How does tourism in a community impact the quality of life of community residents?

Abstract

The objective of this study is to test a theoretical model that links community residents' perceptions of tourism impact (economic, social, cultural, and environmental) with residents' satisfaction with particular life domains (material well-being, community well-being, emotional well-being, and health and safety well-being) and overall life satisfaction. The model also posits that the strength of these perceptual relationships is moderated by the stage of tourism development in the community. The model was tested using a survey of 321 respondents from communities varying in their level of tourism development. The results were mostly supportive of the overall model. Theoretical and managerial implications of the study findings are discussed.

Introduction

Once a community becomes a tourist destination, the lives of residents in that community become affected by tourism activities (Jurowski, Uysal, & Williams, 1997). Over the past several decades, interest in tourism as a tool for regional economic development has grown dramatically. Community leaders and economic development specialists have increasingly treated tourism as an important industry that can enhance local employment opportunities, tax revenues, and economic diversity. Tourism impact studies documented positive and negative effects of tourism on economic well-being of tourism communities (e.g., Allen, Hafer, Long, & Perdue, 1993; Belisle & Hoy, 1980; Liu, Sheldon, & Var, 1987; Lundberg, 1990; Perdue, Long, & Allen, 1987; Prentice, 1993; Sheldon & Var, 1984; Tosun, 2002; Um & Crompton, 1990; Weaver & Lawton, 2001) and a range of other effects on tourism communities such as social well-being (e.g., Ahmed & Krohn, 1992; Andereck, 1995; Backman & Backman, 1997; Lankford & Howard, 1994; Liu & Var, 1986; Perdue, Long, & Gustke, 1991; Var & Kim, 1989), cultural well-being (e.g., Kousis, 1989; Pearce, 1996; Tosun, 2002; Wang, Fu, Cecil, & Avgoustis, 2006; Young, 1973), and environmental well-being (e.g., Ahmed & Krohn, 1992; Andereck, 1995; Farrell & Runyan, 1991; Koenen, Chon, & Christianson, 1995; Var & Kim, 1989). However, much of this research has captured the effects of tourism impact using objective indicators of community quality of life such as poverty, per capita income, crime rates, and pollution (Crotts & Holland, 1993). The question remains: Is tourism impact (economic, social, cultural, and environmental) perceived by community residents? If so, do these perceptions of tourism impact influence their sense of well-being in various life domains (e.g., material life, community life, emotional life, and health and safety)? And if so, does residents' life satisfaction (overall sense of well-being) become influenced too? Answers to these questions are very important to both community leaders and tourism officials because these answers can guide successful planning policies in tourism development. For example, if residents' perception of tourism environmental impact is found to be a positive predictor of residents' sense of health and safety well-being, which in turn is found to be a positive predictor of life satisfaction, then environmental policies and programs should be formulated to encourage tourism development in ways that influence residents' positive perception of tourism impact on their sense of health and safety well-being. Similar implications can be deduced in relation to economic, cultural, and social policies and programs.

Most importantly is the notion that tourism impact on community residents' well-being may vary significantly as a direct function of the stage of the community in the tourism development life cycle (introduction, growth, early maturity, late maturity, and decline). For instance, social critics have argued that tourism becomes unsustainable beyond a certain threshold (e.g., Butler, 1980, 2004). This is commonly referred to as “carrying capacity” in the context of the tourist development life cycle. This research begs the following question: If tourism impact is indeed perceived by community residents and these perceptions do influence their sense of well-being in various life domains and overall life, then could this influence vary depending on where the community is in the tourism development life cycle (introduction, growth, early maturity, late maturity, and decline)? Again, answers to these questions are very important to both community leaders and tourism officials. This is due to the fact that tourism policies and programs formulated to enhance residents sense of well-being in material, community, emotional, and health/safety life may work more effectively in certain stages of the tourism development life cycle than others. Such information is vital to tourism development policy.

To answer these two main questions, we developed and tested a theoretical model that describes how residents' perception of tourism affects their satisfaction with particular life domains and life overall in the various stages of the tourism development cycle. The model reflects three major propositions: (1) residents' perception of tourism impact affects their sense of well-being in various life domains (material, community, emotional, and health/safety well-being), (2) residents' sense of well-being in those life domains affects their life satisfaction in general, and (3) the relationship between residents' perception of tourism impact and their sense of well-being in those life domains is moderated by tourism development stages. The remainder part of the paper describes the background of this study, the conceptual development of the theoretical model, the methods used in testing the model, and the study results and their implications.