Luxury Tourism as a Community Economic Development Strategy in the Depleted Community of Gananoque and the 1000 Islands

Subject Areas : General Management

D. Kirkby ¹ (1000 Islands Luxury Tours Inc., Kingston, Canada)
R. Alasadi ² (University of Ottawa, Canada; American University of the Middle East, Egaila, Kuwait)

Received: 2016-03-11 Accepted : 2016-03-11 Published : 2016-01-01

Keywords: Luxury, Tourism, Economic Development, community, Hospitality,

Abstract :

This paper aims to shed the light on how the luxury tourism may serve as a community economic development strategy in the depleted communities. The purpose of the study is to identify the interests and preferences of potential tourists in the 21st century, primarily those individuals who have the time and money to spend a week visiting the 1000 Islands region, thereby contributing much more to the local economy than those tourists for stay for only a few hours. The study used a simple Non-Experimental Fixed Research Design questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale for 17 possible aspects of a luxury vacation in the 1000 Islands. The survey was conducted by telephone, and the Chairs of the various chapters of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons were contacted with a goal of speaking to half of the 51 CARP Chapter Chairs. Of the 17 items that were scored by the 15 research participants, Leisure Time proved to be the most popular item surveyed.