A most interesting question! I wonder if breaking it down could be of help. If I understand you correctly, the thrust of the question is about relations between the 'happiness' of groups. Setting aside the tricky matter of what 'happiness' is, we are left with the idea that the happiness of one 'group' - tourists - may impact the happiness of another group - 'locals'. We could, perhaps, think of this as 'locals' and 'non-locals' . Here, the issue of locality, suggests the prime dimension of difference is connection to (and use of) place - it is about the happiness derived from use of (consumption of) places by those with different kinds of connection to place. Presumably the connection is time - each group being more or less temporary consumers of place. From the perspective of locals, the question is how temporary consumers of place affect them - while from the perspective of non-locals the question is how less temporary consumers of place affect them. Negative effects detract from the experience of either - producing varying results in terms of 'happiness' (however conceived). Depending on how happiness is conceived, you might divide the groups further into different kinds of local and non-local groups (for instance, business tourists versus other kinds of tourists and different kinds of locals - business operators, residents and so on). Happiness effects of place consumption by other groups might then vary for each subgroup.

For instance, happiness for tourists is often measured by 'satisfaction' (various pre- and post- measures being used - see for example work by Metin Kozak), though lately things have shifted to the idea of 'visitor experience'. More generally, happiness int he workplace is often measured by various measures of 'wellbeing', and there are plenty of workplace studies that operationalize this construct in the context of various settings of employment. Life quality and quality of life are also used as indicators of well being in place or occupational contexts. One way would be to take some of these measures and apply them. Another way could be to develop the construct. For instance, I wonder if it could be interesting to see if you could develop a new construct of 'happiness' in the context of tourism place - to investigate what the construct of 'happiness' means in this context and point towards an operable construct that might cuts across different types of place consumers.

hey there,

you may find the papers on the case of Kumarakam Panchayath in Kerala (India) helpful. as there is quite a few interesting articles discussing this case.

there is also the case study of Mold (Wales) and some good examples in this field in Australia & New Zealand.

Good Luck!

Thanks for your contribution and attention, Stuart R M Reid!

I developed a research on happiness - it was part of my doctoral thesis - trying to identify what were the deficiencies of the tourist territory called Polo Costa do Delta, in the state of Piauí - Brazil. For that, I used the Gross National Happiness (Bhutan) index. However, from the results achieved one drew attention. In one of the municipalities of the territory the happiness index was higher, even this municipality being the poorest and with precarious infrastructure. As I deepened my research, I identified tourism as the motivating factor for the most positive rate of happiness. This is curious, when we see destinations, even here in Brazil, discussing overtourism.

Thank you for your contribution and attention, Abdullah Alzahrani!

I'll read the papers you suggested.