The effects of tourism impacts upon quality of life of residents in the community

This study investigates how tourism affects the quality of life (QOL) of residents in tourism destinations that vary in the stage of development. The proposed model in this study structurally depicts that satisfaction with life in general derives from the satisfaction with particular life domains. Overall life satisfaction is derived from material well-being, which includes the consumer's sense of well being as it is related to material possessions, community well-being, emotional well-being, and health and safety well-being domains. The model also posits that residents' perception of tourism impacts (economic, social, cultural, and environmental) affects their satisfaction of particular life domains. Lastly, this study investigates that tourism development stages moderate the relationship between residents' perception of tourism impacts and their satisfaction with particular life domains. Accordingly, the study proposed four major hypotheses: (1) residents' perception of tourism impacts affects their QOL in the community, (2) residents' satisfaction with particular life domains is affected by the perception of particular tourism impact dimensions, (3) residents' satisfaction with particular life domains affects residents' life satisfaction in general, and (4) the relationship between residents' perception of tourism impacts and their satisfaction with particulate life domains is moderated by tourism development stages.

The sample population consisting of residents residing in Virginia was surveyed. The sample was proportionally stratified on the basis of tourism development stages covering counties and cities in the state. Three hundred and twenty-one respondents completed the survey. Structural Equation Modeling and Hierarchical Multiple Regression were used to test study hypotheses.