Sustainability and Support for the Ecotourism within Etna Park Area

Abstract

Ecotourism sustainability is more likely to occur when the community is involved in the design of an ecotourism project and also when the community leaders support programs for families to learn more about environmental preservation. The purpose of this study is to how to develop a sustainable ecotourism project within the Natural Etna Park. Basically, the aim of this paper is to asses residents' attitudes of the goals and objectives of an ecotourism project. A 23-item Likert-type attitudinal scale was developed based on the results of a Etna Park project. The study is exploratory. A survey has been carried out using a questionnaire administered throughout a mall-intercept sampling method. Data were randomly split into two groups of the SPSS computer package command. It has been used a factor analysis with varimax rotation above the total amount of the respondents in order to identify the number of factors. The paper produces a valid instrument to assess local residents' perception regarding the development of an ecotourism project within a Regional Natural Park. Without the local residents' support, policy makers are less willing to support the development of any project.