The influence of tourism revenue sharing constraints on sustainable tourism development: a study of Aksu-Jabagly nature reserve, Kazakhstan

ABSTRACT Tourism and the sharing of the associated revenues with local people have become a popular strategy for implementing sustainability in nature reserves (NR) or protected areas (PA) globally. Although the local people have obtained some modest economic gains from the development of tourism, especially in infrastructural development, there are still some constraints on revenue sharing. These restrictions are very obvious in many underdeveloped countries and they lead to the passive state of local community participation in tourism development. The main purpose of this article is to, through the example of Aksu-Jabagly NR, study how the Tourism Revenue Sharing (TRS) constraints in a tourism destination inhibit the implementation of sustainable tourism development in Kazakhstan. In order to understand the impact of TRS constraints on the implementation of sustainable tourism, we surveyed the perceptions of 222 residents from the village Jabagly adjacent to Aksu-Jabagly tourist destination. Results suggested that due to certain TRS restrictions, residents believe that a small portion of the revenue generated by tourism has been shared with local development. They evaluated on the indicators of TRS level with a lower score (average mean = 2.606). Most residents are not satisfied with the development of tourism, and their participation in tourism is also comparatively low. The results also reveal that highly perceived constraints of TRS are the main indirect cause of residents’ dissatisfaction with the development of the tourism industry. In the end, residents’ dissatisfaction results in fewer residents participating in tourism.