Sociodemographic characteristics influencing the participation of residents in geotourism

As sustainable geotourism can revitalize local economies and conserve resources, it is increasingly becoming a research focus. One of the most important elements of sustainable geotourism is the participation of local residents. Extant studies have demonstrated that the sense of community and attitude toward tourism development influence the participation of local residents. In addition, previous studies have demonstrated that gender, education level, birthplace, and residency length are variables that can predict these factors. In this study, we analyze whether local residents’ mobility intention is a variable that can predict their sense of community and attitude toward tourism development. We also investigate which variable is the best predictor among gender, education level, birthplace, length of residency, and mobility intention. Gangwon Paleozoic Geopark was selected as the study site. As a representative declining area (an area with extinction risk), Gangwon-do is experiencing a serious population decline. Data were collected through a survey using a random sampling method. A total of 400 responses were analyzed, excluding 66 invalid questionnaires. The results revealed that the groups demonstrating the most difference in each factor were the groups for mobility intention and education level, followed by those for the length of residency (using ten years as the cut-off point) and gender. The difference in birthplace did not demonstrate a significant effect on any factor. There have been many studies on demographic characteristics, such as gender and length of residency, but there have been no studies on residents’ mobility intention. However, our analysis demonstrates that residents’ mobility intention has the most significant effect among all variables. This study provides insights into how residents’ participation can be induced more efficiently to achieve sustainable tourism.Highlights Depopulation in rural area is serious problem which observable across regions of the world.Local residents should lead the project when a local issue (e.g. local tourism) occurs in a depopulated area.In response to the question of who should be established as leaders to successfully lead regional development, mobility intention was derived in the study.