A spatial method for assessing resident and visitor attitudes towards tourism growth and development

Few tourism planning methods include spatial survey techniques that explicitly identify place-based development preferences. In this study,we compare attitudes towards tourism development in the Otways region ofVictoria,Australia, using traditional survey research questions and a contemporary method for measuring spatial preferences for development. Results from the survey data show conditional support for tourism growth and development in the Otway Hinterland and along the Otway Coast irrespective of residence distance from the tourism core; however, results from spatial attribute data show there are place-specific differences in ‘acceptable development’ and ‘inappropriate development’ preferences. We suggest that the spatial attribute method is an inclusive process that can potentially bridge pro-development and antidevelopment responses that emerge during community consultation by providing development preference data that is scaleable to both local and regional scales.