Redai dili (Oct 2022)
Local Knowledge, Subject-Guest Interaction, and Residents' Happiness: Empirical Study of Jianglang Mountain, a World Natural Heritage Site
Abstract
The happiness of residents is an important component of the sustainable development of heritage sites. Most previous studies have focused on the happiness of tourists rather than that of residents. The development of tourism at heritage sites and the increase in the number of tourists may either improve residents' happiness by promoting local development or reduce their happiness because of the environmental pressure and large number of tourists. The question arises as to the kind of residents who are more likely to gain happiness from the development of tourism at heritage sites. Based on the theories of local knowledge and flourishing happiness, this study investigated the residents of Jianglang Mountain, a world natural heritage site, and examined a model of residents' local knowledge, subject-guest interaction, and happiness (i.e., work, life, psychological, and interpersonal happiness). The findings answer the research question: whether residents with local knowledge are better able to achieve happiness and how they do so. The results of the study show that at heritage sites, local knowledge has a direct impact on residents' work, life, psychological, and interpersonal happiness. The interaction between the host and guest played a mediating role in these four influence paths. Theoretically, this study emphasizes that interpersonal happiness is a critical component of residents' happiness, which enriches the understanding of happiness theory in the tourism field. Second, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is one of the first to link local knowledge with residents' happiness, as the concept of local knowledge is primarily applied in studies of tourism resource development. The findings indicate that residents with greater local knowledge can obtain the aforementioned four types of happiness more easily. The third theoretical contribution of this study is the role of subject-guest interactions. To improve the happiness of residents at heritage sites through the local knowledge approach, the interaction between the host and the guest is important as it gives residents more opportunities to pursue better work, life, psychological, and interpersonal satisfaction. From this perspective, tourism development is a necessary part of the sustainable development of heritage sites. If the protection of heritage is overemphasized and the rational use of heritage is not highlighted, it could be a double-edged sword. Tourist visitation and the development of the tourism industry activate and empower heritage sites, thereby ensuring the happiness of residents and the sustainable development of heritage. In practice, this study suggests enhancing residents' happiness through education regarding local knowledge and improvement of subject-guest interactions. Practical recommendations are provided at the end of this article.
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