Community groups’ perceptions of and preferences to tourism development. Evidence from Crete

Despite the increasing research on residents’ attitudes to tourism development, there is limited research on other community groups’ perceptions to various tourism matters. The literature suggests that it is essential to appreciate community groups’ perceptions and preferences, since the measurement of these perceptions plays a vital role in the future success of a destination. As a result, this study was conducted to measure the perceptions of two Cretan community groups: residents and tourism business people to tourism development. The aim was to investigate whether, as social exchange theory suggests, tourism business people are more positive to tourism and further tourism development due to their economic and/or employment dependency on tourism, and to use community perceptions as a guide for the future tourism development of the island. From the findings it is evident that both groups expressed high degree of positivity to tourism and tourism development, although there were some differences in their agreement for the types of tourists, facilities and actions considered beneficial for the island.