Francisco FEMENIA-SERRA, Nebrija University, Spain
Aurkene ALZUA-SORZABAL, Nebrija University, Spain
Tourism is undergoing a critical transition after the shock provoked by COVID-19. However, it is expected that tourism will be shortly returning to pre-pandemic demand levels, a time that was marked by a huge increase in tourism arrivals and a notable growth in the number of tourism accommodations in many cities. The years preceding the pandemic were characterized by the debate around the impacts of tourism on territories and local communities, often regarded as excessive and negative (overtourism), and also by the response of some social and political collectives (Milano et al., 2019). The contribution of tourism to climate change by means of emission of GHG gasses (Hall et al., 2020), and the impact of short-term rentals on the housing market, were two of the most pressing issues that situated tourism in the centre of public and scholar debate.
However, the residents’ perceptions of the impacts of tourism is missing to some extent in the post-pandemic scenario, which is notably different to the preceding phase due to a decline in international arrivals and higher unemployment levels, at least in Spain. These might have affected public support to tourism development as previously explored in the country (e.g., Almeida-García et al., 2016; Escudero-Gómez, 2019). However, prior studies are often focused on a single destination.
This research is aimed at understanding residents’ perceptions and attitudes towards tourism impacts on their cities, including environmental, social and economic impacts. To achieve this objective, a survey was distributed among Spanish residents in September 2021. A total of 1,454 valid answers were collected, including 186 from the pre-test, representing a wide variety of participants from all the regions of the country. The results were analyzed by using statistical analyses and geographical information systems (GIS). The findings seem to be dependent on the geographical context of participants, among other variables.
Mots clés : Tourism impacts|Residents’ attitudes|Overtourism|Spain
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