Relation Between Perceived Tourism Impact, Quality of Life, Community Attachment, and Support for Tourism Development From a Community Perspective: A Serial Mediation Analysis

The study develops a conceptual theoretical framework based on the existing theories and examines the relationship between Positive Tourism Impact (PTI), Negative Tourism Impact (NTI), Quality of Life (QoL), Community Attachment (CA) and Support for Tourism Development (STD). A questionnaire survey was conducted among residents of two hill stations, Darjeeling and Sikkim, in India. A total of 308 responses were collected, and the Structural Equation Modelling technique using AMOS 26 software was employed for data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that CA significantly mediates the relationship between PTI and STD.Moreover, serial mediation analysis confirms that QoL and CA jointly mediate the relationship between relationship between PTI and STD. Additionally, PTI shows a significant association with residents’ QoL, CA, and STD,whereas NTI has no significant link with either QoL or STD. The study empirically supports Community Attachment Theory and Social Exchange Theoryand highlights its importance in community-based tourism research.The findings of the study indicate that destination managers should adopt a community-centred policy, developing community attachment and enhancing wellbeing of the resident, thereby strengthening residents' long-term engagement and commitment, which in turn result in sustainability of the destination.