Support for Sustainable Community Tourism and Quality of Life: The Missing Mechanisms

Tourism studies demand that residents’ place attachment and overall quality of life (QoL) be further investigated. Taking a multidisciplinary stand, this article tests the interplay of relationships between residents’ perceived social impacts, their trust in local government, place attachment, and its influence on their prosocial and proenvironmental behaviors, which Ramkissoon and her coauthors argue are important mechanisms to be explored in determining support for tourism and provide better QoL outcomes. Applying structural equation modeling (SEM) on a sample of 350 residents, results suggest that perceived social impacts positively influence trust in local government and place attachment; place attachment has a positive influence on prosocial and proenvironmental behaviors, which leads to support for tourism development. The latter positively influences residents’ overall QoL aligning with the United Nations’ SDGs. Theoretical and practical implications for sustainable community tourism are discussed. Finally, the article states a future research agenda for trust, place attachment, prosocial and proenvironmental collective engagement, and QoL research.