Understanding the livelihood of local people in salt city and their awareness/perception toward heritage, life and tourism data presentation and analysis (Part One)

This study aimed to identify the livelihood of local people in Salt as well as their awareness/perception on the heritage, life and tourism. Quantitative research methodology has been developed to meet the research aims and objectives. The quantitative technique was used based upon the opinion of local people living in traditional and non-traditional houses in As Salt City by filling two questionnaires for each house. The questionnaire was distributed to (350) houses and each house was required to fill up two copies of the questionnaire¹.

The result of this study revealed that most of residents from both type of houses had positive thinking and perception toward heritage, life and tourism in As Salt City. Moreover, tourism is considered as an important sector to the local community with its socio-economic impacts, and residents in Salt would like to see more tourists coming to their city. However, residents in Salt were aware about the value of their city regarding its traditional heritage and cultural, and they respected the soul of Salt, therefore, they would like to keep it as it is.

Employment and income generation are relatively low compared to other cities in Jordan, such as Amman, especially for residents who lived in traditional houses. Therefore, such kind of area should be flourishing with more tourism business to be driven to As-Salt, which is an area that needs to be experienced so the residents can believe in more.

Although, tourism development in As Salt was somewhat appreciated by the residents, the local entities and the international projects organizations were somehow not. Moreover, it was found that low levels of participation were recorded even from the direct beneficiaries of these projects due to lack of knowledge and week communication and follow up with the local community.