Impacto do turismo na qualidade de vida: a percepção da população da Ilha africana de São Tomé

Abstract

Currently, tourism is one of the main activities in the world that has proved sustainably. Many countries, especially emerging, rely on tourism as an alternative sector to its economic development. However, tourism, like any other industry, generates impacts on the community's quality of life where it is developed. This study aims to analyze the perception of the population of the island of Sao Tome on the impact of tourism on their quality of life. Variables were considered as the material well-being, community well-being, welfare, safety, emotional wellbeing and the well-being in health, in order to measure the perceptions of residents. In this context, there was an exploratory, descriptive and quantitative based on the application of an online questionnaire between March and April 2015 to a sample of 151 residents of the island. The results show positive and negative contributions of tourism on the quality of life for residents. The impacts of tourism on people's material, and community well-being are perceived as beneficial, while the benefits of the security well-being, emotional and health are still few perceived. These results can contribute to general management of tourism in the development of policies that minimize the risks and maximize the benefits to the population.