Residents’ perceptions of tourism social exchange relations: a case study in a small heritage town

Studies of residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts under social exchange theory have mostly focused on the costs and rewards of tourism in a one-sided manner. The purpose of this study is to examine these perceptions taking social exchange relations, which are dyadic, as the unit of analysis instead. Social exchange relations offer a more accurate understanding of tourism exchanges as they pair costs with rewards. The literature review analyses previous studies of resident impact perceptions in which exchange relations had been suggested. Based on this review, a survey was carried out among the residents of Besalú. Four social exchange relations were identified using factor analysis. The results show that perceptions about exchanges that specifically involve the resources of space, which tends to be a scarce resource in heritage towns, and retailing areas are linked to the willingness of residents to accept tourism. This suggests that these are critical resources affecting residents’ general perception of the tourism exchange. The results also show that residents strongly perceive tourism as a contribution to heritage conservation.