What Traits Make Citizens Really Active?

725 inhabitants’ trait emotional intelligence and its relation to community involvement, labour market status and gender have been studied in a Hungarian historic town (population circa 63.000) as part of a tourism destination project with the support of the local government. The research also explores the reasons why citizens chose Veszprém to settle down. Regarding the research method a firmly reliable and internationally used TEIQue (Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire) has been applied. The results show that locals have average global emotional intelligence level with high Well-being (including optimism, happiness and self-esteem facets) and Emotionality (including relationship, empathy, emotion expression and emotion perception facets) average. Citizens who active members of a local community (e.g. museum-, sport-, environment protection club or association) have gained higher global emotional intelligence average compared to those who are not members. Those locals who have active working status and members of any local community have the highest emotional intelligence average globally and also on factor levels (Well-being, Emotionality, Sociability and Self-Control). There is a difference in gender: although men and women global emotional intelligence level is similar, women average scores are higher in Well-being and Emotionality while men’s in Sociability and Self-Control. They also differ in giving reasons to choose Veszprém as a hometown. While men rather settle down for work and family reasons women’s decision is influenced by falling love into the town and surroundings and the school years they have spent locally. The primary aim of the study was to see what makes people stay in and do something for a place, how their traits influence local community work and how receptive locals can be towards tourists. The study findings suggest that mainly optimism, self-esteem, happiness, empathy, the ability of starting and maintaining a relationship and impulse control are the emotional traits that make an active local patriot who care to create a continuously prosperous environment.