Framed by social exchange theory and Weber’s theory of substantive and formal rationality, this study investigates the mediating role of residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts. It examines whether community attachment, environmental and cultural attitudes, economic gain, and community involvement directly impact upon residents’ support for tourism development, or if their influences are mediated by perceptions of tourism impacts. Data were collected from residents within two historical cities in Iran: Kashan and Tabriz. The findings reveal that residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts play a significant mediating role in shaping the relationships between community attachment, environmental attitudes, and economic gain on support for tourism development. However, the results do not support the indirect effects of cultural attitudes and involvement on support for tourism development. This study thus extends extant knowledge by highlighting the mediating role played by residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts, comparing direct and indirect effects on support for tourism development.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to review and synthesise recent studies in the sharing economy literature and identify the knowledge gap and future opportunities for hospitality and tourism researchers.Design/methodology/approach: The study commences by introducing sharing economy models and strategic frameworks for profitable service enabler performance. Following this, it identifies emerging overarching theories (e.g. complexity theory, social exchange theory, norm activation model, and value co-creation) and some emerging themes (i.e. trust and reputation, disruptive behaviour, choice and segmentation, pricing strategies, socially excluded consumers, personality and satisfaction) in current hospitality and tourism studies from top-tier journals.Findings: The findings of the study suggest new paths for advancing theoretical and practical implications for hospitality and tourism studies.Practical implications: The themes, models and overarching theories reviewed in this study are relevant and insightful across the fulcrum of hospitality and tourism research. It offers several useful guides for practitioners and academics to trace relevant literature on different aspects of sharing economy and perceptibly highlight the gaps in existing studies.Originality/value: The paper provides new directions to broaden interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches undertaken by scholars within both the field of hospitality and tourism management and beyond.

This study investigates whether the perceptions and attitudes of residents living within the vicinity of heritage tourism sites differ from those living further afield. It examines residents’ attitudes toward tourism development; community attachment; environment and culture attitudes; economic gain; and involvement, alongside the moderating role of distance from heritage tourism sites. In doing so, it investigates how the aforementioned factors influence residents’ perceptions of tourism development in their city. Data was collected from inhabitants of Kashan and Tabriz, two historic cities couched within Iran’s growing heritage tourism sector, and analyzed using partial least squares - structural equation modeling. The findings demonstrate significant differences between the perceptions of tourism impacts, economic gain, environmental and cultural attitudes, and involvement between residents living within the vicinity of heritage tourism sites and those living further afield. However, these findings contradicted the hypotheses; identifying higher positive perceptions, environmental and cultural attitudes, economic gain, and involvement for residents living far from heritage tourism sites. Further, the findings did not support the moderating role of distance for the effects of influencing factors on residents’ perceptions. Therefore, this study proffers significant theoretical contributions and practical implications with regards to developing sustainable tourism in Iran.