Factors influencing the International Tourist Perception on the Envionrmental Impacts of Tourism Development in Phuket, Thailand

Abstract

This study examines the viewpoints of international tourists in Phuket Island towards the development of tourism and its environmental impacts in Phuket, Thailand. Data was collected from the 350 visitors leaving from the Phuket International Airport, during March-April, 2016, using the structured questionnaire. Factor analysis was applied to group highly correlated outcome variables in four perception dimensions; water environment, waste and traffic management, urban environment, and land environment. One-way ANOVA analysis was then applied to examine the effects of demographic characteristics and trip profile on the perception dimensions. Our findings revealed that, in the sample of 350 respondents there was statistically significant difference in the perceptions of different country of origin and the number of visits of the respondents. The country of origin was the primary factor affecting the perceptions toward the environmental impacts of water environment and waste and traffic management whereas the number of visits influenced all the four environmental impact dimensions. Most tourists from Australia and New Zealand and those who were repeat visitors showed negative perceptions on environmental impacts about water environment and waste and traffic management. The more often the individual tourists come to visit this island the more they have experienced negative perceptions on the environmental impacts. Demographic characteristics and behaviors of tourists were highly influential in the perceptions of the environmental impacts in Phuket tourism.