Impacts of tourism associated with residents' well-being: an analysis in 197 European OECD regions

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extent to which tourism development is related to the well-being of residents. Design/methodology/approach. The authors analyze how tourism development is associated with 11 subjective and objective measures of well-being, as defined by the OECD, across 197 European regions from 21 countries. Findings. Tourism development is associated with higher well-being, especially in industrial regions, as well as in primary- and service-based regions. In contrast, the association of tourism development with indicators of well-being is lower in quinary-based regions. Only one negative association was found, namely, that of the well-being indicator representing civic engagement. Research limitations/implications. Panel data for well-being indicators was not available for the regions analyzed. Practical implications. Economic diversification is positive in primary- and secondary-based regions, as reflected by improvements in well-being indicators. In service-based regions, tourism development is also associated with increases in important well-being indicators. Social implications. Despite what has been extensively debated, no negative associations were found between tourism development and well-being variables. Originality/value. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the relationship between tourism development and well-being of residents based on multiple indicators and across such a range of NUTS1 and NUTS2 regions, with different levels of tourism development. Previous studies have analyzed cases of countries, which are usually heterogeneous in terms of tourism development, or a very limited number of regions. In addition, this study is one of the first to have used overnight stays rather than tourism arrivals as a key measure, thus considering the length of stay.