Social tourism and well-being in a first nation community

This paper examines the effects of social tourism on a First Nation community. Hypothesizing that social tourism promotes self-reported subjective well-being (SWB), we conducted an experiment to analyze the SWB effects of a one-day trip on low-income families from a First Nation community. Confirming our hypothesis, results show improved SWB mean scores in four of six domains: namely family relations, social life, material well-being, and leisure. Results also demonstrate that SWB effects are shaped by gender and age. These results have significant implications for policy related development, particularly in regard to First Nation and low-income communities. Moreover, this study is the first to apply social tourism theory to a First Nation community, making its results and implications unique.