The Transition from Seasonal Worker to Permanent Resident: Social Barriers Faced within a Mountain Resort Community

While seasonal workers form a central component of the tourism industry, there has been limited research on their sociological interactions with, and acceptance by, the host communities in which they reside. This ethnographic case study uses social capital as a heuristic device to examine the experiences of, and social barriers faced by, seasonal workers hoping to become permanent community residents within the mountain resort community of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Research findings indicate the existence of social barriers in the form of tight bonding networks and a lack of bridging networks, which exclude and marginalize many of these seasonal workers from the community. This has helped promote residential instability in what is already a transient community, raising concerns regarding future community ownership and attachment.