FACTORS AFFECTING RESIDENTS' SUPPORT FOR CULTURAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Purpose - The main purpose of this paper is to find out the residents' perceptions and attitudes as well as what factors influence their support when cultural tourism development is concerned. City of Zagreb is chosen as research area as one ofthe most attractive continental destinations in Croatia that is hosting more and more visitors every year, so it was found necessary to find out the residents' perspective regarding this trend, particularly toward cultural tourism that has a great innovation potential. Considering the fact that cultural tourists appreciate the aspects of culture and experiences that are innovative and supported by the local population, the aim of this research is to find out the residents point of view where is tested if residents' perception of tourism impacts affect their attitude toward cultural tourism development. Methodology - In order to obtain the residents' attitudes and opinions, an on-site-survey was carried out. The questionnaire consists of three parts collecting the residents' attitudes towards different tourism impacts, their involvement in the tourism development, as well as their sociodemographic characteristics. Data analysis include descriptive statistics, reliability test as well as regression analyses. Findings - Study reveal the residents' opinions regarding impacts that tourism generates when City of Zagreb is concerned. Moreover, the results provide the information regarding the differences in the residents' support towards cultural tourism development considering their sociodemographic characteristic and their perceptions towards the tourism impacts. Contribution - The main contribution of this paper lies in the connection between residents' sociodemographic characteristics, perception of tourism impacts and support of cultural tourism development.