Delta Rural Poll - Attitudes About Heritage Tourism in the Mississippi Delta

ATTITUDES ABOUT HERITAGE TOURISM
IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA

by Alan W. Barton, Ph.D.

From the 2005 Delta Rural Poll
Conducted January-February 2005

Questions addressed here:

Do Mississippi Delta residents think their children know about local cultural and natural heritage?
Do they believe it is important for their children to know about local cultural and natural heritage?
Would Mississippi Delta residents like to have tourists visit various types of heritage tourism sites in their communities?

Perceptions and Attitudes of Residents of Eleven Mississippi Delta Counties

Regarding the Region's Cultural and Natural History

(Percent)

Respondent Characteristics	Response Category	Cultural History		Natural History
Respondent Characteristics	Response Category	Children in the Community Understand the Delta's Cultural History	It is Important for Children in the Community to Understand the Delta's Cultural History	Children in the Community Understand the Delta's Natural History	It is Important for Children in the Community to Understand the Delta's Natural History
All Respondents		29.4	95.2	41.2	96.0
Age	18 – 34	26.8	97.7	43.2	99.1
	35 – 54	27.7	94.1	35.6	96.5
	55 and Older	33.2	94.5	46.6	93.7
	Significance	***		***	**
Gender	Male	29.3	96.1	38.6	95.9
	Female	29.7	94.3	43.2	96.1
	Significance
Race	White	33.3	93.9	42.2	96.4
	Black	26.9	96.2	40.3	95.8
	Significance	***	**	*
Educational Attainment	H.S. Diploma or Less	33.4	94.7	46.8	94.9
	Some College	25.4	95.5	35.7	96.9
	Significance	***		***
Annual Income	Less Than $30,000	27.9	96.0	42.1	96.2
	$30,000 to $60,000	26.5	96.2	35.8	98.1
	More Than $60,000	23.6	97.2	32.1	97.2
	Significance
Population of Nearest Community	Rural (< 10,000)	34.7	95.9	47.4	94.9
	Micropolitan (≥ 10,000)	33.2	94.7	38.2	96.9
	Significance	**		***

Significance: * p ≤ 0.10 ** p ≤ 0.05 *** p ≤ 0.01

Support in Eleven Mississippi Delta Counties for Tourists Visiting
Cultural Heritage Sites in the Respondent's Community

(Percent)

Respondent Characteristics	Response Category	Cultural Heritage Sites
Respondent Characteristics	Response Category	Blues Club or Festival	Blues Museum or Other Site	Juke Joint	Literary Museum or Site
All Respondents		71.6	78.3	27.9	82.7
Age	18 – 34	83.1	88.3	39.8	87.9
	35 – 54	73.7	82.2	29.3	83.0
	55 and Older	63.3	68.2	20.3	80.0
	Significance	***	***	***	***
Gender	Male	76.7	81.3	37.2	83.3
	Female	67.4	75.5	19.8	82.2
	Significance	***	*	***
Race	White	76.9	80.3	30.0	85.0
	Black	68.6	77.1	25.7	81.7
	Significance	***		**
Educational Attainment	H.S. Diploma or Less	65.8	71.8	23.8	78.1
	Some College	77.6	84.7	31.9	87.2
	Significance	***	***	***	***
Annual Income	Less Than $30,000	68.4	75.1	26.6	80.4
	$30,000 to $60,000	70.6	85.4	26.2	88.2
	More Than $60,000	85.8	88.8	45.2	88.7
	Significance	***	***	***	*
Population of Nearest Community	Rural (< 10,000)	73.6	81.3	25.3	86.7
	Micropolitan (≥ 10,000)	73.8	81.0	30.1	86.0
	Significance		*

Significance: * p ≤ 0.10 ** p ≤ 0.05 *** p ≤ 0.01

Support in Eleven Mississippi Delta Counties for Tourists
Visiting Historical Sites in the Respondent's Community

(Percent)

Respondent Characteristics	Response Category	Historical Sites
Respondent Characteristics	Response Category	Civil Rights Museum or Site	Historic Church	Historic Cemetery
All Respondents		85.6	79.2	78.6
Age	18 – 34	93.5	82.6	85.4
	35 – 54	88.3	81.2	76.9
	55 and Older	78.8	75.6	77.0
	Significance	***	**	***
Gender	Male	86.8.	78.7	79.8
	Female	84.7.	79.6	77.4
	Significance
Race	White	76.9	79.4	83.9
	Black	90.8	79.1	75.5
	Significance	***	*	***
Educational Attainment	H.S. Diploma or Less	82.3	73.6	75.0
	Some College	89.3	84.7	82.7
	Significance	***	***	**
Annual Income	Less Than $30,000	86.9	78.1	77.1
	$30,000 to $60,000	85.8	84.0	78.7
	More Than $60,000	84.9	89.6	87.7
	Significance		***
Population of Nearest Community	Rural (< 10,000)	86.7	81.6	84.2
	Micropolitan (≥ 10,000)	87.3	81.4	80.3
	Significance

Significance: * p ≤ 0.10 ** p ≤ 0.05 *** p ≤ 0.01

Support in Eleven Mississippi Delta Counties for Tourists Visiting
Natural Heritage Sites in the Respondent's Community

(Percent)

Respondent Characteristics	Response Category	Natural Heritage Sites
Respondent Characteristics	Response Category	Agricultural History Site	Mississippi River Site	Private Hunting Club	State/National Park, Forest or Refuge
All Respondents		88.4	86.7	50.3	88.1
Age	18 – 34	91.6	87.7	55.9	90.1
	35 – 54	87.8	88.3	45.4	90.6
	55 and Older	87.4	84.9	54.0	84.8
	Significance	***	***	***	***
Gender	Male	88.5	87.0	52.8	89.1
	Female	88.3	86.5	48.6	87.2
	Significance
Race	White	91.1	91.4	65.8	90.0
	Black	86.9	83.8	41.1	87.1
	Significance	**	***	***
Educational Attainment	H.S. Diploma or Less	85.7	83.4	45.0	85.7
	Some College	91.3	90.1	56.1	90.9
	Significance	***	***	***	***
Annual Income	Less Than $30,000	86.9	85.5	48.1	86.9
	$30,000 to $60,000	93.4	91.5	50.0	92.5
	More Than $60,000	91.5	89.7	72.4	96.2
	Significance	*		***	**
Population of Nearest Community	Rural (< 10,000)	90.3	89.8	53.4	91.7
	Micropolitan (≥ 10,000)	90.5	90.3	54.6	91.4
	Significance			*

Significance: * p ≤ 0.10 ** p ≤ 0.05 *** p ≤ 0.01

Notes:

Data for the 2005 Delta Rural Poll were collected in January and February, 2005. A total of 1,009 randomly selected Delta residents completed the questionnaire. The Delta Rural Poll surveyed residents of eleven counties in northwestern Mississippi: Bolivar, Coahoma, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tunica and Washington. Surveys were conducted by telephone and respondents were selected using random digit dialing techniques. Responses were weighted using the 2000 U.S. Census as a baseline, to account for skewed gender and race characteristics.

Annual Income is total household income from all sources for 2004.
Race is self-reported; less that 1% of respondents indicated a race other than White/Caucasian or Black/African American.
A Χ² test of significance was used to determine statistical significance.