Exploring the Nature of Tourism and Quality of Life Perceptions among Residents

Research on resident attitudes toward tourism has been under way for many years. Implicit in this research is the precept that tourism influences people’s quality of life (QOL). Few studies, however, have directly investigated residents’ perception of the impact tourism has on their QOL, and relationships between QOL perceptions and support for tourism in the community. This study is an attempt to go beyond attitude research and explicitly consider tourism’s influence on QOL. A mail survey was conducted with a random sample of residents throughout Arizona. The questionnaire included three sets of scales combined into an index to measure perceived QOL impacts of tourism. Eight QOL domains were developed. In addition, further analysis found that perceived personal benefit derived from tourism mediated the effect of the economic aspects of QOL, contact with tourists, and employment in tourism on the perceptions of the role of tourism in the local economy.