residual (RMR), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). The chi-
square value of 7.712 with 7 degrees of freedom was not statistically significant at
p=.359, therefore suggesting that the hypothesised model with eight constructs was
appropriate and should be accepted.

Additionally, the composite reliability of this measurement construct was shown in

Table 4.39. The economic impact construct (.66) falls somewhat short of the

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recommended level of .7 (Hair et al., 1998) but within the acceptable level of 0.6
(Morgan & Griego, 1998). This could be attributed to a number of indicators used to
measure the construct. However, having small deviation from the recommended level
is compensated for by the larger sample size of the study which is sufficient to
estimate the model and is not expected to affect the construct correlations for
hypotheses tests.

The goodness-of-fit (GFI) index that was used to compare the hypothesised model
with no model at all yielded a value of .996, and the (AGFI) value was .979. This
index takes a value from zero to 1.00, with the value closest to 1.00 being indicative
of good fit (Byrne, 1995; Hu & Bentler, 1995). Thus the results of both GFI and AGFI
for this study exceeded the acceptable level of model fit.

Next, the value of root mean square residual (RMR) was .015. This value indicates the
average value across all standardised residuals ranging from zero to 1.00. In order to
have a well fitting model, this value has to be less than .05. Accordingly, the RMR
value in this study was acceptable as a well fitting hypothesised model.

Lastly, the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) represents an index to
quantify model misfit, suggesting that a value of less than .05 indicates a good fit (Hu
& Bentler, 1995). The value of RMSEA for this hypothesised measurement was .015,
which is within the acceptable level, and the p-value for the test of closeness-of-fit
equalled .88, which indicates an adequate degree of goodness-of-fit. In summary, the
examinations of the absolute fit statistics indices suggested that the hypothesised
model represented a well fitting model to the data.

The second estimated goodness-of-fit statistics, the incremental-fit-indices, were

examined. These indices were used to evaluate the proportionate improvement in fit
by comparing a target model with a more restricted, nested base line model (Hu &
Bentler, 1995). This includes Normal fit index (NFI) and Tucker-Lewis index (TLI).
The NFI represents the proportion of total covariance among observed variables
explained by a target model when using null model as a baseline model (Hu &
Bentler, 1995). A value below 0.9 indicates a need to respecify the model. The value
of NFI in this study was .989, which exceeds the recommended cut-off point.

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Similarly, the values of both TLI and RFI exceeded the acceptable level at (.996 and
.957, respectively). These indices values indicate that the hypothesised model was a
good fit to the sample data.

Finally, the parsimony fit indices provide information about a comparison between
models of differing complexity, by evaluating the fit of the model versus the number
of estimated coefficients needed to achieve the level of fit. The higher parsimony
measure represents the better fit. This measure includes indices such as the
comparative fit index (CFI), and relative fit index (RFI). The values of the CFI range
from zero to 1.00. The RFI is equivalent to CFI. As shown in Table 4.38, the values of
CFI and RFI are .99 and .95 respectively, suggesting that these values are sufficient to
support a well fitting model.

Further, the highest squared multiple correlation was .34 for both (‘destination
marketing efforts and activities’ and ‘destination sustainable management and
practices’) and the lowest squared multiple correlation was .02 (environmental
impacts). Then, it could also be interpreted that approximately 68% of the variances
of ‘destination marketing efforts and activities’ and ‘destination sustainable
management and practices’ could be explained by the tourism destination
competitiveness strategies construct.

Additionally, the covariance between the three latent variables, socio-cultural impacts,
economic impacts and community participation showed significantly strong
correlation between socio-cultural and economic impacts, as measured by the
standardised error covariance (S. E. = .4). This is no surprise as the two constructs
came from the same measurement scale and previous studies indicated the
relationship between social, cultural and economic development impacts and the
support for resources and attractions development (Jurowsky et al, 1997; Yoon et al,
2001); There was a moderate relationship (S.E.= .28) between socio-cultural impacts
and community participation, and a weak relationship (.09) between economic
impacts and community participation. Also, there is a strong significant correlation
(S.E = .35) between the error covariance of ‘destination marketing efforts and
activities’ and the error covariance of ‘destination sustainable management and
practices’ (c.r. value = 7.17, p<.05); the two constructs represent one measurement

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

scale of ‘support for destination competitive strategies’. However, there was a

significantly weaker correlation (S.E = .10) between error covariance of ‘destination
sustainable management and practices’ and error covariance of ‘environmental
impacts’ (c.r. value = 2.12, p<.05), and a non-significant relationship (S.E= .03)
between error covariance of ‘destination marketing efforts and activities’ and error
covariance of ‘environmental impact’ (c.r. value = .634, p>. 05). The weak
correlations are natural since the environmental impact construct represents a different
measurement scale. However, the correlation between error covariance of
environmental impact and error covariance of destination sustainable management
and practices is understandable, as the concern about the environment development is
at the heart of the issue of sustainability.

Table 4.39 Tests result of the final structural model (standardised regression
weight)
Beta (β)
Direction S.E. C.R. P
Estimate
DEVPREFF <--- COMPARTF .16 .043 3.595 ***
COMATTFS <--- SOCCULTF .20 .047 4.235 ***
COMATTFS <--- COMPARTF -.14 .047 -3.019 .003
DEVPREFF <--- ECONIMPF .13 .045 2.878 .004
DEVPREFF <--- SOCCULTF .29 .047 6.087 ***
DESTSUSF <--- SOCCULTF .10 .041 2.419 .016
DESTSUSF <--- DEVPREFF .40 .041 9.792 ***
DESTMKFS <--- DEVPREFF .47 .041 11.463 ***
ENVIRIMP <--- COMATTFS .09 .046 1.962 .050
DESTSUSF <--- COMATTFS .09 .036 2.408 .016
DESTSUSF <--- COMPARTF .26 .037 6.997 ***
DESTMKFS <--- ECONIMPF .14 .038 3.740 ***
ENVIRIMP <--- COMPARTF .11 .047 2.286 .022
ENVIRIMP <--- DEVPREFF -.09 .047 -1.994 .046
DESTMKFS <--- SOCCULTF .12 .043 2.756 .006

This examination of estimates of fit was also supported by an examination of the

significance of regression weights. As shown in Table 4.39 above, the relationships
between the endogenous and exogenous constructs are generally significant. The
latent variable socio-cultural impacts (SOCCULTF) was significantly associated with
(development preferences about tourism resources and attractions, community

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

attachment, destination marketing efforts and activities and destination sustainable

management and practices), the latent variable economic impacts (ECONIMPF) was
significantly associated with (development preferences about tourism resources and
attractions and destination marketing efforts and activities), the latent variable
‘community participation’ (COMPARTF) was significantly associated with
(development preferences about tourism resources and attractions, community
attachment, environmental impacts, and activities and destination sustainable
management and practices), the mediating variable ‘development preferences about
tourism resources and attractions’ (DEVPREFF) was significantly associated with
(destination marketing efforts and activities, destination sustainable management and
practices, and environmental impacts), and the other mediating variable ‘community
attachment’ (COMATTFS) was significantly associated with (destination sustainable
management and practices, and environmental impacts). All path relationships show
significant positive relationships, except the relationships between CCOMATTFS ←
COMPARTF and ENVIRIMP ←DEVPREFF which showed significant negative
relationships.

Another method used to test the measurement scales for the overall final revised
model was the ‘single factor model’ test. The single factor model tests the hypothesis
that a participant’s responses are primarily to the questionnaire rather than to anything
more specific. Here the questionnaire as the context for item responses is represented
by a single factor solution called ‘Tourism Questionnaire (Q)’, as shown in Figure
4.15.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Figure 4.15 The single factor for the final revised structural model for
destination competitiveness strategies

err com attach

1

Com Attach fs

1 1
err socioc Sociocult impct fs Envir impct fs err env impact
1

1
Tourism Q Dest Mktg fs err destmktg
1
err econimp Econ impct fs
1
Dest Sus fs err destsust

1
err comprt Com Part fs

Dev Pref fs
1

err dev pref

The single factor for the final revised structural equation model for destination
competitiveness strategies showed a misfit, and its estimation yielded a Chi-square
value of 73.825 with 14 degrees of freedom (p<.05), which was statistically
significant. Additionally, all other goodness-of-fit statistics shown in Table 4.40
below supported the final revised model as a well-fitting model to the data, and
suggested that this model could be a final structural model to be tested for the
proposed hypotheses in this study. Most of the statistical indices shown in Table 4.41
were within the acceptable threshold for a well-fitting acceptable model.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Table 4.40 Measurement indices for the single factor solution final structural
model for destination competitiveness strategies

Model Indices
Chi square 73.825
df 14
Probability .000
Chi/Df 5.273
AIC 65.712
RMR .050
RMSEA .015
NFI .897
RFI .794
TLI .825
CFI .913
GFI .965
AGFI .910
Hoelter (CN) 152

Examining the invariance of the factor structure

To compare the overall structural equation model for destination competitiveness

strategies, four comparisons were carried out to examine factor invariance, such that
in addition to the unconstrained model comparison (model 1), the four models were
compared with measurement weights constrained (model 2), with structural weights
constrained (model 3), with structural covariances constrained (model 4), and finally
with independent residuals model (model 5).

Table 4.41 The chi-square fit statistic for the tested models
Model NPAR CMIN DF P CMIN/DF
Unconstrained 58 17.497 14 .231 1.250
Structural weights 43 31.775 29 .330 1.096
Structural covariances 37 33.260 35 .552 .950
Structural residuals 29 39.021 43 .644 .907
Independence model 16 1445.026 56 .000 25.804

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

Results of (CMIN/DF) ratio, as shown in Table 4.41 above, fell in the very acceptable
range of 0-3 for the models in question. What this indicates is that the model in
question is acceptably invariant across the two sample groups.

Table 4.42 Baseline comparisons for the four models and the two samples

NFI RFI IFI TLI

Model CFI
Delta1 rho1 Delta2 rho2
Unconstrained .988 .952 .998 .990 .997
Structural weights .978 .958 .998 .996 .998
Structural covariances .977 .963 1.001 1.002 1.000
Structural residuals .973 .965 1.003 1.004 1.000

Table 4.42 above provides a further set of indices for inspection. It is clear that these
indices, reported previously in discussing the final revised model, exceeded the 0.90
threshold of acceptance in all measurement indices. This pattern of highly acceptable
goodness-of-fit indices generalises across the range of other indices.

In summary, the previous statistical analysis results suggested that the final revised
model presented in Figure 4.13 could be considered the final structural model for the
proposed hypotheses in this study.

4.8 Convergent and Discriminant Validity and Reliability

Convergent and discriminant validity can both be considered as components of

construct validity (Kline, 1998; Zikmund, 2000). In construct validity, the aim is to
determine whether a theoretical construct can be inferred from the research operations
and is consistent with the theoretical logic about the concepts underpinning the study
and the empirical evidence (Sackett & Larson, 1990, Davis & Cosenza, 1993; Johnson
& Christensen, 2000; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003). Construct validity shows that the
items measure and are correlated with what they supposed to measure, and do not
correlate with other constructs. There are three steps to test construct validity. First,
unidimensionality must be established. Typically either exploratory or confirmatory
factor analysis is used to provide support for unidimensionality (Gerbing & Anderson,
1988). The results of both the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (as shown
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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

in section 4.7) established the unidimensionality of this study’s items. Second, to

assess the reliability of constructs. If the measurement error associated with the
constructs is within certain parameters, the constructs are considered reliable.
Cronbach’s alpha and the alpha-if-item deleted were calculated to determine construct
reliability.

In the case of the measurement scales for this study, all eight constructs provided
Cronbach’s coefficient Alpha above the acceptable level of .60 (Morgan & Griego,
1998) as shown in Table 4.43.

Table 4.43 Measurements of construct reliability for the eight constructs:

Construct Reliability
(α)
1. Development preferences about tourism resources and attractions .82
2. Socio-cultural impact .70
3. Economic impact .66
4. Environmental impact .75
5. Community attachment .73
6. Stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation) .86
7. Destination marketing efforts and activities .81
8. Destination sustainable management and practices .85

The third step of construct validity is to establish convergent and discriminant

validity. Convergent validity is achieved when multiple indicators are associated with
one another in a consistent way to form a single measure (Neuman, 2003). A measure
has convergent validity when it is highly correlated with different measures of similar
constructs. In other words, convergent validity is established when a CFA model fits
satisfactorily and all factor loadings are significant, and preferably high (Bagozzi &
Baumgartner, 1996). Discriminant validity is the opposite of convergent validity, in a
sense that indicators may establish a negative association or have a low correlation
with opposing constructs (Neuman, 2003). Discriminant validity refers to the
distinctiveness of the factors measured by different set of indicators (Kline, 1998,
p.60) (see Chapter 3, section 3.6.3). The correlation between two scales for two
different constructs should not be high for discriminant validity. A perfect correlation
between factors would indicate that the factors are not discriminable.

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

In testing for convergent validity, if the indicators specified to measure a common

underlying factor have relatively high loadings on that factor, convergent validity then
is achieved (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988; Kline, 1998; Byrne, 1995). These high
loadings indicate that strong correlations established on the underlying construct are
achieved and the measurement scales are measuring what they are intended to
measure (Kline, 1998).

In using structural equation modelling, the standardised factor loading can be used to
examine and evaluate the convergent validity with an association with t-value or
critical ratio values from the results of CFA. As shown in Table 4.39, the estimated
coefficient regression weight of factor loadings on their posited underlying construct
yielded statistically significant results at the level of p = .05. In addition, each
observed indicator exceeded the recommended c.r. value level of (±1.96). Fifteen
indicators of standardised regression weights factor loadings ranged from –.14 to .46.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the measurement scale achieved convergent
validity of the constructs.

Discriminant validity in this study was assessed by testing for construct reliability and
if correlations between pair of constructs were significantly different from unity. The
objective was to be sure that the constructs are not measuring the same concept. The
constructs reliability estimates are shown in Table 4.43. Corrected item-to-total for all
items across all constructs exceeds 0.7. Correlations between the constructs were
significantly less than 1 (ranges from -.058 to .548), and confidence intervals did not
include a value of 1. This means there is supporting discriminant validity of the eight
constructs.

4.9 Outcomes of Hypotheses Testing

The results of structural equation analysis by AMOS were utilised to test the proposed
hypotheses in this study. The relationships between constructs were examined based
on t-value or critical ratio (c.r.) values associated with path coefficients between
constructs. If an estimated c.r. is greater than a certain critical value (p<.05, c.r. =
1.96) (Mueller, 1996), the null hypothesis that the associated estimated parameter is

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

equal to 0 was rejected; otherwise, the hypothesis was supported. The summary of the
hypotheses testing is presented in Table 4.44.

Table 4.44 Summary of hypotheses testing

Hypothesis relationship -Direction Beta t-value Results Comment
Estimate
DEVPREF COMATT Nil Nil H1a Not supported
ENVIRIMP COMATT .090 1.962 H1b Partially supported Part of TDI
construct
SOCCULT COMATT Nil Nil H1b Not supported Part of TDI
construct
ECONIMP COMATT Nil Nil H1b Not supported Part of TDI
construct
COMPART COMATT Nil Nil H1c Not supported
DEVPREF SOCCULT .286 6.087 H2a Partially supported Part of TDI
construct
DEVPREF ECONIMP .131 2.878 H2a Partially supported Part of TDI
construct
DEVPREF ENVIRIMP Nil Nil H2a Not supported Part of TDI
construct
COMATT ECONIMP Nil Nil H2b Not supported Part of TDI
construct
COMATT ENVIRIMP Nil Nil H2b Not supported Part of TDI
construct
COMATT SOCCULT .196 4.235 H2b Partially supported Part of TDI
construct
COMPART SOCCULT .28 5.83 H2c Supported Part of TDI
construct
COMPART ECONIMP .09 2.02 H2c Supported Part of TDI
construct
COMPART ENVIRIMP Nil Nil H2c Not supported Part of TDI
construct
DEVPREF COMPART .156 3.595 H3a Partially supported
COMATT COMPART -.142 -3.019 H3b Not supported Negative
relationship
ENVIRIMP COMPART .108 2.286 H3c Partially Supported Part of TDI
construct
DESTMK DEVPREF .466 11.463 H4 Supported Part of DCS
construct
DESTSUS DEVPREF .399 9.792 H4 Supported Part of DCS
construct
DESTSUS SOCCULT .100 2.419 Positive relationship New hypothesis
DESTMK SOCCULT .117 2.756 Positive relationship New hypothesis
DESTMK ECONIMP .144 3.740 Positive relationship New hypothesis
DESTSUS COMPART .260 6.997 Positive relationship New hypothesis
DESTSUS COMATT .086 2.408 Positive relationship New hypothesis
ENVIRIMP DEVPREF -.094 -1.994 Negative relationship New hypothesis

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

In this study a total of 10 hypotheses were proposed and tested by using structural
equation modelling. However, due to the outcome of EFA, CFA structural equation
modelling and modifications of the hypothesised model, the hypotheses were all
tested and the results reported in Chapter 5. However, new hypotheses emerged from
the structural analysis and were also reported in Chapter 5. The data analysis and
results provided support for some of the previously postulated hypotheses and
developed a newly revised structural model for competitive destination strategies. The
final model has been tested and found to be very strongly fit the data and the best
possible model for this study.

4.10 Data Analysis of Focus Groups

Chapter 3 described the approach used to gather focus groups data. As noted in
section 3.6.2, I held three separate focus groups, two with senior government officials
– one tourism-related (group 2) and the other not (group 1) – and one with private
sector decision makers in Oman (group 3) (see Appendix VIII for list of groups
participants).

The main objective in analysing focus group data was to manage consistency within
and between the groups and individuals’ contributions to group discussion (Gubrium
& Holstein, 1997; Ansay et al., 2004). The direct quotes presented in this section and
in Chapter 5 were chosen for their value in enhancing the arguments about the
discussed issues, presenting a group-held position or a group member’s dissenting
opinion and converging/conflicting ideas during the debate process (Ansay et al.,
2004). This kind of internal consistency between groups and individuals’ perceptions
and opinions supports the validity of using focus group discussions.

The following four sections highlight the findings of the three focus group interviews.
The presentation focused on the theoretical and empirical background of the research
in general and the practical implications in particular. Each question represented a
theme identified with a certain construct in the conceptual framework and related to
empirical findings of this research. After the focus group data had been transcribed, I
identified core patterns in the general discussions between the three groups. Those

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Chapter Four Data Analysis and Results

patterns highlighted key issues emphasised by participants and are briefly described
hereunder.

4.10.1 Tourism development and planning impacts

It was important to inquire how participants perceived diverse development impacts in

Oman. After giving a brief general overview about the various impacts that tourism
destinations may encounter during the development process, I pinpointed the specific
perceived impacts within the major categories (socio-cultural, economic, political,
environmental) as identified by this study’s stakeholders (see Figure 4.3, section
4.7.3). Next, participants in the focus groups were asked to comment on these
empirical findings of the various tourism development impacts as the stakeholders had
specified them. Participants were asked to declare if they agreed or disagreed with
these various impacts and which ones they perceived as more apparent and applicable
to Oman than the others. Participants indicated that various tourism impacts were
usually considered as natural outcomes of tourism development. It was believed by all
participants that tourism produced positive products to societies, and, although no
destination was immune to the negative affects of tourism, the degree of effect varied
from destination to destination. “The negative impacts of tourism is limited so far in
Oman” declared the Undersecretary for the Ministry of Tourism and supported by
most participants in the three focus groups, and the objective is “to minimise it to the
maximum in the future by implementing education and awareness programs for local
residents according to age groups and gender” he confirmed.

(1) Economic benefits. Direct and indirect economic impacts of tourism are evident
in both developed and developing countries. Participants argued that those countries
aiming to develop the tourism sector to be as a major source of income generation for
individuals as well as the national treasury usually allocate huge resources towards
tourism development. Participants in all three groups were more of the opinion that
tourism had to maintain its priority status in the country’s national development plan.
They attributed that to the ability and the capacity of the tourism sector to increase the
economic multiplier effect including the absorption of the excess labour force in the
labour market. According to one Ministry of Tourism official, “The Ministry is
aiming for distributing and allocating tourism projects and services to different

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locations in the country where the tourism product is available, and then direct tourists
to those locations … by this policy we attempt to achieve the objective of equality
distribution of development which will benefit the whole Omani society.”
Specifically, participants totally agreed with the presented empirical findings which
specified the tourism economic benefits in Oman as seen by stakeholders as: (1)
increasing job opportunities for the people, (2) creating high investment,
development, and infrastructure spending in the economy, and (3) giving economic
benefits to local people and small businesses. Moreover, participants pointed out some
other economic benefits of tourism which yet may or may not have been realised in
Oman due to the immaturity of the tourism industry in the country.

In contrast, despite the participants’ strong convictions about the positive economic
benefits of tourism, they disagreed about the approaches the government should adopt
for tourism development. The question of mass-tourism versus selective tourism was
an issue of disagreement between the participants. Although the issue is related to
socio-cultural impacts of tourism as indicated in point (2) below, it is discussed here
due to its relevance to economic benefits, as was discussed by the participants. Mass-
tourism, according to the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Tourism, does not mean
opening the gates for lower segments of tourism such as ‘backpackers’. One
participant who opposed this point of view indicated that, “Since the government is
encouraging the construction of big hotels and resorts (a few under construction), then
it is natural to allow more people to occupy these excess rooms … no matter if they
are backpackers or not, otherwise we are allowing white elephant projects that will be
for a specific tourism season.” As I observed, there was a disagreement between
participants in the two government groups (1 and 2) on the definition of mass-tourism
and the adequacy of adapting such strategy for Oman at this stage of development.
Some participants indicated strong support for the Undersecretary of Tourism’s
argument about the need for a sort of control over tourists’ flow for the sake of best
diverting resources to tourism development rather than treating mass-tourism negative
impacts. It was indicated by one participant, “Countries such as Thailand adopted an
open-gate policy for tourism; yes they gained economically, but what they have
gained had to be reinvested in treating the bad ills of tourism social impacts.”
However, other participants, mainly in groups (1) and (3), were more realistic and
flexible about discussing this issue. They did not foresee any immediate negative

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effects for allowing different segments of tourists into the country. They elaborated
further by pointing out the advantages the economy may gain in the long-term,
specifically for small businesses, from allowing more tourists into the country. They
explained that ‘backpackers’ were traditionally classified as heavy spenders. They
tended to spend whatever they had saved, and because of that they tended to enjoy
and appreciate the local cultures and heritage and not vice-versa as some people may
claim. According to a participant from the tourism industry, “The country needs all
types of tourism segments, you cannot be selective all the way and at all times; a clear
and proactive policy is required at this stage which will encourage investments of
different scales, not just at upper market.” The industry representatives believed such
a strategy should not persist for the best interests of the national economy.

(2) Socio-cultural impacts. In regard to the socio-cultural impacts of tourism, there

was a general consensus among participants about the negative effects of tourism
development in the world, especially in developing countries. Empirical findings of
this study indicated that Oman’s tourism stakeholders identified the socio-cultural
impacts of tourism as: (1) Tourism provides an incentive for the restoration of
historical buildings, and for the conservation of natural resources, (2) Tourism
increases the availability of entertainment (e.g. festivals, exhibitions, and events), (3)
Tourism improves transport infrastructure, (4) Tourism encourages a variety of
cultural activities by the local population (e.g. crafts, arts, music), and (5) Mass
tourism is a good development strategy for the country. In fact, these four points
generally indicate that respondents were realistic and constructive about the socio-
cultural benefits that tourism may bring to local communities. Furthermore, it seems
that stakeholders did not yet foresee or perceive substantial negative impacts, and
therefore no negative impacts were shown in the final structural model (see Figure
4.3, section 4.7.3).

Participants in the three focus groups strongly supported these empirical findings and
declared that they saw minimum negative tourism socio-cultural effects so far in
Oman. They attributed these low effects to the government’s policy of targeting high-
niche tourism from certain markets. The policy is based on developing those resources
and attractions (e.g. natural-based, cultural based) that preserve the local culture and
protect the community from any possible negative consequences. Again, this finding

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confirmed the empirical outcome of this research, which emphasised the link between
the socio-cultural impacts of tourism and the development of particular resources and
attractions that may achieve the best interests of local communities (see Chapter 5,
section 5.2.2). Additionally, one participant pointed out the importance of developing
those resources that “preserve the local culture, heritage, tradition and lifestyle … in
that way we are gradually transforming the society to a more sophisticated attractions
development.” For instance, another participant pointed out that “in 1997/1998 the
WTO held a meeting in the Philippines to discuss the effects of tourism on local
communities for social and cultural perspectives … because the USA was cooperating
with the local government to establish entertainment facilities for its soldiers stationed
in the Philippines … after the closure of the military base the WTO started to work
with local government to treat the negative social consequences of those facilities …
this is the difference between two types of tourism.”

Despite the general agreement between the empirical findings and the focus groups
outcomes, the disagreement over the issue of mass-tourism was evident as explained
in point (1) above. The stakeholders were in favour of promoting mass-tourism into
the country and this was supported by the majority of participants in groups (1 & 3)
but opposed to some extent by a few participants in these two groups and the majority
of group (2) participants. This issue is therefore left open for more future dialogue
between the different interest groups.

(3) Environmental impacts. The issue of environmental impacts of tourism was the
subject of disagreement among participants in the focus groups. About 50 percent of
participants in groups (1 & 2) showed some concern about the environmental effects
of tourism, as indicated by the empirical findings (see Figure 4.3, section 4.7.3). As
could be noticed from the findings, the concern centred on the private sector’s
construction of tourism projects in places that the participants interpreted as
destruction to the natural environment. In confirming this concern, one participant
pointed out, “We understand as planning authority that some projects have negative
environmental impacts … which might appear in the long run … people see building
hotels on areas such as ‘Qurum Beach’ as destroying the natural environment … it
seems we are repeating the mistakes of Spain”. She elaborated by explaining that
Spain built many hotels and resorts on almost all of its beaches and did not leave

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enough space for people to enjoy, which affected not only people’s health but also
their economic wellbeing. Those participants who were conscientious about tourism
development believed that, if the planning authorities did not take all precautionary
measures, the country in fifty years time might be even worse than Spain.
Additionally, one participant giving an example from Oman pointed out, “We all
know there were places historically recognized as traditional areas for fishermen …
they were born, grew up and made a living by being in those places, now they have to
be moved away to allow for the construction of resorts.” Even though the government
usually compensates people when relocating them, declared one participant, still the
new place would not have the same value to them as the old one.

One participant from group (2) suggested studying the Taiwanese case in its early
attempts for tourism planning and development. That is, “Taiwan adapted a haphazard
planning approach for tourism, which caused lots of problems to local communities,
then a few years later the government had to start all over again to restructure and
redesign its tourism industry to correct the previous mistakes”. Furthermore, those
participants who were concerned about tourism’s negative environmental impacts
suggested that the Omani government should prepare a feasibility study before
constructing any tourism project to establish its economic, social and environmental
costs and benefits. This finding strongly confirmed the empirical results of this
research where respondents clearly indicated their concerns about the environmental
costs of tourism development in the country (see Figure 4.3, section 4.7.3).

The tourism industry representatives and some participants from group (2) who
disagreed with this assertion believed that good planning and higher environmental
standards could safeguard the community against any degradation of the environment.
In particular, the private sector representatives firmly disagreed with both the
empirical findings and those participants who shared the same perceptions that the
private sector is abusing the environment and the construction of hotels and other
attractions are causing damage to the natural environment. One participant explained,
“Usually, private sector takes the environmental concern seriously, we are part of the
community … we are sometimes more concerned than community members
themselves … we in Oman are trying to avoid other countries’ mistakes.” Another
participant elaborated further saying, “So often, environmental impacts are associated

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with Third World countries … there are many bad examples internationally and we
try not to be one of those bad examples.” As suggested by many participants, the
collaboration between the government, private sector and the local communities
should be enhanced to protect the natural environment when tourism resources are
developed to preserve and protect its characteristics, especially when the resources are
scarce. When it comes to people’s allocation argument, the private sector
representatives indicated that sacrifices had to be made for the best long-term interest
of societies. Private industry representatives confirmed that new tourism projects
would provide better economic opportunities such as jobs and the creation of small
businesses for local communities. They asserted that previous experiences supported
this argument (e.g. Al-Bustan village next to Al-Bustan Palace Hotel).

In brief, the environmental impacts discussions produced very controversial

arguments within and between the three groups as explained above. It was observed
that the environmental concerns drew more dissenting views from participants than
other development impacts, and it was expected that it would be even more
controversial if discussed with other stakeholder groups such as residents, since they
are the most directly affected by tourism development. Participants reacted positively
to my suggestion to the Omani policy makers to consider using the Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) approach that has been most widely used measure for
preventing negative environmental impacts of tourism. Participants in group (2)
thought this was a good idea and worth considering in the near future.

(4) Political impacts. The political impact of tourism development was not proved as
part of the empirical findings (sections 4.7.2 & 4.10). Participants in the focus groups
were surprised to see that the political dimension was absent from the structural
model. They attributed this to people’s natural aversion to discussing political matters
publicly and openly. It could also be due to people being less concerned about
politics, despite being in an area internationally classified as a hot political spot, or to
a lack of political knowledge and understanding. Furthermore, the deficiency could be
attributed, as participants mentioned, to peoples’ misunderstanding of the
measurement scales. One participant commented, “The world situation after 11/9 has
changed people’s thinking tremendously about how they see things … and it is
expected to change how people perceive tourism political impacts in both developed

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and developing worlds as part of the holistic approach of political science.”

Furthermore, few participants believed that, if the same study were to be conducted a
few years from now, the results in regard to politics might be different.

Participants emphasised the importance of safety and security as part of the tourism
political system. They believed that the international political situation and the
changes that various destinations were going through would necessitate that
academics and researchers pay more attention to the political impacts of tourism in the
future. As one participant put it, “I think the political studies of tourism will develop
more in the near future as a consequence to what is going on in the world … each
destination will try to provide all necessary guarantees to international tourists to keep
or enhance its market share.”

Hence, the participants within the two government groups (1 & 2) were more
interactive in discussing this issue; they showed enthusiasm about trying to explain
and justify the Omanis’ political nature. Meanwhile, the private sector representatives
did not provide practical clues to why the political impacts of tourism are a less
discussed and researched area in the tourism discipline, which this study’s findings
also confirmed.

In summary, the discussions indicated a general consensus among groups’ participants

about the positive impacts of tourism, but disagreement was evident when discussing
the negative side of it.

4.10.2 Community participation

Almost all participants appreciated the importance of involving local communities in

the tourism planning and development decision-making processes. However,
participants demonstrated important differences on the approaches to be followed in
ensuring community participation. The differences, as seen by some government
representatives, ranged between full participation at all stages of development and at
all levels, and only consultation at the final stage before implementation takes place.

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(1) Participation versus consultation. I attempted to further probe this difference

between the ‘full participation’ and ‘consultation’ approaches to find out which one
worked better in the Omani case. Some participants in group (2) mentioned that both
approaches had been tried in small projects, for example in the ‘Ain Al-Kisphah’
project and in the ‘Ghala hot spring’ project. In fact, “The Ministry prefers the
‘consultation’ approach”. This is so, because the planning authority has a greater
capability and the capacity to know and measure the advantages of the project than
the other stakeholders, especially residents. This notion of government control
confirms what has been postulated by the empirical finding of this study where
stakeholders preferred that ‘the government should have more control over tourism
activities’. Other participants in the three groups did not disagree with government
controlling tourism activities, but rather preferred to see more and better involvement
of various stakeholders in the early stages of tourism development. This call for more
involvement confirms what respondents of the quantitative data declared. They asked
for more empowerment: ‘The people’s representative in the ‘Shura council’
(parliament) should be empowered to have input into the tourism planning process’;
and they expressed their willingness and desire to attend meetings: ‘I would be willing
to attend community meetings to discuss an important tourism issues’; and they
confirmed that: ‘Public involvement in planning and development of tourism will lead
to preserving local culture, traditions, and lifestyle’.

A few participants in group (2) believed that stakeholders’ participation should be

only obtained before the implementation of the development projects, which means
informing stakeholders about the project to be implemented in their community. They
related their argument to their experiences with some projects where residents
objected to projects that the government considered to be vital for communities’
economic development. One participant explained: “Despite the importance of
soliciting stakeholders’ feedback on development projects … which has a strategic
economic dimension to tourism development, rather such involvement could be a
hindrance to tourism development in the long run.”

The proponents of the ‘late consultation approach’ argued that, if tourism

development has to move in full swing in Oman, then the final and absolute decision
for development should be left to the government’s discretion. As one participant

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commented: “We do not want to see at any time that a big investor has the interest and
capacity to put a huge project in a particular community, then people would object to
it … we do not want to see economic opportunities slip out of our hands because of
small group of people’s private interest.” On the contrary, opponents of this
consultation approach, especially participants from the private sector, were convinced
that people should be involved and consulted in the early stages rather than at the end:
“Investors will be reluctant to go ahead with a project if they foresee or expect some
objections from community members”, explained one participant. It is not feasible to
start developing a particular place, when the economic and social interests of local
residents have not been considered. Another participant noted: “We should not be
afraid of asking people about their opinions, neither about the issue of conflict of
interest, if there is no consensus then take the opinion of the majority … then at the
end the decision is on the hands of the government.”

(2) Levels and approaches of participation. Generally, in terms of the level of

participation, the opinions of most of the participants in group (2) were in line with
some findings of this empirical research where respondents expressed their
satisfaction with government’s consultation so far, and believed that ‘Residents are
able to voice their opinions about tourism planning and development’ (Figure 4.7,
section 4.7.7). The participants in the two government groups (1 & 2) discussed and
emphasised what is called ‘gradual participation’. This policy of citizens’ gradual
involvement in decision making is a unique policy adopted by the Omani government
across all national policy spectrums, as identified by one participant in the focus
groups, and tourism is no exception.

The majority of the Omani government officials participating in the two focus groups
endorsed the suitability and functionality of the WTO’s (1994) favoured ‘top-down’
approach of participation to Oman. Meanwhile, the discussions indicated some
conflicting opinions among participants about the level and degree of community
participation. Even though all agreed on the importance of involving stakeholders in
the tourism planning and development decision-making process, as mentioned above,
about 80 percent of group (2) ‘Ministry of Tourism’ concluded, as explained earlier,
that consultation rather than participation was more appropriate at this stage of
tourism development in Oman. Meanwhile, the minority participants in groups (1 &

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2) and all participants in group (3) preferred what is called the ‘bottom-up’ approach
of participation that involves holding meetings with local communities to determine
what type of development they would like to have beforehand, or at least a
combination of the two approaches, as suggested by the third way approach (Burns,
2004) (Chapter 2, section 2.2.3.3). Thus, the merits of community participation need
to be investigated and discussed.

This conviction is not far from confirming the empirical findings that call for more
empowerment and participation. Emphasising the government’s keenness for
involving other stakeholders in decision making, the Advisor of the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry confirmed, “Oman is looking at involving its local
community and at the same time is careful that tourism should not affect its culture,
and its environment is protected continuously.”

(3) Collaboration between government authorities. Another issue discussed by

participants was related to the collaboration process. Some participants mentioned the
lack of collaboration not only between destination management organisations (DMOs)
and stakeholders, but also between government authorities responsible for tourism
planning. One participant illustrated, “We see a gap between government authorities
collaboration efforts; for tourism to thrive, government authorities are required to
evaluate their direct and indirect collaboration strategies and cut red tape to attract
more investment into the tourism sector.” This call for more collaborative efforts
between government organisations and agencies is similar to what the survey
respondents asked for. Respondents strongly believed that ‘There is a lack of
collaboration and cooperation among government authorities responsible for tourism
planning’ (see Figure 4.7, section 4.7.7). Thus, this lack of collaboration and
acknowledgment by most participants should lead DMOs to reconsider their policy-
making approaches. This requirement of adjustment of policy-making process would
lead to increasing investments in the tourism sector as mentioned by one participant:
“Still incentives given to investors in tourism are below the required level … big
investments deserve some favourable treatments … instead they are facing some
bureaucratic complications from different authorities and some objections from a few
communities … all concerned agencies and groups have to put the long-term national
interests over personal or local interests.”

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Furthermore, this insufficient collaboration could be attributed to the nature of the

political regulation system and environment in Oman, as clarified by one participant
in the focus groups: “Each organisation is more concerned about its own regulatory
mandate with no due consideration to what that means to other organisations or what
effects that might have on others”, and, as another participant commented: “It seems
to work in isolation from other organisations”. As mentioned by another participant
“Government officials still think on micro rather than macro level of development in
collaborating with other organisations.” Most participants in the three groups
confirmed this argument.

(4) Role of media and tourism professionals. Participants in the three groups also
agreed that the media could play a major role in representing the people in voicing
their opinions about tourism development and in upgrading people’s level of
awareness and understanding about the tourism industry. They believed that so far the
media’s role is underdeveloped, and they blamed the non-existence of specialised
tourism media for this shortfall. Additionally, they praised the importance of
involving tourism professionals (e.g. academic faculties and students) as potential
components of tourism stakeholders. One participant, mentioning the importance of
collaboration with academic institutions, said, “Tourism professionalism is
developing in Oman … the university and other academic institutions play an
important role and it is expected to increase in the future … we are going to depend
heavily on their graduates and their research … now we are working closely with
them more than before.”

In summary, participants in the three groups had strong general feelings towards the
importance of involving various stakeholders in tourism resources and attractions
development. They believed that such involvement in the decision-making process
will ensure stakeholders’ active participation in tourism’s socio-economic benefits,
and their support for further tourism development. Furthermore, participants showed
consensus that stakeholders’ awareness of the importance of tourism development
would be upgraded with the development of media and tourism professionalism, and
in practising the process of participation.

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4.10.3 Tourism resources and attractions development

This section relates to the preferred tourism resources and attractions to be developed
in Oman as seen by the survey’s respondents.

(1) Resources and attractions development preferences. The participants were

presented with a list of resources and attractions indicated by the survey research
respondents as most preferable for development (Figure 4.9, section 4.7.9). The
participants in the three groups indicated strong agreement with the outcome. They
indicated that the list is a reflection of the stakeholders’ desire for the development of
nature-based and culture-based resources and attractions, which is in line with the
planning authorities’ policies in the next few years. They mentioned that those
resources also represent the resources that are available for Oman to explore.
However, in regard to attractions, one participant saw a contradiction in respondents’
call for the development of attractions for a large number of tourists such as (Disney-
like theme park, big resorts), with the government’s existing policy of targeting only
top-market segments. The Undersecretary for Tourism, meanwhile, did not see any
contradiction, he asserted: “Building big projects does not mean we are doing that for
encouraging mass-tourism … we still have shortage of rooms capacity, even with
these big projects under construction, still we need to cater more for the targeted
segments.”

Furthermore, participants in group (2) revealed that Oman’s tourism strategy was built
around developing those resources and attractions that preserve the destination’s
authentic uniqueness (e.g. culture, heritage, lifestyle, political stability). The Director
General of Tourism Planning mentioned, “Oman is rich with natural and historical
resources which makes us unique and different from other destinations in the region
… if we concentrate only on those resources that will give us a big competitive
advantage over other competitors.” In fact, there was a general agreement among
participants about the necessity for developing those resources that would give the
country a competitive edge over its immediate competitors in the region such as
Dubai, Jordan, and Egypt.

(2) Lack of information. The participants in the three focus groups acknowledged the
shortage of information available to tourism stakeholders, as revealed by the empirical

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findings. The participants mainly in group (3) complained about the lack of
information and data available to tourism planners, developers, and policy decision
makers that would enable them to better evaluate and understand which tourism
resources and attractions key stakeholders prefer to see developed (e.g. development
of nature-based tourism, development of small independent businesses, development
of cultural or historic-based attractions). Accordingly, those development preferences
may influence authorities such as the Ministry of Tourism and other planning and
strategy making organisations in the decision-making process before the actual
implementation takes place. Participants in group (2) attributed this lack of
information availability to the fact that the Ministry of Tourism has only been recently
established and is still in the early stages of identification, evaluation and organisation
of its activities. Additionally, they attributed such deficiency to the fragmentation of
the data collection system in the country and the non-existence of the culture of pre-
development consultation with stakeholders, as has been explained in point (1),
section 4.11.2. One participant mentioned: “It is important that we know what
resources and attractions stakeholders prefer in their communities, so we can set the
appropriate planning and development strategies, and marketing strategies thereafter.”
During the discussion process, I suggested the establishment of a research centre to
collect information about the type of resources and attractions that people preferred to
see developed in their communities, and also to track people’s attitudes, behaviours
and reactions towards tourists and tourism development in general. Participants in the
three groups received this suggestion positively. One participant went even further to
suggest, “Such a mechanism could be used to test peoples’ opinions about projects
before and after the development starts.”

(3) Public awareness. To achieve tourism sustainability to support competitive

destination strategies, tourism authorities need to provide more awareness-raising
programs and initiatives, thereby better educating various stakeholders in terms of the
degree and quality of protection of natural, historical, social and environmental
resources in Oman. Clearly, the development of resources and attractions impacts on
various levels, such as skills, behaviours etc., of community members. In confirming
the empirical results of this study that call for increasing education opportunities for
the public and in support of the idea of introducing tourism education into school
curriculums, one participant considered the idea appealing, “It is a good idea … and I

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don’t see why it can’t be implemented”. In fact, some participants believed that this
kind of approach could help the tourism industry in the future, so they suggested the
involvement of the private sector in the development of the programs. The teaching of
tourism and hospitality in middle and senior schools, as is the case in Australia and
other western countries, would enhance the creation of tourism culture within local
communities, suggested one participant.

Government officials in the focus groups admitted that so far insufficient efforts had
been put in by authorities on education and publicity programs, but all participants
believed that the Omani tourism authority should work towards raising public
awareness about all aspects of tourism to achieve the required level of sustainability.

In sum, participants showed strong agreement with the survey findings for the
appropriate resources and attractions to be developed in Oman, at least in the short to
medium term. Participants also, in confirming the research empirical findings,
emphasised the importance of linking the development of resources and attractions to
various marketing and management strategies (policies) to achieve sustainability and
enhance destination competitiveness, as is discussed next.

4.10.4 Competitive destination strategies

As expected from the literature and the empirical findings of this study, groups’
participants confirmed unanimously the strength of relationship between the types of
resources and attractions to be developed as suggested by survey respondents (see
Figure 4.11, section 4.7.11) and the most appropriate marketing and management
policies to be implemented by the destination management authority (DMO). They
confirmed the various strategies (policies) as shown in Figure 4.11, section 4.7.11 as
the most appropriate strategies for Oman.

(1) Destination competitiveness. The development or enhancement of a destination’s

competitiveness position represents a significant challenge for many tourism
authorities. As has been explained above in point (1), section 4.11.3, this study’s
respondents indicated their preferences about the development of certain tourism
resources and attractions to further support and build on Oman’s current competitive

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position as a tourist destination. The focus group participants supported these

preferences. In doing so, respondents and the groups’ participants evaluated generic
marketing, environment, and sustainability strategies (section 4.7.11) which seemed
relevant to enhance Oman’s strategic competitiveness in the international tourism
marketplace. Therefore, tourism authority policy makers, as observed from the
discussions, confirmed the necessity for policy makers to understand which
combination of resources and attractions to develop, and what competitive destination
strategies to adopt to create a more competitive position for Oman. All participants of
the focus groups appreciated this finding and confirmed the importance of matching a
destination’s available resources with suitable marketing and management strategies
(see sections 4.7.11 & 4.10). Group (2) participants were more enthusiastic about the
potential link between tourism resources and attractions and marketing and
management policies. They emphasised the importance of developing those resources
that create value-addition to the economy while preserving social identity and the
natural environment.

(2) Marketing strategy making. The empirical findings emphasised that the
development of resources and attractions should be accompanied by well-planned and
executed marketing strategies (such as development of destination branding image,
selection of suitable target markets, overcoming seasonality, increasing tourists length
of stay and spending, and providing high standard facilities), taking into consideration
the aim of achieving tourism sustainability and preserving the natural environment. It
was believed that the incorporation of certain marketing initiatives with competitive
development strategies might help to enhance destination competitiveness. Focus
group participants agreed in principle with these findings, as is explained below.

(a) Increasing tourists’ length of stay and spending. This policy was one of the
various policies revealed by empirical results to position Oman as a tourist
destination. Participants in groups (1 & 2) confirmed that, “One of the policies
followed by the Ministry of Tourism is to increase tourists’ length of stay to achieve
greater financial returns for the tourism industry.” This policy generated a general
consensus among all participants and it confirmed the empirical findings. The
Undersecretary for the Ministry of Tourism mentioned, “The average length of stay in
Oman stands at three nights, and we aim to increase it in the future to be close to the

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international average.” However, this policy, as mentioned by some participants,

requires the diversification of attractions available to tourists and the availability of
different levels of accommodation and services. For instance, as mentioned by one
participant, “Tourists may want to see some nightlife in some tourist places outside of
Muscat the capital.” This notion of nightlife may not be regarded as acceptable, the
other participants mentioned, especially in the more conservative communities inside
of Oman. However, other types of attractions may be developed or even existing
attractions could be improved, which would encourage tourists to spend extra days in
other places other than Muscat.

(b) Seasonality. Another issue related to competitiveness strategies discussed was the
matter of seasonality. Participants agreed with the empirical findings about the
importance of this issue. Furthermore, participants in the tourism industry group
indicated that many countries face this seasonality dilemma. However, they managed
to approach it by different ways and means depending on each destination’s unique
nature. Thus, authorities need to take it seriously if they want to overcome this
obstacle to tourism growth in the country.

The future policy, as mentioned by Tourism Ministry officials, is based on trying to

develop activities and attractions to suit different motives and desires of tourists. The
country is divided into two distinct climates in the country’s South and North regions.
This uniqueness could be utilised and complemented with other activities in the off-
season. For instance, mentioned one participant, “We started to receive weekly
chartered flights from Scandinavian countries to Salalah during the Winter season
when tourism in fact is supposed to be off-season for that region.” Additionally, the
government as part of its marketing campaign hired an international consultancy firm
to suggest a few suitable branding ideas to boost the country’s image and to market
Oman to a wider international audience. This has included using Oman’s varied
landscape and wildlife to market the country as an all-year ecotourism destination.

(c) Niche markets. Marketing strategies (policies) such as (1) The development of a
strong destination brand image, (2) The selection of appropriate target markets (e.g.
Germany, Japan, England, and (3) The establishment of standards for tourism
facilities as indicated by the empirical findings, were found by participants in the

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three focus groups to be not different from the existing policies pursued by the
government. Furthermore, those strategies were not exclusive, as mentioned by some
participants. The existing strategy followed by the Ministry of Tourism is to target
mainly European markets (e.g. Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland) as
primary target markets due to proximity and historical relationships with Europe.
Meanwhile, its secondary markets include countries such as Australia, India and
Scandinavia.

Oman’s tourism policy was always to focus on the high end of the market, looking to
wealthy tourists from Europe rather than the mass market. This policy could be
attributed to the government’s concerns that the influx of large number of tourists
might offend the sensibilities of more conservative Omanis. However, the Director
General of Tourism Promotion provided a different explanation: “We are
concentrating on European markets because it was difficult to reach out to countries
such as Australia and China … that would require tremendous resources and efforts
which were not possible in the past; however, our new strategy is to reach some
specific segments within these two countries and others in the East … we are to use
what is called the ‘selective marketing’ approach.” Being selective is in the sense of
targeting certain segments (e.g. middle-top niche market) to match the country’s
tourism strategy to promote the attraction of only specific tourists segments.
Additionally, “We are not ready yet to attract and entertain all types of tourists … our
resources are limited and we must have the infrastructure and other services and
amenities before that”, he elaborated.

Participants in group (3) did not totally agree with this strategy of ‘selective
marketing’. They thought government was wasting resources by only trying to reach
small segments of tourists. They believed that with the same resources a wider scope
of segments could be reached. Additionally, they thought that the infrastructure and
services in Oman were better than many other countries considered as a tourists’ hub.
What is required, according to them, is a clear vision and extra developments outside
of Muscat for tourists to spend a few days without travelling daily between Muscat
and other places.

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Thus, as tourism in Oman is in its early development stages, the government, as

confirmed by both the Undersecretary and Director General of Tourism Promotion of
the Ministry of Tourism, is placing a high priority on the development and provision
of high standard infrastructures and tourism services to cater for the interests of
targeted tourism segments. They revealed that the Ministry had commissioned foreign
marketing consultants (representing different markets), as also mentioned in point (b)
above, to evaluate the destination’s marketing initiatives and make suggestions about
the destination’s branding and image.

Participants generally were in agreement that tourism infrastructure in the country was
sufficient for the short term, but it required extra efforts and further developments to
cater for the increasing number of tourists in the next few years. Some participants
mentioned the importance of utilising the new technology including the internet to
reach out to the wider available number of tourists internationally. They perceived this
method as cheap and fast in addition to covering a wider scope of international
geographical locations.

(3) Sustainable destination management. Another issue that was tackled by groups’
participants was related to the issue of sustainability of Oman’s natural and cultural
environment, in relation to creating sustainable competitive destination strategies.
This study’s survey’s respondents believed that it was important to, for example, (1)
record local population attitudes and behaviours towards tourists to ensure they
received a hospitable reception as well as to evaluate people’s satisfaction about
tourism development in general, (2) protect and improve more wildlife habitat, (3)
encourage public participation, and (4) include environmental considerations in
marketing of tourism. The groups’ discussions revealed consensus among participants
about the importance of these strategies. Their importance stems from the fact that,
first, people are becoming more environmentally conscious and second, that the WTO
(1999) in its Tourism 2020 Vision, identified eco-tourism, cultural tourism and
adventure tourism as three of the four key market segments that are growing in
importance internationally. Furthermore, tourism’s sustainability is gaining
momentum internationally, declared participants. Thus, participants were convinced
that these strategies if implemented would no doubt enhance the country’s
competitiveness as a tourist destination. Generally, participants showed satisfaction

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with the measures taken by authorities so far to achieve sustainability of the tourism
industry.

Groups (1 & 2) participants praised the efforts taken by the government so far to
protect the natural and cultural environment. They mentioned the close and effective
cooperation between Oman and other international organisations such as the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in registering
some heritage and wildlife (e.g. Bahla Fort) preserved areas as internationally
designated protected sites. This international recognition of those sites protects them
from degradation and extinction. The participants confirmed the future policy of
Oman as “Developing strategies that take into consideration stakeholders’ interests
when possible and achieve overall permanent sustainable growth and development for
the tourism industry.” They mentioned that the international conference that was held
in Muscat in 2005 was held under the theme of ‘Built Environment for Sustainable
Tourism’ (see section 2.5, tourism in Oman). The conference emphasised the
importance of promoting the use of strategic tourism planning procedures for ensuring
sustainable tourism development for the built environment.

(4) Role of government in tourism development. Governments, especially in

developing countries, usually tend to play an extensive role as planner, regulator, and
facilitator of tourism development. This study’s empirical findings, however,
contradicted this theory to some extent, as will be explained in Chapter 5. Focus
group participants shared the theoretical view of government’s central role and
attributed such shortfall in this study to people’s misunderstanding of government’s
role, the fact that stakeholders’, mainly residents, interests sometimes diverge greatly
from government’s interest, as mentioned by participants, or their belief that the
government tends to support private sector initiatives which may affect their local
interest. Also, such shortfall could be attributed again to the political culture of
respondents, said one participants or “they just did not understand or comprehend the
questions.”

The focus group discussions as I observed produced major agreement on major issues
that I raised to evaluate and confirm the empirical findings of the study. Still some
controversial views or disagreements, as explained above, were noticeable.

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Furthermore, there were not many substantial differences between the three focus
group participants on the major policy issues. This could be attributed to the fact that
the private sector especially still depends heavily on government financial and
logistical support, which makes it close to government’s policy thinking and not
wanting to be seen as opposing its policies and initiatives. Also, such a divergence of
views may be due to the fact that participants were not used to participating in focus
group discussions or that they did not have a great interest in the discussions.

In the next chapter I provide detailed interpretations of the results of this chapter and
discuss in detail the theoretical, methodological contributions and practical
implications of the results. Furthermore, a few recommendations will be made for the
authorities in Oman to consider in enhancing the destination’s competitiveness.

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Chapter Five
Conclusion and Discussion
5.1 Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the general findings and conclusions of the
study in relation to its objectives, hypotheses and research problem. Proposed
recommendations may be considered by various tourism authorities in Oman to
improve strategic decision-making processes in further developing Oman’s tourism
industry and promoting the country as a tourist destination.

The chapter concludes by highlighting theoretical and methodological contributions

and practical implications based on the developed structural competitiveness model,
thus closing the theoretical gap on destination development and competitiveness
(Pike, 2004; Ritchie & Crouch, 2003). Further, it discusses the limitations of the
study, provides suggestions for future research that could contribute to the literature
on tourism development, and outlines competitive strategies.

5.2 Discussion of Research Findings

This section briefly discusses the background to the research, modelling outcomes,
and core findings in addition to a thorough explanation and interpretation of the
study’s hypotheses results and how they are related to previous research findings in
the mass tourism literature.

5.2.1 Research background, modelling, empirical outcomes, and core findings

This section briefly highlights and recaps the research process of this study including
the research background and objective, methodology, and data analysis techniques
that have been adapted.

The study started by reviewing the theoretical background and empirical research
within the mass tourism literature in an attempt to cover most studies related to the
research problem (section 2.2). The objective of the study was to develop a theoretical
model about destination competitiveness and to empirically test the interrelationships
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between diverse variables or constructs that were likely to affect tourism stakeholders’
development preferences about tourism resources and attractions as well as their
support of competitive destination strategies. The influencing factors (independent
variables) included tourism development impacts (economic, socio-cultural,
environmental, political), community attachment, and stakeholders’ perceived power
(community participation). The developed model of tourism destination
competitiveness also reflected the influence that Oman’s tourism stakeholders’
development preferences of resources and attractions may have on their support for
competitive destination strategies.

The total usable sample size was 978, based on convenience-selected respondents in
Oman. The review of demographic information indicated that the respondents were
surveyed from very diverse tourism stakeholder segments, including residents,
government employees, tourists, private businesses, media, and tourism academic
faculties and students (tourism professionals) (Figure 2.3, section 2.4.3.1). The results
also showed that the survey questionnaires were collected from six different
geographically distributed areas covering the entire country of Oman.

Based on the theoretical review and empirical research, all measurement scales for
each construct of the theoretical model were taken from existing studies, with the
exception of the construct stakeholders’ perceived power (community participation),
for which measurement scales had to be developed. An examination of reliability and
validity of the measurement scales revealed that the measurement scale for each
construct was reliable and valid in terms of the internal consistency and accuracy of
what they intended to measure. The newly developed measurement scale for
community participation, which was composed of 16 items, generated a Cronbach’s
coefficient’s alpha of .86. This result indicates that this measurement scale was
reliable in assessing stakeholders’ desire for involvement in community decision-
making processes about tourism planning and development for enhancing destination
competitiveness.

Structural equation modelling was performed to analyse the fit of the theoretical
model and thus seek support for suitable competitive destination strategies. First,
exploratory factor analysis was conducted for some constructs to condense the

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measurement scales. This step was followed by confirmatory factor analysis to further
refine the predicted relationships of the observed indicators to the constructs. Through
this process, constructs with redefined indicators were created and the strength of
diverse relationships between the indicators and constructs was identified. The multi-
dimensionality of each construct was confirmed and the reliability for each construct
was calculated. The scores obtained were: socio-cultural impact (.7), economic impact
(.66), environmental impact (.75), community attachment (.73), community
participation (.86), development preferences about tourism resources/attractions (.82),
destination marketing efforts and activities (.81), and sustainable destination
management and practices (.85) (see Table 4.43). All these reliabilities exceeded the
0.6 to 0.7 levels, as recommended by Hair et al. (1989) and Morgan and Griego
(1998).

An examination of the relationships of the observed indicators to the constructs

showed that the revised construct ‘tourism development impact’ (TDI), following
CFA, was measured by eleven indicators that are related to socio-cultural, economic
and environmental benefits from tourism development, as shown in Figure 4.3
(section 4.7.3). The construct ‘community attachment’ (CA) is related to
emotional/symbolic and functional attachment and was measured by four indicators
(see Figure 4.5, section 4.7.5), expressing a mixture of both emotional and functional
attachment to the community. Meanwhile, the construct ‘community participation’
(CP) was measured by eight indicators relating to three major issues: (1) participation,
(2) empowerment, and (3) collaboration (see Figure 4.7, section 4.7.7). Those
indicators clearly revealed stakeholders’ mixed feelings about satisfaction with level
of government consultation and the desire for more involvement, empowerment and
continuation of government’s control over tourism activities for them to actively
participate in tourism planning and development.

The mediating construct, ‘stakeholders’ preferences about tourism resources and

attractions’ (SPTRA) consisted of eight indicators after the CFA (see Figure 4.9,
section 4.7.9). Those indicators implied that Oman’s tourism stakeholders preferred
the development of both nature-based and man-made tourism attractions and
resources. In general, nature, culture, and facilities development were the dominant
features of the stakeholders’ desire for tourism development. Moreover, in terms of

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the construct ‘stakeholders’ support for tourism competitive destination strategies’

(CTS), the two factors of ‘sustainable destination management and practices’ and
‘destination marketing management and activities’ were derived from EFA and
retained to measure the construct (see Figure 4.11, section 4.7.11). Indicators such as
recording information, protecting wildlife, ethical responsibility towards the
environment, education about nature and environment protection, local citizen
participation, and considering environmental issues in marketing tourism were utilised
to represent the ‘sustainable destination management and practices’ indicator.
Meanwhile, the indicators development of destination image, selecting target markets,
overcoming seasonality, increasing length of stay, targeting international tourists,
increasing tourists spending, and establishment of standards for facilities were used to
represent the factor ‘destination marketing management and activities’.

Following the confirmation of the proposed relationships between constructs, the

theoretical model was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) to identify the
overall fit of model based on the collected data. The CFA utilised two split samples
(n=471) and (n=470) for the purpose of verifying and validating the theoretical model.
The model was subjected to various modifications and re-specifications in an attempt
to provide a high level of goodness-of-fit to the data. Those indicators having
comparatively high measurement errors and low correlations to the constructs were
discarded. As a result of this process, 43 indicators remained to measure the eight
constructs of the destination competitiveness strategies model. Overall, the CFA
demonstrated that the data provided an acceptable fit for the final structural model to
assess suitable destination competitiveness strategies for Oman.

The final results were also tested qualitatively, in that the research findings were
presented and evaluated to selected decision-makers responsible for tourism planning
and development in Oman (section 4.11). Three focus groups were conducted of both
senior executives of private industry and high-ranking government officials of
Oman’s tourism industry, to confirm the study’s results. Furthermore, I sought
feedback from senior managers responsible for tourism planning as well as strategy
development and implementation. Discussions provided valuable feedback and
confirmation of the outcomes as explained in Chapter 4 (section 4.11).

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5.2.2 Findings of hypotheses results and interpretations

A structural equation modelling was utilised to test the hypotheses postulated in this
study in an attempt to identify the structural relationships between dependent,
independent and mediating constructs. Nine of the ten proposed relationships within
the four major hypotheses were either strongly or partially supported, based on the
outcome of the final structural model. Those hypotheses that were supported
generated a significant level of critical ratio (t-value) and standardised coefficient
scores (refer to Table 4.44, section 4.10). The following discussion presents the
findings for each hypothesis.

(1) Influence of community attachment. H1a, H1b, and H1c proposed that tourism
stakeholders who were more attached to their community were (1) more likely to
prefer the development of certain tourism attractions and resources, (2) more likely to
be affected by various tourism development impacts, and (3) more likely to be
affected by their attachment to their community, influenced by their sources of power
and involvement in community activities. The community attachment construct was
measured by four observed indicators related to both place identity and place
dependence (section 4.7.5). Therefore it can be argued that tourism stakeholders who
have symbolic/emotional community attachment and seek valuable satisfaction such
as economic gain from the attachment are likely to be sensitive to environmental
impacts and be supportive of competitive strategies for tourism sustainable destination
management and practices as suggested by Bricker & Kerstetter (2000). Generally,
the findings of the structural analysis did not support these hypotheses because the
construct ‘community attachment’ needed to be regarded as a mediating construct in
the structural final model (see Figure 4.13, section 4.8.2) instead of being an
independent construct as indicated in the initial conceptual framework (see Figure
1.1). This finding contradicts previous studies by Jurowski et al. (1997), Walsh et al.
(2001), Yoon et al. (1999, 2001), and Yoon (2002), which proved the existence of a
direct relationship between community attachment as an independent construct on one
hand and the preferences for the development of tourism resources and attractions,
and tourism development impact constructs on the other (H1a & H1b). In fact, the
outcome showed no relationship between ‘community attachment’ and ‘preferences
for resources and attractions development’ constructs, and socio-cultural impacts and
economic impact factors of tourism development constructs (see Figure 4.13).

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

However, the results showed a weak but significant relationship between the
‘community attachment’ construct and ‘environmental impacts’ as a dependent
construct. Originally, the ‘environmental impacts’ construct was a factor of the
independent ‘tourism development impacts’ construct, but after the structural analysis,
the ‘environmental impacts’ became a dependent construct on its own (see Figure
4.13). This relationship is consistent with previous findings (e.g. Vaske & Korbin,
2001), but contradicts Jurowski et al.’s (1997) research outcomes, in that attached
residents negatively evaluated the environmental impacts.

The third hypothesis (H1c) linking the ‘community attachment’ construct to the
‘community participation’ construct proposed a positive relationship between these
two constructs. In fact, this relationship was not supported by the structural analysis.
It was projected that the more stakeholders were attached to their community the more
will be their demand for involvement in tourism planning and development in the
community. Since the ‘community participation’ construct was newly developed by
me, such a relationship has no previous empirical evidence and proved non existent;
in fact there was an inverse negative relationship between the two constructs, as will
be explained later (see Figure 4.13).

Additionally, the results highlighted a significant but weak relationship between

‘community attachment’ and support for ‘sustainable destination management and
efforts’. This relationship was not hypothesised in this study. This finding is partially
in line with previous research findings of the existence of a linear relationship
between the perception of the various impacts of tourism and future support for
tourism development (e.g. Andereck & Vogut, 2000; King et al., 1993; Perdue et al.,
1990; Yoon et al., 2001).

The findings showed how respondents were more concerned with sustainability and
environmental issues related to their communities rather than with social or economic
costs/benefits. This concern is reflective of the nature of the Omani community and a
consequence of media campaigns targeting the desire for environment protection by
the government in the last thirty years (Chapter 4, section 4.11). Thus, people may
only be willing to support tourism development and endorse competitive strategies if
sustainability and environmental issues are considered. Therefore, it is recommended

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that a balanced strategic and holistic approach to sustainable tourism, that takes into
account community development and environmental concerns, be promoted and
enforced by tourism authorities in Oman to gain the community’s support to enhance
the destination’s competitiveness.

(2) Influence of tourism development impacts on various stakeholders. H2a, H2b,

and H2c proposed that tourism stakeholders would: (1) strongly support the
development of resources and attractions that maximise their socio-cultural,
economic, political and environmental benefits and minimise the cost of these four
factors to them, (2) influence destination stakeholders’ attachment to their
communities, and the various development impacts, and (3) influence stakeholders’
participation in community decision-making processes. Generally, the outcome of
SEM analysis partially supported the three hypotheses. After excluding the political
impact items during the EFA and CFA exercises, due to their loadings on more than
one factor, three development impact indicators emerged: socio-cultural, economic,
and environmental. However, after testing the final overall SEM model, only two
factors, socio-cultural and economic impacts, provided an acceptable goodness-of-fit
to the model. The ‘environmental impacts’ factor became an endogenous (dependent)
construct.

The ‘Socio-cultural impacts’ and ‘economic impacts’ constructs (H2a) held

significant positive relationships with the construct of ‘development preferences about
tourism resources and attractions’, as shown in Figure 4.13 and Table 4.44. This
finding was consistent with the results of previous studies which demonstrated that, if
tourism stakeholders perceived socio-cultural and economic benefits from tourism
activities, they were more likely to support further tourism resources and attractions
development (e.g. Jurowski, et al., 1997; Ko & Stewart, 2002; Perdue et al., 1987;
Yoon 2002; Yoon et al., 1999, 2001). However, the findings also contradicted those
studies which concentrated only on the environmental and physical benefits to tourism
development (e.g. Davis et al., 1988; Lankford & Howard, 1994). Thus, it is natural to
expect stakeholders to prefer the development of those resources and attractions that
maximise the social and economic benefits to them. It was evident from the empirical
data that middle-to-upper aged respondents were more concerned about socio-cultural

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impacts than younger respondents, who were more positive about the economic
benefits of tourism development projects.

The findings also confirmed the existence of a moderately significant relationship

between ‘socio-cultural impacts’ as a factor of TDI construct and ‘community
attachment’ construct (e.g. Goudy, 1977; Jurowski et al., 1997; More & Graefe, 1994;
Um & Crompton, 1987), but did not support the directional relationships between
‘economic impacts’ and ‘environmental impacts’ constructs to ‘community
attachment’ construct (H2b) as shown in Figure 4.13. This is an indication of the
importance stakeholders place on socio-cultural matters. Again, it is a reflection of the
cultural nature of the Omani society. Indeed, tourism officials at both the Ministry of
Tourism and private businesses stressed the importance of culture in promoting Oman
as a tourist destination (section 4.11), and confirmed that an international conference
held in Muscat in 2005, titled ‘Built Environment for Sustainable Tourism’ (see
section 2.5, Tourism in Oman), was promoting the objectives of preserving local
cultural heritage, environmental protection, and preserving social identity for the
purposes of tourism development and social economic gains.

Additionally, the structural analysis indicated that tourism stakeholders’ preferences

about tourism resources and attractions are a function of perceived tourism
development impacts (socio-cultural, economic, environmental, political) (H2c). This
finding partially confirmed previous research findings within the tourism literature.
That is, tourism stakeholders, as in this study, generally tend to positively perceive the
economic benefits of tourism (e.g. Ap, 1992; Jurowski et al., 1997; Ko & Stewart,
2002; Liu & Var, 1986; Perdue et al., 1987; Pizam, 1978; Prentice, 1993; Yoon et al.,
1999, 2001). However, while the study’s findings contradicted the outcomes of the
above-mentioned studies regarding the negative perception of socio-cultural impacts,
it confirms other research findings of the existence of a positive relationship between
socio-cultural benefits and the development of tourism resources and attractions
(Mathieson & Wall, 1982; McCool & Martin, 1994). In fact, respondents showed a
moderate significant positive relationship between ‘socio-cultural impacts’ construct
as a factor of TDI and the construct of ‘preferences about tourism resources and
attractions’ development (see Figure 4.13).

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

Meanwhile, the study’s findings did not show any relationship between the
‘environmental impacts’ construct and the construct of ‘development about tourism
resources and attractions’ (see Figure 4.13). Thus, this research demonstrates that the
perception of economic and socio-cultural benefits were important for stakeholders’
support for further destination tourism development. Furthermore, the destination’s
internal marketing initiatives designed to inform stakeholders about tourism’s
economic, socio-cultural and even environmental benefits might be helpful in gaining
various stakeholders’ support for further tourism development and maintaining
destination’s sustainability (Yoon et al., 2001).

Moreover, the results indicted that tourism stakeholders link tourism socio-cultural
and economic development impacts with their support for the development of
‘destination marketing strategies’ and ‘sustainable destination management strategies’
to enhance a destination’s competitiveness efforts. These two relationships were not
hypothesised in this research, as there was no previous evidence about them in the
literature. Regardless of the positive or negative impacts stakeholders may expect
from tourism activities, they specified five strategic tourism marketing initiatives that
are based on building strong destination branding, selecting appropriate target
markets, aiming to increase tourists’ stay and spending, overcoming seasonality, and
providing high standard facilities. These types of marketing initiatives are expected to
promote the type of tourism stakeholders prefer to see in Oman that is related to
sustainability based on protecting wildlife, promoting ethical responsibility towards
the environment, educating people about tourism, encouraging citizen participation,
and ensuring cooperation and collaboration among government authorities. This
strong linkage between the two distinct destination competitive strategies factors is
represented by the apparent a moderate structural correlation between them (.34) (see
Figure 4.13).

Tourism is a new phenomenon in Oman and requires careful planning from the
planning authorities to avoid any negative consequences that may surface in different
tourism development stages, as can occur in developing countries especially (citing
Turkey and Kenya as examples) (e.g. Perdue at al., 1987; Pearce, 1989; de Kate,
1990; Butler, 1990; Wall & Long, 1996; Akama, 1999; Weaver & Oppermann, 2000).
People expect to see more responsible tourism management initiatives which identify

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and integrate suitable policies and strategies related to sustaining tourism

development, as mentioned earlier, to achieve the social, economic and environmental
targets and objectives of the community. These objectives could not be achieved
without the consent, commitment and cooperation of the destination’s major
stakeholders, particularly within and between government organisations (Selin, 1993).
Thus, for effective planning strategy, tourism practitioners must ensure the
involvement of various stakeholders, mainly those with environmental and socio-
cultural concerns, in the planning process to minimise the conflict between planners,
and between planners and developers of tourism resources.

(3) Influence of community participation in tourism planning. It was hypothesised

in H3a, H3b, and H3c that tourism stakeholders who have a desire and interest in
participating in tourism planning and benefits are more likely to: (1) express their
preferences about various developments of tourism attractions and resources, (2) show
higher levels of interest in participating in decision-making processes that influence
various impacts of tourism development, and (3) indicate a strong attachment to their
communities. The results of the SEM analysis supported all of these hypotheses.
Moreover, the results showed the existence of a significantly strong positive
relationship between the constructs ‘community participation’ and ‘stakeholders’
support for destination competitive strategies’, represented by the indicator
‘sustainable destination management and efforts’. This last relationship was not
previously hypothesised in this research due to lack of previous empirical evidence.

(a) Development of tourism attractions and resources. As hypothesised in H3a, the

finding indicated that, if stakeholders felt that they possessed the means and power to
be involved in tourism planning and decision-making processes, they preferred the
development of those resources and attractions that are of interest to them, as shown
in Figure 4.7 (section 4.7.7). Further, they supported the development of those
resources and attractions that matched their interest and authority to influence the
development process, as illustrated in Figure 4.9 (section 4.7.9). This connection
between stakeholders’ desire for involvement, empowerment and cooperation, and
types of resources and attractions to be developed, seems to be a significant factor for
the success of tourism development, particularly in the early stages of tourism

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development, as is the case with Oman (e.g. Brohman, 1996b; Jamal & Getz, 1995;
Scheyvens, 2002; Sofield, 2003).

A destination’s success in developing its resources and attractions can only be

identified and achieved within the framework of clear strategic thinking and directives
that are shared and supported by all of the major stakeholders. Those strategic
directions, as discussed in Chapter 2, are related to a destination’s ability to provide
varied experiences, top class services, and encouragement for community
participation (e.g. Jamal & Getz, 1995; Keogh, 1990; Murphy, 1985; Ritchie, 1993;
Sauter & Leisen, 1999; Tosun, 2000;Yuksel et al., 1999). At the moment there is no
evidence pointing to the encouragement of community participation in Oman’s long-
term tourism strategy. Arguably tourism authorities need to reconsider the
involvement of tourism stakeholders to ensure that tourism planning and development
strategies and initiatives are created in a combined effort, led by tourism authorities,
and thus supported by everyone in the industry. Indeed, this collaboration between
internal and external stakeholders should lead to the success of the strategic vision of
Oman’s long-term tourism planning.

(b) Various impacts on tourism development. The findings related to H3b indicated
that when community members feel that they are negatively affected by tourism
developments in their region, they are more likely to call for a greater involvement in
diverse planning and decision-making processes. Indeed, the possibility of people
encountering negative socio-cultural and environmental impacts is increasing due to
rising inbound and domestic tourist numbers in Oman. A higher community
involvement could release diverse government bodies from the burden of
encountering higher levels of hostility towards tourists and tourism in general (section
4.11). As stated by one Omani government official, the best approach is to involve the
community when a project plan is clear and investors are secured, and thus the
potential benefits are visible to the community. The rationale behind this public policy
is to avoid resistance towards development projects for merely personal reasons from
some community members.

Several government officials, for instance, pointed out specific examples where the
development of a tourism attraction posed a conflict of interest within a local

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community and therefore delayed the realisation of the project. So it seems that the
government’s policy was built around seeking stakeholders’ consultation rather than
involvement and active participation. This finding somewhat confirms the conclusions
of Burns (1996) and Douglas (1998), who argued that developing countries often
depend largely on foreign consultants or advisors who fail to understand social
cultures and political environments in which decisions are made, and also rarely
consult with local communities and other stakeholders. The findings clearly indicated
that there was little collaboration between the Omani government and diverse
community members, which strongly supports the tourism literature’s call for a
stronger involvement of diverse members of the community in the tourism
development process (e.g. Allen et al., 1988; Bramwell, 2004; Bramwell & Lane,
2000; Bramwell & Sharman, 2000; Campbell, 1999; Friedmann, 1992; Jamal & Getz,
1995; Murphy, 1985; Scheyvens, 2002; Timothy, 1998; Timothy & Tosun, 2003).
Similarly, there was little collaboration between tourism bodies of the private sector
and community members. Such collaboration and dialogue must be encouraged by the
government’s acting as a catalyst for the relationship between the two parties and
making discussions with communities a prerequisite for gaining government
approvals and consent for investment projects (Lickorish, 1991; Prideaux & Cooper,
2002; Scheyvens, 2002). In fact, private industry in Oman favours more community
participation on all levels as it means that most community approvals could be
obtained prior to the planning, development or implementation stages of a project,
thus minimising unforeseen obstacles and avoiding financial losses.

Collaboration among government authorities is a matter of concern, as respondents

have pointed out. In particular, respondents emphasised the importance of harmony
between different government organisations to ensure a maximum level of
coordination in the planning, development and implementation of tourism strategies.
This concern supports previous research findings (Dieke, 1991; Elliott, 1983; Jamal &
Getz, 1995; Jenkins, 1982; Lickorish, 1991a, 1991b; Selin, 1993; Tosun, 1998, 2000).
That is, in developing countries the tourism planning and management processes are
fragmented between various organisations (Tosun, 2000). So, it is argued that for
tourism planning to succeed and achieve sustainability, the traditional bureaucracy
and ‘bureaucratic jealousy’ (Tosun, 2000) has to be abandoned and replaced with
cooperation and coordination among authorities. However, government officials at

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Oman’s Ministry of Tourism are satisfied to some extent with the level of
collaboration achieved so far, considering that the tourism sector is in its infancy (see
section 4.11). Indeed, at this stage of tourism development, the centralisation of
planning and decision-making is regarded as a necessity by the government.
Furthermore, the Omani Ministry of Tourism did not rule out giving more power and
authority to local constituencies in the future. Collaboration also extended across the
border to other regional tourism destinations. such as the neighbouring competitor
Dubai, in an attempt to share knowledge and complement each other’s experiences on
tourism development.

In addition, community participation is driven by the benefits created by tourism

development, highlighted, for instance, by increased job opportunities, local and
foreign investments, and development of small businesses. Furthermore, people have
to be tied to their communities through the development of resources and attractions
that preserve their culture and identity while at the same time improving their standard
of living. The balance of these factors is important for the enhancement of destination
competitive strategies. In general, the relationships between stakeholders’ perception
of various tourism impacts and community participation are important issues, as yet a
not well understood and studied area of research

(c) Participation and community attachment. Although the SEM analysis indicated
a relationship between the constructs ‘community participation’ and ‘community
attachment’ (H3c), this relationship was significantly negative. That is, the findings
showed that there is no relationship between stakeholders’ desires and willingness to
participate in the development of tourism in Oman and their emotional or functional
belonging to the community. Participants generally indicated that no matter whether
or not they possessed the power and authority to be involved in tourism planning and
decision-making process, they did not want to link that possession or desire to their
belonging to a particular place. That is, they showed no strong sense of power
relationship related to belonging. This result is surprising in a country where the
people showed traditionally high sensitivities to maintaining their culture and social
attachment to their communities, and tended to be identified socially, economically,
and politically with the community, whether in urban or regional areas. On the
contrary, this negative relationship is natural in a country were democracy and

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freedom of speech are still developing, and you would expect that people would be
satisfied with the status quo of the political environment in the community in general.
Additionally, people have an interest in voicing their political opinions in matters
related to the country in general and not just their own community. Several
participants in the focus groups stressed the point that: “The whole of Oman is my
community. I don’t want to be identified with one particular region. It doesn’t matter
where I’m from, I need to have a say on all matters … it should not matter if I’m not
attached to a particular community”.

As mentioned above, the relationship between the constructs ‘community

participation’ and ‘stakeholders’ support for competitive destination strategies’ is a
new finding. People’s active involvement in tourism planning and decision-making
processes is expected to lead to increasing levels of growth and sustainability of the
tourism industry, which in turn should enhance the destination’s competitiveness
internationally. Sustainability has been discussed as an issue people are concerned
about (e.g. Gunn, 1994; Smith, 2001; Woodley, 1993). However, until now there has
been little empirical evidence on its relationship with other key constructs in the
tourism system, such as its significant relationship to community participation, as
noted above.

(4) Influence of destination tourism resources and attractions. H4 investigated the

relationship between development preferences about tourism resources and attractions
and stakeholders’ support for competitive destination strategies. Support for
competitive strategies was measured by ‘destination marketing efforts and activities’
and ‘sustainable destination management and practices’ indicators. The findings
indicated a very significant support for this hypothesis, suggesting that the greater the
tourism stakeholders’ preferences for tourism resources and attractions development,
the more likely their support for marketing efforts and activities and sustainability
management and practices. Thus, this finding confirms previous research outcomes
which illustrated and explained in-depth the importance of developing various tourism
resources and attractions to achieve a sustainable destination competitive position
(e.g. Buhalis, 2000; Crouch & Ritchie, 1994, 1999; Ewert & Shultis, 1997; Formica,
2002; Gearing et al., 1974; Go & Govers, 2000; Hassan, 2000; Inskeep, 1991;
Mihalic, 2000; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2000, 2003; Yoon, 2002; Yoon et al., 2001).

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Those tourism resources and attractions that Oman’s tourism stakeholders preferred to
see developed are shown in Figure 4.9 (section 4.7.9). This finding indicated that a
strong relationship between the construct ‘development of resources and attractions’
and ‘competitive destination strategies’ can enhance the competitiveness of a
destination, which agrees with what has been suggested by the literature (Buhalis,
2000; Formica, 2002; Hassan, 2000; Mihalic, 2000; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2000).
Destination competitiveness is the ability of the destination to create quality value-
added products and experiences delivered to potential customers to increase national
wealth and create favourable positioning for the destination by wisely managing the
tourism products and integrating them into a socio-economic model (Ritchie &
Crouch, 2000).

Therefore, marketing efforts and activities could help to achieve those objectives of
creating national wealth, positioning and sustainability of the product, and adding
value to the resources and attractions in the long-term. Destination marketing and
management represent key strategies for both mature and emerging destinations in a
fierce and growing international marketplace (Minghetti, 2001). Therefore,
destinations need to ensure sustainable development to satisfy the ever-demanding
tourism customers and to gain a competitive cutting edge in the global tourism
market. This study’s respondents again regarded marketing as an important process
with specific emphasis on brand image building, target markets, overcoming
seasonality, increasing length of stay and spending, marketing promotion efforts, and
maintaining high standard facilities. The implementation of these marketing
initiatives, combined with sustainability objectives such as recording information
about local people’s attitudes towards tourism and tourists, protecting wildlife,
promoting ethical responsibility towards the environment, education opportunity
about tourism environment, citizen participation, and consideration of environmental
issues in internal and external marketing campaigns, may lead to the enhancement of
destination competitiveness.

Destinations, therefore, in their efforts to find effective strategies to achieve

sustainable development of the tourism industry in line with their available resources
and attractions, need to consider diverse development paths from mass to specifically
targeted tourism strategies. This is particularly true of a developing country such as

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Oman. Whatever pathway a destination decides to pursue, it is likely to make some

trade-offs and compromises about, for instance, regulations, policies and investments
(Ashely et al., 2000). This finding strengthens the findings of previous studies that
highlighted the importance of incorporating sustainability aspects into marketing
planning strategies to ultimately enhance destination competitiveness (e.g. Bordas,
1994; Buhalis, 2000; Heath 2003; Heath & Wall, 1992; Kozak, 2001; Poon, 1994;
Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2000, 2003).

However, indicators related to the factor roles of government organisations in

establishing a destination’s development and marketing strategies did not fit the
model after CFA was performed. This result, however, contradicts the findings of
other researchers (e.g. Ashworth & Goodall, 1990; Broham, 1996a; Buhalis, 2000;
Goodfrey & Clarke, 2000; Hall, 1994; Harrison, 2001; Heath, 2003; Howie, 2003;
Madrigal, 1995; Mihalic, 2000; Pearce, 1992; Pike, 2004; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993),
who emphasised the positive and central role of government authorities, including
destination marketing organisations (DMO), in setting up development plans,
marketing and promotion strategies, and representing all stakeholders’ interests. This
shortfall may be attributed to people’s misunderstanding or lack of awareness of the
viability of a government’s role in tourism planning and development. The decision-
makers responsible for tourism planning and development in Oman share such an
assertion (see section 4.11).

This contradiction was un expected for a developing country such as Oman, where
people would seem to be expecting more government intervention and control in the
tourism planning and development stages to protect the local communities’ interest
against exploitation by diverse domestic industry players and multinational
companies, as generally emphasised by Hall (1994) and Parnwell (1998). For
instance, Omani government officials attending the two focus groups (section 4.11)
reinforced this view, and attributed such a contradiction to people’s misunderstanding
of government’s role, the fact that the interests of stakeholders, mainly residents,
would diverge greatly from government’s interests (Mowforth & Munt, 1998), or their
belief that the government tends to support private sector initiatives which may affect
their local interests.

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However, despite this finding, the survey respondents emphasised the important role
of government authorities in three of the top ten competitive destination strategies, as
illustrated by the descriptive analysis of the data (see Table 4.5, section 4.6.5).

Additionally, a new finding of this study is the existence of a negative relationship

between the construct ‘stakeholders’ preferences about tourism resources and
attractions’ and ‘environmental impacts’ as an endogenous (dependent) construct.
This finding explains people’s concerns about the consequences the development of
resources and attractions may have on the natural environment of Oman. Perceived
negative physical and environmental impacts of tourism may include destruction of
natural resources and deterioration of cultural and historical resources. Furthermore,
this finding confirms the conclusions of previous studies arguing that there is a
negative relationship between community members’ environmental ecocentric
attitudes and the development of resources and attractions (e.g. Ap, 1990, 1992; Chen,
2000; Kendall & Var, 1984; Pizam, 1978; Yoon et al., 2001). On the other hand, the
study contradicts other literature that indicates the existence of positive relationships
between the two constructs (e.g. Travis, 1982). Generally, tourism literature shows
that tourism stakeholders hold mixed perceptions about the physical and
environmental impacts of tourism depending on various characteristics such as socio-
demographic or socio-economic interests (Allen et al., 1988; Arcury, 1990; Jurowski
et al., 1997; Liu & Var, 1986; Liu et al., 1987).

After discussing the hypothesised interrelationships between the various constructs of

the conceptual framework, I will now introduce the expected theoretical and
methodological contributions of this research, and the possible practical implications.

5.3 Contributions and Implications

The results reported in Chapter 4 indicated several important findings addressing the
research problem of how the interrelationships between various tourism development
impacts, community attachment and participation, as well as development of
resources and attractions affect destination competitive strategies, and therefore,
enhance regional (in the Middle East) and international competitiveness of Oman as a
tourism destination. The initial destination strategy model was empirically tested and,

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following various stages of data analysis, modified to more accurately investigate and
reflect the research objectives and problems. In particular, CFA and SEM provided a
more in-depth understanding and allowed for more reliable interpretation of the
findings.

This research offers several theoretical contributions, new insights to methodological

approaches in a developing country such as Oman, and practical implications.

5.3.1 Theoretical contributions

This section introduces the nine most important theoretical contributions of this study.

(1) Conceptual model. The final structural model for destination competitiveness
(Figure 4.13, section 4.4.8.2) has several implications for the tourism literature.
Chapter 2 highlighted various gaps in the tourism literature that specifically dealt with
the topics of the relationship between stakeholders’ attitudes and support for tourism
product development, stakeholders’ participation, and destination competitiveness.
This research attempted to close those gaps. The conceptual model (refer to Figure
1.1) was built on established relationships (Jurowski et al., 1997; Yoon, 2002) but
also tested some newly proposed interrelationships between key constructs. Whilst the
research findings confirmed some of the hypotheses (testing relationships of key
constructs), others were not supported. In addition, several new relationships were
discovered and explained in Chapter 4 (sections 4.10) and Chapter 5 (section 5.2)
following SEM. That is, the final structural model, indicating relationships between
various tourism development impacts, community attachment, resources and
attractions development preferences, community participation, and support for
competitive destination strategies (Figure 4.13), has undergone several revisions
during data analysis since its introduction in Figure 1.1.

This model is a significant contribution to the extant tourism literature, building on

previous general works on tourism planning and development (e.g., Allen et al., 1993;
Andereck & Vogt, 2000; Ap, 1990, 1992; Brunt & Courtney, 1999; Choi & Sirakaya,
2005; Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Dogan, 1989; Gunn & Var, 2002; Inskeep, 1991;
Jurowski et al., 1997; Lankford & Howard, 1994; Liu & Var, 1986; McIntosh &

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Goeldner, 1986; Mill & Morrison, 2002; Murphy, 1985; Pizam, 1978; Ritchie &
Crouch, 1993, 2000, 2003; Williams & Lawson, 2001; Yoon et al., 1999, 2001),
marketing management (e.g., Buhalis, 2000; Go & Govers, 2000; Hassan, 2000; Hu &
Ritchie, 1993; Mihalic, 2000; Poon, 1993; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2000, 2003),
community attachment (e.g., Bricker & Kerstetten, 2000; Hidalgo & Hernandez,
2001; McCool & Martin, 1994; Moore & Graefe, 1994; Proshanski et al., 1983;
Stedman, 2003; Um & Crompton, 1987; Veske & Korbin, 2001; Warzecha & Lime,
2001; Williams et al., 1992, 1995), collaboration and community participation (e.g.,
Aas et al., 2005; Fyall & Garrod, 2004; Hall, 2000; Jamal & Getz, 1995; Keogh,
1990; Murphy, 1985; Scheyvens, 2002; Tosun, 2002; Williams & Lawson, 2001),
and specifically models developed by Jurowski et al. (1997) and Yoon (2002). It
presents the first comprehensive and empirically tested study focusing on
interrelationships between destination development factors and competitive strategies
for the example of Oman. Thus, the study contributes a new regional dimension to the
tourism literature that by and large rarely tends to focus on tourism strategies and
operations of Middle Eastern destinations.

(2) Interrelationships between development impacts and other constructs.

Previous studies noted the significance of tourism development impacts as exogenous
constructs, concentrating particularly on political, economic, social, cultural, and
environmental impacts (e.g. Akis et al., 1996; Belisle & Hoy, 1980; Brunt &
Courtney, 1999; Holden, 2000; Jurowski et al., 1997; Liu et al., 1987; Long et al.,
1990; Tosun, 2002). This research contributed to the literature on tourism
development by confirming the existence and strength of some of these relationships.
However, the findings also contradicted previous studies (Jurowski et al., 1997; Yoon,
2002; Yoon et al., 2001) in that the data clearly highlighted the environmental impact
as a dependent variable rather than an independent variable.

Amongst ‘tourism development impacts’ construct factors, the strongest positive

effect was of the ‘socio-cultural impact’ factor on the constructs of ‘community
attachment’ and ‘development preferences about tourism resources and attractions’
(see Figure 4.13). These strong relationships support the outcomes of other previous
studies (e.g. Akis et al., 1996; Besculides et al., 2002; Brunt & Courtney, 1999;
Upchurch & Teivane, 2000), which indicated that communities, especially in the early

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stages of tourism development, are not greatly vulnerable to negative socio-cultural

impacts. However, the finding contradicts studies that approved the negative socio-
cultural and environmental community’s perception towards tourism development
(e.g. Jurowski et al., 1997; Pizam, 1978; Yoon et al., 2001). Despite the strength of
the Omani society’s culture and its characteristic of being conservative, this positive
perception expressed by Oman’s tourism stakeholders towards tourism development
could be attributed to the fact that tourism development in Oman is still in its infancy
(Butler, 1980), and the contact between hosts and guests is still at the lower level.
Additionally, the type of tourism residents are exposed to (upper-level), has so far
kept the distance between tourists and the local communities at a manageable level,
preventing an immediate effect on the communities. Thus, the study’s contribution is
about providing evidence of the link between the level of tourism development in a
destination, type of targeted tourism and the perceived socio-cultural impacts.

While the results of this study show positive relationships between those constructs,
there is no evidence or guarantee that such perception or relationship would persist. In
fact, tourism development has the potential to dramatically affect the socio-cultural
fabric of societies, especially in developing countries (for example, in Thailand,
Morocco or Dubai), as shown by previous studies (e.g. Pizam, 1978). Thus, if the
results of the study are replicated in years to come, when tourism development is in a
more advanced stage in Oman, the findings might be different as predicted by
previous research (Huang & Stewart, 1996).

Furthermore, this research attempted to address previous gaps in the literature related
to the significance of public policies in presenting political impacts of tourism
development, such as enhancing destination political image, ideology and economic
benefits and their place in the conceptual model, thus bridging theoretical gaps as
have been outlined in the literature (e.g. Britton, 1983; de Kadat, 1979; Dogan, 1989;
Hall, 1992, 1994; Ritchie, 1984).

However, the political impacts factor of the ‘tourism development impacts’ construct
was not significant, thus did not fit the structural model. This could be attributed
either to the fact that I did not properly develop the factor’s measurement scales, or
because the political culture of respondents is underdeveloped. This final point

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suggests that, as mentioned earlier when discussing the limitations of this research
methodology, stakeholders’ political understanding and interests are somewhat
underdeveloped when it comes to publicly discussing issues related to politics or
public policies (section 3.7). Similarly, some stakeholders lack the appropriate and
practical understanding of economic terms and conditions that enable them to
participate actively in political dialogue. This is in addition to socio-cultural
constraints of participation in an autocratic and immature political society such as
Oman. Focus group participants agreed with this analysis. They considered that
stakeholders did not yet have the political maturity to become involved in more
advanced discussions about the link between politics and tourism development.

These outcomes support the tourism literature in that concepts and impacts,
particularly of a political dimension, are not as yet very well explained (e.g. Hall,
1992, 1994; Ritchie, 1984; Snepenger & Johnson, 1991; Weaver, 1998). This lack of
research about tourism political impacts theory can be attributed to the difficulty of
obtaining appropriate political data related to the questions of ideology, power sources
and relations, and social structure (Hall, 1994; Ritchie, 1984). Therefore, this
phenomenon of political impacts deserves further investigation and evaluation from
tourism political researchers and practitioners. Of critical importance in the analysis
of the political impacts of tourism development are the notions of political
development and power arrangements between different interest groups within the
tourism system.

(3) Community attachment. Several authors examined the relationship between the
independent variable ‘community attachment’ and people’s support for further
tourism development (e.g. Jurowski, 1998; Jurowski et al., 1997; Vesey & Dimanche,
2000; Williams et al., 1995; Yoon et al., 2001). Such relationships were associated
with different circumstances such as length of residency, birthplace, and level of
tourism development. This study’s findings contradicted the outcomes of those
studies. It shows no relationship between ‘community attachment’ and the
‘development of tourism resources and attractions’. Furthermore, the study’s findings
show the ‘community attachment’ construct as a mediating construct between ‘socio-
cultural impacts’ and ‘community participation’ constructs on one hand and
‘environmental impacts’ and ‘sustainable destination management and efforts’

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constructs on the other (see Figure 4.13). Thus, again the study contradicted previous
researchers’ outcomes (e.g. Jurowski et al., 1997; Yoon, 2002; Yoon et al., 2001),
which considered the ‘community attachment’ construct as an independent variable,
as noted above. That is, the ‘community attachment’ construct after the SEM turned
out to be a mediating construct in this study, as explained earlier. This finding thus
confirms to some extent the general outcomes of previous studies (e.g. Gursoy et al.,
2002; Lankford & Howard, 1994; McCool & Martin, 1994) which could not find a
clear connection between attachment, impacts and support for development or found
negative relationship (Um & Crompton, 1987). This, as mentioned by Keogh (1990),
could be attributed to lack of knowledge, familiarity, and information about
development impacts provided by destination planning authorities. Therefore, this
finding is a core contribution to the discussion on the impact of community
attachment in relation to developing tourism resources and attractions.

(4) Community participation and empowerment. Whilst there are several

authorities that highlighted the relevance of community power and values reflected in
their participation and empowerment in the stages of early tourism planning and
development (e.g. Bramwell & Lane, 2000; Getz & Timur, 2004; Hall, 1994, 1999,
2000; Jamal & Getz, 1995; Murphy, 1985; Reid, 2004; Scheyvens, 2002; Sofield,
2003; Timothy, 1999), there is very little empirical evidence supporting this claim
(e.g. Ap & Crompton, 1993; Robson & Robson, 1996; Simmons, 1994; Timothy,
1999; Yuksel et al., 1999). Thus, there is a subsequent need to explore these theories
in real-world situations (Ladkin & Bertramini, 2002). Moreover, most studies directed
at community-based planning, as mentioned by Ko & Stewart (2002), have been
conducted in developed countries (e.g. Ap & Crompton, 1993; Brown & Giles, 1994;
Robson & Robson, 1996).

Whether or not community involvement in tourism planning and development affects

various tourism impacts within developing countries’ destinations needs further
examination (Ko & Stewart, 2002). This study, therefore, builds on those theory-
based approaches and suggestions in that it provides empirically tested evidence on
the importance of community participation and of empowering the Omani community
in developing and planning their tourism resources and attractions. The study also
therefore confirms the theoretical bases of those authors calling for more active

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participation by stakeholders in various stages of tourism planning and development,

and contributes a new dimension to the theoretical and empirical literature by adding
the perspective of a developing country to the theory of community-based strategic
planning.

As discussed in section 2.4.3, the involvement and empowerment of stakeholders in

developing countries is necessary prior to and during the tourism planning and
development stages to identify both tangible and intangible benefits of tourism while
at the same time attempting to avoid any negative consequences. This kind of
participation should include all tourism relevant stakeholders (Scheyvens, 2003).

There was an implicit general consensus amongst respondents of this study favouring
the ‘top-down’ model of participation, as suggested by the WTO (1994) in terms of
community participation. Most respondents revealed their satisfaction with the current
level of participation and government consultation, and supported the continuation of
government control over tourism activities. As the tourism industry is in its infancy in
Oman, it seems natural to expect that people prefer the government to hold control of
planning and development activities. Despite this notion, stakeholders across all
groups participating in this study still believed that the planning authorities should
gradually allow some level of participation at the strategic or operational level in
tourism initiatives and would prefer to see more collaboration amongst planning and
development authorities in the country. This policy of citizens’ gradual involvement is
a general pre-defined policy for the Omani government as identified by a few
participants in the focus groups, and tourism is no exception (see section 4.11).

The majority of the Omani government officials participating in the focus group
discussions supported the suitability and functionality of the WTO (1994) favoured
‘top-down’ approach of participation in Oman, although the approach seems
somewhat bureaucratic as it requires unrealistic inputs from various stakeholders.
However, the outcomes of the focus group discussions indicated conflicting opinions
among participants about the level and degree of community participation. Despite
this, all participants agreed on the importance of involving stakeholders in tourism
planning and development decision-making processes, with about 80 percent of group
(2), ‘Ministry of Tourism’, believing that consultation rather than participation to be

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more appropriate at this stage of tourism development in Oman (see section 4.11).
Some participants in the three groups believed strongly that participation was a good
thing for both planning authorities and local communities, indicating that from their
experiences, they knew that people expected to have more roles to play in tourism
development to protect their communities’ interests. So, despite the belief of the
existence of some kind of stakeholders’ involvement in Oman, the Omani
involvement context is shaped by what is called ‘public culture of managed
participation’ (Birch, 1993, p.24), with public reluctance to engage in policy debates.
Generally, a minority of participants preferred what is called the ‘bottom-up’
approach of participation that involves holding meetings with local communities to
predetermine what type of development they would like to have. Thus, the merits of
community participation need to be promoted.

(5) Media and tourism researchers as tourism stakeholders. The literature

discussed the importance of various stakeholders’ participation in the tourism
planning and decision-making processes (see section 2.4.3). Chapter 2 (sections
2.2.3.3 & 2.2.3.7) discussed various planning approaches such as the strategically
based ‘community-based’ approach to tourism planning and development (e.g. Hall,
2000; Inskeep, 1991; Jamal & Getz, 1997; Murphy, 1985; Simmons, 1994). In
particular, it specified those stakeholders who tended to be involved in one or more
stages of tourism planning and development, as shown in Figure 2.3 (section 2.4.3.1).
This study contributed to the tourism literature by expanding the stakeholders’ chart
and included the media and tourism researchers, who had not been considered as
primary stakeholders in previous studies. The study respondents indicated clearly the
importance of the mass media in framing Oman’s image in general, and expressed
their dissatisfaction with the level of media involvement in tourism promotion. Thus,
the participation of mass media representatives in this study enriched the outcome by
giving them the opportunity to express their opinions about how they perceived
tourism planning and development aspects in Oman.

The mass media is expected to play a critical role in destination marketing and
management, particularly in the Middle East due to the international political situation
(Schneider & Sonmez, (1999). Media plays a critical role in transmitting information
between planning authorities and local communities, educating the public about the

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expected costs and benefits of tourism, increasing national and international

awareness of a destination, building a destination’s image, and playing the mediating
role between community members and planning authorities. Media is a very efficient
means that could be utilised by all interested parties to achieve their objectives
through voicing their opinions about tourism issues. Thus, media has to be considered
as one of the potential stakeholders that neither tourism researchers nor tourism
planners and decision makers should ignore.

Moreover, tourism researchers and professionals also play an important role in

tourism planning and development. Their importance stems from providing
professional and academic insights into the outcomes of the quantitative results of this
study. Academic researchers, including tourism students, are the future planners and
practitioners. They have the capability to impact tourism development either through
research writing or practicing. Thus, future studies should consider them to be part of
the key stakeholders.

In brief, this indicates the potential impact and importance of these key stakeholders
(the media and tourism researchers) that other future tourism studies should not
ignore.

(6) Marketing and management policies. Several authors emphasised the

importance of governments’ roles of developing and introducing tourism policies that
synergise marketing and management with destination sustainability approaches to
achieve the development of those resources and attractions to produce a sustainable
competitive position for a destination (e.g. Bordas, 1994; Buhalis, 2000; Go et al.,
1992; Mihalic, 2000; Pike, 2004; Ritchie & Crouch, 2000; Selin, 1993). This study
confirms the importance of in-depth cooperation and collaboration between various
Omani government authorities such as the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of
Heritage and Culture, and the Royal Oman Police, in better integrating marketing and
management policies, thus ensuring higher sustainability of future tourism
development.

The relationship between marketing policies and destination sustainability is quite

strong in this study as shown by the relationship between ‘tourism resources and

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attractions development’ and destination marketing and sustainability constructs on

one hand, and correlation between marketing and sustainability constructs on the
other. These relationships reflect what has been discussed in the literature (Aas et al,
2005; Bordas, 1994; Buhalis, 2000; Go & Govers, 2000; Kozak, 2001; Mihalic, 2000;
Minghetti, 2001; Pike, 2004; Poon, 1994; Ritchie & Crouch, 2000). Meanwhile,
respondents, mainly from residents and private sector categories, believed that the
level of cooperation and collaboration between government authorities in terms of
tourism planning and regulations was still unsatisfactory. This insufficient
collaboration may be attributed to the nature of the political regulation system and
environment in Oman as clarified by participants in the focus groups (section 4.11).
Each organisation is more concerned about its own regulatory mandate with no due
consideration to what that means to other organisations or what effects that might
have on others, as one participant elaborated; and as mentioned by another,
“Government officials still think on micro rather than macro level of development in
collaborating with other organisations”.

The importance of those affiliations was emphasised by both private and public sector
officials (section 4.11). Despite the existence of coordination committees, especially
the Ministerial Committee related to coordinating tourism activities which meets
frequently, the level of collaboration as seen by some participants is still less than
expected. The private sector expected to see more coordinated efforts in expediting
procedures of granting investment licenses. They would like to see the ‘one stop shop’
concept implemented efficiently and effectively, and for government to cut red tape in
dealing with the private sector. The private sector also would like to see the
government loosening its policy on the types of tourists attracted to the destination,
which would encourage further private sector investment on tourism projects and
marketing activities.

(7) Social exchange and stakeholder theories. Despite the common recognition and
application of the stakeholder theory as a strategic tool in organisational management
(e.g. Bridges, 2004; Donaldson & Preston, 1998; Mitchell et al., 1998; Phillips, 2003;
Post et al., 2002; Suatter & Leisen, 1999), there has been little use of the theory in
tourism planning and strategy development (Aas et al., 2005; Getz & Timur, 2004).
This research contributes to the theoretical development of stakeholder theory in the

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field of tourism planning and development. In particular, it combines the use of

stakeholder and social exchange theory (the latter has been widely referred to in the
tourism planning and development literature) in explaining cost-benefit relationships
between various stakeholders in the tourism system and identifying the role of
stakeholders in tourism planning and development, which is the core concept of the
stakeholder theory. The study shows the link between the two theories, introducing
stakeholders as the denominator factor of the two; it further introduces the stakeholder
theory to the tourism discipline. Henceforth, This link between the two theories and
between stakeholder theory and the tourism planning and development discipline may
require further investigation and validation by future tourism planning researchers.

(8) Utilisation of SEM for key construct relationship testing. This research utilised
the structural equation modelling (SEM) method and AMOS software in data
analysis. There is scant tourism literature utilizing this method in tourism research.
Thus, this study contributes by expanding the use of SEM in analysing empirical data
in the tourism discipline, that is to say, not in the use of SEM per se, but rather in the
rigorous testing of relationships between key constructs. This study is one of few
recent studies that has attempted to explain the relationships between different
perceived tourism development impacts, community attachments and support for
destination tourism planning, development and competitive strategies.

(9) Destination competitive strategies. The construct ‘competitive destination

strategies’ is the ultimate dependent variable for this study. It defines those strategies
mostly considered by Oman’s stakeholders as the most appropriate strategies that
would enhance the destination’s competitiveness in the international tourism market.
The strategies are (in no particular order):

1. the development of a strong destination image;

2. the selection of appropriate target markets (e.g. Germany, Japan, England);
3. overcoming seasonality (peak and off-season) in tourists’ visits;
4. increasing tourists’ length of stay;
5. tourism marketing and promotion for targeting international tourists and visitors;
6. increasing tourists’ spending;
7. the establishment of standards for tourism facilities;

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

8. recording information to monitor the attitudes of the local population towards

the tourism industry;
9. protecting and improving wildlife habitats;
10. promoting ethical responsibility towards the natural environment;
11. expanding educational opportunities for the visiting public in terms of
natural/environmental quality and protection;
12. encouraging local citizen participation in decision-making about tourism
development; and
13. environmental considerations in the marketing of tourism.

These strategies are a mixture of policies related to marketing initiatives and

sustainability management. This study outcome confirms what has been established in
the general tourism literature regarding various destination competitiveness factors
and strategies (e.g. Bordas, 1994; Buhalis, 2000; Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Dwyer &
Kim, 2001; Dwyer et al., 2000, 2003; Gee et al., 1989; Go & Govers, 2000; Gursoy et
al, 2002; Hassan, 2000; Kim, 1998; Kozak, 2001; Ko & Stewart, 2002; Mihalik,
2000; Minghetti, 2001; Poon, 1994; Reid et al., 2004; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2000,
2003; Tosun, 2002; Yoon et al., 2001). However, the combination of the three strands
(marketing, sustainability, environment) in the final structural competitiveness model
is a new finding in this study. Hence, the implementation process and the application
of those strategies may differ from one destination to another, depending upon each
destination’s unique possessed tourism resources and attractions products and level of
tourism development.

5.3.2 Methodological approaches

Two main methodology contributions were made by this research.

(1) Research design. Historically it was not evident that empirical research had been
conducted on a large scale in Oman as with this study, except for official census
purposes. The cultural factor of society dominated the practical exercise of this study.
In conducting this research, the research design and process has from the beginning
taken into consideration the anticipated environmental and cultural limitations and
has, therefore, applied rigours, high validity and generalisation (see section 3.7). I

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

anticipated encountering some difficulties in carrying out this research, such as

people’s unfamiliarity with the market research domain and restrictions imposed
through the non-existence of mailing lists, mailing house services and a proper
mailing system. Even with the online survey I could not find an e-mail list of contacts.
Therefore, I had to utilise my long-term network of personal relationships within the
government and private sectors, and use authority from the Ministry of Tourism to
send and follow up on collecting the survey, and to station moderators in shopping
malls and various other locations to distribute and help participants fill in
questionnaires and subsequently collect the questionnaires from different locations
around the country. This unique method enabled me to collect a large sample size,
which was greater than anticipated, representing different segments, regions and
genders. Personal relationships and contacts are essential in Oman, and no doubt in
other developing countries as well, in terms of conducting research. Therefore, this
study contributes to cultural research methodology practices in conducting research in
developing countries.
`
(2) Development of measures and scales. To test the community participation
construct empirically, a number of scale items were developed. Scale development for
this construct was one of the primary purposes for this research. Therefore, this study
contributed methodologically to the tourism literature and stakeholders’ theory
domain by developing a scale, which could be used in subsequent research to
substantiate the arguments proposed in this study. Therefore, researchers can replicate
this scale in different settings or destinations for validation (see section 3.6.1.4 &
Appendix II, part E).

5.3.3 Practical implications

The general implication for managerial practice largely comes from the findings
related to the strong relationship (the highest path coefficient score) between
development of tourism resources and attractions and support for competitive
destination strategies. Accordingly, the practical applications and implications of this
study are more focused on these findings, without ignoring other important
relationships and their implications for tourism stakeholders.

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

(1) Lack of knowledge. Findings provide some guidance to tourism planners,

developers, and policy decision-makers to better evaluate and understand which
tourism resources and attractions key stakeholders preferred to see developed (e.g.
development of nature-based tourism, development of small independent businesses,
development of cultural or historic-based attractions). Accordingly, those
development preferences may influence the decision-making processes of authorities
such as the Ministry of Tourism and other planning and strategy making organisations
before the implementation stage. Furthermore, the findings indicated that there is lack
of information available to tourism planning authorities that provided them with a
deeper understanding and better appreciation of diverse stakeholders’ preferences
about the development of resources and attractions in Oman. This assertion was
emphatically confirmed by participants in the focus groups (section 4.11). They
attributed this lack of information firstly to the fact that the Ministry of Tourism has
only recently been established and is still in the organisation stage of its activities, and
secondly to the fragmentation of the data collection system in the country and the
non-existence of the culture of pre-development consultation with stakeholders, as has
been explained in different places in this research.

(2) Creating marketing strategies. This study’s findings indicated that competitive
destination strategies are associated with destination marketing and sustainable
management initiatives (sustainability is discussed in more detail below in point 3).
The development of resources and attractions should be accompanied by well-planned
and executed marketing strategies (such as development of destination branding
image, selection of suitable target markets, overcoming seasonality, increasing
tourists’ length of stay and spending, and providing high standard facilities), taking
into consideration the aim of achieving tourism sustainability and preserving the
natural environment. The incorporation of marketing concepts and activities with
competitive development strategies may help to enhance destination competitiveness
(e.g. Bordas, 1994; Buhalis; 2000; Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Dwyer et al., 2003; Go et
al., 1992; Hassan, 2000; Kozak, 2001; Mihalič, 2000; Minghetti, 2001; Poon, 1994;
Riege & Perry, 2000; Riege et al., 2001; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993, 2000, 2003).
Indeed, a better synergy of all of these factors should attain the objective of enhancing
Oman’s destination competitiveness. Government officials at the Ministry of Tourism
agreed with this observation (section 4.11), and have already started to pursue new

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

strategic objectives and initiatives that assist in identifying Oman’s growth market
segments and redefine its brand equity for existing and new segments.

In particular, brand building is a critical issue to be considered by tourism authorities

in their marketing efforts to introduce Oman as a tourism destination. All destinations
face branding challenges related to their marketing mixes since they have many
stakeholders to deal with, little management control and often-underdeveloped
identities (Morgan et al., 2003). Thus, as tourism in Oman is in its early
developmental stages (sections 2.2.3.1, 4.11 & section 2.5), the government, as
confirmed by both the Undersecretary and Director General of Tourism Promotion of
the Ministry of Tourism (section 4.11), is placing a high priority on the development
and provision of high standard infrastructure and tourism services to cater for the
interests of targeted tourism segments. They revealed that the Ministry had
commissioned foreign marketing consultants (representing different markets) to
evaluate the destination’s marketing initiatives and make suggestions about the
destination’s branding and image. However, these efforts were pure marketing
activities but did not, as presented in this study, include sustainability management
and environmental concerns.

In its Tourism 2020 Vision, the WTO (1999) identified four key market segments that
are growing in importance internationally, namely: eco-tourism, cultural tourism, the
cruise market, and adventure tourism. Adventure tourism is, according to all
indicators, likely to grow in popularity (WTO, 1999). The size of the eco-tourism
segment is expected to increase dramatically in the 21st century (Lubbe, 2003).
Respondents to this study identified the importance of developing resources and
attractions that are related to the two growing segments in Oman, eco-tourism and
culture. Although one of Oman’s current tourism strategies emphasises its cultural
uniqueness, it may need to consider in the future the development of other growing
clusters or segments of tourism to attract more tourists.

(3) Sustainable destination management. A core finding related to the sustainability

of Oman’s natural and cultural environment. Respondents believed that it was
important to record residents’ attitudes and behaviours towards tourists to ensure that
they received a hospitable reception as well as evaluating people’s satisfaction about

351
Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

tourism development in general. This finding confirms previous researchers’ findings

about relationships between residents’ perception of tourism development and
satisfaction (e.g. Davis et al., 1988; Gee et al., 1989; Ko & Stewart, 2002; Murphy,
1985; Perdue et al., 1990; Yoon et al., 2001). For instance, I suggested the
establishment of a research centre at the Ministry of Tourism (or wherever deemed to
be a more appropriate location) to collect information about tourism development
impacts and satisfaction with tourism development and authorities, and to monitor
residents’ and tourists’ behaviours and attitudes. This centre may provide the planning
authorities with needed information before and during the planning process, in
addition to keeping track of tourism transition based on Butler’s (1980) development
curve from one stage of development to the other. This suggestion was initially
supported by participants in the focus groups, especially those from the Ministry of
Tourism (section 4.11). They found the idea appealing, and there is a possibility it
could be incorporated into the future strategic planning of the Ministry.

(4) Niche tourism. Controlling the development impact of tourism is one of the major
issues facing developing countries such as Oman. That is, some developing countries
have tried to impose a form of control over the nature and volume of tourism by
focusing exclusively, for example, on the high-spending tourist segment (Scheyvens,
2002). Thus far, the Omani government has adopted this kind of policy. While the
tourism authority in Oman targets the high-end niche market, as opposed to mass-
tourism, this policy somehow contradicts the national long-term strategic planning
adopted by the country, where the concentration is on increasing revenues across
various national industry sectors, increasing full employment in the service sector, and
increasing tourism’s share of the national GDP. However, any government is not
expected to achieve such holistic goals and at the same time encourage stakeholders’
participation on a large scale (Shah & Gupta, 2000). Then the optimal solution is to
find a compromise between the government’s objectives and the stakeholders’
interests for participation and empowerment.

Despite the focus group participants’ strong conviction about the positive impacts of
tourism, they disagreed however about the approaches the government should adopt
for tourism development. The issue of mass-tourism versus selective tourism was an
issue of disagreement between participants. Mass-tourism, according to the

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

Undersecretary of Ministry of Tourism, does not mean opening the gate for lower
segments of tourism such as ‘backpackers’ (section 4.11). On this issue, one
participant elaborated on the importance of synergy between government policies and
what is actually implemented in terms of numbers and scales of hotels under
construction (see section 4.11). As it was observed, there was a disagreement
between participants on the definition of mass-tourism and which approach is more
suitable for Oman to follow. As was indicated by one participant, Thailand is a good
example of the controversies over the adoption of a mass tourism policy or otherwise
(see section 4.11.1, point 1). According to a participant from the tourism industry,
“The country needs all types of tourism segments, you can not be selective all the way
and at all times, a clear and proactive policy is required at this stage which will
encourage investments of different scales, not just at upper market.” Thus, tourism
industry practitioners believed that, for the best interests of the national economy,
such a strategy of top-market niche tourism should not be a long-term one.

(5) Protection of the natural environment. The tourism literature discussed in

detail the aspects of the relationships between tourism and the environment. It
associated the tourism development impacts with such factors as the development of
natural historical or cultural resources, recreation facilities, and tourist service
facilities (e.g. Ap, 1990; Davis et al., 1988; Dowling, 2003; Frances, 1998; Gartner,
1996; Getz, 1994; Lankford & Howard, 1994; Liu et al., 1987; Mathieson & Wall,
1982; Mason, 2003; Milman & Pizam, 1988; Pizam, 1978; Murphy, 1983; Weaver,
2001; Wong, 2004).

Whilst there have been numerous studies discussing the environmental impacts of
tourism development, when taken from the viewpoint of a single discipline – for
example taking an economic or ecological perspective – it has been largely considered
insufficient and unstructured in terms of the geographical areas covered and lacks
cohesion (e.g. Hunter & Green, 1995; Butler, 2000; Wong, 2004). The issue of the
environment seems not to have been well placed and accommodated into the tourism
functioning system as has been explained in Chapter 2 (section 2.4.2.3). It could,
however, be considered and thus add to those external influencing factors identified
by Gunn (1988) that link the tourism supply and demand systems. This study
marginally contributes to this discipline by raising Oman’s stakeholders’ concerns

353
Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

about the outcomes of tourism development and places it within the functional system
of tourism in Oman.

The natural environment forms a significant basis of tourism (e.g. Mathieson & Wall,
1982; Mieczkowski, 1995; Page & Dowling, 2001; Weaver, 2001; Wong, 2004).
Direct and indirect impacts of tourism need to be identified and investigated. The
finding indicated that this study’s respondents, mainly residents, were more concerned
about the environmental impacts of tourism and suggested appropriate competitive
policies to support destination sustainability and the enhancement of destination
competitiveness. Tourism literature explained different types of environmental
impacts that destinations may face in the process of tourism development (e.g. Ap,
1990; Getz, 1994; Holden, 2000; Lankford & Howard, 1999; Liu et al., 1987; Mason,
2003; Murphy, 1983; Pizam, 1978). The study respondents identified three major
issues that they perceived to be essential in terms of tourism environmental impacts in
Oman: (1) construction of hotels and other tourist facilities destroys the natural
environment; (2) when people interfere with nature, it can produce disastrous
consequences; and (3) the private sector is severely abusing the environment.

These three issues were the subject of disagreement between participants in the focus
groups. About 50 percent of participants in government groups showed some concern
about the environmental effects of tourism on the natural environment. One
participant pointed out: “We understand as planning authority that some projects have
negative environmental impacts … which might appear in the long run … people see
building hotels on areas such as ‘Qurum Beach’ is destroying the natural environment
… it seems we are repeating the mistakes of Spain”. Those participants who were
conscious about tourism development believed that, if the planning authorities did not
take all precautionary measures, the country in fifty years time might be worse than
Spain. They particularly suggested studying the Taiwanese case of haphazard
planning of tourism that caused many negative impacts, which later forced the
government to restructure and redesign its tourism industry locations. They
recommended that government prepare feasibility studies before constructing any
tourism projects to establish its economic, social and environmental costs and
benefits. This finding strongly confirmed the empirical results of this research. The
tourism industry representatives, however, disagreed with this assertion. They claimed

354
Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

that good planning by planning authorities accompanied by higher environmental

standards could protect the environment from degradation and therefore safeguard the
community’s interest and protect it from unexpected negative impacts.

Even though many developing countries have effective regulatory frameworks to

control environmental impacts, they do not usually monitor and enforce their
implementation (Wall, 1996b). It is therefore suggested that Omani policy makers
consider using the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approach that has been
the most widely used measure for preventing the negative environmental impacts of
tourism (Ravenscroft, 1992; Wong, 2004). As yet, such a measure is not widely used
in developing countries, and if used is also not properly enforced (Wong, 2004).

(6) Public awareness. The findings also highlighted that in achieving tourism
sustainability to support competitive destination strategies, tourism authorities need to
provide more awareness-raising programs and initiatives, thereby better educating
various stakeholders and visitors in terms of the degree and quality of protection of
natural, historical, social and environmental resources. Clearly, the development of
resources and attractions impacts on various levels, such as skills, on community
members. Hence there is a growing challenge for public and private sector
organisations to introduce new, or increase existing awareness and education
campaigns across different levels in the community (Jenkins, 1980; Lipscomb, 1998;
Timothy, 2002; Timothy & Tosun, 2003). For instance, education and awareness
programs should be at the core of tourism development and could be incorporated into
school curriculums. Also, education about the environment and local culture, tradition
and life style should be extended to include tourists and industry personnel. Such
education program initiatives will ensure understanding, enhance tolerance, and
develop positive relationships between destination hosts and guests and in turn
enhance destination competitiveness.

Participants in focus groups generally endorsed this initiative of increasing public

awareness through incorporating tourism education into the national curriculums. “It
is a good idea … and I don’t see why it can’t be implemented,” mentioned one
participant. In fact some participants believed that this kind of approach could help
the tourism industry in the future, so they recommended the involvement of the

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

private sector in all stages of development and implementation of the programs. The
teaching of tourism and hospitality in middle and senior schools, as occurs in
Australia and other western countries, will enhance the creation of a tourism culture
within local communities.

This study confirms the outcome of previous studies about the lack of understanding
among community members about tourism in general and tourism development
impacts in particular (e.g. Tosun, 2000), which further impact on their level of
participation in decision-making processes. In fact, some governments, especially in
developing countries, use the public’s lack of understanding and awareness as an
excuse to exclude them from the participatory process (Timothy & Tosun, 2003).
Government officials in the focus groups pointed out that the level of tourism negative
development impacts are at a minimum in Oman thus far, and acknowledged the
insufficient efforts applied by authorities on education and publicity programs. Thus,
it is recommended that the Omani tourism authority work towards raising public
awareness about all aspects of tourism in anticipation of a substantial level of
participation in the future.

(7) Community participation. Respondents of this study believed that stakeholders’

participation in the benefits of tourism and in the decision-making process is an
essential strategic element in attaining destination sustainability and competitiveness.
They expressed their level of interest in the participation process, as shown in section
3.7.7. Respondents, specifically residents, expressed their willingness and desire to
attend meetings called by tourism authorities to discuss issues related to the
development of tourism in the communities. Thus, this desire for involvement in
resources and attractions development, and in endorsing the sustainability and
environmental strategies of competitiveness, highly confirmed what has been
generally suggested in the tourism literature about the necessity for a participatory
planning approach to encounter the negative consequences of tourism development
and achieve greater sustainability for the destination (e.g. Gunn, 1994; Gursoy et al.,
2002; Hall, 2000; Inskeep, 1991; Keogh, 1990; Lewis, 1998; Murphy, 1985; Reid et
al., 2004; Scheyvens, 2002; Timothy, 1999; Tosun, 2002; Williams & Lawson,
2001). Therefore, in an effort to counter the tension resulting from the increasing
negative impacts of a lack of or unbalanced tourism development, tourism authorities

356
Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

should plan the destination’s development more systematically (e.g. turtle protected
areas, communities surrounding historical sites), that is, taking into account
stakeholders’ opinions and perceptions to ensure support for destination tourism
development and competitive strategies.

There are different models and approaches suggested in the literature related to
involving communities in a participatory type approach (e.g. the model presented by
Reid et al., 2004). However, each destination has to take into consideration its own
unique situation and systems before adapting or developing its stakeholders’
participatory model. Omani government officials in focus groups generally confirmed
(section 4.11) the importance of stakeholders’ participation, indicating that they are in
the process of finding the optimal means for incorporating tourism stakeholders,
mainly residents, in the planning and development process without jeopardising the
implementation of governments’ pre-set planning objectives and policies. This finding
confirms Hall’s (1998b) assertions that the extent of public participation in tourism
planning in developing countries rarely rises above that of placation (section 2.4.3.2).
Henceforth, what is required is not merely information and consultation, rather
education, interaction, dialogue and awareness of all stakeholders.

(8) Destination competitiveness. The retention or growth of a destination’s

competitiveness represents a significant challenge for many tourism authorities, which
may also explain the lack of empirically based evidence on and understanding of the
topic in the tourism literature (Pike, 2004; Ritchie & Crouch, 2003). This study closed
this knowledge gap by investigating the notion of destination competitiveness, thereby
concentrating on evaluating Oman’s tourism stakeholders’ perceptions and attitudes
towards tourism development. Respondents indicated their preferences about the
development of certain tourism resources and attractions to further support and build
on Oman’s current competitive position as a tourist destination. In doing so,
respondents evaluated generic marketing, environment, and sustainability strategies
(section 4.7.11), which seemed relevant for the purpose of enhancing Oman’s
strategic competitiveness. Point 9 in section 5.3.1 presented an overview of the most
appropriate strategies resulting from the structural analysis as seen by this study’s
respondents. This strategy assessment may assist policy makers in planning or

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

revising diverse tourism-related strategies in their national strategic development

policy plan.

Consequently, as suggested by the literature with regard to the mixing of resources

and strategies (e.g. Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Go et al., 1992; Hassan, 2000; Mihalic,
2000; Mowforth & Munt, 1998; Ritchie & Crouch, 1993; Smith, 2001; Swarbrooke,
1999; Weaver & Lawton, 1999), the findings of this study confirmed that the
adaptation of the appropriate competitive destination strategies assisted in the creation
and integration of tourism’s most suitable resources and attractions, thus achieving
long-term sustainability and competitiveness in the international tourism market.
Therefore, tourism authority policy makers have to understand which combination of
resources and attractions to develop and what competitive destination strategies to
adapt to create a more competitive position for Oman. All participants of the focus
groups appreciated this finding and confirmed the importance of matching a
destination’s available resources with suitable marketing and management strategies
(see section 4.11). They emphasised the importance of developing those resources that
created value-addition to the economy while preserving social identity and the
environment.

5.4 Limitations and Directions for Future Research

This study has some limitations. This section discusses limitations that were
encountered during the research process.

Some of the possible limitations of this study have been noted and are addressed
below. The limitations by themselves provide several research opportunities for future
investigation.

(1) Sampling method. The sampling method used in this research, as explained in
Chapter 3, was based on convenience sampling. Convenience sampling is historically
recognised as a less rigorous sampling method than the random sampling method.
However, it was justified in that this method so far is the most appropriate and
feasible method in Oman. Despite the limitation associated with this method (section
3.7), it was compensated by the high sample size (n=978). Thus, it is suggested that

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

future research may use a more rigorous method such as random sampling to replicate
findings of this study for the purpose of generating better generalisation of the results.

(2) Sample size. One of the problems I encountered during the analysis stage was the
return of many questionnaires with some blank questions. If I had decided to delete all
questionnaires with missing values I could have ended up by excluding a good
number of the sample size. The large missing values may be attributed to the number
of questions included in the questionnaire, the culture of respondents not being
familiar with research, and the time factor for some respondents. Future studies in
Oman should take these issues into consideration when conducting empirical research.

(3) Data collection. This study investigated the structural relationships of destination
competitiveness from stakeholders’ perspective using Oman as a case study. The
scope of this study is limited to Oman due to time and budgetary constraints and
results may not be regionally generalised. Tourism stakeholders in other neighbouring
countries may have different perceptions, attitudes and behaviours in regard to
tourism planning and development approaches and strategies. Thus, it is suggested
that data be collected from other competitive destinations to Oman to compare the
obtained results.

This is a cross-sectional study. The data were collected during a three-month period
(January to March, 2005). A more longitudinal study may provide different results if
conducted over a longer period of time or at different intervals. Such an exercise may
reveal the ongoing transformation of the concept of destination competitiveness.

(4) Constructs and measurement scales. The selected observed indicators and
constructs for this study were not comprehensive. Neither the stakeholders’ list nor
the selected relationships’ constructs and indicators were exhaustive of all possible
factors. Despite this, the majority of indicators and constructs were abstracted from
the mass tourism literature; however, other indicators or constructs may exist to
further expand the scope of destination competitiveness. Future research may look
into integrating other constructs such as the role of technology, tourism numerical
indicators, knowledge management, information and communication technology
(ICT), cultural identity and authenticity, legal and institutional frameworks (rules and

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

regulations), and human resources development. Those constructs and others may
reveal the strength of various constructs in explaining and reflecting better
relationships between destination competitiveness constructs.

After conducting confirmatory factor analysis, the political impact factor of the
tourism development construct was not retained in the structural model. This is one of
the important factors which may affect tourism development in the future. Thus,
future research may pay closer attention to the effect of political situations and
outcomes, and conduct further investigation to unveil the effect of this factor.

This study did not include any satisfaction and performance indicators in testing
stakeholders’ attitudes and perceptions. Future research may also use some
satisfaction indicators for the purpose of testing people’s (locals or visitors)
satisfaction with tourism experiences, tourism development and the performances of
tourism authorities.

(5) Empowerment. Another area for future research is conducting a comparative

study examining the notions of the empowerment and disempowerment phenomenon
in developed and developing countries. The suggested investigation may include the
operationalisation and application of the empowerment process to be included in the
development planning to achieve a stronger role for community participation in
sustainable tourism development.

(6) Stakeholders’ list. The list of stakeholders was not comprehensive in this study,
and could be expanded further in future research to include, for example, interest
groups for example, NGOs, international businesses, and destination international
competitors to name a few.

5.5 Concluding Comments

Considering the limited empirical studies in destination competitiveness and

stakeholders’ participation, this study has built theory in tourism planning and
development and has made theoretical and methodological contributions, and
practical/managerial implications to the tourism literature and theories related to

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

destination competitiveness in general, stakeholders’ participation in tourism planning

and the decision-making process, and destination competitiveness strategies.
Furthermore, the study has expanded the knowledge about the appropriateness of
using triangulation methodology in tourism research. .

From the comprehensiveness of the literature, collected data, and the research
outcome, I conclude that for a destination to enhance its national and international
position, it may need to pay closer attention to all its stakeholders for the purpose of
developing the appropriate resources and attractions they prefer and would support in
the future.

From this perspective, the findings of this research may be of considerable interest to
planners, developers, and policy-makers when setting policies or strategies
(development, management, marketing) to create more sustainable competitive
strategies and positions for their destination. Government officials in Oman have
already expressed an interest in the outcome of this study in general and in adapting
the recommendations where appropriate.

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Chapter Five Conclusion and Discussion

362
 Appendix I Research on Tourism

Appendix I
Research on Tourism
Local Population (Omani Nationals and Expats)

Part A: ‫ﺗﺄﺛﻴﺮات ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ Tourism Development Impacts

‫ ﻳﺮﺟﻰ إﺑﺪاء رأﻳﻚ ﺑﺨﺼﻮص‬. ‫اﻟﺠﻤﻞ اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻴﺔ ﺗﻄﻠﺐ ﻣﻨﻚ اﻟﺘﻌﺒﻴﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﻳﻚ ﺑﺨﺼﻮص ﺗﺄﺛﻴﺮات ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻋﻤﺎن‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬ ‫ﻟﺴﺖ‬ Dis ‫ﻏﻴﺮ‬
.‫آﻞ ﻣﻨﻬﺎ ﺑﻮﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺼﻒ رأﻳﻚ ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ أو‬ agre ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬
Agree
The following statement asks you to express your opinion about tourism development Strong ‫ﻣﻌﺎرض‬ e ‫اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬
impacts in Oman. Please respond to each of the following statements by marking the ly ‫ﻏﻴ‬ Strong
Neithe
response which best describes your opinion. Agree ‫ر‬ ly
r
‫ﻣﻮاﻓ‬ Disagr
Agree
‫ق‬ ee
Nor
Disagr
ee
1 ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺗﺘﻴﺢ اﻟﻤﺰﻳﺪ ﻣﻦ ﻓﺮص اﻟﻌﻤﻞ ﻟﻠﺸﻌﺐ اﻟﻌﻤﺎﻧﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism increases job opportunities for the people of Oman.
2 ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ أوﺟﺪت اﺳﺘﺜﻤﺎرات آﺜﻴﺮة وﺗﻨﻤﻴﺔ وﻣﺼﺮوﻓﺎت ﺑﻨﻴﺔ أﺳﺎﺳﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻻﻗﺘﺼﺎد‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism has created high investment, development, and infrastructure spending in the
economy.
3 ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ وﻓﺮت ﻓﻮاﺋﺪ اﻗﺘﺼﺎدﻳﺔ ﻟﻠﺴﻜﺎن اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﻴﻦ آﻤﺎ أوﺟﺪت أﻋﻤﺎﻻ ﺗﺠﺎرﻳﺔ ﺻﻐﻴﺮة‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism has given economic benefits to local people and small businesses.
4 ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺗﺴﺒﺐ ﺗﻐﻴﻴﺮات ﻓﻲ اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﺔ اﻟﺘﻘﻠﻴﺪﻳﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism causes changes to the traditional culture of the community
5 ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺷﺠﻌﺖ أﺷﻜﺎل اﻟﺘﺒﺎدل اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﻲ ﺑﻴﻦ اﻟﺴﻴﺎح واﻟﻤﻘﻴﻤﻴﻦ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism has encouraged a variety of cultural exchange between tourists and residents.
6 ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ أدت إﻟﻰ ﺗﺄﺛﻴﺮات اﻳﺠﺎﺑﻴﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻬﻮﻳﺔ اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism has resulted in positive impacts on the cultural identity of our community.
7 ‫إﻧﺸﺎء اﻟﻔﻨﺎدق واﻟﻤﺮاﻓﻖ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ اﻷﺧﺮى ﻳﻀﺮ ﺑﺎﻟﺒﻴﺌﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Construction of hotels and other tourist facilities destroys the natural environment.
8 ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺗﺤﺴﻦ اﻟﻤﺮاﻓﻖ اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ ) اﻟﻄﺮق واﻻﺗﺼﺎﻻت وﻏﻴﺮهﺎ ( ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism improves public utilities (e.g. roads, telecommunication) in the community.
9 ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺗﺨﻠﻖ ﻓﺮص ﻋﻤﻞ ﻟﻸﺟﺎﻧﺐ أآﺜﺮ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺴﻜﺎن اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﻴﻦ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism creates more jobs for foreigners than for local people.
10 ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺗﻮﻓﺮ داﻓﻌﺎ ﻟﺘﺮﻣﻴﻢ اﻟﻤﺒﺎﻧﻲ اﻟﺘﺎرﻳﺨﻴﺔ واﻟﻤﺤﺎﻓﻈﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﺼﺎدر اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism provides an incentive for the restoration of historical buildings, and for the
conservation of natural resources.
11 ( ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺗﺰﻳﺪ ﻣﻦ وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻟﺘﺴﻠﻴﺔ ) اﻟﻤﻬﺮﺟﺎﻧﺎت واﻟﻤﻌﺎرض واﻷﺣﺪاث‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism increases the availability of entertainment (e.g., festivals, exhibitions, and events)
12 ‫ﻓﻮاﺋﺪ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺗﻔﻮق ﺗﺄﺛﻴﺮاﺗﻬﺎ اﻟﺴﻠﺒﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism benefits outweigh negative impacts.

363
 Appendix I Research on Tourism

13 ‫اﻟﻔﻮاﺋﺪ اﻻﻗﺘﺼﺎدﻳﺔ ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺗﻔﻮق ﺗﺄﺛﻴﺮاﺗﻬﺎ اﻻﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﻴﺔ واﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﻴﺔ واﻟﺒﻴﺌﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻠﺒﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5

Tourism’s economic benefits outweigh negative socio-cultural and environmental impacts.
14 ( ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺗﻮﻓﺮ ﻓﻮاﺋﺪ ﺳﻴﺎﺳﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ اﻟﺪﻳﻤﻘﺮاﻃﻴﺔ واﻟﺘﺴﺎﻣﺢ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism brings political benefits to society (e.g., democratic values, tolerance).
15 ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺗﺤﺴﻦ اﻟﺒﻨﻴﺔ اﻷﺳﺎﺳﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﻨﻘﻞ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism improves transport infrastructure.
16 ( ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺗﺸﺠﻊ ﺗﻨﻮﻳﻊ اﻷﻧﺸﻄﺔ اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﻴﺔ ﻣﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ ا ﻟﺴﻜﺎن اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﻴﻦ ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﺼﻨﺎﻋﺎت اﻟﻴﺪوﻳﺔ واﻟﻔﻨﻮن واﻟﻤﻮﺳﻴﻘﻰ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism encourages a variety of cultural activities by the local population (e.g., crafts, arts,
music)
17 ‫ﻳﺠﺐ أن ﻳﻜﻮن ﻟﻠﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﺔ اﻟﻀﺮورﻳﺔ ﻻﻗﺘﺮاح اﻟﻮﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻟﻼزﻣﺔ ﻟﺘﻘﻴﻴﺪ وﻣﺮاﻗﺒﺔ اﻟﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺒﻼد‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The community should have authority to suggest control and restrictions of tourism
development in the country.
18 ‫ﻟﻠﻨﺎس اﻟﺤﻖ ﻓﻲ ﺗﻌﺪﻳﻞ وﺗﻜﻴﻴﻒ اﻟﺒﻴﺌﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ ﻟﺘﻨﺎﺳﺐ اﺣﺘﻴﺎﺟﺎﺗﻬﻢ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
People have the right to modify the natural environment to suit their needs.
19 ‫ﻋﻨﺪﻣﺎ ﻳﺘﺪﺧﻞ اﻻﻧﺴﺎن ﻓﻲ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﺔ ﻓﺈن ذﻟﻚ ﻳﺆدي إﻟﻰ ﻧﺘﺎﺋﺞ ﺧﻄﺮة‬ 1 2 3 4 5
When people interfere with nature, it can produce disastrous consequences.
20 ‫اﻟﻘﻄﺎع اﻟﺨﺎص ﻳﺘﻠﻒ اﻟﺒﻴﺌﺔ ﺑﺸﻜﻞ آﺒﻴﺮ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The private sector is severely abusing the environment.
21 ‫ﺗﻤﺘﻠﻚ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن اﻟﻜﺜﻴﺮ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﻮارد اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ إذا ﻋﺮﻓﻨﺎ آﻴﻒ ﻧﻄﻮرهﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Oman has plenty of natural resources if we learn how to develop them.
22 ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ اﻟﺠﻤﺎﻋﻴﺔ اﺳﺘﺮاﺗﻴﺠﻴﺔ ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﺟﻴﺪة ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ ﻟﻠﺪوﻟﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Mass tourism is a good development strategy for the country.
23 ‫ﺑﺸﻜﻞ ﻋﺎم أﻧﺎ أدﻋﻢ ﺻﻨﺎﻋﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺑﻠﺪي‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Overall, I am in support of tourism industry in my community.
24 ‫اﻻﺳﺘﺜﻤﺎر اﻷﺟﻨﺒﻲ ﻣﻔﻴﺪ ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Foreign investment is good for tourism in Oman.

25 ‫اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن أدت إﻟﻰ اﻧﺘﺸﺎر‬ Tourism in Oman has resulted in:
‫اﻟﺠﺮﻳﻤ‬
‫اﻟﻤﺨﺪرات‬ ‫اﻟﺴﺮﻗﺎت‬ ‫اﻟﺪﻋﺎرة‬ ‫ﻻ ﺷﻰء ﻣﻦ ذﻟﻚ‬ (‫ﻏﻴﺮ ذﻟﻚ ) ﺣﺪد‬
‫ة‬
Drug Use Robberies Prostitution None Others (Please mention below)
Crime
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5

‫اﻻرﺗﺒﺎط ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ‬ Part B: Place Attachment:

‫ ﻳﺘﻢ اﻻﺟﺎﺑﺔ ﻋﻠﻴﻬﺎ ﻣﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻴﻦ اﻟﻌﻤﺎﻧﻴﻴﻦ ﻓﻘﻂ‬TO BE ANSWERED ONLY BY OMANI NATIONALS
The following statements ask you to express your opinion about your attachment to your ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬ ‫ﻟﺴﺖ‬ Dis ‫ﻏﻴﺮ‬
community/region (e.g. Muscat, Sharqia...etc). Please respond to each of the following ‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ أو‬ agre ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬
Agree
statements by marking the response which best describes your opinion. Strong ‫ﻣﻌﺎرض‬ e ‫اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬
‫ اﻟﺸﺮﻗﻴﺔ أو ﻏﻴﺮهﺎ‬، ‫ اﻟﻤﻨﻄﻘﺔ) ﻣﺜﻼ ﻣﺴﻘﻂ‬/ ‫اﻟﺠﻤﻞ اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻴﺔ ﺗﻄﻠﺐ ﻣﻨﻚ اﻟﺘﻌﺒﻴﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﻳﻚ ﺑﺨﺼﻮص ﻣﺪى ارﺗﺒﺎﻃﻚ ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ‬ ly ‫ﻏﻴ‬ Strong
Neithe
‫( ﻳﺮﺟﻰ اﻟﺮد ﻣﻦ ﺧﻼل وﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻻﺟﺎﺑﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﻳﻚ أآﺜﺮ ﻣﻦ ﻏﻴﺮهﺎ‬ Agree ‫ر‬ ly
r
‫ﻣﻮاﻓ‬ Disagr
Agree
‫ق‬ ee

364
 Appendix I Research on Tourism

Nor
Disagr
ee
1 ‫أﻓﻀﻞ أن أﻗﻀﻲ وﻗﺘﺎ أآﺜﺮ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻌﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I would prefer to spend more time in my community.
2 ‫أﻧﺎ ﻣﺮﺗﺒﻂ ﻣﻊ ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻌﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I am attached to my community.
3 ‫هﺬا اﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ ﻳﻌﻨﻲ اﻟﻜﺜﻴﺮ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ ﻟﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
This community means a lot to me.
4 ‫اﻟﻮﻗﺖ اﻟﺬي أﻗﻀﻴﻪ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻌﻲ ﻳﻤﻜﻦ أن ﻳﻜﻮن ﺑﻨﻔﺲ اﻟﻤﺘﻌﺔ ﻓﻴﻤﺎ ﻟﻮ أﻣﻀﻴﺘﻪ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻜﺎن ﺁﺧﺮ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺨﺎرج‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The time I spend in my community could have been spent just as easily and enjoyably
somewhere else.
5 ‫أﺣﺲ ﺑﺎﻟﺮﺿﺎ أﺛﻨﺎء وﺟﻮدي ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻌﻲ أآﺜﺮ ﻣﻦ زﻳﺎرﺗﻲ ﻷي ﻣﻜﺎن ﺁﺧﺮ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I get more satisfaction being in my community than from visiting any other place.
6 ‫هﺬا اﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ هﻮ أﻓﻀﻞ ﻣﻜﺎن ﻷﻗﻮم ﺑﺎﻟﺸﻲء اﻟﺬي أﺣﺒﻪ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
This community is the best place for what I like to do.
7 ‫ﺷﻌﻮري ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻌﻲ ﻻ ﻳﻤﻜﻦ أن أﺷﻌﺮ ﺑﻪ ﻓﻲ أي ﻣﻜﺎن ﺁﺧﺮ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
This community makes me feel like no other place can.
8 ‫أﻧﺎ ﻓﺨﻮر ﺑﻤﺠﺘﻤﻌﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I am proud of my community.
9 ‫إذا آﺎن ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﺘﻮﺟﺐ ﻋﻠﻲ أن أﻏﺎدر ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻌﻲ ﻓﺈﻧﻨﻲ أﺷﻌﺮ ﺑﺎﻷﺳﻰ اﻟﺸﺪﻳﺪ ﻟﻤﻐﺎدرﺗﻪ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
If I had to move away from my community, I would be sorry to leave.
10 (‫أﻧﺎ أﺗﺄﺛﺮ ﺑﻜﻞ ﻣﺎ ﻳﻤﻜﻦ أن ﻳﺤﺪث ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻌﻲ ) ﺳﻠﺒﺎ أو اﻳﺠﺎﺑﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I would be affected by whatever happens (positive or negative) in the community.
11 . ‫أرﻏﺐ ﻓﻲ اﺳﺘﻐﻼل ﻣﻮاهﺒﻲ ووﻗﺘﻲ ﻣﻦ أﺟﻞ أن أﺟﻌﻞ ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻌﻲ اﻟﻤﻜﺎن اﻷﻓﻀﻞ ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ ﻟﻠﺰوار‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I am willing to invest my talent or time to make the community an even better place for
visitors.

365
 Appendix I Research on Tourism

‫ﻣﺎ هﻮ ﻣﺴﺘﻮى رﺿﺎك ﻋﻦ اﻷﻣﻮر اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻴﺔ ؟‬ ‫راﺿﻲ‬ ‫راﺿﻲ‬ ‫ﻟﺴﺖ‬ ‫ﻏﻴ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ‬
What is the level of satisfaction with the following items? ‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫راض أو‬ ‫ر‬ ‫راﺿﻲ‬
Satisfi
Very ‫ﻏﻴﺮ‬ ‫راض‬ ‫اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬
ed
Satisfi ‫راض‬ Very
Diss
ed Neithe Dissati
atisf
r sfied
ied
Satisfi
ed Nor
Dissati
sfied
1 ‫ﺗﺠﺎرﺑﻚ اﻷﺧﻴﺮة ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻔﺮ داﺧﻞ ﻋﻤﺎن‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Your recent travel experiences within Oman.
‫ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة أﻋﻼﻩ‬5- ‫ أو راض ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬4- ‫أﺟﺐ ﺑﺎﺧﺘﺼﺎر إذا آﻨﺖ ﻏﻴﺮ راض‬
‫هﻞ ﻳﻤﻜﻨﻚ أن ﺗﺨﺒﺮﻧﻲ ﻋﻦ أﺳﺒﺎب ﻋﺪم رﺿﺎك‬
Answer this BRIEFLY if "Dissatisfied-4" or "Very Dissatisfied-5" in above statement.
Could you tell BRIEFLY the reasons for this dissatisfaction?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 ‫ﺗﺠﺎرﺑﻚ اﻷﺧﻴﺮة ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﻨﺎﺳﺒﺎت واﻟﻤﻬﺮﺟﺎﻧﺎت اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Your recent experiences with local events & festivals.
‫ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة أﻋﻼﻩ‬5- ‫ أوﻏﻴﺮ راض ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬4- ‫أﺟﺐ ﺑﺎﺧﺘﺼﺎر إذا آﻨﺖ ﻏﻴﺮ راض‬
‫هﻞ ﻳﻤﻜﻨﻚ أن ﺗﺨﺒﺮﻧﻲ ﻋﻦ أﺳﺒﺎب ﻋﺪم رﺿﺎك‬
Answer this BRIEFLY if "Dissatisfied-4" or "Very Dissatisfied-5" in above statement.
Could you tell BRIEFLY the reasons for this dissatisfaction?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 ‫اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ واﻟﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن ﻣﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﺠﻬﺎت اﻟﺤﻜﻮﻣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Local governments’ tourism planning & development in Oman.
‫ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة أﻋﻼﻩ‬5- ‫ أوﻏﻴﺮ راض ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬4- ‫أﺟﺐ ﺑﺎﺧﺘﺼﺎر إذا آﻨﺖ ﻏﻴﺮ راض‬
‫هﻞ ﻳﻤﻜﻨﻚ أن ﺗﺨﺒﺮﻧﻲ ﻋﻦ أﺳﺒﺎب ﻋﺪم رﺿﺎك‬
Answer this BRIEFLY if "Dissatisfied-4" or "Very Dissatisfied-5" in above statement.
Could you tell BRIEFLY the reasons for this dissatisfaction?

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4 ‫ﺣﻤﺎﻳﺔ اﻟﻤﻮارد اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ واﻟﻤﺤﺎﻓﻈﺔ ﻋﻠﻴﻬﺎ أﺛﻨﺎء اﻻﺳﺘﻔﺎدة ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻓﻊ اﻻﻗﺘﺼﺎدﻳﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Protection & preservation of tourism resources while sustaining economic benefits in Oman.
‫ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة أﻋﻼﻩ‬5- ‫ أوﻏﻴﺮ راض ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬4- ‫أﺟﺐ ﺑﺎﺧﺘﺼﺎر إذا آﻨﺖ ﻏﻴﺮ راض‬
‫هﻞ ﻳﻤﻜﻨﻚ أن ﺗﺨﺒﺮﻧﻲ ﻋﻦ أﺳﺒﺎب ﻋﺪم رﺿﺎك‬
Answer this BRIEFLY if "Dissatisfied-4" or "Very Dissatisfied-5" in above statement.
Could you tell BRIEFLY the reasons for this dissatisfaction?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

366
 Appendix I Research on Tourism

‫أﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﻮﺳﺎﺋﻞ ﻟﺘﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﻋﻮاﻣﻞ اﻟﺠﺬب اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ‬

Part C: Development Preferences about Destination Attractions:
. ‫اﻟﺠﻤﻞ اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻴﺔ ﺗﻄﻠﺐ ﻣﻨﻚ اﻟﺘﻌﺒﻴﺮ ﻋﻦ راﻳﻚ ﺣﻮل أﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﻮﺳﺎﺋﻞ ﻟﺘﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﻋﻮاﻣﻞ اﻟﺠﺬب اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻓﻲ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫ﻣﺤﺎﻳﺪ‬ ‫ﻻ‬ ‫ﻻ‬
.‫ﻳﺮﺟﻰ اﻟﺮد ﻋﻠﻰ هﺬﻩ اﻟﺠﻤﻞ ﺑﻮﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺠﻮاب اﻟﺬي ﻳﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﻳﻚ أآﺜﺮﻣﻦ ﻏﻴﺮﻩ‬ ‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ ‫أﻓﻀ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬
Neutra
The following statements ask you to express your opinion about preferred development of Highly ‫ل‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺮة‬
Some l
tourism attractions in Oman. Please answer each of the following statements by marking prefer Not Highly
what
the response which best describes your opinion. able pref not
prefer
erab prefer
able
le able
1 ‫ اﻟﻤﺨﻴﻤﺎت‬، ‫ اﻟﻮدﻳﺎن‬، ‫ اﻟﻜﻬﻮف‬، ‫ اﻟﺠﺒﺎل‬،‫ اﻟﺸﻮاﻃﻰء‬، ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ أﺳﺎس اﻟﻤﻘﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﺼﺤﺎري‬ 1 2 3 4 5
(‫ اﻟﺤﺪاﺋﻖ‬،
Development of nature-based tourism (e.g. deserts, sea, mountains and caves, and Valleys
(Wadis) camping, parks).
2 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﻋﻮاﻣﻞ اﻟﺠﺬب اﻟﻤﺼﻤﻤﺔ ﻻﺳﺘﻘﺒﺎل أﻋﺪاد آﺒﻴﺮة ﻣﻦ اﻟﺴﻴﺎح ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﺤﺪاﺋﻖ اﻟﻤﺼﻤﻤﺔ ﺑﺄﻧﻤﺎط ﺧﺎﺻﺔ واﻟﻤﻨﺘﺠﻌﺎت‬ 1 2 3 4 5
( ‫اﻟﻜﺒﻴﺮة اﻟﻀﺨﻤﺔ‬
Development of attractions designed for a large number of tourists (e.g. theme parks and
large resort complexes).
3 ( ‫ اﻷﺳﻮاق اﻟﺘﻘﻠﻴﺪﻳﺔ‬، ‫ اﻟﻤﻮاﻗﻊ اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﺔ اﻟﺘﺎرﻳﺨﻴﺔ‬، ‫ اﻟﻘﺮى اﻟﺘﺮاﺛﻴﺔ‬، ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻷﻣﺎآﻦ اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﻴﺔ أو اﻟﺘﺎرﻳﺨﻴﺔ ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﻤﺘﺎﺣﻒ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of cultural or historic-based attractions (e.g. museums, folk villages, local
historic sites, traditional markets).
4 ( ‫ أﻣﺎآﻦ ا ﻟﺘﺮﻓﻴﻪ وﻏﻴﺮهﺎ‬، ‫ اﻟﻤﻄﺎﻋﻢ‬، ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺨﺪﻣﺎت اﻟﻤﺴﺎﻧﺪة ﻟﻠﺰوار ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﻔﻨﺎدق‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of supporting visitor services (hotels, restaurants, entertainment, etc).
‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫ﻣﺤﺎﻳﺪ‬ ‫ﻻ‬ ‫ﻻ‬
‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ ‫أﻓﻀ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬
Neutra
Highly ‫ل‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺮة‬
Some l
prefer Not Highly
what
able pref not
prefer
erab prefer
able
le able
5 ( ‫ ﻣﻨﺎﻃﻖ اﻟﺘﺨﻴﻴﻢ‬، ‫ ﺧﺪﻣﺎت اﻻرﺷﺎد‬، ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻷﻋﻤﺎل اﻟﺘﺠﺎرﻳﺔ اﻟﺼﻐﻴﺮة اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻘﻠﺔ ) ﻣﺜﻞ ﻣﺤﻼت اﻟﻬﺪاﻳﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of small independent businesses (e.g. gift shops, guide services, camping
grounds).
6 ( ‫ اﻟﻤﻬﺮﺟﺎﻧﺎت‬، ‫ اﻟﺮﻗﺼﺎت اﻟﺸﻌﺒﻴﺔ‬، ‫ اﻟﺤﺮف واﻟﻔﻨﻮن‬، ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﻔﻌﺎﻟﻴﺎت اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﻴﺔ واﻟﺸﻌﺒﻴﺔ ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﺤﻔﻼت‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of cultural and folk events (e.g. concerts, art and crafts, dances, festivals).
7 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ وإﻋﺪاد ﺑﺮاﻣﺞ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ﻣﺘﻜﺎﻣﻠﺔ ﻣﺮﻧﺔ وﺟﺬاﺑﺔ ﻣﺴﺒﻘﺔ اﻟﺘﺠﻬﻴﺰ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of pre-arranged attractive and flexible tour packages.
8 ( ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﺑﺮاﻣﺞ وﻓﻌﺎﻟﻴﺎت اﻟﺘﺮﻓﻴﻪ اﻟﺨﺎرﺟﻲ ) ﻣﺜﻞ رآﻮب اﻟﺪراﺟﺎت واﻟﺘﺴﻠﻖ واﻻﺑﺤﺎر اﻟﺸﺮاﻋﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of outdoor recreations facilities, programs and events (e.g. hikes, bike rides,
climbing, sailing, surfing).
9 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﻄﺮق ووﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻟﻨﻘﻞ وﻣﻨﺎﻓﺬ اﻟﺪﺧﻮل‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Improved roads, transportation, and access facilities.
10 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﻣﺮاآﺰ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎح‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of information centers for tourists.
11 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺘﺴﻬﻴﻼت واﻷﻧﺸﻄﺔ اﻟﺮﻳﺎﺿﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5

367
 Appendix I Research on Tourism

Development of sports facilities and activities.

12 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺨﺪﻣﺎت واﻟﺘﺴﻬﻴﻼت اﻟﺨﺎﺻﺔ ﺑﺄﺻﺤﺎب اﻷﻋﻤﺎل واﻟﻤﺆﺗﻤﺮات‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Business/convention meeting events and facilities.

‫اﺳﺘﺮاﺗﻴﺠﻴﺎت ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ اﻟﻮﺟﻬﺎت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬

Part D: Tourism Destination competitiveness strategies
‫ﻳﺮﺟﻰ ذآﺮ ﻣﺪى ﺗﻔﻀﻴﻠﻚ أو ﻋﺪم ﺗﻔﻀﻴﻠﻚ ﻟﻜﻞ ﻣﻦ اﺳﺘﺮاﺗﻴﺠﻴﺎت اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ آﻮﺟﻬﺔ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ واﻷﻋﻤﺎل اﻟﻮاﺟﺐ ﻋﻤﻠﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫ﺣﻴﺎدي‬ ‫ﻻ‬ ‫ﻻ‬
. ‫ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن ﺑﺨﺼﻮص ذﻟﻚ‬ ‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﻮﻋﺎ‬ ‫أﻓﻀ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬
Neutra
Please indicate how favorable or unfavorable you consider each of the following Highly ‫ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺮة‬
l
destination competitiveness strategies and actions to be for Oman. favora Favora Unf Not
ble ble avor favora
able ble at
all
1 ‫ﺧﻠﻖ اﻧﻄﺒﺎع ﻗﻮي ﻋﻦ اﻟﻮﺟﻬﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The development of a strong destination image.
2 (‫ ﺑﺮﻳﻄﺎﻧﻴﺎ‬، ‫ اﻟﻴﺎﺑﺎن‬، ‫اﺧﺘﻴﺎر اﻷﺳﻮاق اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻬﺪﻓﺔ اﻟﻤﻨﺎﺳﺒﺔ ) ﻣﺜﻞ أﻟﻤﺎﻧﻴﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The selection of appropriate target markets (e.g. Germany, Japan, England).
3 ‫إﻗﺎﻣﺔ ﻋﻼﻗﺎت ﻗﻮﻳﺔ ﻣﻊ ﻣﻨﻈﻤﻲ اﻟﺮﺣﻼت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ اﻟﺠﻤﺎﻋﻴﺔ واﻟﻔﺮدﻳﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺨﺎرج‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The development of strong linkages with tourism wholesalers and retailers overseas.
4 ( ‫اﻟﺘﻐﻠﺐ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺸﻜﻠﺔ اﻟﻤﻮاﺳﻢ ﻓﻲ زﻳﺎرات اﻟﺴﻴﺎح ) ﻣﻮاﺳﻢ اﻟﺬروة واﻻﻧﺨﻔﺎض‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Overcoming seasonality (peak and off-season) in tourists’ visits.
5 ‫زﻳﺎدة ﻓﺘﺮة إﻗﺎﻣﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎح‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Increasing tourists’ length of stay.
6 ( ‫اﺳﺘﺨﺪام أﻧﻈﻤﺔ ﺗﻘﻨﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﻤﺘﻘﺪﻣﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺤﺠﺰ ) ﻣﺜﻞ ﻧﻈﺎم اﻟﺤﺠﺰ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Use of modern, advanced technology and information systems. (e.g. reservation system)
7 ‫اﻟﺘﺴﻮﻳﻖ واﻟﺘﺮوﻳﺞ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻻﺳﺘﻬﺪاف اﻟﺴﻴﺎح واﻟﺰوار ﻣﻦ اﻟﺨﺎرج‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism marketing and promotion for targeting international tourists and visitors.
8 ‫اﻟﻌﻤﻞ ﻋﻠﻰ زﻳﺎدة إﻧﻔﺎق اﻟﺴﺎﺋﺢ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Increasing tourists’ spending.
9 ‫ﺗﺤﺪﻳﺪ ﻣﻌﺎﻳﻴﺮ اﻟﺘﺴﻬﻴﻼت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The establishment of standards for tourism facilities.
10 ‫ﺗﻨﻈﻴﻢ ﺑﺮاﻣﺞ ﻟﺘﻌﻠﻴﻢ وﺗﺪرﻳﺐ اﻟﻤﻮﻇﻔﻴﻦ اﻟﺤﺎﻟﻴﻴﻦ واﻟﻤﺘﻮﻗﻊ اﻟﺘﺤﺎﻗﻬﻢ ﺑﺎﻟﻘﻄﺎع اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻣﺴﺘﻘﺒﻼ‬ 1 2 3 4 5

Education and training programs for present and future industry personnel.

11 ‫ﻗﻴﺎم اﻟﺴﻠﻄﺎت اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﺔ ﺑﺪور رﺋﻴﺴﻲ ﻓﻲ دﻋﻢ اﻟﺘﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻨﺎﻃﻖ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Local authorities and agencies’ have role as facilitators for tourism development in local
regions.
12 ‫ﻗﻴﺎم اﻟﺤﻜﻮﻣﺔ ﺑﺪور رﺋﻴﺴﻲ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺴﻮﻳﻖ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ آﻮﺟﻬﺔ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The central government plays the leadership role in marketing the country as a tourism
destination
13 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﺑﺮاﻣﺞ وﻧﻈﻢ اﻟﺴﻼﻣﺔ واﻷﻣﻦ ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎح واﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻌﺎت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The development of safety and security programs and systems for tourism and the tourism
community.

368
 Appendix I Research on Tourism

14 ‫ﺗﺠﻤﻴﻊ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﺘﻲ ﻣﻦ ﺷﺄﻧﻬﺎ ﺗﺼﻨﻴﻒ وﺗﺴﺠﻴﻞ ﻣﻨﺘﺠﺎت وﺧﺪﻣﺎت اﻟﻮﺟﻬﺎت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Collecting information that classifies and catalogues a destination’s products and services.
‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫ﺣﻴﺎدي‬ ‫ﻻ‬ ‫ﻻ‬
‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﻮﻋﺎ‬ ‫أﻓﻀ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬
Neutra
Highly ‫ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺮة‬
l
favora Favora Unf Not
ble ble avor favora
able ble at
all
15 ‫ﺗﺴﺞ ي ل اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت ﻟﻘﻴﺎس ﻣﻮاﻗﻒ اﻷهﺎﻟﻲ اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﻴﻦ ﻣﻦ ﻗﻄﺎع اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Recording information to monitor the attitudes of the local population towards the tourism
industry.
16 ‫اﻟﺒﺤﻮث اﻟﻬﺎدﻓﺔ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻤﺴﺎﻋﺪة ﻓﻲ ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﺧﺪﻣﺎت ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ﺟﺪﻳﺪة‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Research that aids the development of new tourist services.
17 ‫ﺣﻤﺎﻳﺔ وﺗﺤﺴﻴﻦ اﻟﻤﺰﻳﺪ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻃﻖ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﺤﻴﺎة اﻟﺒﺮﻳﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Protecting and improving more wildlife habitat.
18 ‫اﻟﺘﺮوﻳﺞ ﻟﻠﻮاﺟﺒﺎت اﻷﺧﻼﻗﻴﺔ ﻧﺤﻮ اﻟﺒﻴﺌﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Promoting ethical responsibility towards the natural environment.
19 ‫ اﻟﺒﻴﺌﺔ‬/ ‫زﻳﺎدة اﻟﻔﺮص اﻟﺘﺜﻘﻴﻔﻴﺔ ﻟﺰوار اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻃﻖ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ اﻟﺠﻮدة واﻟﺤﻤﺎﻳﺔ ﻟﻠﻄﺒﻴﻌﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Expanding educational opportunities for the visiting public in terms of
natural/environmental quality and protection.
20 ‫ﺗﺸﺠﻴﻊ اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻴﻦ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ اﺗﺨﺎذ اﻟﻘﺮارات اﻟﻤﺘﻌﻠﻘﺔ ﺑﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Encouraging local citizen participation in decision-making about tourism development.
21 ‫ﻣﺮاﻋﺎة اﻻﻋﺘﺒﺎرات اﻟﺒﻴﺌﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺴﻮﻳﻖ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Environmental considerations in the marketing of tourism.
22 ‫اﻟﺘﻌﺎون واﻟﺘﻨﺴﻴﻖ ﺑﻴﻦ اﻟﺠﻬﺎت اﻟﺤﻜﻮﻣﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﺴﺆوﻟﺔ ﻋﻦ اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ وﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮهﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Cooperation and coordination among government authorities responsible for tourism
planning and development.
23 ‫ اﻟﺘﺮاﺛﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ‬/ ‫ اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﻴﺔ‬/ ‫ اﻟﺒﻴﺌﻴﺔ‬/ ‫زﻳﺎدة اﻟﻔﺮص اﻟﺘﻌﻠﻴﻤﻴﺔ واﻟﺘﺜﻘﻴﻔﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎح ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺟﻮدة وﺣﻤﺎﻳﺔ اﻟﻌﻮاﻣﻞ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Expanding educational opportunities for tourists, in terms of
natural/environmental/cultural/heritage attractions quality and protection.
24 ‫اﻟﺘﻨﺴﻴﻖ واﻟﺘﻌﺎون ﻣﻊ اﻟﺪول اﻟﻤﺠﺎورة ﻓﻲ ﺗﺨﻄﻴﻂ وﺗﺴﻮﻳﻖ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Collaboration and cooperation with neighboring countries in planning and marketing
tourism.
25 ‫اﻳﺠﺎد ﺳﻤﺔ ﻓﺮﻳﺪة وذات ﻣﻌﻨﻰ ﻳﺴﺘﺪل ﺑﻬﺎ ﻟﻠﺒﻼد‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The development of a unique and meaningful branding of the country.
26 ‫ﺗﺸﺠﻴﻊ وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم ﻟﻠﻘﻴﺎم ﺑﺪور ﻓﻌﺎل ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﺮوﻳﺞ ﻟﻠﺨﻄﻂ اﻟﺘﺴﻮﻳﻘﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Encouraging the media to play an active role in promoting the marketing mix.
( ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ذﻟﻚ ) ﻳﺮﺟﻰ اﻟﺘﺤﺪﻳﺪ‬
Others (Please mention below):

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 Appendix I Research on Tourism

‫ﻣﺸﺎرآﺔ اﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ‬
Part E: Community Participation:
‫ﻳﺘﻢ اﻻﺟﺎﺑﺔ ﻋﻠﻴﻬﺎ ﻣﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻴﻦ اﻟﻌﻤﺎﻧﻴﻴﻦ ﻓﻘﻂ‬
TO BE ANSWERED ONLY BY OMANI NATIONALS
‫ ﻳﺮﺟﻰ اﻻﺟﺎﺑﺔ ﻋﻠﻴﻬﺎ ﺑﻮﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ‬. ‫اﻟﺠﻤﻞ اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻴﺔ ﺗﻄﻠﺐ ﻣﻨﻚ اﻟﺘﻌﺒﻴﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﻳﻚ ﺑﺨﺼﻮص أهﻤﻴﺔ ﻣﺸﺎرآﺔ اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻴﻦ‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬ ‫ﻟﺴﺖ‬ Dis ‫ﻏﻴﺮ‬
‫ﻋﻠﻰ اﻻﺟﺎﺑﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﻳﻚ ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ أو‬ agre ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬
Agree
The following statements ask you to express your opinion about the people’s perceived Strong ‫ﻣﻌﺎرض‬ e ‫اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬
power. Please answer each of the following statements by marking the response which best ly ‫ﻏﻴ‬ Strong
Neithe
describes your opinion. Agree ‫ر‬ ly
r
‫ﻣﻮاﻓ‬ Disagr
Agree
‫ق‬ ee
Nor
Disagr
ee
1 ‫ اﻟﻔﺮﺻﺔ ﻟﻠﺘﺄﺛﻴﺮ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺴﺘﻘﺒﻞ ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻌﻲ‬/ ‫ﻟﺪي اﻟﻤﻘﺪرة‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I have ability/opportunity to influence my community’s future.
2 ‫ﻣﻮاﻃﻨﻮ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﺑﺤﺎﺟﺔ إﻟﻰ اﻳﺠﺎد ﻧﻈﺮة ﻣﺸﺘﺮآﺔ ﺣﻮل ﻣﻔﻬﻮم اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The citizens of Oman require a shared vision about tourism.
3 ‫ﻳﺠﺐ أن ﺗﺘﺎح اﻟﻔﺮﺻﺔ ﻟﻠﺠﻤﻴﻊ ﺑﻞ وﺗﺸﺠﻴﻌﻬﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ اﺗﺨﺎذ اﻟﻘﺮارات اﻟﻤﺘﻌﻠﻘﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ ﻟﺼﻨﻊ اﻟﻘﺮارات‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The public should have full opportunity, even encouragement, to participate in planning
decision- making.
4 ‫ﺳﺄآﻮن راﻏﺒﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺣﻀﻮر اﺟﺘﻤﺎﻋﺎت ﺧﺎﺻﺔ ﺑﻤﻨﺎﻗﺸﺔ اﻟﻤﻮاﺿﻴﻊ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ اﻟﻬﺎﻣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I would be willing to attend community meetings to discuss an important tourism issue.
‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬ ‫ﻟﺴﺖ‬ Dis ‫ﻏﻴﺮ‬
‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ أو‬ agre ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬
Agree
Strong ‫ﻣﻌﺎرض‬ e ‫اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬
ly ‫ﻏﻴ‬ Strong
Neithe
Agree ‫ر‬ ly
r
‫ﻣﻮاﻓ‬ Disagr
Agree
‫ق‬ ee
Nor
Disagr
ee
5 ‫ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎدة ﺗﻘﻮم اﻟﺤﻜﻮﻣﺔ ﺑﺎﺳﺘﺸﺎرﺗﻨﺎ ﺑﺨﺼﻮص اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ ﻟﻠﻤﺸﺎرﻳﻊ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The government usually consults us about tourism planning.
6 ‫ﻣﺴﺆوﻟﻴﺔ اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ ﻳﺠﺐ أن ﺗﺘﺮك ﻟﻠﺤﻜﻮﻣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The planning responsibility should be left to the government.
7 ‫ﻣﺸﺎرآﺔ اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻴﻦ ﻟﻴﺴﺖ ﺿﻤﻦ اﻷوﻟﻮﻳﺎ ت ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﺪى اﻟﻘﺼﻴﺮ ﻟﻠﻘﺎﺋﻤﻴﻦ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻘﻄﺎع اﻟﺤﻜﻮﻣﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Public participation is not a priority in the short-term for government planners.
8 ‫اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻮن ﻟﻴﺲ ﻟﺪﻳﻬﻢ اﻟﻮﻋﻲ اﻟﻜﺎﻓﻲ ﻋﻦ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Citizens lack understanding about tourism.
9 ‫اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻮن ﻟﻴﺲ ﻟﺪﻳﻬﻢ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﺮﻳﺎت اﺗﺨﺎذ اﻟﻘﺮارات واﻟﺘﺄﺛﻴﺮ ﻋﻠﻴﻬﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5

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 Appendix I Research on Tourism

The public lack power to participate and influence the decision making process.
10 ‫ﻳﺠﺐ ﻣﻨﺢ ﻣﻤﺜﻠﻲ اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻴﻦ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﻠﺲ اﻟﺸﻮرى ﺻﻼﺣﻴﺎت آﺎﻓﻴﺔ ﻟﻴﺘﻤﻜﻨﻮا ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻋﻤﻠﻴﺔ اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The people’s representative in the ‘Shura council’ (parliament) should be empowered to
have input into the tourism planning process.
11 ‫ﻳﺠﺐ أن ﻳﻜﻮن ﻟﻠﺤﻜﻮﻣﺔ ﺗﺤﻜﻢ أآﺒﺮ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺮاﻗﺒﺔ اﻷﻧﺸﻄﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The government should have more control over tourism activities.
12 ‫هﻨﺎك ﻗﺼﻮر ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﻨﺴﻴﻖ واﻟﺘﻌﺎون ﺑﻴﻦ اﻟﺠﻬﺎت اﻟﺤﻜﻮﻣﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﺴﺆوﻟﺔ ﻋﻦ اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
There is a lack of collaboration and cooperation among government authorities responsible
for tourism planning.
13 ‫ﻣﺸﺎرآﺔ اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻴﻦ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺨﻄﻴﻂ وﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺗﺆدي إﻟﻰ اﻟﺤﻔﺎظ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﺔ واﻟﺘﻘﺎﻟﻴﺪ وﻧﻤﻂ اﻟﻤﻌﻴﺸﺔ اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Public involvement in planning and development of tourism will lead to preserving local
culture, traditions, and life style.
14 ‫ اﻟﻤﻬﺎرات ( ﻳﺴﺎﻋﺪون ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ‬، ‫ اﻷﻋﻤﺎل اﻟﺘﺠﺎرﻳﺔ‬، ‫اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻮن ﻣﻦ ﻣﺎﻟﻜﻲ ﻣﺼﺎدر اﻟﻘﻮة ) اﻷرض‬ 1 2 3 4 5
People with power sources (e.g., land, business, and skills) generally support tourism
development.
15 ‫أﻧﺎ أدﻋﻢ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻨﻄﻘﺘﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I support tourism in my area.
16 ‫اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻮن ﻗﺎدرون ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺘﻌﺒﻴﺮ ﻋﻦ ﺁراﺋﻬﻢ ﺑﺨﺼﻮص اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ واﻟﺘﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Residents are able to voice their opinions about tourism planning and development.

‫اﻟﺘﻮﺟﻬﺎت اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬

Part F:General Tourism Attitude

Q1. ‫آﻴﻒ ﺗﺮى اﻟﺘﺄﺛﻴﺮ اﻟﻌﺎم ﻟﻠﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ؟‬

How do you perceive the overall impacts of tourism development in Oman?
‫اﻳﺠﺎﺑﻲ ﺟﺪا‬ ‫اﻳﺠﺎﺑﻲ‬ ‫ﻣﺘﻮﺳﻂ‬ ‫ﺳﻠﺒﻲ‬ ‫ﺳﻠﺒﻲ ﺟﺪا‬
Very Positive Positive Moderate Negative Very Negative
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5

Q2. ‫آﻴﻒ ﺗﻘﻴّﻢ ﻣﺴﺘﻮى اﻟﺘﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ؟‬

How would you evaluate the level of tourism development in Oman?
‫ﻣﺮﺣﻠﺔ اﻧﺤﺪار‬ ‫ﻣﺮﺣﻠﺔ ﻧﻀﻮج‬ ‫ﻣﺮﺣﻠﺔ ﻧﻤﻮ‬ ‫ﻣﺮﺣﻠﺔ ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ‬ ‫ﻣﺮﺣﻠﺔ أوﻟﻴﺔ‬
Decline Stage Maturity Stage Growth Stage Development Stage Initial Stage
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5

371
 Appendix I Research on Tourism

Q3. ‫آﻴﻒ ﺗﻘﻴّﻢ ﻣﻘﺪرة اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ آﻮﺟﻬﺔ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ؟‬

How would you evaluate the competitiveness of Oman as a tourism destination?
3a. ‫اﻗﻠﻴﻤﻴﺎ‬
*Regionally:
‫ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬
‫ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ ﻋﺎﻟﻴﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻋﺮف‬
Somewhat Not Competitive at
Highly Competitive Competitive Not Competitive Don’t know
Competitive all
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6
3b. ‫ﻋﺎﻟﻤﻴﺎ‬
*Internationally:
‫ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ ﻋﺎﻟﻴﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻋﺮف‬
Highly Competitive Competitive Somewhat Not Competitive Not Competitive at Don’t know
Competitive all
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6

Q4. ‫آﻴﻒ ﺗﻘﻴّﻢ ﺟﺎذﺑﻴﺔ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن آﻮﺟﻬﺔ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ؟‬

How would you evaluate the attractiveness of Oman as a tourism destination?
4a. ‫اﻗﻠﻴﻤﻴﺎ‬
*Regionally:
‫ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ ﺟﺪا‬ ‫ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ‬ ‫ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻟﻴﺴﺖ ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ‬ ‫ﻟﻴﺴﺖ ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻋﺮف‬
Highly Attractive Attractive Somewhat Attractive Not Attractive Not Attractive at all Don’t know
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6

4b. ‫ﻋﺎﻟﻤﻴﺎ‬
*Internationally
‫ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ ﺟﺪا‬ ‫ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ‬ ‫ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻟﻴﺴﺖ ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ‬ ‫ﻟﻴﺴﺖ ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻋﺮف‬
Highly Attractive Attractive Somewhat Attractive Not Attractive Not Attractive at all Don’t know
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6

Î NEXT 2 QUESTIONS (Q5 & Q6) TO BE ANSWERED BY OMANIS ONLY

Q5. ‫هﻞ ﺷﺎرآﺖ ﻓﻲ ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻃﻖ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﺘﻤﻌﻚ ؟‬
Have you ever been involved in developing a tourism attraction in your community?
‫ﻣﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻋﺎﻟﻴﺔ‬ ‫أﺷﺎرك‬ ‫أﺷﺎرك ﻧﻮﻋﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﺎدرا ﻣﺎ أﺷﺎرك‬ ‫ﻻ أﺷﺎرك ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺮة‬
Highly Involved Involved Somewhat Involved Rarely involved Not Involved at all
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5

Q6. ‫هﻞ ﺗﻌﺎرض أو ﺗﺪﻋﻢ اﻟﺘﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ؟‬

Would you oppose or support tourism development in Oman?
‫أدﻋﻢ ﺑﻘﻮة‬ ‫أدﻋﻢ‬ ‫ﻣﺘﻮﺳﻂ اﻟﺪﻋﻢ‬ ‫أﻋﺎرض‬ ‫أﻋﺎرض ﺑﻘﻮة‬
Strongly Support Support Moderate Oppose Strongly Oppose
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5

‫دور وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم‬

372
 Appendix I Research on Tourism

Part G: Media role

‫ ﻳﺮﺟﻰ اﻟﺮد ﻋﻠﻲ آﻞ ﺟﻤﻠﺔ ﻣﻦ ﺧﻼل وﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ‬. ‫اﻟﺠﻤﻞ اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻴﺔ ﺗﻄﻠﺐ ﻣﻨﻚ اﻟﺘﻌﺒﻴﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﻳﻚ ﻓﻲ وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬ ‫ﻟﺴﺖ‬ Dis ‫ﻏﻴﺮ‬
.‫ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺠﻮاب اﻟﺬي ﻳﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﻳﻚ أآﺜﺮ ﻣﻦ ﻏﻴﺮﻩ‬ ‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ أو‬ agre ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬
Agree
The following statements ask you to express your opinion about the media. Please Strong ‫ﻣﻌﺎرض‬ e ‫اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬
respond to each of the following statements by marking the response which best ly ‫ﻏﻴ‬ Strong
Neithe
describes your opinion. Agree ‫ر‬ ly
r
‫ﻣﻮاﻓ‬ Disagr
Agree
‫ق‬ ee
Nor
Disagr
ee
1 ‫وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم ﺗﻘﻮم ﺑﺪور هﺎم ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﺮوﻳﺞ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻟﻌﻤﺎن‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Media plays an important role in promoting tourism in Oman
2 ‫أﻧﺎ راض ﻋﻦ دور وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼ م ﻓﻲ ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻋﻤﺎن‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I am satisfied with media’s role in promoting tourism development in Oman.
3 ‫أﻋﺘﻘﺪ أن وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم ﻓﻌﺎﻟﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺮوﻳﺞ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ اﻗﻠﻴﻤﻴﺎ وﻋﺎﻟﻤﻴﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I think the media has been active in promoting Oman’s tourism regionally and
internationally.
4 ‫أﻧﺎ راض ﻋﻦ اﻟﺪور اﻟﺤﺎﻟﻲ اﻟﺬي ﺗﻘﻮم ﺑﻪ وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﻌﺮﻳﻒ ﺑﺎﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I am satisfied with the current media role in presenting Oman’s image.
5 ‫وﺳﺌﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم ﺗﻘﻮم ﺑﺪور اﻳﺠﺎﺑﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﻌﺒﻴﺮ ﻋﻦ ﻣﻔﺎهﻴﻢ اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻴﻦ وﺁراﺋﻬﻢ ﺣﻮل ﺗﺄﺛﻴﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The media is playing a positive role in expressing people’s perceptions and opinions
towards tourism impacts.

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 Appendix I Research on Tourism

‫ أرﺟﻮ وﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻻﺟﺎﺑﺔ اﻟﺼﺤﻴﺤﺔ‬، ‫ﻓﻲ هﺬا اﻟﻘﺴﻢ أود أن أوﺟﻪ ﻟﻚ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ ﺑﺨﺼﻮص ﻣﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت ﺷﺨﺼﻴﺔ‬
Part H: In this section I wish to ask you some information about yourself. Please mark the appropriate response.
Q1. ‫أرﺟﻮ ذآﺮ ﻓﺌﺔ ﻋﻤﺮك ؟‬ Please indicate your age group?
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6

Q2. ‫اﻟﺠﻨﺲ‬ What is your gender?

‫ذآﺮ‬ ‫أﻧﺜﻰ‬
Male Female
Tick Î 1 2

Q3a. ‫أﻳﻦ ﺗﻌﻤﻞ ؟‬ Where do you Work?

‫ﻣﻮﻇﻒ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻘﻄﺎع‬
‫ﻣﻮﻇﻒ ﺣﻜﻮﻣﻲ‬
‫ﻋﻤﻞ ﺧﺎص‬ ‫اﻟﺨﺎص‬ ‫ﻣﺘﻘﺎﻋﺪ‬ ‫رﺑﺔ ﺑﻴﺖ‬ ‫ﻃﺎﻟﺐ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻋﻤﻞ‬
Employed in
Self-employed Employed in Retired Housewife Student Unemployed
government
private sector
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Q3b. ‫ هﻞ ﻋﻤﻠﻚ ﻣﺘﻌﻠﻖ ﺑﺎﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ؟‬، ‫إذا آﻨﺖ ﺗﻌﻤﻞ‬

If employed, is your employment related to tourism?
‫ﻧﻌﻢ‬ ‫ﻻ‬
Yes No
Tick Î 1 2

Q4. ‫ﻳﺮﺟﻰ ذآﺮ أﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺴﺘﻮى ﺗﻌﻠﻴﻤﻲ أآﻤﻠﺘﻪ؟‬ Please indicate the highest level of education you have completed?
‫ إﻋﺪادي‬- ‫اﺑﺘﺪاﺋﻲ‬
‫ﺛﺎﻧﻮي‬ ‫آﻠﻴﺔ ﻟﻤﺪة ﺳﻨﺘﻴﻦ‬ ‫ﺧﺮﻳﺞ ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬ ‫ﺷﻬﺎدة ﺟﺎﻣﻌﻴﺔ ﻋﻠﻴﺎ‬
Elementary-
Secondary 2-Years College Graduate Postgraduate
Preparatory
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5

Q5. ‫ﻣﺎ هﻮ وﺿﻌﻚ اﻟﻌﺎﺋﻠﻲ ؟‬ What is your martial status?

‫أﻋﺰب‬ ‫ﻣﺘﺰوج‬ ‫ﻣﻄﻠﻖ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ذﻟﻚ‬
Single Married Divorced Others
Tick Î 1 2 3 4

Q6. ‫ ﺟﻨﺴﻴﺘﻚ‬What is your Nationality?

‫ﻋﻤﺎﻧﻲ‬ ‫واﻓﺪ أﺳﻴﻮي‬ ‫واﻓﺪ ﻋﺮﺑﻲ‬ ‫واﻓﺪ أوروﺑﻲ‬ ‫ أﺧﺮى‬Others
Omani Nationals Asian Expats Arab Expats European Expats ……...………………
Tick Î 1 2 3 4

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 Appendix I Research on Tourism

Q7 & Q8 TO BE ANSWERED ONLY BY OMANI NATIONALS

Q7. ‫ﻣﺎ هﻮ ﻣﻜﺎن اﻗﺎﻣﺘﻚ) ﻣﻨﻄﻘﺘﻚ ( ؟‬ What is your place of residence (region)
‫ﻣﺴﻘﻂ‬ ‫اﻟﺸﺮﻗﻴﺔ‬ ‫ﻇﻔﺎر‬ ‫اﻟﺪاﺧﻠﻴﺔ‬ ‫اﻟﺒﺎﻃﻨﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﺴﻨﺪم‬ ‫اﻟﻈﺎهﺮة‬ ‫اﻟﻮﺳﻄﻰ‬
Muscat Sharqiyah Dhofar Dhakliyah Batinah Musandam Dhahirah Al Wusta
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Q8. ‫ﻣﺎ هﻮ ﻣﺪى ﻃﻮل ﻓﺘﺮة اﻗﺎﻣﺘﻚ أﻋﻼﻩ ؟‬ What is your length of residency in the above? (Years)
‫ ﺳﻨﻮات‬5 -0 ‫ ﺳﻨﻮات‬10-6 ‫ ﺳﻨﺔ‬15 – 11 ‫ ﺳﻨﺔ‬20 – 16 ‫ ﺳﻨﺔ‬20 ‫أآﺜﺮ ﻣﻦ‬
0-5 years 6-10 years 11-15 years 16-20 years 20+ years
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5

‫ اﺳﻤﻚ ﻟﻮ ﺳﻤﺤﺖ‬Your Name Please :________________________________________(-‫أﺧﺘﻴﺎري‬ optional)

‫ رﻗﻢ هﺎﺗﻔﻚ‬Your Contact Number :_______________________________________( -‫أﺧﺘﻴﺎري‬ optional)

Company Name / Ministry where employed : ________________________________________________

Nature of business of your Company: Tourism related – 1 Non-tourism related - 2

‫ﺷﻜﺮا ﻟﺘﻌﺒﺌﺔ هﺬا اﻻﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن‬

Thank you for filling out the survey

375
Appendix I Research on Tourism

376
 Appendix I Research on Tourism

Tourist Questionnaire

Part A: Your Travel Experiences in Oman: ‫ اﻟﺘﻨﻘﻞ داﺧﻞ ﻋﻤﺎن‬/ ‫ﺗﺠﺮﺑﺘﻚ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻔﺮ‬

‫ﻣﺎ هﻮ ﻣﺴﺘﻮى رﺿﺎك ﻋﻦ اﻷﻣﻮر اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻴﺔ ؟‬ ‫راﺿﻲ‬ ‫راﺿﻲ‬ ‫ﻟﺴﺖ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ‬
What is the level of satisfaction with the following items? ‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ Satisfi ‫راض أو‬ ‫راض‬ ‫راﺿﻲ‬
Very ed ‫ﻏﻴﺮ‬ Diss ‫اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬
Satisfi ‫راض‬ atisf Very
ed Neithe ied Dissati
r sfied
Satisfi
ed Nor
Dissati
sfied
1 ‫ﺗﺠﺎرﺑﻚ اﻷﺧﻴﺮة ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻔﺮ داﺧﻞ ﻋﻤﺎن‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Your recent travel experiences within Oman.
‫ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة أﻋﻼﻩ‬5- ‫ أو راض ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬4- ‫أﺟﺐ ﺑﺎﺧﺘﺼﺎر إذا آﻨﺖ ﻏﻴﺮ راض‬
‫هﻞ ﻳﻤﻜﻨﻚ أن ﺗﺨﺒﺮﻧﻲ ﻋﻦ أﺳﺒﺎب ﻋﺪم رﺿﺎك‬
Answer this BRIEFLY if "Dissatisfied-4" or "Very Dissatisfied-5" in above statement.
Could you tell BRIEFLY the reasons for this dissatisfaction?

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2 ‫ﺗﺠﺎرﺑﻚ اﻷﺧﻴﺮة ﺑﺎﻟﻨﺴﺒﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﻨﺎﺳﺒﺎت واﻟﻤﻬﺮﺟﺎﻧﺎت اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Your recent experiences with local events & festivals.
‫ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة أﻋﻼﻩ‬5- ‫ أوﻏﻴﺮ راض ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬4- ‫أﺟﺐ ﺑﺎﺧﺘﺼﺎر إذا آﻨﺖ ﻏﻴﺮ راض‬
‫هﻞ ﻳﻤﻜﻨﻚ أن ﺗﺨﺒﺮﻧﻲ ﻋﻦ أﺳﺒﺎب ﻋﺪم رﺿﺎك‬
Answer this BRIEFLY if "Dissatisfied-4" or "Very Dissatisfied-5" in above statement.
Could you tell BRIEFLY the reasons for this dissatisfaction?

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3 ‫اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ واﻟﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن ﻣﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﺠﻬﺎت اﻟﺤﻜﻮﻣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Local governments’ tourism planning & development in Oman.
‫ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة أﻋﻼﻩ‬5- ‫ أوﻏﻴﺮ راض ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬4- ‫أﺟﺐ ﺑﺎﺧﺘﺼﺎر إذا آﻨﺖ ﻏﻴﺮ راض‬
‫هﻞ ﻳﻤﻜﻨﻚ أن ﺗﺨﺒﺮﻧﻲ ﻋﻦ أﺳﺒﺎب ﻋﺪم رﺿﺎك‬
Answer this BRIEFLY if "Dissatisfied-4" or "Very Dissatisfied-5" in above statement.
Could you tell BRIEFLY the reasons for this dissatisfaction?

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4 ‫ﺣﻤﺎﻳﺔ اﻟﻤﻮارد اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ واﻟﻤﺤﺎﻓﻈﺔ ﻋﻠﻴﻬﺎ أﺛﻨﺎء اﻻﺳﺘﻔﺎدة ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻓﻊ اﻻﻗﺘﺼﺎدﻳﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Protection & preservation of tourism resources while sustaining economic benefits in Oman.
‫ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة أﻋﻼﻩ‬5- ‫ أوﻏﻴﺮ راض ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬4- ‫أﺟﺐ ﺑﺎﺧﺘﺼﺎر إذا آﻨﺖ ﻏﻴﺮ راض‬

377
 Appendix I Research on Tourism

‫هﻞ ﻳﻤﻜﻨﻚ أن ﺗﺨﺒﺮﻧﻲ ﻋﻦ أﺳﺒﺎب ﻋﺪم رﺿﺎك‬

Answer this BRIEFLY if "Dissatisfied-4" or "Very Dissatisfied-5" in above statement.
Could you tell BRIEFLY the reasons for this dissatisfaction?

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‫أﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﻮﺳﺎﺋﻞ ﻟﺘﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﻋﻮاﻣﻞ اﻟﺠﺬب اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ‬

Part B: Development Preferences about Destination Attractions:
‫ ﻳﺮﺟﻰ‬. ‫اﻟﺠﻤﻞ اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻴﺔ ﺗﻄﻠﺐ ﻣﻨﻚ اﻟﺘﻌﺒﻴﺮ ﻋﻦ راﻳﻚ ﺣﻮل أﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﻮﺳﺎﺋﻞ ﻟﺘﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﻋﻮاﻣﻞ اﻟﺠﺬب اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻓﻲ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫ﻣﺤﺎﻳﺪ‬ ‫ﻻ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻓﻀﻞ‬
.‫اﻟﺮد ﻋﻠﻰ هﺬﻩ اﻟﺠﻤﻞ ﺑﻮﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺠﻮاب اﻟﺬي ﻳﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﻳﻚ أآﺜﺮﻣﻦ ﻏﻴﺮﻩ‬ ‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ Neutra ‫أﻓﻀ‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺮة‬
The following statements ask you to express your opinion about preferred development of Highly Some l ‫ل‬ Highly
tourism attractions in Oman. Please answer each of the following statements by marking prefer what Not not
the response which best describes your opinion. able prefer pref prefer
able erab able
le
1 ، ‫ اﻟﻤﺨﻴﻤﺎت‬، ‫ اﻟﻮدﻳﺎن‬، ‫ اﻟﻜﻬﻮف‬، ‫ اﻟﺠﺒﺎل‬،‫ اﻟﺸﻮاﻃﻰء‬، ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ أﺳﺎس اﻟﻤﻘﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﺼﺤﺎري‬ 1 2 3 4 5
(‫اﻟﺤﺪاﺋﻖ‬
Development of nature-based tourism (e.g. deserts, sea, mountains and caves, and Valleys
(Wadis) camping, parks).
2 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﻋﻮاﻣﻞ اﻟﺠﺬب اﻟﻤﺼﻤﻤﺔ ﻻﺳﺘﻘﺒﺎل أﻋﺪاد آﺒﻴﺮة ﻣﻦ اﻟﺴﻴﺎح ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﺤﺪاﺋﻖ اﻟﻤﺼﻤﻤﺔ ﺑﺄﻧﻤﺎط ﺧﺎﺻﺔ واﻟﻤﻨﺘﺠﻌﺎت‬ 1 2 3 4 5
( ‫اﻟﻜﺒﻴﺮة اﻟﻀﺨﻤﺔ‬
Development of attractions designed for a large number of tourists (e.g. theme parks and
large resort complexes).
3 ( ‫ اﻷﺳﻮاق اﻟﺘﻘﻠﻴﺪﻳﺔ‬، ‫ اﻟﻤﻮاﻗﻊ اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﺔ اﻟﺘﺎرﻳﺨﻴﺔ‬، ‫ اﻟﻘﺮى اﻟﺘﺮاﺛﻴﺔ‬، ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻷﻣﺎآﻦ اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﻴﺔ أو اﻟﺘﺎرﻳﺨﻴﺔ ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﻤﺘﺎﺣﻒ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of cultural or historic-based attractions (e.g. museums, folk villages, local
historic sites, traditional markets).
4 ( ‫ أﻣﺎآﻦ ا ﻟﺘﺮﻓﻴﻪ وﻏﻴﺮهﺎ‬، ‫ اﻟﻤﻄﺎﻋﻢ‬، ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺨﺪﻣﺎت اﻟﻤﺴﺎﻧﺪة ﻟﻠﺰوار ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﻔﻨﺎدق‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of supporting visitor services (hotels, restaurants, entertainment, etc).
5 ( ‫ ﻣﻨﺎﻃﻖ اﻟﺘﺨﻴﻴﻢ‬، ‫ ﺧﺪﻣﺎت اﻻرﺷﺎد‬، ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻷﻋﻤﺎل اﻟﺘﺠﺎرﻳﺔ اﻟﺼﻐﻴﺮة اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻘﻠﺔ ) ﻣﺜﻞ ﻣﺤﻼت اﻟﻬﺪاﻳﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of small independent businesses (e.g. gift shops, guide services, camping
grounds).
6 ( ‫ اﻟﻤﻬﺮﺟﺎﻧﺎت‬، ‫ اﻟﺮﻗﺼﺎت اﻟﺸﻌﺒﻴﺔ‬، ‫ اﻟﺤﺮف واﻟﻔﻨﻮن‬، ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﻔﻌﺎﻟﻴﺎت اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﻴﺔ واﻟﺸﻌﺒﻴﺔ ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﺤﻔﻼت‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of cultural and folk events (e.g. concerts, art and crafts, dances, festivals).
7 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ وإﻋﺪاد ﺑﺮاﻣﺞ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ﻣﺘﻜﺎﻣﻠﺔ ﻣﺮﻧﺔ وﺟﺬاﺑﺔ ﻣﺴﺒﻘﺔ اﻟﺘﺠﻬﻴﺰ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of pre-arranged attractive and flexible tour packages.
8 ( ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﺑﺮاﻣﺞ وﻓﻌﺎﻟﻴﺎت اﻟﺘﺮﻓﻴﻪ اﻟﺨﺎرﺟﻲ ) ﻣﺜﻞ رآﻮب اﻟﺪراﺟﺎت واﻟﺘﺴﻠﻖ واﻻﺑﺤﺎر اﻟﺸﺮاﻋﻲ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of outdoor recreations facilities, programs and events (e.g. hikes, bike rides,
climbing, sailing, surfing).
9 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﻄﺮق ووﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻟﻨﻘﻞ وﻣﻨﺎﻓﺬ اﻟﺪﺧﻮل‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Improved roads, transportation, and access facilities.
10 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﻣﺮاآﺰ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎح‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of information centers for tourists.
11 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺘﺴﻬﻴﻼت واﻷﻧﺸﻄﺔ اﻟﺮﻳﺎﺿﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Development of sports facilities and activities.

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 Appendix I Research on Tourism

12 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺨﺪﻣﺎت واﻟﺘﺴﻬﻴﻼت اﻟﺨﺎﺻﺔ ﺑﺄﺻﺤﺎب اﻷﻋﻤﺎل واﻟﻤﺆﺗﻤﺮات‬ 1 2 3 4 5

Business/convention meeting events and facilities.

‫اﺳﺘﺮاﺗﻴﺠﻴﺎت ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ اﻟﻮﺟﻬﺎت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬

Part C: Tourism Destination competitiveness strategies
‫ﻳﺮﺟﻰ ذآﺮ ﻣﺪى ﺗﻔﻀﻴﻠﻚ أو ﻋﺪم ﺗﻔﻀﻴﻠﻚ ﻟﻜﻞ ﻣﻦ اﺳﺘﺮاﺗﻴﺠﻴﺎت اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ آﻮﺟﻬﺔ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ واﻷﻋﻤﺎل اﻟﻮاﺟﺐ ﻋﻤﻠﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫ﺣﻴﺎدي‬ ‫ﻻ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻓﻀﻞ‬
. ‫ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن ﺑﺨﺼﻮص ذﻟﻚ‬ ‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ Neutra ‫أﻓﻀ‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺮة‬
Please indicate how favorable or unfavorable you consider each of the following Highly Favora l ‫ل‬ Not
destination competitiveness strategies and actions to be for Oman. favora ble Unf favora
ble avor ble at
able all
1 ‫ﺧﻠﻖ اﻧﻄﺒﺎع ﻗﻮي ﻋﻦ اﻟﻮﺟﻬﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The development of a strong destination image.
2 (‫ ﺑﺮﻳﻄﺎﻧﻴﺎ‬، ‫ اﻟﻴﺎﺑﺎن‬، ‫اﺧﺘﻴﺎر اﻷﺳﻮاق اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻬﺪﻓﺔ اﻟﻤﻨﺎﺳﺒﺔ ) ﻣﺜﻞ أﻟﻤﺎﻧﻴﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The selection of appropriate target markets (e.g. Germany, Japan, England).
3 ‫إﻗﺎﻣﺔ ﻋﻼﻗﺎت ﻗﻮﻳﺔ ﻣﻊ ﻣﻨﻈﻤﻲ اﻟﺮﺣﻼت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ اﻟﺠﻤﺎﻋﻴﺔ واﻟﻔﺮدﻳﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺨﺎرج‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The development of strong linkages with tourism wholesalers and retailers overseas.
4 ( ‫اﻟﺘﻐﻠﺐ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺸﻜﻠﺔ اﻟﻤﻮاﺳﻢ ﻓﻲ زﻳﺎرات اﻟﺴﻴﺎح ) ﻣﻮاﺳﻢ اﻟﺬروة واﻻﻧﺨﻔﺎض‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Overcoming seasonality (peak and off-season) in tourists’ visits.
5 ‫زﻳﺎدة ﻓﺘﺮة إﻗﺎﻣﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎح‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Increasing tourists’ length of stay.
6 ( ‫اﺳﺘﺨﺪام أﻧﻈﻤﺔ ﺗﻘﻨﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﻤﺘﻘﺪﻣﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺤﺠﺰ ) ﻣﺜﻞ ﻧﻈﺎم اﻟﺤﺠﺰ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Use of modern, advanced technology and information systems. (e.g. reservation system)
7 ‫اﻟﺘﺴﻮﻳﻖ واﻟﺘﺮوﻳﺞ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻻﺳﺘﻬﺪاف اﻟﺴﻴﺎح واﻟﺰوار ﻣﻦ اﻟﺨﺎرج‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Tourism marketing and promotion for targeting international tourists and visitors.
‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫أﻓﻀﻞ‬ ‫ﺣﻴﺎدي‬ ‫ﻻ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻓﻀﻞ‬
‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ Neutra ‫أﻓﻀ‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺮة‬
Highly Favora l ‫ل‬ Not
favora ble Unf favora
ble avor ble at
able all
8 ‫اﻟﻌﻤﻞ ﻋﻠﻰ زﻳﺎدة إﻧﻔﺎق اﻟﺴﺎﺋﺢ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Increasing tourists’ spending.
9 ‫ﺗﺤﺪﻳﺪ ﻣﻌﺎﻳﻴﺮ اﻟﺘﺴﻬﻴﻼت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The establishment of standards for tourism facilities.
10 ‫ﺗﻨﻈﻴﻢ ﺑﺮاﻣﺞ ﻟﺘﻌﻠﻴﻢ وﺗﺪرﻳﺐ اﻟﻤﻮﻇﻔﻴﻦ اﻟﺤﺎﻟﻴﻴﻦ واﻟﻤﺘﻮﻗﻊ اﻟﺘﺤﺎﻗﻬﻢ ﺑﺎﻟﻘﻄﺎع اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻣﺴﺘﻘﺒﻼ‬ 1 2 3 4 5

Education and training programs for present and future industry personnel.

11 ‫ﻗﻴﺎم اﻟﺴﻠﻄﺎت اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﺔ ﺑﺪور رﺋﻴﺴﻲ ﻓﻲ دﻋﻢ اﻟﺘﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻨﺎﻃﻖ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Local authorities and agencies’ have role as facilitators for tourism development in local
regions.
12 ‫ﻗﻴﺎم اﻟﺤﻜﻮﻣﺔ ﺑﺪور رﺋﻴﺴﻲ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺴﻮﻳﻖ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ آﻮﺟﻬﺔ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The central government plays the leadership role in marketing the country as a tourism

379
 Appendix I Research on Tourism

destination
13 ‫ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﺑﺮاﻣﺞ وﻧﻈﻢ اﻟﺴﻼﻣﺔ واﻷﻣﻦ ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎح واﻟﻤﺠﺘﻤﻌﺎت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The development of safety and security programs and systems for tourism and the tourism
community.
14 ‫ﺗﺠﻤﻴﻊ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﺘﻲ ﻣﻦ ﺷﺄﻧﻬﺎ ﺗﺼﻨﻴﻒ وﺗﺴﺠﻴﻞ ﻣﻨﺘﺠﺎت وﺧﺪﻣﺎت اﻟﻮﺟﻬﺎت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Collecting information that classifies and catalogues a destination’s products and services.
15 ‫ﺗﺴﺠﻴﻞ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت ﻟﻘﻴﺎس ﻣﻮاﻗﻒ اﻷهﺎﻟﻲ اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﻴﻦ ﻣﻦ ﻗﻄﺎع اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Recording information to monitor the attitudes of the local population towards the tourism
industry.
16 ‫اﻟﺒﺤﻮث اﻟﻬﺎدﻓﺔ إﻟﻰ اﻟﻤﺴﺎﻋﺪة ﻓﻲ ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ ﺧﺪﻣﺎت ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ﺟﺪﻳﺪة‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Research that aids the development of new tourist services.
17 ‫ﺣﻤﺎﻳﺔ وﺗﺤﺴﻴﻦ اﻟﻤﺰﻳﺪ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻃﻖ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﺤﻴﺎة اﻟﺒﺮﻳﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Protecting and improving more wildlife habitat.
18 ‫اﻟﺘﺮوﻳﺞ ﻟﻠﻮاﺟﺒﺎت اﻷﺧﻼﻗﻴﺔ ﻧﺤﻮ اﻟﺒﻴﺌﺔ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Promoting ethical responsibility towards the natural environment.
19 ‫ اﻟﺒﻴﺌﺔ‬/ ‫زﻳﺎدة اﻟﻔﺮص اﻟﺘﺜﻘﻴﻔﻴﺔ ﻟﺰوار اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻃﻖ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ اﻟﺠﻮدة واﻟﺤﻤﺎﻳﺔ ﻟﻠﻄﺒﻴﻌﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Expanding educational opportunities for the visiting public in terms of
natural/environmental quality and protection.
20 ‫ﺗﺸﺠﻴﻊ اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻴﻦ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ اﺗﺨﺎذ اﻟﻘﺮارات اﻟﻤﺘﻌﻠﻘﺔ ﺑﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Encouraging local citizen participation in decision-making about tourism development.
21 ‫ﻣﺮاﻋﺎة اﻻﻋﺘﺒﺎرات اﻟﺒﻴﺌﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺴﻮﻳﻖ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Environmental considerations in the marketing of tourism.
22 ‫اﻟﺘﻌﺎون واﻟﺘﻨﺴﻴﻖ ﺑﻴﻦ اﻟﺠﻬﺎت اﻟﺤﻜﻮﻣﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﺴﺆوﻟﺔ ﻋﻦ اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ وﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮهﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Cooperation and coordination among government authorities responsible for tourism
planning and development.
23 ‫ اﻟﺘﺮاﺛﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﻤﺠﺘﻤﻊ‬/ ‫ اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﻴﺔ‬/ ‫ اﻟﺒﻴﺌﻴﺔ‬/ ‫زﻳﺎدة اﻟﻔﺮص اﻟﺘﻌﻠﻴﻤﻴﺔ واﻟﺘﺜﻘﻴﻔﻴﺔ ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎح ﻣﻦ ﺣﻴﺚ ﺟﻮدة وﺣﻤﺎﻳﺔ اﻟﻌﻮاﻣﻞ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Expanding educational opportunities for tourists, in terms of
natural/environmental/cultural/heritage attractions quality and protection.
24 ‫اﻟﺘﻨﺴﻴﻖ واﻟﺘﻌﺎون ﻣﻊ اﻟﺪول اﻟﻤﺠﺎورة ﻓﻲ ﺗﺨﻄﻴﻂ وﺗﺴﻮﻳﻖ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Collaboration and cooperation with neighboring countries in planning and marketing
tourism.
25 ‫اﻳﺠﺎد ﺳﻤﺔ ﻓﺮﻳﺪة وذات ﻣﻌﻨﻰ ﻳﺴﺘﺪل ﺑﻬﺎ ﻟﻠﺒﻼد‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The development of a unique and meaningful branding of the country.
26 ‫ﺗﺸﺠﻴﻊ وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم ﻟﻠﻘﻴﺎم ﺑﺪور ﻓﻌﺎل ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﺮوﻳﺞ ﻟﻠﺨﻄﻂ اﻟﺘﺴﻮﻳﻘﻴﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Encouraging the media to play an active role in promoting the marketing mix.
( ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ذﻟﻚ ) ﻳﺮﺟﻰ اﻟﺘﺤﺪﻳﺪ‬
Others (Please mention below):

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 Appendix I Research on Tourism

‫اﻟﺘﻮﺟﻬﺎت اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ ﻟﻠﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬

Part D: General Tourism Attitude

Q1. ‫آﻴﻒ ﺗﺮى اﻟﺘﺄﺛﻴﺮ اﻟﻌﺎم ﻟﻠﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ؟‬

How do you perceive the overall impacts of tourism development in Oman?
‫اﻳﺠﺎﺑﻲ ﺟﺪا‬ ‫اﻳﺠﺎﺑﻲ‬ ‫ﻣﺘﻮﺳﻂ‬ ‫ﺳﻠﺒﻲ‬ ‫ﺳﻠﺒﻲ ﺟﺪا‬
Very Positive Positive Moderate Negative Very Negative
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5

Q2. ‫آﻴﻒ ﺗﻘﻴّﻢ ﻣﺴﺘﻮى اﻟﺘﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ؟‬

How would you evaluate the level of tourism development in Oman?
‫ﻣﺮﺣﻠﺔ اﻧﺤﺪار‬ ‫ﻣﺮﺣﻠﺔ ﻧﻀﻮج‬ ‫ﻣﺮﺣﻠﺔ ﻧﻤﻮ‬ ‫ﻣﺮﺣﻠﺔ ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ‬ ‫ﻣﺮﺣﻠﺔ أوﻟﻴﺔ‬
Decline Stage Maturity Stage Growth Stage Development Stage Initial Stage
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5

Q3. ‫آﻴﻒ ﺗﻘﻴّﻢ ﻣﻘﺪرة اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ آﻮﺟﻬﺔ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ؟‬

How would you evaluate the competitiveness of Oman as a tourism destination?
3a. ‫اﻗﻠﻴﻤﻴﺎ‬
*Regionally:
‫ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬
‫ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ ﻋﺎﻟﻴﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻋﺮف‬
Somewhat Not Competitive at
Highly Competitive Competitive Not Competitive Don’t know
Competitive all
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6
3b. ‫ﻋﺎﻟﻤﻴﺎ‬
*Internationally:
‫ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ ﻋﺎﻟﻴﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ﻣﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻋﺮف‬
Highly Competitive Competitive Somewhat Not Competitive Not Competitive at Don’t know
Competitive all
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6

Q4. ‫آﻴﻒ ﺗﻘﻴّﻢ ﺟﺎذﺑﻴﺔ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن آﻮﺟﻬﺔ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ؟‬

How would you evaluate the attractiveness of Oman as a tourism destination?
4a. ‫اﻗﻠﻴﻤﻴﺎ‬
*Regionally:
‫ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ ﺟﺪا‬ ‫ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ‬ ‫ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻟﻴﺴﺖ ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ‬ ‫ﻟﻴﺴﺖ ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻋﺮف‬
Highly Attractive Attractive Somewhat Attractive Not Attractive Not Attractive at all Don’t know
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6

4b. ‫ﻋﺎﻟﻤﻴﺎ‬
*Internationally
‫ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ ﺟﺪا‬ ‫ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ‬ ‫ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ ﻧﻮﻋﺎ ﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻟﻴﺴﺖ ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ‬ ‫ﻟﻴﺴﺖ ﺟﺬاﺑﺔ اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻋﺮف‬
Highly Attractive Attractive Somewhat Attractive Not Attractive Not Attractive at all Don’t know
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6

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 Appendix I Research on Tourism

‫دور وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم‬

Part E: Media role

‫ ﻳﺮﺟﻰ اﻟﺮد ﻋﻠﻲ آﻞ ﺟﻤﻠﺔ ﻣﻦ ﺧﻼل وﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ‬. ‫اﻟﺠﻤﻞ اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻴﺔ ﺗﻄﻠﺐ ﻣﻨﻚ اﻟﺘﻌﺒﻴﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﻳﻚ ﻓﻲ وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬ ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬ ‫ﻟﺴﺖ‬ Dis ‫ﻏﻴﺮ‬
.‫ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺠﻮاب اﻟﺬي ﻳﻌﺒﺮ ﻋﻦ رأﻳﻚ أآﺜﺮ ﻣﻦ ﻏﻴﺮﻩ‬ ‫ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬ Agree ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ أو‬ agre ‫ﻣﻮاﻓﻖ‬
The following statements ask you to express your opinion about the media. Please Strong ‫ﻣﻌﺎرض‬ e ‫اﻃﻼﻗﺎ‬
respond to each of the following statements by marking the response which best ly Neithe ‫ﻏﻴﺮ‬ Strong
describes your opinion. Agree r ‫ﻣﻮاﻓ‬ ly
Agree ‫ق‬ Disagr
Nor ee
Disagr
ee
1 ‫وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم ﺗﻘﻮم ﺑﺪور هﺎم ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﺮوﻳﺞ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻲ ﻟﻌﻤﺎن‬ 1 2 3 4 5
Media plays an important role in promoting tourism in Oman
2 ‫أﻧﺎ راض ﻋﻦ دور وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼ م ﻓﻲ ﺗﻄﻮﻳﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻋﻤﺎن‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I am satisfied with media’s role in promoting tourism development in Oman.
3 ‫أﻋﺘﻘﺪ أن وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم ﻓﻌﺎﻟﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺗﺮوﻳﺞ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ اﻗﻠﻴﻤﻴﺎ وﻋﺎﻟﻤﻴﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I think the media has been active in promoting Oman’s tourism regionally and
internationally.
4 ‫أﻧﺎ راض ﻋﻦ اﻟﺪور اﻟﺤﺎﻟﻲ اﻟﺬي ﺗﻘﻮم ﺑﻪ وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﻌﺮﻳﻒ ﺑﺎﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺎ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
I am satisfied with the current media role in presenting Oman’s image.
5 ‫وﺳﺌﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم ﺗﻘﻮم ﺑﺪور اﻳﺠﺎﺑﻲ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﻌﺒﻴﺮ ﻋﻦ ﻣﻔﺎهﻴﻢ اﻟﻤﻮاﻃﻨﻴﻦ وﺁراﺋﻬﻢ ﺣﻮل ﺗﺄﺛﻴﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ‬ 1 2 3 4 5
The media is playing a positive role in expressing people’s perceptions and opinions
towards tourism impacts.

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‫أهﺪاف اﻟﺴﻴﺎح ﻣﻦ اﻟﺰﻳﺎرة وﻣﻔﺎهﻴﻤﻬﻢ‬

Part F: Tourists’ purposes of visit and perceptions (Tourists only)

‫ ﻳﺮﺟﻰ وﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻌﺒﺎرة اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺼﻒ رأﻳﻚ ﺑﺸﻜﻞ أﻓﻀﻞ‬. ‫اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻴﺔ ﺗﻄﻠﺐ ﻣﻨﻚ اﻟﺘﻌﺒﻴﺮ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻐﺮض ﻣﻦ زﻳﺎرﺗﻚ واﻧﻄﺒﺎﻋﺎﺗﻚ ﻋﻦ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن‬
The following questions ask you to express the purpose for your visit and impressions of Oman. Please mark the response
which best describes your opinion.
Q1. ‫ﻣﺎ ﻣﺪى رﺿﺎك ﻋﻦ رﺣﻠﺘﻚ إﻟﻰ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﺑﺸﻜﻞ ﻋﺎم ؟‬
How satisfied are you with this trip to Oman in general?
‫ﻏﻴﺮ راض أﺑﺪا‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ راض‬ ‫ﺣﻴﺎدي‬ ‫راﺿﻲ‬ ‫راﺿﻲ ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ‬
Highly unsatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Highly satisfied
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5

. ‫ ﻳﺮﺟﻰ اﻻﺟﺎﺑﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺴﺆال اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻲ‬، ‫اذا آﻨﺖ ﻏﻴﺮ راض أﺑﺪا أو ﻏﻴﺮ راض‬

IF YOU HAVE BEEN ‘HIGHLY UNSATISFIED’ OR ‘DISSATISFIED’ PLEASE RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING
QUESTION.

Q1b. ‫هﻞ ﺑﺎﻣﻜﺎﻧﻚ أن ﺗﺨﺒﺮﻧﻲ ﻋﻦ أﺳﺒﺎب ﻋﺪم رﺿﺎك ؟‬

Could you BRIEFLY tell me the reasons for this dissatisfaction?

Q2. ( ‫أي ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﻈﺎهﺮ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ اﻟﺘﺎﻟﻴﺔ وﺟﺪﺗﻪ أآﺜﺮ ﺟﺎذﺑﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻋﻤﺎن ) ﻳﻤﻜﻨﻚ وﺿﻊ إﺷﺎرة ﻋﻠﻰ أآﺜﺮ ﻣﻦ واﺣﺪة‬
Which of the following tourism attributes did you find most attractive about Oman? (You may tick several)
Tick below Tick below
‫ﺿﻊ اﺷﺎرة أدﻧﺎﻩ‬ ‫ﺿﻊ اﺷﺎرة أدﻧﺎﻩ‬
Water sports opportunities Entertainment
1 9
‫ﻓﺮص اﻟﺮﻳﺎﺿﺎت اﻟﻤﺎﺋﻴﺔ‬ ‫اﻟﺘﺴﻠﻴﺔ‬
Other sports opportunities (e.g.
Attitudes of local people
hiking, climbing) 2 10
‫ﻣﻮاﻗﻒ اﻟﺴﻜﺎن اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﻴﻦ‬
( ‫ﻓﺮص اﻟﺮﻳﺎﺿﺔ اﻷﺧﺮى ) ﻣﺜﻞ اﻟﺘﺴﻠﻖ‬
Sea/ sand Shopping opportunity
3 11
‫ اﻟﺮﻣﺎل‬/ ‫اﻟﺒﺤﺮ‬ ‫ﻓﺮص اﻟﺘﺴﻮق‬
Historic and cultural attractions Scenic attractions
4 12
‫اﻟﻤﻮاﻗﻊ اﻟﺘﺎرﻳﺨﻴﺔ واﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﻴﺔ‬ ‫اﻟﻤﻮاﻗﻊ اﻟﻄﺒﻴﻌﻴﺔ‬
Opportunity for rest/ relaxation Quality of accommodation
5 13
‫ اﻻﺳﺘﺮﺧﺎء‬/ ‫ﻓﺮﺻﺔ اﻟﺮاﺣﺔ‬ ‫ﺟﻮدة اﻹﻗﺎﻣﺔ‬
Weather Clean and peaceful environment
6 14
‫اﻟﻄﻘﺲ‬ ‫اﻟﺒﻴﺌﺔ اﻟﻨﻈﻴﻔﺔ واﻟﻬﺎدﺋﺔ‬
Restaurants (Food) Other, Please specify:-----------
7 15
( ‫اﻟﻤﻄﺎﻋﻢ ) اﻟﻄﻌﺎم‬ ‫ ﻳﺮﺟﻰ اﻟﺘﺤﺪﻳﺪ‬، ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ذﻟﻚ‬
Family oriented amenities and safety
8
‫اﻟﻤﺮاﻓﻖ اﻟﻌﺎﺋﻠﻴﺔ واﻟﺴﻼﻣﺔ‬

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 Appendix I Research on Tourism

Q2b. Could you please mention some of the places you visited for the aforementioned activities?
‫هﻞ ﻳﻤﻜﻨﻚ أن ﺗﺬآﺮ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻷﻣﺎآﻦ اﻟﺘﻲ زرﺗﻬﺎ ﻟﻸﻧﺸﻄﺔ اﻟﻤﺬآﻮرة أﻋﻼﻩ‬

Q3. ‫آﻴﻒ ﻋﺮﻓﺖ ﻣﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت ﻋﻦ ﻋﻤﺎن ﻗﺒﻞ زﻳﺎرﺗﻚ ؟‬

How did you learn about Oman in preparation for this visit?
/ ‫وﺳﺎﺋﻞ اﻻﻋﻼم‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ هﺎ‬
‫ اﻷﻗﺎرب‬/ ‫ﺗﻮﺻﻴﺔ اﻷﺻﺪﻗﺎء‬ ‫ اﻟﻔﻌﺎﻟﻴﺎت‬/ ‫اﻟﻤﻌﺎرض‬ ‫وآﻼء اﻟﺴﻔﺮ اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﻴﻦ‬
‫اﻻﻋﻼﻧﺎت‬ ‫اﻻﻧﺘﺮﻧﺖ‬ Others
Recommended by Events Local travel
Media / Internet
friends/relative Exhibitions agents
Advertising --------------------
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6

Q4a. ‫ﻣﺎ هﻮ اﻟﻬﺪف اﻟﺮﺋﻴﺴﻲ ﻣﻦ زﻳﺎرﺗﻚ ؟‬

What is the main purpose of your visit?
/ ‫زﻳﺎرة اﻷﺻﺪﻗﺎء‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮهﺎ‬
/ ‫ﻣﻤﺎرﺳﺔ اﻟﺮﻳﺎﺿﺔ‬ ‫ﻣﻨﺎﺳﺒﺎت اﻟﻤﻌﺎرض‬
‫ﻟﻘﻀﺎء إﺟﺎزة‬ ‫اﻷﻗﺎرب‬ ‫ﻋﻤﻞ ﺗﺠﺎري‬ Others
‫اﻟﻬﻮاﻳﺎت‬ Events
Holiday Visit Business
Sports/ Hobbies Exhibitions
friends/relatives --------------------
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6

‫ ب ﻓﻘﻂ إذا زرت ﻋﻤﺎن ﻷﻏﺮاض ﻏﻴﺮ ﺗﺠﺎرﻳﺔ‬4 ‫أرﺟﻮ اﻻﺟﺎﺑﺔ ﻋﻦ اﻟﺴﺆال‬
PLEASE RESPOND TO Q4b ONLY IF YOU HAVE VISITED OMAN FOR ‘NON BUSINESS’ PURPOSES.
Q4b. ‫ﻣﺎ اﻟﺬي ﺟﻌﻠﻚ ﺗﺨﺘﺎر ﻋﻤﺎن آﻮﺟﻬﺔ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ؟‬
What made you choose Oman as your tourist destination?

‫ﺗﻨﺎﺳﺐ ﻣﻴﺰاﻧﻴﺘﻲ‬ 1 ‫ﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﻣﺮاآﺰ ﺗﺠﺎرﻳﺔ ﻣﻤﺘﺎزة‬ 6

Suit my budget World class shopping malls
‫أود ﻣﻌﺮﻓﺔ اﻟﻜﺜﻴﺮ ﻋﻦ اﻟﺜﻘﺎﻓﺔ اﻟﻤﺤﻠﻴﺔ‬ 2 ‫ اﻷﻗﺎرب ﻟﻲ ﻟﺰﻳﺎرﺗﻬﺎ‬/ ‫دﻋﻮة اﻷﺻﺪﻗﺎء‬ 7
Wanted to know more about the local culture Friends/ relatives invited us over
‫أود اﻟﺘﺴﻮق ﻓﻲ اﻷﺳﻮاق اﻟﻌﻤﺎﻧﻴﺔ‬ 3 ‫ﻟﻴﺴﺖ ﺑﻌﻴﺪة ﻋﻦ ﺑﻠﺪي‬ 8
Wanted to shop in the Omani souqs Distance is not much to visit
‫اﻟﻄﻘﺲ ﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﻳﻨﺎﺳﺐ ﺻﺤﺘﻲ‬ 4 ‫ﻻ ﺗﻮﺟﺪ ﻓﻴﻬﺎ ﻗﻴﻮد ﺣﻜﻮﻣﻴﺔ آﺜﻴﺮة‬ 9
Local weather suits health Do not face too many Govt. restrictions
‫ﻳﺘﻮﻓﺮ ﻓﻴﻬﺎ رﻳﺎﺿﺎت ﻣﻐﺎﻣﺮة آﺜﻴﺮة‬ 5 ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ذﻟﻚ‬
Has plenty of adventure sports Others………………..

Q4c. ‫ﻣﻦ آﺎن ﺻﺎﺣﺐ اﻟﻘﺮار اﻷول ﺑﺨﺼﻮص زﻳﺎرﺗﻚ إﻟﻰ ﻋﻤﺎن ؟‬
Who was the primary decision maker regarding the visit to Oman?

‫أﻧﺎ ﺑﻨﻔﺴﻲ‬ 1 ‫اﻷﺻﺪﻗﺎء‬ 6

Self Friends

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 Appendix I Research on Tourism

‫زوﺟﺘﻲ‬ 2 ‫وآﻴﻞ اﻟﺴﻔﺮ‬ 7

Spouse Travel agent
‫أﻃﻔﺎﻟﻲ‬ 3 ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ذﻟﻚ‬ 8
Children Others………………
‫أﻗﺎرﺑﻲ‬ 4
Relatives

Q4d. Were there other countries that you were thinking of visiting instead of Oman?
‫هﻞ ﻓﻜﺮت ﺑﺰﻳﺎرة دول أﺧﺮى ﺑﺪﻻ ﻣﻦ ﻋﻤﺎن ؟‬

Yes ‫ﻧﻌﻢ‬ No ‫ﻻ‬

1 2

‫ د‬4 ‫ إي إذا أﺟﺒﺖ ﺑﻨﻌﻢ ﻟﻠﺴﺆال‬4 ‫أ رﺟﻮ اﻻﺟﺎﺑﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺴﺆال‬

PLEASE RESPOND TO Q4e IF YOU HAVE ANSWERED ‘YES’ FOR Q4d.
Q4e. ‫ا هﻲ اﻟﺪول اﻷﺧﺮى اﻟﺘﻲ ﻓﻜﺮت ﺑﺰﻳﺎرﺗﻬﺎ ﺑﺪﻻ ﻣﻦ ﻋﻤﺎن ؟‬
Which other countries were you considering of visiting instead of Oman?

Q5a. ‫هﻞ ﺗﻔﻜﺮ ﺑﺎﻟﻌﻮدة ﺛﺎﻧﻴﺔ إﻟﻰ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻘﺒﻞ ؟‬

Are you thinking of coming back to Oman in the future?
Yes ‫ﻧﻌﻢ‬ No ‫ﻻ‬ Maybe‫رﺑﻤﺎ‬
Tick Î 1 2 3

‫ أ‬5 ‫ ب إذا آﻨﺖ ﻗﺪ أﺟﺒﺖ ﺑﻨﻌﻢ أو رﺑﻤﺎ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺴﺆال‬5 ‫أرﺟﻮ اﻻﺟﺎﺑﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﺴﺆال‬
PLEASE RESPOND TO Q5b IF YOU HAVE ANSWERED ‘YES’ OR ‘MAYBE’ FOR Q5a

Q5b. ‫ﻣﺘﻰ ﺗﺨﻄﻂ ﻟﻠﻌﻮدة ﻟﺰﻳﺎرة ﻋﻤﺎن ﺑﻐﺮض اﻟﺘﺮﻓﻴﻪ؟‬

When do you plan to come back to Oman for leisure purposes?
‫ﺧﻼل ﻋﺎم واﺣﺪ‬ Within a year 1 ‫ أﻋﻮام‬6-4 ‫ﺧﻼل‬ Between 4 – 5 years 4
‫ ﻋﺎم‬2- 1 ‫ﺧﻼل‬ Between 1 – 2 years 2 ‫ أﻋﻮام أو أآﺜﺮ‬5 5 years and beyond 5
‫ أﻋﻮام‬4- 3 ‫ ﺧﻼل‬Between 2 – 4 years 3

Q6. ‫ أﻗﺎرﺑﻚ ﺑﺰﻳﺎرة ﻋﻤﺎن آﻮﺟﻬﺔ ﺳﻴﺎﺣﻴﺔ ؟‬/ ‫هﻞ ﺗﻨﺼﺢ أﺻﺪﻗﺎءك‬
Would you recommend Oman as a tourist destination to your friends/ relatives?

Yes ‫ﻧﻌﻢ‬ No ‫ﻻ‬ Maybe‫رﺑﻤﺎ‬

Tick Î 1 2 3

Q6. ( ‫) اذآﺮهﺎ ﻟﻮ ﺳﻤﺤﺖ‬ ‫ﺑﻠﺪ اﻗﺎﻣﺘﻚ‬

Your country of residency? (Please)

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 Appendix I Research on Tourism

‫ أرﺟﻮ وﺿﻊ ﻋﻼﻣﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻻﺟﺎﺑﺔ اﻟﺼﺤﻴﺤﺔ‬، ‫ﻓﻲ هﺬا اﻟﻘﺴﻢ أود أن أوﺟﻪ ﻟﻚ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ ﺑﺨﺼﻮص ﻣﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت ﺷﺨﺼﻴﺔ‬
Part G: In this section I wish to ask you some information about yourself. Please mark the appropriate response.
Q1. ‫أرﺟﻮ ذآﺮ ﻓﺌﺔ ﻋﻤﺮك ؟‬ Please indicate your age group?
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6

Q2. ‫اﻟﺠﻨﺲ‬ What is your gender?

‫ذآﺮ‬ ‫أﻧﺜﻰ‬
Male Female
Tick Î 1 2

Q3a. ‫أﻳﻦ ﺗﻌﻤﻞ ؟‬ Where do you Work?

‫ﻣﻮﻇﻒ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻘﻄﺎع‬
‫ﻣﻮﻇﻒ ﺣﻜﻮﻣﻲ‬
‫ﻋﻤﻞ ﺧﺎص‬ ‫اﻟﺨﺎص‬ ‫ﻣﺘﻘﺎﻋﺪ‬ ‫رﺑﺔ ﺑﻴﺖ‬ ‫ﻃﺎﻟﺐ‬ ‫ﻻ أﻋﻤﻞ‬
Employed in
Self-employed Employed in Retired Housewife Student Unemployed
government
private sector
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Q3b. ‫ هﻞ ﻋﻤﻠﻚ ﻣﺘﻌﻠﻖ ﺑﺎﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ؟‬، ‫إذا آﻨﺖ ﺗﻌﻤﻞ‬

If employed, is your employment related to tourism?
‫ﻧﻌﻢ‬ ‫ﻻ‬
Yes No
Tick Î 1 2

Q4. ‫ﻳﺮﺟﻰ ذآﺮ أﻋﻠﻰ ﻣﺴﺘﻮى ﺗﻌﻠﻴﻤﻲ أآﻤﻠﺘﻪ؟‬ Please indicate the highest level of education you have completed?
‫ إﻋﺪادي‬- ‫اﺑﺘﺪاﺋﻲ‬
‫ﺛﺎﻧﻮي‬ ‫آﻠﻴﺔ ﻟﻤﺪة ﺳﻨﺘﻴﻦ‬ ‫ﺧﺮﻳﺞ ﺟﺎﻣﻌﺔ‬ ‫ﺷﻬﺎدة ﺟﺎﻣﻌﻴﺔ ﻋﻠﻴﺎ‬
Elementary-
Secondary 2-Years College Graduate Postgraduate
Preparatory
Tick Î 1 2 3 4 5

Q5. ‫ﻣﺎ هﻮ وﺿﻌﻚ اﻟﻌﺎﺋﻠﻲ ؟‬ What is your martial status?

‫أﻋﺰب‬ ‫ﻣﺘﺰوج‬ ‫ﻣﻄﻠﻖ‬ ‫ﻏﻴﺮ ذﻟﻚ‬
Single Married Divorced Others
Tick Î 1 2 3 4

‫ اﺳﻤﻚ ﻟﻮ ﺳﻤﺤﺖ‬Your Name Please :________________________________________(-‫أﺧﺘﻴﺎري‬ optional)

‫ رﻗﻢ هﺎﺗﻔﻚ‬Your Contact Number :_______________________________________( -‫أﺧﺘﻴﺎري‬ optional)

‫ﺷﻜﺮا ﻟﺘﻌﺒﺌﺔ هﺬا اﻻﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن‬

Thank you for filling out the survey

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Appendix I Research on Tourism

Information Sheet

Local Population (Omani Nationals + Expats)

Title: Destination Competitiveness: Interrelationships between destination planning and development

strategies, and stakeholders’ support in enhancing Oman’s tourism industry.

Description: This research project aims to investigate the attitudes and perceptions people have about
tourism impacts, and its planning and development in Oman. If you decide to help The Ministry of
Tourism to understand your perception and opinion about the topic we would ask you to fill-up the
questionnaire please.

Expected benefits
The information gathered from this project will be used by the Ministry of Tourism when carrying out
their planning policies.

Who will conduct the study?

The Ministry of Tourism representatives will hand over the questionnaire to you.

Confidentiality
You will not be identifiable in any way by the data collected, and there are no identifying
characteristics on the survey. All the questionnaires will be put into one database, so it will be
impossible for any individual to be identified.

Voluntary Participation
Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. You are under no obligation to participate
and there will be no negative consequences for you, or for the person who has asked you to complete
this survey, if you choose not to participate. You may decline to participate in the whole survey, or to
choose not to answer any individual question. Further, if you agree to participate you are free to
withdraw from participation at any time during the study.

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Appendix I Research on Tourism

Potential risk
You are assured that the study does not expose you to any potential risk as a result of your
participation. However if you have any concern about this issue The Coordinating Officer Ms.Razan
Darwish at the Ministry of Tourism will be available to provide any clarification.

Complaints
If the participants have any complaints concerning the manner in which the research is conducted,
they may contact The Coordinating Officer, Ms. Razan Darwish at the Ministry of Tourism on
24588861/3.

Questions / further information

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact The Coordinating Officer Ms.Razan
Darwish at the Ministry of Tourism on 24588861/3.

The participant should retain this information sheet for future reference, questions or complaints
regarding this survey.

Thank you for your participation

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‫ﺻﺤﻴﻔﺔ ﻣﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت‬

‫اﻟﻌﻨﻮان ‪ :‬اﺗﺠﺎﻩ اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ ‪ :‬اﻟﻌﻼﻗﺎت اﻟﻤﺘﺒﺎدﻟﺔ ﺑﻴﻦ اﺗﺠﺎهﺎت اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ واﺳﺘﺮاﺗﻴﺠﻴﺔ اﻟﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ ‪ ،‬واﻟﺸﺮآﺎء ‪ ،‬واﻟﺪﻋﻢ ﻟﺘﻌﺰﻳﺰ‬
‫ﺻﻨﺎﻋﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﻮﺻﻒ ‪ :‬ﻳﻬﺪف ﻣﺸﺮوع اﻟﺒﺤﺚ ﻟﻠﺘﺤﻘﻖ ﻣﻦ اﺗﺠﺎهﺎت وﻣﻔﺎهﻴﻢ اﻟﻨﺎس ﺣﻮل ﺗﺤﺪﻳﺎت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ‪ ،‬واﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ واﻟﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻋﻤﺎن ‪.‬‬
‫إذا آﺎن ﻟﺪﻳﻚ اﻟﺮﻏﺒﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺴﺎﻋﺪة وزارة اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻟﻔﻬﻢ ﺗﻮﺟﻬﺎﺗﻚ وﻣﻔﺎهﻴﻤﻚ ورأﻳﻚ ﺣﻮل اﻟﻤﻮﺿﻮع اﻷﺳﺎﺳﻲ ‪ ،‬ﻧﻄﻠﺐ ﻣﻨﻚ‬
‫اﻟﻘﻴﺎم ﺑﺘﻌﺒﺌﺔ هﺬﻩ اﻻﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن ﻣﻦ ﻓﻀﻠﻚ ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﻔﻮاﺋﺪ اﻟﻤﺘﻮﻗﻌﺔ‬
‫اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻘﺎة ﻣﻦ هﺬا اﻟﻤﺸﺮوع ﺳﻮف ﺗﺴﺘﺨﺪم ﻣﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ وزارة اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ‪ ،‬ﺧﻼﺻﺔ هﺬا اﻟﻤﺮدود ﺳﻮف‬
‫ﺗﺴﺘﺨﺪم اﻟﺠﻬﺎت اﻟﻤﺨﺘﺼﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﺎل اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻟﻼﺳﺘﻔﺎدة ﻣﻨﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺳﻴﺎﺳﺘﻬﺎ اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻄﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻘﺒﻠﻴﺔ‪.‬‬

‫ﻣﻦ ﺳﻴﻘﻮم ﺑﻬﺬﻩ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ؟‬

‫ﻣﻨﺪوب وزارة اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺳﻴﻘﻮم ﺑﺘﺴﻠﻴﻢ اﻷﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن ﻟﻜﻢ‪.‬‬
‫اﻟﺨﺼﻮﺻﻴﺔ‬
‫ﻟﻦ ﻳﺬآﺮ اﺳﻤﻚ أو ﺗﻜﻮن ﻣﻌﺮوﻓُﺎ ﻷي ﺟﻬﺔ ﺑﺄي ﺷﻜﻞ ﻣﻦ اﻷﺷﻜﺎل ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﺘﻲ أدﻟﻴﺖ ﺑﻬﺎ ‪ ،‬وﻟﻦ ﻳﺘﻢ اﻟﺘﻌﺮﻳﻒ ﺑﺄي‬
‫ﺷﺨﺺ ﻳﺸﺎرك ﻓﻲ اﻻﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن ‪ .‬آﻞ ﻣﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﻤﺴﺢ ﺳﻮف ﺗﻮﺿﻊ ﻓﻲ ﻗﺎﻋﺪة ﻣﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت واﺣﺪة‪ ،‬وﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﺴﺘﺤﻴﻞ اﻟﺘﻌﺮف ﻋﻠﻰ‬
‫أي ﺷﺨﺺ أدﻟﻰ ﺑﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت ‪.‬‬

‫ﺣﺮﻳﺔ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ‬
‫ﻣﺸﺎرآﺘﻚ ﻓﻲ هﺬﻩ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ﺳﺘﻜﻮن ﺑﺈرادﺗﻚ اﻟﻜﺎﻣﻠﺔ ‪ .‬ﻟﻦ ﺗﺘﺤﻤﻞ أي ﻣﺴﺆوﻟﻴﺔ ﻋﻦ هﺬﻩ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ أو ﺗﺘﻌﺮض ﻷي ﻣﻀﺎﻳﻘﺎت‬
‫أو ﺗﺒﻌﺎت ﺳﻠﺒﻴﺔ أﺧﺮى ‪ ،‬ﻣﻦ اﻟﺸﺨﺺ اﻟﺬي ﻳﻘﺪم ﻟﻚ اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ ‪ ،‬إذا رﻏﺒﺖ ﻓﻲ ﻋﺪم اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ‪ .‬وإذا وﺟﺪت ﺣﺮﺟﺎ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ‬
‫ﻓﻲ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ‪ ،‬أو رﻏﺒﺖ ﻓﻲ ﻋﺪم اﻹﺟﺎﺑﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ اﻟﺸﺨﺼﻴﺔ‪ .‬وﻟﺪﻳﻚ ﻣﻄﻠﻖ اﻟﺤﺮﻳﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﺮاﺟﻊ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ‬
‫اﻻﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن ﻓﻲ أي وﻗﺖ ﻣﻦ اﻷوﻗﺎت أﺛﻨﺎء إﺟﺮاء اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ‪.‬‬

‫إﻣﻜﺎﻧﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﺨﻄﺮة‬
‫ﺗﺄآﺪ ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ أن هﺬﻩ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ﻟﻦ ﺗﻌﺮﺿﻚ ﻷي ﻧﻮع ﻣﻦ أﻧﻮاع اﻟﻤﺨﺎﻃﺮة ﺣﺎل ﻣﻮاﻓﻘﺘﻚ ﻟﻠﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻻﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن‪ .‬وإذا آﻨﺖ‬
‫ﺗﺮﻏﺐ ﻓﻲ اﻻﺳﺘﻔﺴﺎر ﻋﻦ أي ﺳﻮء ﻓﻬﻢ أو ﻋﺪم وﺿﻮح ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﻮﺿﻮع ﻓﺈن ﻣﻨﺴﻘﺔ اﻟﻤﺸﺮوع ﻣﺘﻮاﺟﺪة ﻟﺘﻘﺪﻳﻢ أي اﻳﻀﺎﺣﺎت‬
‫ﺗﺘﻄﻠﺒﻬﺎ ‪.‬‬

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‫ﻧﺸﻜﺮآﻢ ﻟﻤﻮاﻓﻘﺘﻜﻢ ﺑﺄن ﺗﻜﻮن ‪ /‬ﺗﻜﻮﻧﻲ ﺟﺰءًا ﻣﻦ هﺬﻩ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ‪.‬‬

‫ﻟﻼﺳﺘﻔﺴﺎر ‪ /‬و اﻟﻤﺰﻳﺪ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت‬

‫إذا آﺎن ﻟﺪﻳﻚ أي أﺳﺌﻠﺔ أو اﺳﺘﻔﺴﺎرات ﻟﺪﻳﻚ ﻣﻄﻠﻖ اﻟﺤﺮﻳﺔ ﻟﻼﺗﺼﺎل ﺑﻤﻨﺴﻘﺔ اﻟﻤﺸﺮوع اﻟﻔﺎﺿﻠﺔ ‪ /‬رزان دروﻳﺶ ﻋﻠﻰ هﺎﺗﻒ‪:‬‬
‫‪24588861 / 3‬‬

‫ﻧﺸﻜﺮآﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺗﻌﺎوﻧﻜﻢ ﻓﻲ ﺗﻌﺒﺌﺔ اﻷﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن‬

‫‪Freedom of consent and confidentiality‬‬

‫‪I have read the information sheet and the consent form. I agree to participate in the study and‬‬
‫‪give my consent freely. I understand that the study will be out as described in the information‬‬
‫‪sheet, a copy of which I have retained. I realize that whether or not I decided to participate is‬‬
‫‪my decision. I also realize that I can withdraw from the study at any time and that I do not‬‬
‫‪have to give any reasons for withdrawing. I have all questions answered to my satisfaction.‬‬

‫ﺣﺮﻳﺔ اﻟﻤﻮاﻓﻘﺔ واﻟﺨﺼﻮﺻﻴﺔ‬

‫ﻗﺮأت ﺻﺤﻴﻔﺔ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت واﺳﺘﻤﺎرة اﻟﻤﻮاﻓﻘﺔ ‪ .‬وواﻓﻘﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ وأﻋﻄﻴﺖ ﻣﻮاﻓﻘﺘﻲ ﺑﻜﺎﻣﻞ اﻟﺤﺮﻳﺔ ‪.‬‬
‫وﺗﻔﻬﻤﺖ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻀﻤﻨﻬﺎ ﺑﻴﺎن اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت‪ ،‬واﻟﻨﺴﺨﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﺑﻄﺮﻓﻲ ‪ .‬ﻟﺪي ﻣﻄﻠﻖ اﻟﺤﺮﻳﺔ ﻓﻲ اﺗﺨﺎذ اﻟﻘﺮار ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ أو‬
‫ﻋﺪﻣﻪ‪ .‬آﻤﺎ ﺑﺈﻣﻜﺎﻧﻲ اﻟﺘﺮاﺟﻊ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ﻓﻲ أي وﻗﺖ دون إﺑﺪاء أي أﺳﺒﺎب ‪.‬‬
‫وأﺟﺒﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺟﻤﻴﻊ اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ ﺑﻜﺎﻣﻞ ﺣﺮﻳﺘﻲ‪.‬‬

‫‪Signature:‬‬ ‫اﻟﺘﻮﻗﻴﻊ‬

‫اﻟﻤﺸﺎرك ‪Participant‬‬ ‫‪Date‬‬ ‫اﻟﺘﺎرﻳﺦ‬

‫*********************************************************************‬

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Appendix I Research on Tourism

Below Table to be completed by Ministry Staff only:

SEGMENTS CENTRE
Govt. 1 Muscat
Interiors……………………..…..
Residents 2 Muscat - 1
Batinah (Rustaq) – 2
Dhakliyah (Nizwa) – 3
Dhofar (Salalah) – 4
Sharqiyah (Sur) – 5
Dhahirah (Buraimi) – 6
Business 3 Muscat Tourism related – 1
Interiors……………………..….. Non-Tourism related –
2
Academic 4 Muscat
Faculty &
Students
Media / Ad 5 Muscat
Agencies

391
Appendix I Research on Tourism

392
Appendix I Research on Tourism

Information Sheet

Tourists

Title: Destination Competitiveness: Interrelationships between destination planning and development

strategies, and stakeholders’ support in enhancing Oman’s tourism industry

Description: This research project aims to investigate the attitudes and perceptions people have about
tourism impacts, and its planning and development in Oman. If you decide to help The Ministry of
Tourism to understand your perception and opinion about the topic we would ask you to fill-up the
questionnaire please.

Expected benefits
The information gathered from this project will be used by the Ministry of Tourism when carrying out
their planning policies.

Who will conduct the study?

The Ministry of Tourism representatives will hand over the questionnaire to you.

Confidentiality
You will not be identifiable in any way by the data collected, and there are no identifying
characteristics on the survey. All the questionnaires will be put into one database, so it will be
impossible for any individual to be identified.

Voluntary Participation
Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. You are under no obligation to participate
and there will be no negative consequences for you, or for the person who has asked you to complete
this survey, if you choose not to participate. You may decline to participate in the whole survey, or to
choose not to answer any individual question. Further, if you agree to participate you are free to
withdraw from participation at any time during the study.

393
Appendix I Research on Tourism

Potential risk
You are assured that the study does not expose you to any potential risk as a result of your
participation. However if you have any concern about this issue The Coordinating Officer Ms.Razan
Darwish at the Ministry of Tourism will be available to provide any clarification.

Complaints
If the participants have any complaints concerning the manner in which the research is conducted,
they may contact The Coordinating Officer, Ms.Razan Darwish at the Ministry of Tourism on
24588861/3

Questions / further information

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact The Coordinating Officer Ms.Razan
Darwish at the Ministry of Tourism on 24588861/3

The participant should retain this information sheet for future reference, questions or complaints
regarding this survey.

Thank you for your participation

394
‫‪Appendix I‬‬ ‫‪Research on Tourism‬‬

‫ﺻﺤﻴﻔﺔ ﻣﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت‬

‫اﻟﻌﻨﻮان ‪ :‬اﺗﺠﺎﻩ اﻟﻤﻨﺎﻓﺴﺔ ‪ :‬اﻟﻌﻼﻗﺎت اﻟﻤﺘﺒﺎدﻟﺔ ﺑﻴﻦ اﺗﺠﺎهﺎت اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ واﺳﺘﺮاﺗﻴﺠﻴﺔ اﻟﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ ‪ ،‬واﻟﺸﺮآﺎء ‪ ،‬واﻟﺪﻋﻢ ﻟﺘﻌﺰﻳﺰ‬
‫ﺻﻨﺎﻋﺔ اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺳﻠﻄﻨﺔ ﻋﻤﺎن ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﻮﺻﻒ ‪ :‬ﻳﻬﺪف ﻣﺸﺮوع اﻟﺒﺤﺚ ﻟﻠﺘﺤﻘﻖ ﻣﻦ اﺗﺠﺎهﺎت وﻣﻔﺎهﻴﻢ اﻟﻨﺎس ﺣﻮل ﺗﺤﺪﻳﺎت اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ‪ ،‬واﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻂ واﻟﺘﻨﻤﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻋﻤﺎن ‪.‬‬
‫إذا آﺎن ﻟﺪﻳﻚ اﻟﺮﻏﺒﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺴﺎﻋﺪة وزارة اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻟﻔﻬﻢ ﺗﻮﺟﻬﺎﺗﻚ وﻣﻔﺎهﻴﻤﻚ ورأﻳﻚ ﺣﻮل اﻟﻤﻮﺿﻮع اﻷﺳﺎﺳﻲ ‪ ،‬ﻧﻄﻠﺐ ﻣﻨﻚ‬
‫اﻟﻘﻴﺎم ﺑﺘﻌﺒﺌﺔ هﺬﻩ اﻻﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن ﻣﻦ ﻓﻀﻠﻚ ‪.‬‬

‫اﻟﻔﻮاﺋﺪ اﻟﻤﺘﻮﻗﻌﺔ‬
‫اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻘﺎة ﻣﻦ هﺬا اﻟﻤﺸﺮوع ﺳﻮف ﺗﺴﺘﺨﺪم ﻣﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ وزارة اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺴﻠﻄﻨﺔ ‪ ،‬ﺧﻼﺻﺔ هﺬا اﻟﻤﺮدود ﺳﻮف‬
‫ﺗﺴﺘﺨﺪم اﻟﺠﻬﺎت اﻟﻤﺨﺘﺼﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻣﺠﺎل اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﻟﻼﺳﺘﻔﺎدة ﻣﻨﻬﺎ ﻓﻲ ﺳﻴﺎﺳﺘﻬﺎ اﻟﺘﺨﻄﻴﻄﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﺴﺘﻘﺒﻠﻴﺔ‪.‬‬

‫ﻣﻦ ﺳﻴﻘﻮم ﺑﻬﺬﻩ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ؟‬

‫ﻣﻨﺪوب وزارة اﻟﺴﻴﺎﺣﺔ ﺳﻴﻘﻮم ﺑﺘﺴﻠﻴﻢ اﻷﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن ﻟﻜﻢ‪.‬‬
‫اﻟﺨﺼﻮﺻﻴﺔ‬
‫ﻟﻦ ﻳﺬآﺮ اﺳﻤﻚ أو ﺗﻜﻮن ﻣﻌﺮوﻓُﺎ ﻷي ﺟﻬﺔ ﺑﺄي ﺷﻜﻞ ﻣﻦ اﻷﺷﻜﺎل ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﺘﻲ أدﻟﻴﺖ ﺑﻬﺎ ‪ ،‬وﻟﻦ ﻳﺘﻢ اﻟﺘﻌﺮﻳﻒ ﺑﺄي‬
‫ﺷﺨﺺ ﻳﺸﺎرك ﻓﻲ اﻻﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن ‪ .‬آﻞ ﻣﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت اﻟﻤﺴﺢ ﺳﻮف ﺗﻮﺿﻊ ﻓﻲ ﻗﺎﻋﺪة ﻣﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت واﺣﺪة‪ ،‬وﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﺴﺘﺤﻴﻞ اﻟﺘﻌﺮف ﻋﻠﻰ‬
‫أي ﺷﺨﺺ أدﻟﻰ ﺑﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت ‪.‬‬

‫ﺣﺮﻳﺔ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ‬
‫ﻣﺸﺎرآﺘﻚ ﻓﻲ هﺬﻩ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ﺳﺘﻜﻮن ﺑﺈرادﺗﻚ اﻟﻜﺎﻣﻠﺔ ‪ .‬ﻟﻦ ﺗﺘﺤﻤﻞ أي ﻣﺴﺆوﻟﻴﺔ ﻋﻦ هﺬﻩ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ أو ﺗﺘﻌﺮض ﻷي ﻣﻀﺎﻳﻘﺎت‬
‫أو ﺗﺒﻌﺎت ﺳﻠﺒﻴﺔ أﺧﺮى ‪ ،‬ﻣﻦ اﻟﺸﺨﺺ اﻟﺬي ﻳﻘﺪم ﻟﻚ اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ ‪ ،‬إذا رﻏﺒﺖ ﻓﻲ ﻋﺪم اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ‪ .‬وإذا وﺟﺪت ﺣﺮﺟﺎ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ‬
‫ﻓﻲ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ‪ ،‬أو رﻏﺒﺖ ﻓﻲ ﻋﺪم اﻹﺟﺎﺑﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺑﻌﺾ اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ اﻟﺸﺨﺼﻴﺔ‪ .‬وﻟﺪﻳﻚ ﻣﻄﻠﻖ اﻟﺤﺮﻳﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺘﺮاﺟﻊ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ‬
‫اﻻﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن ﻓﻲ أي وﻗﺖ ﻣﻦ اﻷوﻗﺎت أﺛﻨﺎء إﺟﺮاء اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ‪.‬‬

‫إﻣﻜﺎﻧﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﺨﻄﺮة‬
‫ﺗﺄآﺪ ﺗﻤﺎﻣﺎ أن هﺬﻩ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ﻟﻦ ﺗﻌﺮﺿﻚ ﻷي ﻧﻮع ﻣﻦ أﻧﻮاع اﻟﻤﺨﺎﻃﺮة ﺣﺎل ﻣﻮاﻓﻘﺘﻚ ﻟﻠﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻻﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن‪ .‬وإذا آﻨﺖ‬
‫ﺗﺮﻏﺐ ﻓﻲ اﻻﺳﺘﻔﺴﺎر ﻋﻦ أي ﺳﻮء ﻓﻬﻢ أو ﻋﺪم وﺿﻮح ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﻮﺿﻮع ﻓﺈن ﻣﻨﺴﻘﺔ اﻟﻤﺸﺮوع ﻣﺘﻮاﺟﺪة ﻟﺘﻘﺪﻳﻢ أي اﻳﻀﺎﺣﺎت‬
‫ﺗﺘﻄﻠﺒﻬﺎ ‪.‬‬

‫‪395‬‬
‫‪Appendix I‬‬ ‫‪Research on Tourism‬‬

‫ﻧﺸﻜﺮآﻢ ﻟﻤﻮاﻓﻘﺘﻜﻢ ﺑﺄن ﺗﻜﻮن ‪ /‬ﺗﻜﻮﻧﻲ ﺟﺰءًا ﻣﻦ هﺬﻩ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ‪.‬‬

‫ﻟﻼﺳﺘﻔﺴﺎر ‪ /‬و اﻟﻤﺰﻳﺪ ﻣﻦ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت‬

‫إذا آﺎن ﻟﺪﻳﻚ أي أﺳﺌﻠﺔ أو اﺳﺘﻔﺴﺎرات ﻟﺪﻳﻚ ﻣﻄﻠﻖ اﻟﺤﺮﻳﺔ ﻟﻼﺗﺼﺎل ﺑﻤﻨﺴﻘﺔ اﻟﻤﺸﺮوع اﻟﻔﺎﺿﻠﺔ ‪ /‬رزان دروﻳﺶ هﺎﺗﻒ‪3 :‬‬
‫‪24588861/‬‬

‫ﻧﺸﻜﺮآﻢ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺗﻌﺎوﻧﻜﻢ ﻓﻲ ﺗﻌﺒﺌﺔ اﻷﺳﺘﺒﻴﺎن‬

‫‪Freedom of consent and confidentiality‬‬

‫‪I have read the information sheet and the consent form. I agree to participate in the study and‬‬
‫‪give my consent freely. I understand that the study will be out as described in the information‬‬
‫‪sheet, a copy of which I have retained. I realize that whether or not I decided to participate is‬‬
‫‪my decision. I also realize that I can withdraw from the study at any time and that I do not‬‬
‫‪have to give any reasons for withdrawing. I have all questions answered to my satisfaction.‬‬

‫ﺣﺮﻳﺔ اﻟﻤﻮاﻓﻘﺔ واﻟﺨﺼﻮﺻﻴﺔ‬

‫ﻗﺮأت ﺻﺤﻴﻔﺔ اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت واﺳﺘﻤﺎرة اﻟﻤﻮاﻓﻘﺔ ‪ .‬وواﻓﻘﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ وأﻋﻄﻴﺖ ﻣﻮاﻓﻘﺘﻲ ﺑﻜﺎﻣﻞ اﻟﺤﺮﻳﺔ ‪.‬‬
‫وﺗﻔﻬﻤﺖ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﻀﻤﻨﻬﺎ ﺑﻴﺎن اﻟﻤﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎت‪ ،‬واﻟﻨﺴﺨﺔ اﻟﺘﻲ ﺑﻄﺮﻓﻲ ‪ .‬ﻟﺪي ﻣﻄﻠﻖ اﻟﺤﺮﻳﺔ ﻓﻲ اﺗﺨﺎذ اﻟﻘﺮار ﺑﺎﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ أو‬
‫ﻋﺪﻣﻪ‪ .‬آﻤﺎ ﺑﺈﻣﻜﺎﻧﻲ اﻟﺘﺮاﺟﻊ ﻋﻦ اﻟﻤﺸﺎرآﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺪراﺳﺔ ﻓﻲ أي وﻗﺖ دون إﺑﺪاء أي أﺳﺒﺎب ‪.‬‬
‫وأﺟﺒﺖ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺟﻤﻴﻊ اﻷﺳﺌﻠﺔ ﺑﻜﺎﻣﻞ ﺣﺮﻳﺘﻲ‪.‬‬

‫‪Signature:‬‬ ‫اﻟﺘﻮﻗﻴﻊ‬

‫‪Participant‬‬ ‫اﻟﻤﺸﺎرك‬ ‫‪Date‬‬ ‫اﻟﺘﺎرﻳﺦ‬

‫‪396‬‬
Appendix II Measurement Scales

Appendix ΙI
Measurement Scales
This Appendix represents the questionnaire used to collect the quantitative data for
Oman’s tourism stakeholders. The first part shows the items with sources in the
literature or otherwise as indicated. The other parts include the original instrument
used in both Arabic and English languages for residents, government, businesses and
tourists and the covering letter.

Questionnaire on Tourism Including Sources of

measurement scales

Measurements scales Sources

Part A: Tourism Development Impacts

The following statements asked participants to express
their opinions about tourism development impacts in
Oman.
Strongly agree (1), Agree (2), neutral (3), Disagree (4)
and Strongly disagree (5)

1. Tourism increases job opportunities for the people of Ko & Stewart (2002); Liu & Var
Oman. (1986); Williams & Lawson
(2001); Yoon et al. (1999, 2001)
2. Tourism has created high investment, development, Akis et al. (1996); Ko & Stewart
and infrastructure spending in the economy. (2002); Liu & Var (1986).
3. Tourism has given economic benefits to local people Ko & Stewart (2002); Yoon et al.
and small businesses. (1999, 2001)
4. Tourism causes changes to the traditional culture of the Akis et al. (1996); Liu & Var
community (1986); Yoon et al. (1999, 2001)
5. Tourism has encouraged a variety of cultural exchange Liu & Var (1986); Liu et al.
between tourists and residents. (1987); Teye et al. (2002); Yoon
et al. (1999, 2001)
6. Tourism has resulted in positive impacts on the cultural Liu & Var (1986); Yoon et al.
identity of our community. (1999, 2001)
7. Construction of hotels and other tourist facilities Akis et al. (1996); Yoon et al.
destroys the natural environment. (1999, 2001)
8. Tourism improves public utilities (e.g. roads, Akis et al. (1996); Teye et al.
telecommunication) in the community. (2002)
9. Tourism creates more jobs for foreigners than for local Akis et al. (1996)
people.
10. Tourism provides an incentive for the restoration of Akis et al. (1996); Johnson et al.
historical buildings, and for the conservation of natural (1994)
resources.
11. Tourism increases the availability of entertainment Akis et al. (1996); Liu & Var
(e.g., festivals, exhibitions, and events) (1986).
12. Tourism benefits outweigh negative impacts. Ap (1990); Johnson et al. (1994);
Lankford & Howard (1994);
Yoon et al. (1999, 2001)

397
Appendix II Measurement Scales

13. Tourism’s economic benefits outweigh negative Ap (1990); Johnson et al. (1994);
socio-cultural and environmental impacts. Liu & Var (1986); Liu et al.
(1987)
14. Tourism brings political benefits to society (e.g., The researcher
democratic values, tolerance).
15.Tourism improves transport infrastructure. Besculides et al. (2002); Teye et
al. (2002)
16. Tourism encourages a variety of cultural activities by Liu et al. (1987); Williams &
the local population (e.g., crafts, arts, music) Lawson (2001); Yoon et al.
(2001)
17. The community should have authority to suggest Perdue et al. (1987)
control and restrictions of tourism development in the
country.
18. People have the right to modify the natural Jurowski et al. (1997); Uysal et
environment to suit their needs. al. (1994); Yoon (2002)
19. When people interfere with nature, it can produce Jurowski et al. (1997); Uysal et
disastrous consequences. al. (1994); Yoon (2002)
20. The private sector is severely abusing the Yoon (2001)
environment.
21. Oman has plenty of natural resources if we learn how Jurowski et al. (1997); Uysal et
to develop them. al. (1994); Yoon (2002)
22. Mass tourism is a good development strategy for the The researcher
country.
23. Overall, I am in support of tourism industry in my Yoon et al. (2001); Williams &
community. Lawson (2001);
24. Foreign investment is good for tourism in Oman. Williams & Lawson (2001);
25. Tourism in Oman has resulted in: Akis et al. (1996); Johnson et al.
Crime, Robberies, prostitutions, Drug use…etc. (1994); Liu & Var (1986);
Perdue et al. (1987); Yoon et al.
(2001)

Part B: Place Attachment:

The following statements asked participants to express
their opinion about their attachment to community (e.g.
Muscat, Sharqia...etc).
Strongly agree (1), Agree (2), Neutral (3), Disagree (4),
and Strongly Disagree (5)
1. I would prefer to spend more time in my community.
2. I am attached to my community.
3. This community means a lot to me.
4. The time I spend in my community could have been
spent just as easily and enjoyably somewhere else.
5. I get more satisfaction being in my community than
from visiting any other place.
6. This community is the best place for what I like to do. Moore & Graefe (1994);
7. This community makes me feel like no other place can. Warzech & Lim (2001);
8. I am proud of my community. Williams et al (1992; 1995);
9. If I had to move away from my community, I would be Williams & Roggenback (1989).
sorry to leave.
10. I would be affected by whatever happens (positive or
negative) in the community.
11. I am willing to invest my talent or time to make the
community an even better place for visitors.

398
Appendix II Measurement Scales

Part C: Development Preferences about Destination

Attractions:
The following statements asked participants to express
their opinion about preferred development of tourism
attractions in Oman.
Highly preferable (1), Somewhat preferable (2), Neutral
(3), Not preferable (4), Highly not preferable (5)

1. Development of nature-based tourism (e.g. deserts, sea,

mountains and caves, and Valleys (Wadis) camping,
parks).
2. Development of attractions designed for a large
number of tourists (e.g. theme parks and large resort
complexes).
3. Development of cultural or historic-based attractions
(e.g. museums, folk villages, local historic sites,
traditional markets).
4. Development of supporting visitor services (hotels,
restaurants, entertainment, etc).
5. Development of small independent businesses (e.g. gift Jurowski (1994); Yoon at al.
shops, guide services, camping grounds). (2000); Yoon (2002)
6. Development of cultural and folk events (e.g. concerts,
art and crafts, dances, festivals).
7. Development of pre-arranged attractive and flexible
tour packages.
8. Development of outdoor recreations facilities,
programs and events (e.g. hikes, bike rides, climbing,
sailing, surfing).
9. Improved roads, transportation, and access facilities.
10. Development of information centers for tourists.
11. Development of sports facilities and activities.
12. Business/convention meeting events and facilities.

Part D: Tourism Destination competitiveness

strategies:
The following statements asked participants to express
their opinion about the favourable competitive destination
strategies for Oman.
Highly favourable (1), Favourable (2), Neutral (3),
Unfavourable (4), Not favourable at all (5)

1. The development of a strong destination image.

2. The selection of appropriate target markets (e.g.
Germany, Japan, England).
3. The development of strong linkages with tourism
wholesalers and retailers overseas.
4. Overcoming seasonality (peak and off-season) in
tourists’ visits.
5. Tourists’ increasing length of stay.

399
Appendix II Measurement Scales

6. Use of modern, advanced technology and information

systems. (e.g. reservation system)
7. Tourism marketing and promotion for targeting
international tourists and visitors. Yoon (2002)
8. Increasing tourists’ spending.
9. The establishment of standards for tourism facilities.
10. Education and training programs for present and
future industry personnel.
11. Local authorities and agencies’ have role as
facilitators for tourism development in local regions.
12. The central government plays the leadership role in
marketing the country as a tourism destination
13. The development of safety and security programs and
systems for tourism and the tourism community.
14. Collecting information that classifies and catalogues a
destination’s products and services.
15. Recording information to monitor the attitudes of the
local population towards the tourism industry.
16. Research that aids the development of new tourist
services.
17. Protecting and improving more wildlife habitat.
18. Promoting ethical responsibility towards the natural
environment.
19. Expanding educational opportunities for the visiting
public in terms of natural/environmental quality and
protection.
20. Encouraging local citizen participation in decision-
making about tourism development.
21. Environmental considerations in the marketing of
tourism.
22. Cooperation and coordination among government
authorities responsible for tourism planning and
development.
23. Expanding educational opportunities for tourists, in
terms of natural/environmental/cultural/heritage
attractions quality and protection.
24. Collaboration and cooperation with neighbouring Developed by the researcher
countries in planning and marketing tourism.
25. The development of a unique and meaningful
branding of the country.
26. Encouraging the media to play an active role in
promoting the marketing mix.

Part E: Community Participation:

The following statements asked participants to express
their opinion about how they perceive their participation
in community activities.
Strongly agree (1), Agree (2), Neutral (3), Disagree (4),
and Strongly Disagree (5)
1. I have ability/opportunity to influence my
community’s future. I developed this scale based on

400
Appendix II Measurement Scales

2. The citizens of Oman require a shared vision about various literature review and my
tourism. personal experience.
3. The public should have full opportunity, even
encouragement, to participate in planning decision-
making.
4. I would be willing to attend community meetings to
discuss an important tourism issue.
5. The government usually consults us about tourism
planning.
6. The planning responsibility should be left to the
government.
7. Public participation is not a priority in the short-term
for government planners.
8. Citizens lack understanding about tourism.
9. The public lack power to participate and influence the
decision making process.
10. The people’s representative in the ‘Shura council’
(parliament) should be empowered to have input into the Developed by the researcher
tourism planning process. based on various literature
11. The government should have more control over
tourism activities.
12. There is a lack of collaboration and cooperation
among government authorities responsible for tourism
planning.
13. Public involvement in planning and development of
tourism will lead to preserving local culture, traditions,
and life style.
14. People with power sources (e.g., land, business, and
skills) generally support tourism development.
15. I support tourism in my area.
16. Residents are able to voice their opinions about
tourism planning and development.

Part F: Media role:

The following statements asked participants to express
their opinion about the media.
Media plays an important role in promoting tourism in
Oman I developed this scale.
I am satisfied with media’s role in promoting tourism
development in Oman.
I think the media has been active in promoting Oman’s
tourism regionally and internationally.
I am satisfied with the current media role in presenting
Oman’s image.
The media is playing a positive role in expressing
people’s perceptions and opinions towards tourism
impacts.

401
402
Appendix III Focus Groups Interview Guide

Appendix III
Focus Groups Interview Guide

Purpose of this research. This research project aims to investigate the attitudes and
perceptions people have about tourism impacts, and its planning and development in Oman.
In particular, the research explores how does the interrelationship between destination-
specific situational factors, stakeholders’ perceived power, and community attachment,
impact on the development of Oman’s tourism resources and attractions, and in turn the
support of its competitive strategies? Furthermore, what effects may these
interrelationships have on the government’s approaches in formulating and implementing
tourism development and marketing policies?

Expected benefits. The information gathered from this project will be used as part of the
researcher’s PhD dissertation, and an abstract of the outcome will be provided to tourism
authorities for consideration when carrying out their planning policies.

Voluntary Participation. Your participation in this study is completely voluntary. You

are under no obligation to participate and there will be no negative consequences for you, or
for the person who invited you to be interviewed if you choose not to participate. For the
safety and benefits of your organisation and yourself, I will disguise your name in the final
report to be submitted to any organisation in order to achieve anonymity. Could I please tape-
record this interview as it will assist me with my data analysis? If yes, please feel free to push
the ‘pause’ button of the tape recorder at any time during the interview.

Potential risk. You are assured that the study does not expose you to any potential risk as
a result of your participation. However if you have any concern about this issue, please feel
free to raise it.

Do you have any further questions regarding the objectives or procedure of the

interview?

403
Appendix III Focus Groups Interview Guide

Further information. If you have any questions or concerns after the interview has been
conducted, please feel free to contact the researcher, Rashid Al-Masroori on +61 4 0503 8913
or 99339094 (Oman), E-mail: [email protected].

This interview guide is not a questionnaire but provides a framework for the interview.

Case No. --------------Date: ---------------------Interview time: ---------------------

Organisation’s Name: ------------------------------------

Interviewee’s name: ---------------------------------------

Interviewee’s title: ------------------------------------------

Themes and Questions:

These questions generally cover the major themes representing the theoretical (conceptual)
framework that was tested empirically and seek confirmation of the empirical findings.
However, the emphasis is on the practical implications of the study themes and results to the
planning authorities and decision makers.

1. Tourism development and planning impacts

• Economic benefits
• Socio-cultural impacts
• Environmental impacts
• Political impacts

Q1. What do you think are the major impacts either positive or negative that tourism
might have on people? Do you think such impacts are mostly felt in Muscat or in the
interior?

Q2. Do you think people are reacting positively or negatively to tourism development
in their communities? Are they getting any benefits (economic, for example) from such

404
Appendix III Focus Groups Interview Guide

development? Do you think those who benefit most are more supportive of tourism
development than others?

Q3. All of us know that tourism has some negative impacts; do you think such impacts
are already being felt in Oman? In what areas and in what sense? How could such
impacts be dealt with or avoided by government authorities?

Q4. Are environmental concerns an issue in Oman when it comes to tourism

development? Do you think this issue has been addressed by the planning authorities in
an attempt to avoid any possible negative impacts on the local environment?

Q5. Do you think that there is so far a positive interaction between local residents and
tourists, such as the exchange of cultural ideas, and the promotion of the idea of
tolerance among nationalities and ethnic groups?

Q6. Why do you think the political impacts of tourism are not evident in Oman? Why
you think items related to this factor (items will be mentioned) did not fit in the
structural model?

2. Community participation
• Participation versus consultation
• Levels and approaches of participation
• Collaboration between government authorities
• Role of media and tourism researchers

Q1. Do you think that local residents should be counselled and involved in tourism
planning and development before any development takes place in their communities to
avoid any negative consequences in the future? What do you think are the best ways
and means to involve people in the decision-making process?

Q2. Do you believe that planning is the government’s responsibility only or that it
should involve others such as the private sector and local residents? Do you think they

405
Appendix III Focus Groups Interview Guide

have the capacity to participate positively? Don’t you think they might hinder or slow
the development progress?

Q3. How do you evaluate the role of the media in promoting tourism in Oman? Has the
tourism media been active and positive? Do you think the media should play a major
role in tourism development? How?

Q4. Do you believe there is enough collaboration between government organisations

responsible for tourism planning and development?

3. Community attachment

Q8. Do you consider attachment to community in Oman has any effect on people’s
support for tourism development in their local community? What are the bases of such
attachment?

Q9. Would it make a difference to a person to live in a place different from where
he/she had been born or lived the most?

4. Tourism resources and attractions development

• Resources and attractions development preferences
• Lack of information
• Public awareness

Q1. There are many ways to develop tourism resources and attractions, let’s call them
preferences, such as development of nature-based tourism or development of cultural or
historic-based tourism, etc. What do you think are the most important in the case of
Oman and why?

Q2. What do you think are the best policies or approaches the planning authorities
should pursue to develop tourism attractions in the country?

406
Appendix III Focus Groups Interview Guide

Q3. Tourism stakeholders in Oman indicated that they lack general tourism knowledge
and information and consider public awareness an issue to be addressed by tourism
authorities. Do you all agree with this claim? Could the education level about tourism
be enhanced? How?

5. Competitive destination strategies

• Destination competitiveness
• Marketing strategy making
Œ increasing tourists’ length of stay
Πseasonality
Πniche markets
• Sustainable destination management
• Role of government in tourism development

Q1. Do you think that government should control and restrict the tourism industry? If
so, why? Should it follow a mass tourism policy or be more selective and target
particular segments?

Q2. Different countries use different strategies for developing their competitive position
in the marketplace. From your point of view do you agree with competitive strategies
postulated by this study’s respondents as the best strategies for Oman to follow to be
competitive regionally and internationally?

Q3. Do you see Oman as competitive now? If not, why? How about in the future? What
do you think should be done to make it competitive? What are its strengths and
weaknesses?

Q4. Do you believe that Oman should coordinate its tourism development and
marketing efforts with other countries in the region to overcome the problem of low
visiting numbers, short stay, and seasonality? What is the most effective way from your
point of view?

407
Appendix III Focus Groups Interview Guide

Q5. Do you think that Oman is positioning itself properly in the tourism destinations
map? If not, what should be done?

Thank you all for your time and valuable discussions

408
Appendix IV Frequencies + SEM Outputs+ Reliabilities

Appendix IV (Part A)
Frequencies, Skewness and Kurtosis Output (CD)

This appendix part provides the output for the different frequencies, skewness, kurtosis etc.

Appendix IV (Part B)
Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) Output (CD)

This appendix provides structural equation modelling output for all confirmatory factor
analysis (CFA) modification indices (MI) for the 8 constructs. The output shows the stages of
changes and reduction constructs went through till the final structural model was developed.
It also indicates the normality of the variables by showing various univariate skewness and
univariate & multivariate kurtosis tests as a result of the CFA tests. In addition, the output
provides details about variances between indicators, squared multiple correlations,
covariances, residual covariances, standardised residual covariances, and model fit
summaries.

Appendix IV (Part C)
Reliabilities and Correlations (CD)
This part of the Appendix shows the various reliabilities and correlations for each of the five
constructs before exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.

409
410
Appendix V Descriptive Analysis for the Five Constructs

Appendix V
Descriptive Analysis for the Five Constructs
This Appendix provides the descriptive analysis for the five parts of the conceptual
framework, indicating the mean and standard deviation for each indicator of each construct.
The indicators listed based on the mean score where the highest mean score means a high
respondents’ rating of the item.
Descriptive analysis of tourism development impacts (Part 1)
Tourism development impacts items Mean Standard
(M) Deviation
1. Tourism increases job opportunities for the people of Oman 2.58 .599
2. Tourism has created high investment, development, and 2.24 .698
infrastructure spending in the economy
3. Tourism has given economic benefits to local people and 2.19 .679
small businesses
4. Tourism causes changes to the traditional culture of the 1.88 .775
community
5. Tourism has encouraged a variety of cultural exchange 2.05 .705
between tourists and residents
6. Tourism has resulted in positive impacts on the cultural 1.71 .750
identity of our community
7. Construction of hotels and other tourist facilities destroys the 1.35 .659
natural environment
8. Tourism improves public utilities (e.g. roads, 2.28 .700
telecommunication) in the community
9. Tourism creates more jobs for foreigners than for local 1.40 .688
people
10. Tourism provides an incentive for the restoration of 2.47 .624
historical buildings, and for the conservation of natural
resources.
11. Tourism increases the availability of entertainment (e.g., 2.32 .643
festivals, exhibitions, and events)
12. Tourism benefits outweigh negative impacts 1.83 .778

411
Appendix V Descriptive Analysis for the Five Constructs

13. Tourism’s economic benefits outweigh negative socio- 1.70 .734

cultural and environmental impacts
14. Tourism brings political benefits to society (e.g., democratic 1.74 .709
values, tolerance)
15. Tourism improves transport infrastructure. 2.17 .678

16. Tourism encourages a variety of cultural activities by the 2.30 .637

local population (e.g., crafts, arts, music)

17. The community should have authority to suggest control 2.15 .774
and restrictions of tourism development in the country.
18. People have the right to modify the natural environment to 1.92 .774
suit their needs
19. When people interfere with nature, it can produce disastrous 1.74 .771
consequences.

20. The private sector is severely abusing the environment 1.39 .672
21. Oman has plenty of natural resources if we learn how to 2.57 .640
develop them
22. Mass tourism is a good development strategy for the 2.22 .720
country
23. Overall, I am in support of tourism industry in my 2.46 .638
community
24. Foreign investment is good for tourism in Oman 2.22 .746
25. Tourism in Oman has resulted in: crime, drug use,
robberies, and prostitution

412
Appendix V Descriptive Analysis for the Five Constructs

Descriptive analysis of community attachment (Part 2)

Community attachment items Mean Standard

(M) Deviation
1. I would prefer to spend more time in my 2.45 .695
community
2. I am attached to my community 2.58 .587
3. This community means a lot to me. 2.70 .537
4. The time I spend in my community could have 1.99 .891
been spent just as easily and enjoyably somewhere
else
5. I get more satisfaction being in my community 2.28 .816
than from visiting any other place.

6. His community is the best place for what I like to 2.40 .753
do
7. This community makes me feel like no other place 2.57 .665
can
8. I am proud of my community 2.73 .536
9. If I had to move away from my community, I 2.41 .758
would be sorry to leave
10. I would be affected by whatever happens 2.58 .661
(positive or negative) in the community.

11. I am willing to invest my talent or time to make 2.62 .614

the community an even better place for visitors

413
Appendix V Descriptive Analysis for the Five Constructs

Community participation items Mean Standard

(M) Deviation
1. I have ability/opportunity to influence my 1.74 .762
community’s future
2. The citizens of Oman require a shared vision about 2.05 .812
tourism
3. The public should have full opportunity, even 1.98 .822
encouragement, to participate in planning decision-
making
4. Most residents would be willing to attend 1.89 .838
community meetings to discuss an important tourism
issue
5. The government usually consults us about tourism 1.31 .601
planning
6. The planning responsibility should be left to the 1.40 .664
government
7. Public participation is not a priority in the short- 1.38 .642
term for government planners.

8. Citizens lack understanding about tourism 1.51 .709

9. The public lack power to participate and influence 1.59 .745
the decision making process.
10. The people’s representative in the ‘Shura council’ 2.00 .833
(parliament) should be empowered to have input into
the tourism planning process
11. The government should have more control over 1.98 .833
tourism activities
12. There is a lack of collaboration and cooperation 1.73 .793
among government authorities responsible for
tourism planning
13. Public involvement in planning and development 2.04 .819
of tourism will lead to preserving local culture,
traditions, and life style
14. People with power sources (e.g., land, business, 1.89 .826
and skills) generally support tourism development
15. I support tourism in my area 2.06 .837
16. Residents are able to voice their opinions about 1.78 .799
tourism planning and development

Descriptive analyses of stakeholders’ perceived power (Part3)

414
Appendix V Descriptive Analysis for the Five Constructs

Descriptive statistics for Preferences about Tourism Resources/Attractions

development (Part 4)

Development preferences about destination Mean Standard

resources and attractions items (M) Deviation
1. Development of nature-based tourism (e.g. deserts, 2.61 .623
sea, mountains and caves, and Valleys (Wadis)
camping, parks).
2. Development of attractions designed for a large 2.28 .766
number of tourists (e.g. theme parks and large resort
complexes).
3. Development of cultural or historic-based 2.60 .627
attractions (e.g. museums, folk villages, local historic
sites, traditional markets).
4. Development of supporting visitor services (hotels, 2.51 .662
restaurants, entertainment, etc).
5. Development of small independent businesses (e.g. 2.48 .665
gift shops, guide services, camping grounds).
6. Development of cultural and folk events (e.g. 2.33 .745
concerts, art and crafts, dances, festivals).
7. Development of pre-arranged attractive and 2.48 .673
flexible tour packages
8. Development of outdoor recreations facilities, 2.41 .689
programs and events (e.g. hikes, bike rides, climbing,
sailing, surfing).
9. Improved roads, transportation, and access 2.64 .587
facilities
10. Development of information centers for tourists 2.60 .642
11. Development of sports facilities and activities. 2.44 .688

12. Business/convention meeting events and facilities 2.38 .723

415
Appendix V Descriptive Analysis for the Five Constructs

Descriptive statistics for competitive destination strategies (Part 5)

Tourism destination competitive strategies items Mean Standard
(M) Deviation
1. The development of a strong destination image 2.54 .638
2. The selection of appropriate target markets (e.g. 2.06 .791
Germany, Japan, England).
3. The development of strong linkages with tourism 2.37 .732
wholesalers and retailers overseas
4. Overcoming seasonality (peak and off-season) in 2.29 .747
tourists’ visits
5. Increasing tourists’ length of stay 2.05 .792
6. Use of modern, advanced technology and 2.43 .724
information systems. (e.g. reservation system)
7. Tourism marketing and promotion for targeting 2.46 .696
international tourists and visitors
8. Increasing tourists’ spending 2.20 .813
9. The establishment of standards for tourism 2.30 .717
facilities
10. Education and training programs for present and 2.58 .662
future industry personnel
11. Local authorities and agencies’ have rolls as 2.50 .683
facilitators for tourism development in local regions
12. The central government plays the leadership role 2.48 .707
in marketing the country as a tourism destination
13. The development of safety and security programs 2.58 .647
and systems for tourism and the tourism community
14. Collecting information that classifies and 2.41 .676
catalogues a destination’s products and services
15. Recording information to monitor the attitudes of 2.31 .738
the local population towards the tourism industry
16. Research that aids the development of new tourist 2.42 .680
services
17. Protecting and improving more wildlife habitat 2.59 .641
18. Promoting ethical responsibility towards the 2.52 .689
natural environment
19. Expanding educational opportunities for the 2.48 .675
visiting public in terms of natural/environmental
quality and protection
20. Encouraging local citizen participation in 2.37 .722
decision-making about tourism development
21. Environmental considerations in the marketing of 2.47 .670
tourism
22.Cooperation and coordination among government 2.54 .658
authorities responsible for tourism planning and
development

416
Appendix V Descriptive Analysis for the Five Constructs

23.Expanding educational opportunities for tourists, 2.44 .689

in terms of natural/environmental/cultural/heritage
attractions quality and protection
24.Collaboration and cooperation with neighboring 2.45 .681
countries in planning and marketing tourism
25.The development of a unique and meaningful 2.50 .683
branding of the country
26.Encouraging the to play an active role in 2.58 .639
promoting the marketing mix

417
418
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

Appendix VI
Exploratory Factor Analysis for the Various Conceptual
Framework Constructs
This appendix shows the exploratory factor analysis for the five constructs including KMO,
Bartlett’s test, components (factors), eigenvalues, communalities, and variances.

1) Exploratory Factor Analysis for tourism development Impacts

KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of
.849
Sampling Adequacy.
Bartlett's Test of Approx. Chi- 4630.71
Sphericity Square 9
df 276
Sig. .000

Total Variance Explained

Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Componen % of Cumulative % of Cumulative
t Total Variance % Total Variance %
1 4.780 19.918 19.918 3.038 14.629 14.629
2 2.244 9.349 29.267 2.681 12.182 26.811
3 1.674 6.975 36.242 2.222 9.432 36.243
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation.

Rotated Component Matrix

419
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

Components
1 2 3
1. Tourism provides an incentive for the restoration of
historical buildings, and for the conservation of natural .594
resources
2. Oman has plenty of natural resources if we learn how to
.572
develop them
3.Tourism brings political benefits to society

4. Tourism improves public utilities in the community .544

5. Tourism increases the availability of entertainment .532
6. Mass tourism is a good development strategy for the country .530

7. Tourism improves transport infrastructure .524

8. Overall, I am in support of tourism industrial in my
.516
community
9. Tourism has encouraged a variety of cultural exchange
.498
between tourists and residents
10. Tourism encourages a variety of cultural activities by the
.476
local population
11. The community should have authority to suggest control
.471
and restrictions of tourism development in the country
12. Tourism creates more jobs for foreigners than for local
.670
people
13. Tourism benefits outweigh negative impacts
.660

14. Tourism’s economic benefits outweigh negative socio-

.656
cultural and environmental impacts

15. Tourism has created high investment, development, and

.634
infrastructure spending in the economy
16. Tourism has given economic benefits to local people and
.585
small businesses
17. Tourism has resulted in positive impacts on the cultural
.566

420
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

identity of our community

18. Tourism increases job opportunities for the people of Oman .521
19. Foreign investment is good for tourism in Oman .382
20. Construction of hotels and other tourist facilities destroys
.668
the natural environment

21. The private sector is severely abusing the environment .637

22. Tourism causes changes to the traditional culture of the
.527
community
23. When people interfere with nature, it can produce
disastrous consequences .489

24. People have the right to modify the natural environment to

.308
suit their needs

Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation. Rotation Method: Varimax with

Kaiser Normalization.

2) Exploratory Factor Analysis for Community Attachment

KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of
.925
Sampling Adequacy.
Bartlett's Test of Approx. Chi- 4633.52
Sphericity Square 9
df 55
Sig. .000

421
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

Rotated Component Matrix

Component
1
1. I get more satisfaction being in my community than from visiting
.764
any other place
2. This community is the best place for what I like to do .746
3. I am attached to my community .746
4. This community makes me feel like no other place can
.733

5. I would prefer to spend more time in my community .722

6. This community means a lot to me .692
7. I am proud of my community .637
8. If I had to move away from my community, I would be sorry to
.636
leave
9. I would be affected by whatever happens (positive or negative) in
.588
the community
10. The time I spend in my community could have been spent just as
.564
easily and enjoyably somewhere else
11. I am willing to invest my talent or time to make the community an
.514
even better place for visitors
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation

Communalities

Extraction
I would prefer to spend more time in my community .554

I am attached to my community .526

This community means a lot to me .511
The time I spend in my community could have been spent just as
.300
easily and enjoyably somewhere else

422
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

I get more satisfaction being in my community than from visiting any

.687
other place
This community is the best place for what I like to do .552
This community makes me feel like no other place can .553
I am proud of my community .517
If I had to move away from my community, I would be sorry to leave .348
I would be affected by whatever happens (positive or negative) in the
.513
community
I am willing to invest my talent or time to make the community an
.486
even better place for visitors
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation.
Total Variance Explained

Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Componen % of Cumulative % of Cumulative
t Total Variance % Total Variance %
1 4.423 40.213 40.213 2.814 45.213 45.213
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation.

3) Factor Analysis for Community participation

KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of
.932
Sampling Adequacy.
Bartlett's Test of Approx. Chi- 3607.49
Sphericity Square 2
df 120
Sig. .000

423
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

Rotated Component Matrix

Component
1
1. Public involvement in planning and development of tourism will
.809
lead to preserving local culture, traditions, and life style
2. The citizens of Oman require a shared vision about tourism
.786

3. The people’s representative in the ‘Shura council’ (parliament)

should be empowered to have input into the tourism planning .765
process
4. The public lack power to participate and influence the decision
.763
making process.
5. People with power sources (e.g., land, business, and skills)
.736
generally support tourism development.
6. The government should have more control over tourism activities .721
7. I would be willing to attend community meetings to discuss an
.719
important tourism issue
8. I support tourism in my area .770
9. I have ability/opportunity to influence my community’s future .690
10. Residents are able to voice their opinions about tourism planning
.661
and development
11. There is a lack of collaboration and cooperation among
.629
government authorities responsible for tourism planning
12. The public lack power to participate and influence the decision
.573
making process
13. Citizens lack understanding about tourism .513

14. Public participation is not a priority in the short-term for

.480
government planners
15. The government usually consults us about tourism planning .432
16. The planning responsibility should be left to the government .424
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation.

424
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

Communalities

Extraction
3 emp I have ability/opportunity to influence my community’s future .477

2 col The citizens of Oman require a shared vision about tourism .619

1 par The public should have full opportunity, even encouragement,

.583
to participate in planning decision- making
1 par I would be willing to attend community meetings to discuss an
.517
important tourism issue
1 par The government usually consults us about tourism planning .187

3 emp The planning responsibility should be left to the government .180

1 par Public participation is not a priority in the short-term for

.231
government planners
3 emp Citizens lack understanding about tourism .263
3 emp The public lack power to participate and influence the
.328
decision making process
3 emp The people’s representative in the ‘Shura council’
(parliament) should be empowered to have input into the tourism .584
planning process
2 col The government should have more control over tourism
.520
activities
2 col There is a lack of collaboration and cooperation among
.395
government authorities responsible for tourism planning
1 par Public involvement in planning and development of tourism
.655
will lead to preserving local culture, traditions, and life style
3 emp People with power sources (e.g., land, business, and skills)
.542
generally support tourism development
1 par I support tourism in my area .593
3 emp Residents are able to voice their opinions about tourism
.436
planning and development
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation.

425
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

Total Variance Explained

Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Componen % of Cumulative % of Cumulative
t Total Variance % Total Variance %
1 2.940 18.377 18.377 2.670 44.00 44.00
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation.

4) Factor Analysis for Development Preferences construct

KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of
.927
Sampling Adequacy.
Bartlett's Test of Approx. Chi- 4060.49
Sphericity Square 2
df 66
Sig. .000

Rotated Component Matrix

Component
1
1. Development of pre-arranged attractive and flexible tour packages .721
2. Development of information centers for tourists .715
3. Development of supporting visitor services (hotels, restaurants,
.672
entertainment, etc)
4. Development of small independent businesses (e.g. gift shops, guide
.650
services, camping grounds)
5. Improved roads, transportation, and access facilities .649
6. Development of sports facilities and activities .646

426
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

7. Business/convention meeting events and facilities .638

8. Development of cultural and folk events (e.g., concerts, art and crafts,
.634
dances, festivals)
9. Development of outdoor recreations facilities, programs and events
(e.g. hikes, bike rides, climbing, sailing, surfing) Development of sports .633
facilities and activities
10. Development of cultural or historic-based attractions (e.g. museums,
.575
folk villages, local historic sites, traditional markets)
11. Development of attractions designed for a large number of tourists
.493
(e.g. theme parks and large resort complexes)
12. Development of nature-based tourism (e.g. deserts, sea, mountains
.464
and caves, and Valleys (Wadis) camping, parks)
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation.

Communalities

Extraction
Development of nature-based tourism (e.g. deserts, sea, mountains and
.476
caves, and Valleys (Wadis) camping, parks)
Development of attractions designed for a large number of tourists (e.g.
.493
theme parks and large resort complexes)
Development of cultural or historic-based attractions (e.g. museums,
.513
folk villages, local historic sites, traditional markets)
Development of supporting visitor services (hotels, restaurants,
.618
entertainment, etc)
Development of small independent businesses (e.g. gift shops, guide
.480
services, camping grounds)
Development of cultural and folk events (e.g. concerts, art and crafts,
.420
dances, festivals)
Development of pre-arranged attractive and flexible tour packages .574
Development of outdoor recreations facilities, programs and events (e.g.
.489
hikes, bike rides, climbing, sailing, surfing)

427
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

Improved roads, transportation, and access facilities .537

Development of information centers for tourists .654
Development of sports facilities and activities .627
Business/convention meeting events and facilities .527
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation.

Total Variance Explained

Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Componen % of Cumulative % of Cumulative
t Total Variance % Total Variance %
1 5.326 44.382 44.382 3.773 39.512 39.512
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation

5) Exploratory Factor Analysis for Destination Competitiveness

KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of
.957
Sampling Adequacy.
Bartlett's Test of Approx. Chi- 2489.09
Sphericity Square 28
df 105
Sig. .000

428
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

Component
1 2
1. Expanding educational opportunities for tourists, in terms of
natural/environmental/cultural/heritage attractions quality and .707
protection
2. Encouraging local citizen participation in decision-making about
.691
tourism development
3. Promoting ethical responsibility towards the natural environment .690
4. Expanding educational opportunities for the visiting public in
.677
terms of natural/environmental quality and protection
5. Protecting and improving more wildlife habitat .660
6. Environmental considerations in the marketing of tourism .634
7. Recording information to monitor the attitudes of the local
.570
population towards the tourism industry
8. Tourism marketing and promotion for targeting international
.692
tourists and visitors
9. Increasing tourists’ spending .620
10. The establishment of standards for tourism facilities .587
11. Overcoming seasonality (peak and off-season) in tourists’ visits .583
12. The selection of appropriate target markets (e.g. Germany,
.517
Japan, England)
13. Increasing tourists’ length of stay .508
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation.

Communalities

Extraction
The development of a strong destination image .389
The selection of appropriate target markets (e.g. Germany, Japan,
.391
England)
The development of strong linkages with tourism wholesalers and
.575
retailers overseas

429
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

Overcoming seasonality (peak and off-season) in tourists’ visits .479

Increasing tourists’ length of stay .359
Use of modern, advanced technology and information systems. (e.g.
.497
reservation system)
Tourism marketing and promotion for targeting international tourists and
.574
visitors
Increasing tourists’ spending .458
The establishment of standards for tourism facilities .418
Education and training programs for present and future industry
.565
personnel
Local authorities and agencies’ have role as facilitators for tourism
.585
development in local regions
The central government plays the leadership role in marketing the
.636
country as a tourism destination
The development of safety and security programs and systems for
.532
tourism and the tourism community
Collecting information that classifies and catalogues a destination’s
.570
products and services
Recording information to monitor the attitudes of the local population
.573
towards the tourism industry
Research that aids the development of new tourist services .519
Protecting and improving more wildlife habitat .513
Promoting ethical responsibility towards the natural environment .562
Expanding educational opportunities for the visiting public in terms of
.529
natural/environmental quality and protection
Encouraging local citizen participation in decision-making about
.541
tourism development
Environmental considerations in the marketing of tourism .516
Cooperation and coordination among government authorities responsible
.545
for tourism planning and development
Expanding educational opportunities for tourists, in terms of
.611
natural/environmental/cultural/heritage attractions quality and protection

430
Appendix VI Factor Analysis for Constructs

Collaboration and cooperation with neighboring countries in planning

.372
and marketing tourism
The development of a unique and meaningful branding of the country .423
Encouraging the media to play an active role in promoting the marketing
.538
mix
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation.

Total Variance Explained

Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Componen % of Cumulative % of Cumulative
t Total Variance % Total Variance %
1 1.670 6.998 6.998 4.973 19.126 19.126
2 5.558 39.450 46.448 4.194 24.477 43.740
Extraction Method: Maximum Likelihood Estimation.

431
432
Appendix VII Focus Groups Participants

Appendix VII
Focus Group Participants
This Appendix lists the participants of the three focus groups held in Oman during the month
of January 2006.

Group (1) Ministry of Commerce & Industry

1. H.E. Ahmed bin Suleiman Al-Maimani

Undersecretary for Finance, Administration & Regional Affairs

2. H.E. Mohsin bin Khamis Al-Baluchi

Advisor to the Ministry

3. Mr. Salim bin Qasim Al-Zawawi

Advisor to H.E. the Minister of Commerce and Industry

4. Mrs. Maidah bint Abdulameer

Director General for Finance & Administration

5. Mrs. Manal bint Mohammed Hassan Al-Abduwani

Director General for Planninmg & Follow-Up

6. Mr. Abdullah bin Ali Al-Hinai

Acting Director General for Organisations & Commercial Relations

7. Mr. Mudrek bin Khadhim Al-Musawi

Acting Director General of Commerce

8. Mr. Mohammed Hasanain

Staff at the Directorate General of Administration & Finance

433
Appendix VII Focus Groups Participants

Group (2) Ministry of Tourism

1. H.E. Mohammed bin Hammod Al-Toubi

Undersecretary of Ministry of Tourism

2. Mr. Salim bin Adi Al-Mamary

Director General of Tourism Promotion

3. Mr. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Sinani

Director General of Tourism Planning & Follow-Up

4. Mr. Khalid bin Hilal Al-Mawali

Director General of Investors services

5. Mr. Ali bin Khamis Al-Khabouri

Director General of Administration & Finance

6. Mr. Saleh bin Hamed Al-Shuaibi

Director of the Undersecretary's Office

7. Ms. Amina bint Abdullah Al-Baluchi

Head Section of Studies & Research

8. Mr. Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Dhahli

Head Section of Castles & Forts

9. Ms. Amira bint Khalifa Al-Amri

Staff at Directorate General of Investors Services

434
Appendix VII Focus Groups Participants

Group (3) Oman Chamber of Commerce

1. H.E. Nasser bin Amer Al-Hosni

Chairman of Tourism Committee

2. Ms. Sahar Nasser Al-Kabi

Sadaf Gallery

3. Mr. Ibrahim Al-Kindi

Chief of Staff for the office of H.E. the Cultural Advisor to His Majesty

4. Mr. Said bin Nasser Al-Khusaibi

Omani Academy for Tourism & Hospitality

5. Mr. Suleiman bin Mohammed Al-Yahiai

CEO- Ramada Hotel (Shati Al-Qurum)

6. Mr. Pankaj Khemji

CEO- Chedi Hotel

7. Mr. Said bin Abdullah Al-Harthi

Manager- Desert Discovery Tourism
8. Ms. Haritha bint Salim Al-Busaidi
Deputy Director of Specialized committees- Oman Chamber of Commerce &
Industry

435
436
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