Resident's perception of the impacts of tourism on their quality of live, general well-being and happiness

Abstract

The article is based on the development and testing of a model that describes the relationship between host-tourist interaction (social contact) and residents' perceptions of the impacts caused by tourism in the local community, in their Quality of Life (QOL) and well-being, as well as the influence of the perceptions of these impacts on satisfaction with the development of tourism and, ultimately, how this effect affects the subjective happiness of residents. The model is tested using a survey of residents of the island of São Miguel, in the Azores (Portugal), conducted in 2019. It was found that the level of social contact between host-tourist is relatively low. Residents working in the tourism sector are those who most perceive the impacts of tourism at the economic and social level and the elderly are those who feel the best about living there. It was also concluded that the impacts caused by tourism positively affect residents' satisfaction with the development of the tourism sector today and that this satisfaction, in turn, positively influences the happiness of the resident community.