Title: Determinants of tourism impact on tourists’ quality of life

Authors: Celeste Eusébio; Maria João Carneiro

Addresses: Department of Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro 3810-193, Portugal ' Department of Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro 3810-193, Portugal

Abstract: Despite the growing importance of the quality of life (QOL), research on QOL in the area of tourism is very limited. Additionally, the majority of this research focuses on the impact of tourism on QOL of destinations’ hosts. This paper analyses the impact of tourism on several dimensions of tourists’ QOL (physical health, psychological features, social relationships and environment). Additionally, a model of determinants of the tourism impact on QOL is proposed and tested. Multivariate regression analyses are undertaken to identify the factors that influence the impact of tourism on tourist’s QOL. Travel motivations, the travel group, type of destinations and activities are the factors with more influence on tourism impacts on QOL. However, results highlight that the influence of each factor on the tourism impact on QOL varies according to the dimension of the QOL. Important implications for improving the tourism impact on tourists’ QOL are discussed.

Keywords: tourism impact; tourist QoL; quality of life; WHOQOL; World Health Organization; regression modelling; determinants; physical health; psychological features; social relationships; environment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLTM.2011.043788

International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, 2011 Vol.2 No.4, pp.313 - 336

Published online: 22 Nov 2011 *

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