RESIDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF THE FEDERATION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

This research focuses on analyzing residents' perception and attitude toward tourism development in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H). For the purpose of this research, the existing models on residents' perception and attitudes were modified and a new theoretical model of six constructs was tested applying Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The dimensions of the model, perception of tourism management, perception of economic, social and environmental impacts, residents' satisfaction, support for further tourism development, were formed as latent variables, accompanied with a set of three or four consonant questions. The model suggests that the support for tourism development is indirectly stipulated by the perception of tourism management, and by economic, social and environmental impacts. Analyses have shown that 6 out of the 7 suggested hypotheses have been confirmed. The findings indicate that the residents of the FB&H strongly support tourism development as they perceive it brings more positive impacts, which are greater than the actual governmental investment into the sector.