Qualitative Impact Analysis of International Tourists and Residents’ Perceptions of Málaga-Costa Del Sol Airport

Abstract

Air transport plays a key role especially in countries where tourism has a great impact on the economy. In Spain, the contribution made by this industry to GPD stands at EUR 119 billion, representing 11% of GDP. This case study focuses on the Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport due to the growth the city has experienced in recent years. The research examines the impacts of this infrastructure from the perceptions of residents and tourists. We conducted 638 questionnaires and 50 interviews with residents, and 165 questionnaires and 106 interviews with international tourists from August 2019 to January 2020. A qualitative thematic analysis was carried out using the NVivo Pro software. The findings indicate that residents value the ease of travel and employment generated by the airport. However, they are concerned about the environment impacts and mass tourism. For tourists, almost no negative impacts are recorded. Residents and tourists consider the existence of positive effects on other nearby cities of Andalusia. Conclusions have practical and theoretical implications for impact researches.

Research on the Impact of Tourism Development on the Sustainable Development of Reservoir Headwater Area Using China’s Tingxi Reservoir as an Example

“…Tourism development needs to be considered in a multi-faceted way and the impact of tourism development is more complicated nowadays [6,10,12]. More detailed answers can be obtained through comprehensive surveys [10,11,14,24,28]. Therefore, the authors first reviewed the theories and literature on tourism development , interpreted the research results [38,39], compiled a 60-question questionnaire on the current status of tourism development, and then discussed with experts and scholars to complete the outline of the questionnaire, which was divided into two parts: background information and tourism development.…”

“…After all, the number of natural, socio-cultural, and economic resources needed to be obtained, and the level of consideration are different for different positions and roles [14,23]. For existing residents, development is expected to improve their quality of life by improving economic conditions, sanitation, transportation, and medical facilities, but they do not want to destroy their original living style and environment [24]. For tourists, water source areas are one of the most attractive tourism resources due to their ecological diversity and the differences in the customs and cultures of existing villages [11], and fulfilling their psychological needs through tourism [12,25] will satisfy tourists and strengthen their tourism and consumption behaviors.…”

“…Therefore, the most effective way to understand the development process and its effectiveness is to conduct a review with the residents as the subject [6,26]. However, development is the betterment of the existing predicament, while tourism development hopes to attract tourists to travel and spend, in order to achieve the purpose of boosting the economy, increasing people's income, raising revenue, and improving the quality of life of the villages and people [24]. Therefore, the more time tourists spend on in-depth tourism, the more the desire and opportunities for consumption can be stimulated.…”

“…Economic issues such as employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, tourism activity prices, tourism consumption costs, increased tourism facilities and local characteristic industrial products, tourism diversification, provision of explanatory guides, increase leisure and life consumption options, obtain promotion or priority use rights, and expand community tourism. Through the scale of development, the quality of public facilities construction and maintenance, the quality of medical and health services, the communication channels between the community and the government, the protection policies of the local tourism industry, the mechanisms and norms involved in formulating tourism development policies, the development of DIY or product portfolios, etc., it should be possible to obtain the feelings of both sides and to explore the most in-depth issues to obtain a balanced view for future decision-making [10,11,14,24].…”

Málaga Costa del Sol airport and its new conceptualization of hinterland

“…The weakness of the industrial fabric and the lack of so-called "high-level or advanced" services have led to the development of those more basic and traditional service activities. Following Galeote and García (2020) indicated that the sun and the beach have been the main wealth of M alaga, but this model should change to other productive sectors. In this sense, M alaga airport has always been a key catalyst for the growth of local economy (Addie, 2014).…”