Analyzing the Economic Sustainability of Tourism Development: Evidence from Hong Kong

Abstract

Despite increased concerns about the negative economic impacts of tourism on host communities, insufficient attention has been paid to assess tourism’s economic sustainability. This article aims to develop and validate a framework for assessing economic sustainability from the perspective of local stakeholders. In-depth interviews with 12 major stakeholders and telephone surveys with 1,839 Hong Kong citizens were conducted. The tourism economic sustainability construct consisted of three dimensions: economic positivity, development control, and individual welfare. The reliability and validity of the dimensions were confirmed by the data of subsamples. The links between sociodemographic characteristics and attitudes toward tourism economic sustainability were evaluated. This article enhanced our understanding of tourism economic sustainability by expanding the measurement from the macro-level to the micro-level. Using the study setting in Hong Kong, it transcends previous analyses by providing a context to learn from ongoing controversies about the effects of tourism on the host communities.