Resident Empowerment and Support for Gaming Tourism: Comparisons of Resident Attitudes Pre- and Amid-Covid-19 Pandemic

Grounded in Weber’s theory of formal and substantive rationality, this study aims to examine the influences of economic and noneconomic factors, namely resident empowerment and trust, on resident support for gaming tourism, a controversial type of tourism development. In particular, with data collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the study also examines how resident perceptions of economic and noneconomic benefits of tourism have changed as a result of the pandemic. Findings show that perceived economic benefits and trust in government were significant determinants before and during the pandemic; however, the effects of empowerment seem to be mixed, depending on how controversial gaming tourism was at the time of data collection. Results suggest gaming tourism is viewed more critically during periods of high volume and that when gaming tourism dries up, residents start to become more supportive and to see the economic and noneconomic benefits in a different light.