In response to growing concern over the sustainability of natural resource extractive industries such as mining, logging, and energy production, a growing number of rural communities are looking to their natural, cultural, and historic resources as new sources of economic revitalization. Unfortunately, while both government officials and residents have come to accept tourism as a potential boon to local economies, relatively little attention has been given to its potential for creating both social change and social problems.

This study investigates the relationship between attitudes toward tourism development and place bonds among residents of the Mt. Rogers area of Southwest Virginia. Attitudes toward tourism are measured as feelings about economic, social and environmental impacts of development and as support for tourism, both overall and for individual types of recreation based development. Place bonds are measured through length of residence, local sentiment, local identity, and regional identity.

Findings indicate that the four measures of place bonds may be measuring different types of attachments to place. Data analysis also reveals that there is not difference in concern for tourism impacts between long- and short-term residents. Longterm residents are, however, less supportive of tourism development than those of shorter tenure. Neither local sentiment nor local identity are significantly correlated with any of the tourism attitude variables. Residents with high regional identity are more positive about the impacts of tourism than those with a relatively weaker sense of regional identity. Those with high regional attachments are also more supportive of development, especially nature programs and folk-cultural based tourism. New residents with high regional identity are the most supportive of tourism overall. They are also the youngest, most educated and the most active in recreation, as well as having the highest mean annual income and being least satisfied with the quality of life in their communities.

The findings of this study suggest that there may be more than one type of attachment to community or place. They also reveal that certain groups are more receptive to tourism development than others. The complexity of residents’ place bonds as well as the wide range of attitudes toward tourism found in this study suggest that there is a need for further community based research on the topic of tourism development.