Purpose

This study aims to reveal residents’ individual perceptions of nature-based destination development and preferences for infrastructure and tourism superstructure development among communities that rely heavily on wildlife tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was used among the Maasai community based in the villages and towns near the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. The attributes included type of tourism accommodation, location of tourism accommodations, types of access roads (tarmac or marram), tourist numbers and desired land-use options (between tourism development, livestock grazing and agriculture). A DCE analysis with hierarchical Bayes estimation was performed.

Findings

It revealed that the introduction to land-use restrictions and the location of tourism accommodations were the most important attributes for the respondents, with average importance values of 30.36% and 24.02%, respectively. A significant less important attribute was the types of access roads with an average importance of just 8.38%. Cluster analysis revealed widespread heterogeneity in preferences.

Research limitations/implications

The survey-based DCE was conducted in the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, and therefore may not be relevant in other contexts. The focus was also only on the residents’ preferences. The findings broaden the knowledge on tourism developments and residents’ support for development and management of protected areas.

Practical implications

For policymakers, conservation practitioners and tourism businesses, this study provides a source of reference for understanding the development preferences of the Maasai community. In general, the study contributes to a better understanding of local communities in relations to tourism development and residents’ support for developments and management of protected areas (PAs).

Originality/value

This study fills the gap in the literature on tourism development and residents’ support for developments in PAs by presenting some limits of acceptable and desirable use of PAs among a community that has a complex coexistence with a wildlife tourism destination. It provides an alternative perspective for future research by examining residents’ choice towards destination development and preferences for infrastructure and tourism superstructure development using an experimental approach.

中文翻译：

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保护区内居民对旅游开发的偏好：选择实验

 目的

本研究旨在揭示严重依赖野生动物旅游的社区中居民对基于自然的目的地开发的个人看法以及对基础设施和旅游上层建筑开发的偏好。

设计/方法论/途径

离散选择实验（DCE）在肯尼亚马赛马拉国家保护区附近村庄和城镇的马赛社区中进行。这些属性包括旅游住宿类型、旅游住宿地点、通路类型（停机坪或马拉姆）、游客数量和所需的土地利用选择（在旅游开发、牲畜放牧和农业之间）。使用分层贝叶斯估计进行 DCE 分析。

 发现

结果显示，土地使用限制和旅游住宿地点是受访者最重要的属性，平均重要性值分别为30.36%和24.02%。一个不太重要的属性是通路类型，平均重要性仅为 8.38%。聚类分析揭示了偏好的广泛异质性。

研究局限性/影响

基于调查的 DCE 是在肯尼亚马赛马拉国家保护区进行的，因此可能与其他情况无关。重点也只是居民的喜好。研究结果拓宽了人们对旅游发展和居民对保护区开发和管理的支持的认识。

 实际影响

对于政策制定者、保护从业者和旅游企业来说，这项研究为了解马赛社区的发展偏好提供了参考来源。总的来说，该研究有助于更好地了解当地社区与旅游业发展的关系以及居民对保护区（PA）开发和管理的支持。

 原创性/价值

这项研究通过提出在与野生动物旅游目的地复杂共存的社区中可接受和理想的保护区使用的一些限制，填补了关于旅游发展和居民对保护区发展的支持的文献空白。它通过使用实验方法研究居民对目的地开发的选择以及对基础设施和旅游上层建筑开发的偏好，为未来的研究提供了另一种视角。