Residents' perceived benefits of heritage and support for tourism development in Pragpur, India.

Heritage is an important part of the international tourism market. As wiThany resource, sustainable management practices are required to maintain the long-term value of heritage assets. It is claimed that sustainable heritage tourism provides quality experiences for the tourists while protecting the environment and improving the quality of life for local residents. Yet, irrespective of how tourism is introduced and developed in a community, residents' perceptions of heritage tourism benefits are the key to the success or failure of the local tourism industry. This paper deals wiThheritage tourism in the village of Pragpur in Himachal Pradesh, India which is popular for its ancient heritage and culture and is registered in the list of heritage sites in India. Thus, the purpose of this study was twofold: to investigate residents' perceived benefits of heritage; and to assess the residents' support for sustainable heritage tourism development. A questionnaire was designed for this research and various related literature were used to develop the items for questions. A factor analysis was performed to derive four exogenous constructs dealing wiThsocio-cultural, environmental, economic benefits and heritage benefits. Significant differences have been found on the basis of perceived benefits and support for heritage tourism development. The implications for tourism practitioners, academicians and local community are discussed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]