Volume 5, Issue 1, March 2016, Pages 16–25
Small Island Destinations and Subjective Wellbeing
Highlights
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- Compares the perceptions of the local community of the extent to which enclave tourism and agritourism contribute to their wellbeing.
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- Both types of tourism development contribute both positively and negatively to community wellbeing although enclave tourism is perceived to have fewer positive outcomes.
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- Enclave tourism provides valuable educational and cultural opportunities but damages the environment, restricts entrepreneurship and favours local elites.
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- Agritourism, positively enhance the cultural and social spheres of community life whilst supporting entrepreneurship.
Abstract
To
date, limited attention has been paid to the contribution of tourism to
the well-being of island residents in general and to whether such
well-being varies according to the nature of tourism development in
particular. Specifically, island tourism is frequently manifested in
resort-based enclave development, a form of tourism that is often
criticised for its assumed limited benefits to the wider community. As a
consequence, alternative approaches such as agritourism, are
increasingly proposed as a means of enhancing community development and
well-being, yet the relative merits of enclave and agritourism have not
been explored within an island tourism context. This paper addresses
this notable gap in the literature. Drawing on a questionnaire-based
survey in Mauritius, it considers and compares the perceptions of local
people of the extent to which enclave tourism and agritourism contribute
to their well-being. The results reveal that both types of tourism
development contribute both positively and negatively to community
well-being although enclave tourism is perceived to have fewer positive
outcomes. On the one hand, enclave tourism provides valuable cultural
opportunities but damages the environment, restricts entrepreneurship
and favours local elites; on the other hand, agritourism, although not
yet well-established in Mauritius, is perceived to positively enhance
the cultural and social spheres of community life whilst supporting
entrepreneurship.
Keywords
- Tourism development;
- Community well-being;
- Enclave tourism;
- Agritourism;
- Island tourism;
- Mauritius
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