OSU-Cascades study reveals tourism costs outweigh benefits for residents in popular destinations
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Oregon State University-Cascades has published the findings of a years-long study of sustainable tourism, revealing that the costs of the industry are beginning to outweigh the economic benefits for residents in many popular destinations.
The research suggests that local communities are increasingly reaching a breaking point where tourism pressures negatively impact their quality of life.
The university conducted interviews with people living in tourism hubs across Central Oregon, the United States and international locations.
While tourism remains a vital economic driver—accounting for approximately 10.2% of global gross domestic product—the study highlights a growing backlash fueled by externalities such as traffic congestion and housing pressures.
The study found that residents often serve as the earliest and most sensitive indicators of a destination's strain. While physical or environmental limits can be difficult to quantify, researchers noted that sociocultural carrying capacity is frequently reached first. This occurs when residents experience a decline in their quality of life or perceive that the social costs of tourism have become too high.
Todd Montgomery leads the Sustainable Tourism Lab at OSU Cascades and served as a primary researcher for the multi-year study. He proposed addressing these community imbalances through structured pricing strategies that differentiate between residents and visitors.
"So we propose a set of guidelines around fees that incentivize and give breaks the locals, but also apply the fees of the impacts to tourists," Montgomery said.
A hypothetical application of these guidelines includes implementing a dual-rate system for public services. Under this model, residents in an area like downtown Bend could receive significant discounts on parking fees, while tourists are charged a higher rate to help mitigate the costs of congestion.
The economic significance of tourism remains substantial in Oregon, where the industry functions as an export by bringing outside money into local communities.
In Bend, tourism-generated tax revenues provide about $9 million a year to the city's general fund. That represents nearly 5% of the city's total tax revenue and supports essential services such as fire protection, emergency response and public safety. Research indicates that traditional models focused solely on marketing and increasing visitor numbers may be unsustainable.
Historically, many communities developed tourism organically without long-term management structures. This often led to unintended consequences as destinations reached a growth phase characterized by high-volume arrivals and increased pressure on local infrastructure.
The full findings of the study are available to the public in a report published on the OSU Cascades Sustainable Tourism Lab webpage.
