Does residents' perceived life satisfaction vary with tourist season? A two-step survey in a Mediterranean destination

Abstract

Recent attention has been dedicated to the relationship between tourism and subjective well-being, however studies have mainly focused on the tourist side. Since residents are an indispensable partner for the success of any tourism program, understanding whether and how tourism affects residents' perceived life-satisfaction is a crucial issue. However, scant attention has been paid to this theme and the majority of studies are cross-sectional. Here we develop a two-step survey, conducted in a seaside resort before and during the tourist season to test for significant differences in residents' perceptions of tourism impact and overall life satisfaction. The results confirm the hypothesis that perceived tourism impact and life satisfaction vary with the tourist season, and that tourism has a hidden cost in terms of perceived life satisfaction

Events and Tourism Development within a Local Community: The Case of Winchester (UK)

“…The importance of the life satisfaction is supported by Bimonte and Faralla [11] who claimed that despite the fact there has been much research on resident perceptions and attitudes of tourism, that probably started with Butler's Tourist Area Life Cycle and Doxey's Irridex, 'no study focused on life satisfaction of residents as the ultimate dependent variable to establish the link between perceive impact of tourism and satisfaction with the life domains in the destination community' [11]. This issue is confirmed also by Kim et al [9] whose state 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.…”

“…This is another gap that this research is addressing. Finally yet importantly, there is a need for further research on how and whether tourism contributes to the host's life satisfaction, because each destination is unique and it is important to test different types of behavioural reactions and responses [11]. The present paper offers a scientific contribution also in this direction.…”

“…Also, it is important to mention the fact that QOL and well-being are interchangeable terms [19]. It is equally important to mention that life satisfaction is influenced by variables such as: age; gender; household size; family structure; level of education; income [20]; job security; economic context of the destination; geopolitics; level of security of the destination and the weather [7]; Human Development Index; Gross Domestic Product; environment factors [21]; health; family; friendship and sentimental situation [11].…”

“…Bimonte and Faralla [11] have clearly established that tourism contributes to the host's life satisfaction. Indeed, they provided evidence that if during off peak seasons residents' happiness is influenced by a range of factors, namely: income and work; health; family; friendship and sentimental situation, during the peak season, elements like: home environment; overcrowding; price increase and quality of life become very important when residents evaluate their level of happiness.…”

“…This negative relationship tends to be more evident in countries where the intensity tourism is relatively high. Moreover, tourism researches tend more to focus on the satisfaction of tourists rather than of residents [7,[10][11][12]. Moreover, there is a gap of literature regarding service consumption practices and their effect on the well-being of consumers [13].…”