Governance, overtourism and impacts in Malaga, Spain: Recommendations for sustainability.

Governance, Overtourism and Impacts in Malaga, Spain: Recommedations for Sustainability 1. Abstract and Introduction This research aims to understand the relationships between governance, overtourism and the impacts of tourism on residents. To this end, this study proposes a novel research model in which governance and overtourism factors are related to social and environmental impacts. In view of the intensification of tourism in the most overcrowded urban destinations in Europe and the Mediterranean, it is necessary to develop sustainable management measures. We conducted a survey of the residents of the municipality of Malaga, Spain. We conducted a factor analysis and regression and proxy maps of the main variables. We created a specific questionnaire to analyse the main factors affecting tourism management and its impacts. The survey is statistically representative (n=450). The results highlight the relationship between municipal governance and overtourism, and how the latter causes the social and environmental impacts of tourism. Impacts related to environmental problems are the most negatively valued by residents and affect their quality of life. A novel investigation is carried out on the relationships between the perception of tourism governance, tourist saturation and the impacts of tourism in a crowded space such as the historic centre of the city of Malaga, Spain. Innovative Sustainable Practices in Travel and Tourism: Recovery and Resilience Fernando Almeida-García Rafael Cortés-Macías Alfredo Mena-Navarro Josefa García-Mestanza University of Malaga (Spain) 2. Objectives - To understand the process of overtourism in the city of Malaga - To identify residents' perceptions of tourism impacts 3. Hypothesis 4. Research model H1. The governance model influences a spatially differentiated perception of overtourism. H2. Overtourism influences the perception of spatially differentiated economic impacts of tourism. H3. Overtourism influences the perception of spatially differentiated social impacts of tourism. H4. Overtourism influences the perception of spatially differentiated environmental impacts of tourism. H5. Overtourism influences the perception of residents’ spatially differentiated perception of place identity OVERT GOB IDENT ECO SOC H2 H3 H4 H5 H1 ENV 5. Data collection - Face-to-face survey= 450 respondents in the city of Malaga, Spain - 15 semi-structured interviews in the city of Malaga, Spain 6. Conclusions - The importance of the diversity of residents' perceptions of overtourism depending on their spatial distribution in Malaga. - Residents of the periphery value tourism activities more positively, considering that the central tourist area can be "sacrificed" for tourism. - The local community generally has little opportunity to influence the city's tourism governance, and only shows concern when the problem affects them directly. - The intensification of tourism is detrimental to the perception of the identity of the place. The greater the overtourism, the less identification. 7. Recommendations - Regulation and control of saturated and touristified central area - Tourism degrowth and boosting domestic tourism