Exploring how perceived tourism impacts evolve over time (2009-2019) in an era of uncertainty: economic crisis, host-guest interactions, and Airbnb

Cross sectional studies focusing on a single setting are typically not sufficient in explaining how/why residents arrive at certain perceptions of impacts and attitudes towards tourism. This study aims to explore how the impacts of tourism are perceived by local residents over time (2009 - 2019), potentially shaped by the transient global and local contexts (economic crisis, Airbnb expansion); and frequency of exposure to tourists, explained via the Mere Exposure Theory (MET). MET suggests that repeated exposure to a stimulus or people, is a condition for the enhancement of the attitude towards it. Targeting Kavala residents in Greece, survey data were collected in three different points in time (2009, 2011, 2019), coupled with 21 in-depth interviews with local residents conducted in 2019. Results revealed that residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts are dynamic and fluid, greatly affected by the macro and micro economic environment; the rapid expansion of Airbnb in residents’ living areas; and the subsequent increasing interaction with tourists. Implications for theory and practice along with limitations and future research directions are also discussed