Tourism and the economic crisis in Kavala, Greece Dimitrios Stylidis ⇑ , Matina Terzidou Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel article info Article history: Received 1 April 2013 Revised 4 August 2013 Accepted 24 October 2013 Keywords: Economic crisis Residents’ support for tourism Perceived tourism impacts Personal economic benefit Tourism development abstract Although studies suggest that under times of economic uncer- tainty, perceptions and attitudes are subject to various types of economic and psychological influences, research examining this phenomenon within the context of tourism is limited. This study has developed a model exploring how the economic crisis influ- ences residents’ attitudes toward tourism. The model was tested using a sample of 317 citizens of Kavala, Greece. Expressed concern about the state of the economy and personal benefit from tourism were found to direct residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts and their support for development. The study advances theoretical understanding of residents’ support for tourism during a period of economic uncertainty. The practical implications to tourism planning and development are also discussed. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction The global financial and economic crisis has dramatically affected the quality of life of most Euroz- one countries. Increased unemployment rates, job insecurity, loss of income, the evaporation of wealth, cuts in private and public investments and a feeling of uncertainty and pessimism about the future are currently apparent in Southern European countries such as Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy (Levy & Sidel, 2009; Voon & Voon, 2012). Such an economic context often results in massive changes in consumer behavior, including tourism demand (Smeral, 2009), which has been severely affected by the financial and economic crisis (Papatheodorou, Rossello, & Xiao, 2010). This phenomenon attracted the attention of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism, and a series of research articles was published discussing the effect of the economic crisis on tourism 0160-7383/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2013.10.004 ⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Eilat Campus, 162 Hatmarim Blvd, Eilat 88000, Israel. Tel.: +972 54 6330918. E-mail addresses: stylidis@post.bgu.ac.il (D. Stylidis), terzidou@bgu.ac.il (M. Terzidou). Annals of Tourism Research 44 (2014) 210–226 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Annals of Tourism Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures