Kun Lai

Sun Yat-Sen University | SYSU · School of Tourism and Management (STM)

Although scholars have sought to theorize tourism from important philosophical turns (e.g., epistemological/antirational/postmodern/practice), one influential turn (viz. linguistic) has not received much attention. This study attempts to fill this gap by retheorizing tourism from the linguistic turn. We introduced major theories of meaning (a core...

Globally, the pandemic of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) has become a critical public health problem. Although NCD prevention has been shifting from individual behavioral interventions to broad environmental interventions, it is still necessary to promote research on the environment and NCDs as a whole. Therefore, this conceptual paper ai...

This study looks at how destination image elements are connected in people’s minds and how tourists retrieve these elements from memory. Based on the spreading activation theory of memory, the study examines destination image as a network, applies social network analysis to test the core–periphery structure of destination image, and identifies imag...

Despite the long recognized effects of mega-events on image enhancement, knowledge on the core manifestation of the effects—the influence of event image (EI) on destination image (DI)—remains limited. Accordingly, this study aimed to provide a better understanding of such influence focusing on the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games as the case study. A que...

Although tourism destination image (TDI) has been extensively studied, the nature and scope of TDI remain vague. This study aims to address this conceptual problem from a modernist perspective. Forty-five representative TDI definitions are analyzed, and a new definition is proposed by adopting a “seven-step” procedure derived from definition theory...

Although the casino impact perception (CIP) of residents may influence their sense of place (SOP) and therefore the prosperity of casino destinations, little research has been conducted on such influence. The present study aimed to close the knowledge gap by investigating the presence of such influence in Macao, an important casino place in China a...

Although the influence of casino impact perception on support for casino development has been extensively studied, affective intermediaries in such a relationship have been understudied. This study aims to fill this gap by examining whether residents' sense of place – operationalized as consisting of two sub-concepts, i.e. place satisfaction and “s...

While the penetration effect of mega-events on the hosts' destination images is important, its research has rather been insufficient. This study aims to fill the gap by initiating an in-depth investigation of this effect. Guided by behaviorism rather than introspectionism and psychometrics adopted by previous researchers, the study interviewed 66 t...

In the era of globalization, planned special events of various kinds have been playing increasingly important roles in (re)shaping projected and perceived images of the hosts and other stakeholders involved. This article aims to review previous studies on such roles historically, analytically, and synthetically. The historical review reveals the ge...

Although international cooperative learning (ICL) possesses great potential as an effective solution for higher education's internationalization challenge, theoretical and practical issues of ICL remain understudied. To further understand ICL and explore how it should be employed in reality, researchers from two universities designed a cross-cultur...

This study aims to test whether core-periphery structure (C/PS), a widely practiced and important form of structure, exists in tourist destination image (TDI). Past tourism research has identified three-dimensional and causal-networking structures of TDI, but generally fails to recognize C/PS as an alternative. This study develops a conceptual mode...

Past studies have listed a series of barriers to actualizing the concept of community tourism in developing countries. This paper continues to explore such barriers in the context of China from the neglected yet important perspective of guanxi (literarily meaning ‘personal relationship networking’) by analysing how guanxi has become a major problem...

In tourism literature, a phenomenon is identified, and considered ubiquitous in planning exercise. Namely, a gap occurs between planning and implementation once the planned approach to tourism development is adopted. Such a phenomenon is not rare to find in China, where tourism has become increasingly important for the country's economy. This paper...