Tourism Policymaking, Local Community Support, Place Image, Tourism Impacts, Tourism in Semnan

Tourism policies widely affect the lives of local residents. On the other hand, the effectiveness of such policies depends on the local community’s support and participation. Therefore, the present study sought to investigate the influence of the Local Community’s Place Image and their perception of tourism impacts on their support for tourism policies in Semnan. To this end, some 340 questionnaires were distributed among local residents, out of which 322 questionnaires were completed by the respondents. The collected data were then analyzed by PLS software using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results indicated that the residents’ place image had a direct significant effect on their perception of tourism impacts and consequently on their support for tourism development policies. Moreover, the findings highlighted the necessity of evaluating tourism impacts based on the perceptions of residents, because the more favorable they consider the tourism impacts, the more support they give to tourism development policies. Finally, this study suggests some policy recommendations on how to manage the local community’s place image, their perceptions of tourism impacts, and their support for tourism policy-making.