Residents' attitudes, perceptions and the development of positive tourism behaviours amid COVID -19

ABSTRACT

Local people's pro-tourism behavioural intention plays an important role in determining the sustainability and success of a tourism destination. A semi-structured questionnaire was randomly administered to residents aged 18 years and above of Botswana's two premier tourism centres (Maun and Kasane). These two exotic tourism areas were chosen in this study to ensure enrichment of the literature through sharing of lived experiences and critical decision-making by people in the face of an impending disaster (i.e. COVID-19) threatening their existence. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was used to provide a better understanding in linking residents' attitudes in supporting or opposing tourism development in the face of COVID-19. Overall, majority (67.5%, p = 0.015) of the respondents indicated that they are willing to accept some inconvenience as long as they benefit from tourism industry. Also, most (84.4% (p = 0.034)) residents indicated that they were willing to welcome tourists because of the contribution tourists bring to the economy of their area. Thus, a positive attitude towards tourism development and tourists from locals will likely lead to a more positive behaviour supporting tourism in host communities. The study recommends that, of utmost importance, key stakeholders in the tourism industry including policymakers and planners should devise and implement strategies geared towards positively influencing attitudes of local communities towards tourism development. The results from this study will assist government and other tourism stakeholders as they devise mitigating strategies to sustain and guide future tourism operations following socioeconomic devastations from COVID-19 pandemic.