European Tourism Sustainability and the Tourismphobia Paradox: The Case of the Canary Islands

The growth of the tourism sector has led to overtourism in many destinations, which can negatively affect sections of the local population. This often results in a phenomenon known as tourismphobia, which describes the fact that residents develop reservations about tourists and take -not always legal- countermeasures; these measures are not sustainable in the long term, leading to the tourism paradox (with less economic activity). The origins of this phenomenon have so far been insufficiently analyzed. This article aims to present an explanatory approach for the emergence of this phenomenon based on the structural-cognitive model and to illustrate it using the example of the Canary Islands. For the Canary Islands, it can be shown that both the political opportunity structures allow for significant scope, and resource mobilization is comparatively easy to achieve. On the micro level, the high costs of overtourism for many residents, combined with relatively low returns from tourism and the non-prohibitive costs of countermeasures, lead to collective action against overtourism –manifesting as tourismphobia. In this way, this article provides a viable explanation for the emergence of tourismphobia and thus makes a significant contribution to knowledge in this field of research. Complementary analytical resources are also outlined, combining Austrian economics and new-institutional economics.