Tourism Impacts, Tourism-Phobia and Gentrification in Historic Centers: The Cases of Málaga (Spain) and Gdansk (Poland)

Fernando Almeida-García, Rafael Cortés-Macías and Krzysztof Parzych
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Fernando Almeida-García: Tourism Intelligence and Innovation Research Institute (i3t), Faculty of Tourism, Campus of Teatinos, Department of Geography, University of Malaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain
Rafael Cortés-Macías: Tourism Intelligence and Innovation Research Institute (i3t), Faculty of Tourism, Campus of Teatinos, Department of Geography, University of Malaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain
Krzysztof Parzych: Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Tourism, Pomeranian University in Słupsk, ul. Arciszewskiego 22, 76-200 Słupsk, Poland

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-25

Abstract: This study analyzes the role of residents in urban tourist destinations affected by the increase in tourist flows, which have generated various problems such as tourism, gentrification and the emergence of tourism as a threat to residents. The role of residents in tourist destinations has not been analyzed regularly during the development process of destinations. We study two cases of historic centers in European cities, with the aim of comparing tourism problems, which are common to most European urban destinations. This study was conducted by administering surveys amongst residents of these historic centers (378 in Málaga, Spain, and 380 in Gdansk, Poland). These cities show a similar demographic size and urban characteristics. This is the first comparative research on tourism-phobia and gentrification in destinations, a field of analysis that is still not studied much. We develop specific scales to measure gentrification and tourism-phobia; moreover, we study the impact of some tourist problems that affect residents (noise, dirt, occupation of public spaces, etc.), and we show the spatial distribution of tourism-phobia. The same analysis instruments are used for both cities. The results of this study show that the tourism-phobia situation is different in the analyzed destinations. It is more intense in the case of Málaga than in Gdansk. The two historic centers are especially affected by the processes of increased tourist flows and the growth of new forms of tourist accommodation. The research results show that the residents’ annoyance caused by tourism gentrification is more intense than tourism-phobia. Both case studies highlight the residents’ complaints regarding the inadequate management of problems by public stakeholders and control measures.

Keywords: residents; tourism-phobia; tourism-philia; gentrification; historic centers; Málaga; Gdansk; tourism impacts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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