The relationship between local residents’ perceptions of tourism and their happiness: a case of Kusadasi, Turkey

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to determine the local residents’ attitudes of tourism in Kusadasi, Turkey. In addition, the relationship between residents’ attitudes toward tourism and their overall perceived happiness was analyzed. Design/methodology/approach – A correlational, quantitative research technique was used in this study. The data of this study were collected from 383 local residents in Kusadasi, Turkey. Exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were conducted to analyze the data. Findings – The results of the study indicated that local residents had favorable attitudes toward tourism in terms of its positive economic, cultural and environmental impact. Study results also indicated that negative economic impact of tourism was found to be the least favorable construct associated with residents’ attitudes toward tourism in Kusadasi. In addition, multiple regression analysis indicated that local residents’ perceived overall happiness was significantly influenced by positive and negative cultural and environmental impact and positive economic impact factors. Originality/value – The findings of the study provide valuable information to tourism planners and decision makers seeking to build a resident friendly tourism destination in Kusadasi, Turkey.

Residents’ Negative Perceptions towards Tourism, Loyalty and Happiness: The Case of Fuengirola, Spain

“…Among other recommendations, tourism scholars are encouraged to study feelings, and emotions in research on local´s attitudes, in order to draw on theoretical advances in foundation disciplines for this particular area of research, such as anthropology, ethnography, psychology, and sociology. In addition, other research has addressed the overall impact [10] and others have distinguished between the positive and negative impacts) [37,50,51].…”

“…In addition to its economic benefits, the tourism industry also affects the host country's society as well as its physical and cultural environment [10]. The economic aspect will not only determine residents' perceptions of tourism, but also the social, cultural, and environmental components that will affect the destination receiving the tourism [11,12].…”

“…Regarding subjective well-being, two components are fundamentally mentioned: satisfaction and happiness with life [21,25]. Some examples of subjective well-being studies are those that are based on citizens' opinions of overall satisfaction [10,17,26] and happiness with satisfaction [18], or where subjective well-being is used interchangeably with happiness, as in [27].…”

“…Our aim is to analyze the relationship between negative (economic, social, and environmental) residents' perceptions [10,17,35], with residents' happiness, specifically, residents of a mature, coastal, and mass tourism destination, as is the case of Fuengirola (Spain), applying social exchange theory (SET). It also considers the residents' loyalty to the place where they live as a predictor of residents' happiness.…”

“…It also considers the residents' loyalty to the place where they live as a predictor of residents' happiness. Although the residents have been studied for more than 30 years, as provided by [36], we focus our attention on the gaps or suggestions highlighted in the most recent research [10,17,35,37]. These arguments encourage the study of the negative aspects of the perception towards tourism, in order to evaluate its influence and inform policy makers or entrepreneurs, among others, since the positive aspects of tourism development for residents have been widely studied, either singly [17,38] or in combination with negative perceptions [10,39].…”