Influence of VFR Tourism on the Quality of Life of the Resident Population

The aim of this document is to report on characteristics of VFR travel, the perceived impacts of these trips, and their effects on the quality of life of the resident community. Cozumel, an international insular tourist destination in Mexico, is taken as case of study. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional observational study, driven by survey conducted in Cozumel to characterize VFR trips, using an instrument that has been previously tested in other destinations and a composite scale was constructed to measure perceived quality of life by means of a survey administered to a sample of Cozumel residents. Structural equation models were used to test the influence of the social impacts perceived by the population on their quality of life. The movement of VFR travellers to Cozumel is significant, although their main expenses are not used in commercial accommodation. Community and economic impacts are perceived as significant by the population, whereas the impact on mobility and local transportation is perceived as negative. The direct and positive influence of economic benefits on the quality of life of local population was significant, whereas community-related and transportation-related impacts were significant only for residents who were not visited by friends or relatives. The main implications of these findings lead to the need to examine, in greater detail, the quality of life of residents in tourism destinations receiving VFR travelers. Thus, the main contribution of this paper, is to figure out that it is not the same to receive visitors than to observe others receiving them, not just in economic terms, but in terms of emotional and community well-being. This contrast is very likely to be confirmed in studies carried out in other international tourism destinations around the world.