The impact of resilience on community variations in the relationships between tourism and quality of life

Abstract

Tourism aims to enhance community quality of life, but its impacts can be positive and/or negative by community. Under increasing uncertainty from multiple crises, this study links tourism sectors with the concepts of community resilience and quality of life to support sustainable development. We examined how community resilience spatially mediates dynamic relationships between tourism and community quality of life. To consider locally varying relationships, we developed an integrated framework and model, employing spatial path analysis to address spatial interactions at the community level between tourism sectors, community resilience, and community quality of life. The proposed model was applied to Florida, a US state heavily reliant on tourism and regularly affected by natural hazards. Findings indicate that community resilience spatially mediates the positive and/or negative effects of two tourism sectors on community quality of life: Accommodation and Amusement/Gambling/Recreation, leading to spatially varying positive/negative relationships between tourism and community quality of life across communities. This study demonstrates that the accuracy of community-level measurements of tourism and qualty of life can be improved by acknowledging spatial interactions and the resilience status of each community. Our findings support localized community policies for achieving sustainable, resilient, and healthy community development based on tourism.