ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the perceptions of Kashan city residents towards the positive and negative impacts of heritage tourism development and the consequent effects on their support for heritage tourism development. Several studies identified positive economic impacts in relation to tourism development, such as increased family incomes, improved standards of living, job creation and employment opportunities in the host community. A number of negative economic impacts of tourism, from the perspective of residents, include an increase in the cost of living, especially property, goods and other products, relative poverty through low paying jobs in the tourism industry and increasing property taxes. The residents of Kashan believed that the development of heritage tourism contributed to the creation of more jobs and higher income, improved public facilities, helped to preserve their heritage and cultural identity, and facilitated cultural exchange with tourists. To collect data from Kashan city residents, two methods were employed: a field survey using systematic cluster sampling and online data collection.
