Residents’ well-being and support for sustainable tourism development a case study in Da Nang City Viet Nam

Abstract

Based on the social exchange theory, this study aims to investigate the interrelationships between perceived empowerment, residents’ well-being, and their support for sustainable tourism development. The research tests the residents’ well-being as a mediating role between empowerment and support for sustainable tourism development. Data collection was carried out by combining both online and paper-based surveys, resulting in 407 valid responses. The hypotheses were tested via PLS-SEM. This study offers both theoretical and practical implications. The results show that social empowerment has a twofold impact on support and well-being, whereas both psychological and political empowerment predict support for sustainable tourism development. Notably, the indirect benefits of empowerment on sustainable behaviour are amplified by well-being, which acts as a partial mediator. The study makes a theoretical contribution by incorporating empowerment and well-being into frameworks for supporting tourism development. Long-term sustainable tourism depends on genuine community involvement, significant political inclusion, and empowerment mechanisms that are rooted in culture. The study also emphasizes the need for human-centered tourism approaches that put community satisfaction first as a key indicator of sustainability