ABSTRACT
The relationships that resort residents have to their localities are fraught with ambivalence, marked simultaneously by appreciation and frustration. Locals enjoy the lifestyle that comes with living in a resort, and understand the importance and centrality of tourism to the regional economy. However, they also express disdain for the overwhelming presence of tourists, and for the myriad ways in which infrastructure, services and events seem to be geared towards appealing to tourists rather than meeting the needs of residents. This chapter explores the ways in which tourists are often privileged over locals in resorts, the inequalities that underpin this dynamic, and the socio-spatial stratification that arises from it. These issues are discussed in relation to senses of belonging, community, mobility and ownership among resort residents, and contextualised in terms of broader contemporary debates about who has rights to the city.
