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Ecotourism, as a means of fostering socio-economic level of local communities and contributing to the conservation of forest resources, is important for development in low-income countries. This work investigates the extent to which local people support the continuation of ecotourism during the COVID-19 pandemic and their attitudes towards resource conservation in Banco National Park in Côte d’Ivoire using social exchange theory (SET) as a foundation. A closed-ended questionnaire was used to conduct a survey with 150 informants selected among residents around the park. The data were analyzed using descriptive, correlational, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) approaches. The results showed that residents' perception of the impacts of ecotourism strongly affects their support for tourism development during the COVID-19 pandemic (β = 0.918, p

Intensive tourism development in Croatia neither improved nor reduced overall life satisfaction; however, there was a modest but statistically significant negative effect on happiness. The residents were not entirely capable of managing emotional distress, with social psychological factors the main source of negative affections. While crowding stress negatively affected perceived quality of life, it was not an important predictor of support for tourism. Residents' support was not associated with the regional differences in perceived net benefits from tourism. The findings underline the importance of monitoring residents' psychological well-being, adaptation mechanisms, and the historical and social context in which preferences are formed. The risk of overtourism in Croatian destinations may be masked by the status quo bias and maladaptive coping mechanisms.

ÖZ: Araştırmanın nihai amacı turizmin çevresel ve sosyo-kültürel etkilerinin turizmin gelişimine yönelik desteğe olan etkisinin belirlenmesidir. Bu etkinin temeli sosyal değişim teorisine (SDT) dayandırılmıştır. Araştırmanın hipotezlerinin test edilmesinde yapısal eşitlik modellemesinden yararlanılmıştır. Bu maksatla Smart PLS (V.3.2.7) program kullanılmıştır. Araştırma evrenini önemli bir turizm destinasyonu haline gelmiş olan Eskişehir ilindeki yerel halkın tamamı oluşturmaktadır. Verilerin toplanmasında örnekleme yöntemi olarak olasılığa dayalı olmayan örnekleme yöntemlerinden kolay örnekleme yöntemi tercih edilmiştir. Araştırmanın sonuçları doğrultusunda, turizmin negatif ve pozitif çevresel etkileriyle olumlu sosyal ve kültürel etkilerinin turizmin gelişimine yönelik etkileri olumlu ve anlamdır. Ek olarak turizmin olumsuz sosyal ve kültürel etkilerinin turizmin gelişimine yönelik destek üzerindeki etkisi negatif ve anlamlıdır. ABSTRACT: The ultimate objective of this research is to examine the impact of the environmental and socio-cultural impacts of tourism on the support for the development of tourism. This effect was based on the Social Exchange Theory (SET). Structural equality modelling was used in testing the hypotheses of the research. For this purpose, the Smart PLS (V.3.2.7) program was used. The research universe is all the local people living in Eskişehir province, which has become an important tourism destination in Turkey. Convenience sampling method, which is one of the non-probability sampling methods, was used as the sampling method for the data collection in the study. In line with the findings of the research, the negative and positive environmental effects and positive social and cultural effects of tourism were found to be positive and significant for the development of tourism. Besides, the impact of the negative social and cultural effects of tourism on the support for the development of tourism was also found to be negative and significant.

This research explores residents’ support for tourism by introducing—for the first time—the variable of residents’ word-of-mouth intention. The tested model proposes that residents’ support for tourism is influenced by residents’ word-of-mouth and tourism benefits; the model also examines the impacts of community attachment and community involvement on the benefits of tourism. The relationship between tourism benefits and residents’ word-of-mouth is the most significant indication of the tested model, followed by the linkage between tourism benefits and support for tourism. Besides this, the positive and significant effect of residents’ word-of-mouth on their support for tourism has been proven. The results stress the need for increased focus on the benefits of tourism by increasing community attachment, as they reveal that more attached residents lead to more positive perceptions of the benefits of tourism, consequently having a higher effect on their word-of-mouth intention and support for tourism.