Community perceptions of sociocultural impacts of tourism : the case of Mellieħa

Abstract

Destinations are inherently complex places in which the purity of tourism success is affected by factors and characteristics of the destination attributes and the presence of permanent community residents’ population. This study focuses on tracing the development of Mellieħa, more specifically the sociocultural principle and explores all forms of development, including economic and environmental. It embraces the topic of destination sustainability from a local, cultural heritage and attractiveness perspective where the main area of interest is the community residents’ perceptions and their support towards tourism. This study is built on earlier studies carried out in 2014 by Professor Joseph Troisi and the study by Annabel Black in 1996 and applies universal research and theories comparability in sociocultural, environmental and economic impacts of tourism occurring around the globe. The approach adopted in this study is of qualitative nature where the main data collected was through personal in-depth interviews with key community stakeholders, constructed on the research questions, research framework and thematic analysis. The outcome from the community perceptions towards tourism was analysed on ten themes: economic value of tourism; environmental impacts; volume of people; paradigm shift; local youth; foreign workers; language; local culture and heritage; destination attractiveness perspective; benefits of tourism and detrimental changes and impacts. Overall, the findings reveal that even though tourism activity in Mellieħa has altered the locality in multiple ways, the community is still intact and residents’ perceptions towards tourism are highly positive and exceed the negative impacts of tourism. The economic factor, destination enhancement and community’s internal structure changes are significantly perceived as positive by the community. Moreover, the study identifies the positive sociocultural impacts of tourism and community psychological empowerment as the most prominent factor for support towards tourism. This study concludes by recommending future compulsory online basic Maltese terms lessons targeting foreign workers in the tourism industry. The conclusion validates that the community is a vital determinant for supporting tourism and encourage the adoption of collective stakeholder approach in the prioritisation of tourism projects. Throughout the study Mellieħa is also referred to as the study area, the town and the locality.