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You're welcome? Hong Kong's attitude towards the Individual Visit Scheme
Abstract
This paper used a mixed‐method approach, combining cluster analysis and member‐checking interviews to understand Hong Kong residents' attitudes towards the Individual Visit Scheme policy for mainland Chinese tourists. Three distinct clusters were identified, which grew significantly more positive with advancing age and higher income levels of the respondents. Interviews showed that these two factors substantially position residents' attitude towards the Individual Visit Scheme through social exchange and social representations. Younger, lower income Hong Kongers tended to rely largely on social representations, such as values and preconceptions, whereas older and higher income earning residents were found to build more widely upon more rational social exchange principles.
... Spatial variables assume that the closer the residents live to tourism activities, the more negative their attitude will be (Harrill, 2004). Related studies include geographical proximity (Belisle & Hory, 1980;Brougham & Butler, 1981;Harrill & Potts, 2003); use of recreational areas (Gursoy et al., 2002) and location of residential areas (Wassler et al., 2018). Findings here have also been contradictory, with studies showing that residents living closer to tourism centres may have less favourable attitudes (Harrill & Potts, 2003), more favourable attitudes (Belisle & Hoy, 1980) or may show no difference in attitude at all (Wassler et al., 2018). ...
... Related studies include geographical proximity (Belisle & Hory, 1980;Brougham & Butler, 1981;Harrill & Potts, 2003); use of recreational areas (Gursoy et al., 2002) and location of residential areas (Wassler et al., 2018). Findings here have also been contradictory, with studies showing that residents living closer to tourism centres may have less favourable attitudes (Harrill & Potts, 2003), more favourable attitudes (Belisle & Hoy, 1980) or may show no difference in attitude at all (Wassler et al., 2018). ...
... In a seminal study, Davis et al. (1988) identified five clusters of Florida residents with increasingly positive attitudes towards tourists: 'haters', 'cautious romantics', 'in-betweeners', 'love 'em for a reason' and 'lovers'. Subsequently, researchers have found resident clusters ranging in attitude from very negative to very positive (Aguilo Pérez & Rosselló Nadal, 2005;Andriotis & Vaughan, 2003;Brida et al., 2010;Fredline & Faulkner, 2000Madrigal, 1995;Ryan & Montgomery, 1994;Wassler et al., 2018;Williams & Lawson, 2001;Zhou & Ap, 2009). Although there are notable differences in cluster denominations and the strength of empirical evidence, commonalities among the most extreme clusters are common (Fredline & Faulkner, 2000). ...
... Between 10% (mature destinations) and 50% (incipient destinations) of the sample are clear enthusiastic advocates of tourism development in the region [19]. The most enthusiastic supporters are given different names: lovers [11,[33][34][35][36][37], enthusiasts [38][39][40], supporters [1,[41][42][43][44][45], development supporters [46][47][48], tourism supporters [49], favorers [50], optimists [51,52], absolute supporters [53], developers [49], high-supporters [54], enthusiastic supporters [55], etc. This resident profile magnifies the positive effects of tourism development, especially economic improvements, and minimizes the negative effects, usually social and environmental. ...
... • Between 10% (emerging destinations) and 30% (mature destinations) are critical or contrary to tourism development in the region [19]. The tourism detractors are called: haters [33][34][35][36], somewhat irritated [39,40,55], opponents [44,45,56], cynics [44], critics [37,38,41], protectionists [46,47,49], opposers [1,50], pessimists [51], skeptics [48], low-supporters [54], etc. This group shows higher concern about the negative effects of tourism and would prefer a decrease in the tourism sector. ...
... On the contrary, in regions with incipient tourism development or without a significant presence of tourists, there is a profile of residents with opinions that are confusing and difficult to define. These confusing and sometimes contradictory opinions are an indication of ignorance or low knowledge of the sector, often due to a lack of direct contact with tourists [11,33,34,36,37,40,41,44,[46][47][48][53][54][55][60][61][62][63][64]. ...
Heterogeneity studies have analyzed different clusters of residents according to their perception and attitude toward tourism in general or a specific type of tourism, but there are still no studies on the heterogeneity in the acceptance of tourist offers. The aim of this article was to segment residents according to their acceptance of different tourist offers focused on the territory. This is a new approach that seeks to determine the profiles of residents based on their preferences for the future development of a destination’s offer in order to solve land-related problems. Cluster analysis carried out by the K-means algorithm made it possible to create five clusters: Disappointed, favorable with nuances, moderate, enthusiasts but anti-nightclub, and enthusiasts. The clusters were characterized by the rejection of the “all inclusive” offer and by the acceptance of most offers. The types of tourism that involve an enhancement of the landscape and heritage were shown to be the best valued. The differences between the clusters were marked by the degree of general acceptance and by the rejection of some offers considered “conflicting.” The offers that imply a high consumption of land (golf courses) or annoyances from the immediate surroundings (nightclubs) generated discrepancies.
... Segmentation studies usually look for segmentation of the overall resident population into attitude clusters and groups of like-minded individuals (e.g. Harrill, 2004;Wassler, Schuckert, Hung, & Petrick, 2018). This typically follows a positive to negative attitude continuum and, although clusters have been named differently, this is mostly consistent. ...
... The most extreme positive and negative attitude clusters are relatively stable throughout follow up research (e.g. Aguilo Pérez & Rosselló Nadal, 2005;Brida, Osti, & Barquet, 2010;Fredline & Faulkner, 2000, 2001Wassler et al., 2018;Wassler, Nguyen, Mai, & Schuckert, 2019;Zhou & Ap, 2009); although differences in the more moderate clusters have been found, presumably due to cultural differences in the destinations (Fredline & Faulkner, 2000) and the contextbased underlying values, beliefs and social representations (Wassler et al., 2019). ...
... Recent studies have found that residents often look at foreign tourists as involuntary representations of their country of origin and that local attitudes are heavily influenced by political, historical, economical, geographical, and cultural factors, as well as often (negative and positive) stereotypes towards the tourists' country of origin. In a study on the Hong Kong locals' attitude towards visa policies for Mainland Chinese tourists, Wassler et al. (2018) found a complex interplay of Social Exchange and Social Representation principles; mostly related to the often-strained relationship between Hong Kong and the Mainland. Wassler et al. (2019) furthermore found that Vietnamese residents looked at Chinese tourism through various Social Representations, rooted in culture, history, economics, and politics. ...
While COVID-19's public health and economic impacts are evident, its sociocultural impacts are often overlooked. This study takes the case of the Italian destination of Pisa during the early stages of the pandemic-when most infection cases were assumed to be imported from China-and investigates Social Representations of Chinese tourists from an Italian host perspective. Through fifteen interviews with local suppliers, two co-existing Social Representations are identified and expressed through Italian literary metaphors: "the Hen with Golden Eggs" and "the Anointer". This research shows that, while the dominant hegemonic representation is rooted in rationality, the emerging polemic representation is anchored in pre-Enlightenment sociocultural fears. Finally, the uncertain future of post-COVID19 tourism considering potential stereotypes, xenophobia and racism is discussed.
... Woosnam & Aleshinloye, 2018;Woosnam & Norman, 2010) to wider contextual issues, such as governance, politics and history (e.g. Wassler, Schuckert, Hung, & Petrick, 2018). ...
... Spatial variables assume that the closer residents live to tourism activities, the more negative their attitude will be (Harrill, 2004). Related studies include geographical proximity (Belisle & Hoy, 1980;Brougham & Butler, 1981;Harrill & Potts, 2003), use of recreational areas (Gursoy, Jurowski, & Uysal, 2002), and location of residential areas (Wassler et al., 2018). Findings here have also been contradictory, with studies showing that residents living closer to tourism centers may have less favorable attitudes (Harrill & Potts, 2003), more favorable attitudes (Belisle & Hoy, 1980), or may show no difference in attitude at all (Wassler et al., 2018). ...
... Related studies include geographical proximity (Belisle & Hoy, 1980;Brougham & Butler, 1981;Harrill & Potts, 2003), use of recreational areas (Gursoy, Jurowski, & Uysal, 2002), and location of residential areas (Wassler et al., 2018). Findings here have also been contradictory, with studies showing that residents living closer to tourism centers may have less favorable attitudes (Harrill & Potts, 2003), more favorable attitudes (Belisle & Hoy, 1980), or may show no difference in attitude at all (Wassler et al., 2018). ...
Resident attitudes towards tourism are well researched, but related approaches vary. Social Representations (SR), a set of ideas, values, knowledge and explanations forming the social reality of a community, are one of the most misunderstood concepts in regard. This study demonstrates a practical way to identify, characterize and understand SR through a proposed multiple-mixed-method approach, taking the case of Vietnamese residents' attitude towards Chinese inbound tourism in Vietnam. Cluster analysis, member-checking interviews and expert interviews are combined for this purpose. Findings show that attitude clusters within the study population are heavily intertwined with relevant SR of tourism from China. The method offered permits a contextual understanding of SR, providing a better comprehension of historical and socio-political factors for resident studies. It is thus hoped that the proposed method opens the door for a better understanding of the social psychology of residents, but also of other stakeholders and groups of interest.
... There is a myriad of studies applying SET and SRT in explaining local resident attitudes toward tourism development (Wassler et al., 2019(Wassler et al., , 2018. SET's original conceptualization is overemphasizing the economic component of the host-visitor exchange, and it has been treated more as "economic exchange theory." ...
... In addition, Moscardo (2011) further added that resident attitudes are related to social context, the importance of power recognition, their knowledge and control over related decisions. Recent studies revealed that a formation of resident attitudes was established by several factors including emotional solidarity between host and guest (Woosnam et al., 2019) and wider contextual issues such as governance, politics and history (Wassler et al., 2018). In the Vietnamese context, Wassler et al. (2019) reinforced that SRT could apply to have better understanding of the social psychology of residents. ...
Abstract
Purpose - Social exchange and social representation theories utilize to explain Kinh and Ethnic minorities’ perceptions toward tourism development in Sapa. A cluster analysis employed to segment their perceptions based on tourism impacts.
Design/methodology/approach - The primary data collection involved a survey with local residents in Sapa, Vietnam.
Findings - The results from cluster analysis separate 357 local residents into three clusters which are supporters, pessimists and neutralists. The supportive cluster which comprises mainly young, female and less-educated respondents who support tourism development because of their employment and income; however, the pessimistic cluster which mostly consists of highly educated and elder respondents show more concerns towards about tourism development. Demographic profiles of respondents are classified in each cluster, so that policymakers can put forwards specific policy for each ethnic group.
Research limitations – The main imitation of this study is the high rate of incomplete response in the questionnaires from ethnic minority groups.
Practical implications - Based on the findings of the study, implications are made for tourism planners and policy makers towards a future of more sustainable tourism development in the target context.
Originality/value – This is the first study to segment the perceptions of Kinh and Ethnic minority groups toward tourism impacts in Sapa, Vietnam.
Keywords Tourism impacts, Resident’s perceptions, Cluster analysis, Sapa, Vietnam
Paper type Research paper
... Ching-Cheng and Der-Jen (2015) argue that brand equity is precious and is a crucial concept in the competitiveness of the tourism industry, in line with their plan to revisit it. Tourist loyalty and high brand value, according to are directly linked to the desire to revisit the site (Koodsela et al., 2019;Wassler et al., 2018). ...
This study aims to assess the effect of cognitive image and city brand equity on total city branding, evaluation of word-ofmouth (WOM), brand commitment and intention to revisit. The conceptual model used in the impact study of the impact of tangible and intangible elements related to city branding. Involving 423 tourists visiting four cities in West Java, Indonesia as an assessment of the variables studied. The results showed that the conclusions on cognitive image, city brand equity and brand commitment were low. While the other categories are classified as good. These findings also reveal the analysis of the relationship between variables,
including cognitive image variables that have a significant effect on city brand equity. Cognitive image is explained through the dimensions of quality experience, tourist attraction, infrastructure environment, and outdoor activities. Meanwhile, city brand equity is measured by brand awareness, brand loyalty, and brand value. Furthermore, the results also show that the variable city brand equity has a significant effect on the variable word-of-mouth (WOM), brand commitment, and the intention to revisit. The most significant influence exerted on brand commitment. These results indicate that the condition of city brand equity affects how wordof-mouth, brand commitment, intention to revisit. This study only discusses part of the tourism activities carried out in these four destinations, so to confirm these findings it is necessary to carry out further research on various destinations and events.
... Since quotas included age, gender and education categories have been widely applied and recommended in resident studies (e.g. Olya, Shahmirzdi, & Alipour, 2019;Wassler, Schuckert, Hung, & Petrick, 2018), this study applied these three criteria to identify the expect numbers of Hangzhou respondents before the investigation. Data were collected outside three commercial shopping centres (i.e. ...
Abundant literature has examined resident reactions to tourism by their perceptions of perceived impacts, overlooking individual emotional responses that might be elicited by psychological causes toward specific types of tourism. This paper employs cognitive appraisal theory to explore the existence and causes of resident emotional responses to tourism performing arts developments. A survey of 438 residents was conducted in Hangzhou, China. Findings revealed that love and interest were dominant emotions. Appraisals of pleasantness, goal congruence, goal relevance, fairness, certainty and coping potential positively elicited happiness, love and gratefulness yet were negatively related to sadness and anger. Worry was elicited by low coping potential and high certainty of outcomes while anger was positively related to other attributions for tourism impacts. Results also detected that resident positive emotions had much more effects than negative emotions on their supports to TPA. The findings have implications for the way destinations position and promote tourism developments to encourage community engagement and manage resident hostility.
This study explores residents’ attitudes towards tourism in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Within this context, our overall aim was to determine whether the host community’s attitudes towards tourism were shared by all members or, in contrast, were far from homogeneous. And if the latter, to characterise resident profiles to determine the specific factors behind the differences. In conjunction with the traditional socio-demographic factors, we also used new pioneering variables associated with the pandemic including two psychographic factors: perceived risk and perceived economic crisis. The empirical study was performed in a type of tourist destination seldom explored in terms of community segmentation: a World Heritage City. The results highlight that by using socio-demographic factors, dependence on tourism, and psychographic factors, it was possible to identify three different segments of residents. By using a decision tree in a novel way, it was determined that the psychographic factors show higher discriminant potential. Obtaining different resident profiles according to attitudes towards tourism is of paramount interest, especially for the correct management of sustainable tourism destinations. And even more so in the context of a crisis as it enables public tourism managers to design differentiated strategies for each profile aimed at maximising support from the host community, given the importance of residents’ behaviour as an integral part of the tourism product.
Public transport is used extensively in urban destinations, even though tourists are often unfamiliar with the variety of local means of transport. This study focuses on the role of intermodal transport on tourist visitation to peripheral attractions that are not directly connected to the metro system. A discrete choice experiment conducted in Hong Kong allowed the analysis of i) tourist preferences toward transport services, ii) perceived level of ease for intermodal transport, and iii) the influence of direct transport access on switching behaviour. The estimates of a latent class choice model revealed two segments of tourists with different preferences toward intermodal transport usage, price sensitivity and information provision. From a management perspective, the investigation provides valuable information for attractions, destination marketing organizations, and transport companies. In this regard, a what-if analysis is conducted to estimate the change in the probability of attraction visitation associated with different policies. Furthermore, the analysis of the potential demand for direct transport access indicated a significant increase in the intention to visit secondary tourist attractions. The results allowed to derive implications that help to decongest tourism flows, thereby eventually leading to a more competitive, sustainable and inclusive transportation network system for tourists and residents alike.
The growth of the Chinese outbound market has been phenomenal during recent years and still highly concentrates on neighboring Asian destinations. In particular, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region heavily depends and focuses on the Chinese tourism market. Recent calls for a possible diversification of the tourism market have nevertheless failed to shed light on how Hong Kong residents perceive the benefits of mainland Chinese tourism. In order to mend this gap, this study collected 850 online questionnaires with Hong Kong residents. Subsequent cluster analysis has shown that there are 3 segments in regard, namely “low”, “moderate” and “high” perceived benefits. A significant age gap among these 3 clusters was identified, with older respondents generally perceiving the highest benefit. Fifteen semi-structured follow-up interviews have shown the reason to be predominance of idealism in younger generations of Hong Kong, while older generations tend to be pragmatic. Possibilities for future studies are finally highlighted.
Researchers assessed the psychological and behavioural reactions of Londoners to the bombings in London on 7 July 2005. A cross sectional telephone survey that used random digit dialling of all London telephone numbers was conducted. Respondents were asked to participate in an interview about current levels of stress and travel intentions. In total, 1010 participants completed the interview. Proportional quota sampling was used to recruit respondents, with quotas based on sex, age, working status, residential location, housing tenure, and ethnicity.1
The main outcome measures were presence of substantial stress and an intention to travel less on public transport once the transport network had returned to normal. The researchers reported that the bombings resulted in substantial stress among 31% of London’s population and altered travel intentions in 32%. Muslims had disproportionately greater levels of stress than respondents from other faiths.
Which of the following does proportional quota sampling represent?
Proportional quota sampling is a type of non-random sampling (answer b ), sometimes referred to as a non-probability sampling method (answer a ).
Proportional quota sampling is often used in …
Due to the variations of design and protocol in qualitative inquiry, researchers may inadvertently create problems for themselves in terms of the trustworthiness of their research. Miscommunication between participants and researchers can especially arise from the unique and unpredictable nature of human dynamics. In this paper I contend that such problems, or traps, can easily and at times unknowingly be set during the qualitative process known as member checking, threatening the researcher/participant relationship and possibly the stability of the study. In this paper, I examine member checking through five vignettes personally experienced. These vignettes are preceded by a presentation of common procedures for increasing trustworthiness, and are followed by several recommendations for avoiding the setting and triggering of member checking traps.
By using “crisis of identity” as background, this study analyses how post-colonial Hong Kong relies on myths that are grounded in its complex, centuries-old socio-cultural political heritage to convey through tourism an identity different and separate from that of China. This qualitative inquiry, which relies on both online and printed promotional documents reinforced by primary data collected through in-depth interviews, proposes an explanation of the symbolic representation of tourism through four sequential myths. The article concludes that Hong Kong exploits its colonial past to create an identity that enhances its “local Chineseness” with a Western flavor and positions the territory to assume an increasingly hybrid identity to avoid being just another Chinese city.
Tourism development is a double-edged sword for local communities and attitude directly affects the current and future tourism industry development. Community positive attitudes will encourage tourists’ satisfaction levels and contributes to the word-of-mouth promotion among them. Therefore, the involvement and the participation of the host community are pertinent towards the success of the tourism development plan. The findings of the study indicated that the Tioman Island community supported future tourism development based on the personal benefit they received. It is a clear statement that the role of the residence is necessary to support tourism development and maintain its robust growth.
This study expands Perdue, Long, and Allen’s (1990) original model of resident attitudes toward tourism in two significant ways. It first proposes Weber’s theory of formal and substantive rationality (WFSR) as a way to strengthen social exchange theory. Secondly, WFSR is operationalized by using the Resident Empowerment through Tourism Scale (RETS) as substantive antecedents and the Personal Economic Benefit from Tourism Scale as a formal antecedent influencing resident attitudes. Ten of 14 hypotheses were confirmed, with Psychological Empowerment and Personal Economic Benefit having direct and positive effects on Support for Tourism. Implications include recognition of the importance of tailoring destination marketing and management efforts to empower residents psychologically, socially, and politically.
This research organizes resident reactions to tourism in the context of a theoretical paradigm based on the principles of social exchange theory. A path model based on social exchange theory principles explains how residents weigh and balance seven factors that influence their support for tourism. The analysis demonstrates that potential for economic gain, use of the tourism resource, ecocentric attitude, and attachment to the community affect resident perceptions of the impacts and modify, both directly and indirectly, resident support for tourism.
This study examined the factors predicting attitudes toward tourism of residents from a dozen communities in Arizona, generally following the model developed by Perdue, Long, and Allen, using social exchange theory as the foundation. Findings indicated that in general, personal characteristics did not predict attitudes toward tourism, but community dependence on tourism was a predictor. Personal benefit from tourism predicted both positive and negative effects of tourism and support for additional tourism among residents of the Arizona communities; this was consistent with Perdue, Long, and Allen. Positive effects of tourism, however, did not predict tourism planning. Although support for additional tourism did predict tourism planning, it was a positive rather than a negative relationship as reported by Perdue, Long, and Allen. As expected, support for social exchange theory was mixed; the existence of personal benefit from tourism was not a significant predictor of support for tourism planning.
The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a scale assessing residents’ attitudes toward sustainable tourism (SUS-TAS). Following the pretesting phase, a 51-item scale of resident attitudes toward sustainable community tourism was administered to 800 households in a small tourism community in Texas. Psychometric properties of SUSTAS along with its practical and theoretical implications are discussed within the framework of sustainable tourism development.
Mainland China experienced an extraordinary progress in its economy in the past two decades which directly stimulates more outbound travels. Considering the geographical proximity and political ties between Hong Kong and Mainland China, the share of inbound tourists to Hong Kong has been, and will continuously be, largely occupied by Mainland Chinese tourists on an uprising basis. The phenomenon of the “Chinese tourists' wave”, operationalizing as the influx of tourists from Mainland China, has brought tremendous change on Hong Kong's tourism industry, economy and local community. It is, thus, of necessity to understand the perceptions and response toward this phenomenon from local residents' perspective as they are the stakeholders of local tourism. Drawing on the findings from three focus group interviews with 18 Hong Kong residents, three conventional dimensions, namely “Economic”, “Social-cultural” and “Environmental” were identified and discussed to demonstrate the local residents' perceptions toward the impact of “Chinese tourists' wave” phenomenon. Generally, residents tend to recognize the positive economic impacts as well as negative social–cultural and environmental impacts generated from this tourism phenomenon. The recommendations suggested in this study also serve as a reference for tourism authorities concerned to redress the existing problems.
The aim of this article is to identify and examine the host residents' perceptions towards a mega event, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, and its impacts. An impact scale comprising 20 impact items with four factors—social-psychological impacts, urban development impacts, economic development impacts, and social life impacts—was developed. It was found that the majority of respondents perceived the impacts of the 2008 Games very positively, particularly for those related to the social-psychological, urban development, and economic development factors. Residents' perceptions towards some social life impacts (e.g., overcrowding, higher prices) were mixed. Based on their different social representations (i.e., perceptions towards the impacts of the Games), residents were classified into two groups: “embracers” and “tolerators.” The three most significant factors that influenced residents' perceptions towards the Beijing 2008 Olympics were residents' perceptions/attitudes about government performance, their preference of more tourism development, and tourism-industry work experience.
This article focuses on the identification and explanation of the attitudes of a sample of urban residents toward tourism development on Crete and their grouping with respect to these attitudes. Urban residents of Crete are quite strong in their support for tourism. However, the residents are not homogenous in their perceptions of tourism development. Education and employment in tourism were found to be the major single factors affecting the attitudes of residents of the island. A segmentation procedure based on attitude statements produced three clusters: the Advocates (identified by their high appreciation of tourism benefits), the Socially and Environmentally Concerned (characterized by a consensus toward the environmental and social costs from tourism expansion), and the Economic Skeptics (who showed lower appreciation of tourism’s economic benefits). The findings of the study are discussed with reference to the social exchange and the social representations theories and the conclusions of the study are provided.
In-depth interviewing is a tool for collecting rich information that can inform program development and evaluation. Learn the basics with this 3-page fact sheet written by Lisa A. Guion, David C. Diehl, and Debra McDonald, and published by the UF Department of Family Youth and Community Sciences, August 2011. (UF/IFAS photo by Marisol Amador)
Tourism, Tourists and Society provides a broad introduction to the inter-relationship between tourism and society, making complex sociological concepts and themes accessible to readers from a non-sociological academic background. It provides a thorough exploration of how society influences or shapes the behaviours, motivations, attitudes and consumption of tourists, as well as the tourism impacts on destination societies. The fifth edition has been fully revised and updated to reflect recent data, concepts and academic debates: • New content on: mobilities paradigm and the emotional dimension of tourist experiences. • New chapter: Tourism and the Digital Revolution, looking at the ways in which the Internet and mobile technology transform both tourist behaviour and the tourist experience. • New end-of-chapter further reading and discussion topics. Accessible yet critical in style, this book offers students an invaluable introduction to tourism, tourists and society.
Although residents have been widely recognized as an important destination brand stakeholder, their role in the destination branding process is still not fully understood (Braun, Kavaratzis, & Zenker, 2010; Eshuis & Edwards, 2012; Pike, 2009). Indeed, past studies have mostly conceptualized their position as a threat to a DMO due to their assumed intrinsically diverging interests. Only recently, scholars have detected the great amount of benefit that residents hold for the success of a destination brand through their involvement in the respective development and promotion (e.g. Braun, Kavaratzis, & Zenker, 2013; Konecnik Ruzzier & Petek, 2012a). Following the notion that through this engagement residents can be called 'brand ambassadors', this effective behavior has been defined as 'residents' destination brand ambassador behavior' (BAB). There is anyhow, in theory and in practice, a general lack of understanding of what causes this kind of behavior in residents (Braun et al., 2013) and the aim of this study is thus to propose and empirically test a framework explaining the antecedents of residents' destination brand ambassador behavior. As little is known in regard, a thorough literature review conceptualizes the notion of residents' destination brand ambassador behavior and aims at understanding how it has been used in past research. Also, possible antecedents of residents' destination brand ambassador behavior are introduced and hypotheses for a better understanding of the concept are developed. Factors identified as possible antecedents are: (1) Residents' destination brand self-congruity, (2) Residents' psychological destination brand empowerment, (3) Residents' public trust in destination brand authorities, and (4) Residents{174} destination brand attitude, whereas (5) Residents' place attachment is identified as a likely moderator on the relationship among residents' destination brand attitude and residents' brand ambassador intention. The relationships among these constructs were finally conceptualized in 9 hypotheses. To achieve the aforementioned research objectives, this study adopted a structural equation modeling approach. Choosing the case of Hong Kong and the related destination brand 'Hong Kong - Asia's World City', Hong Kong permanent residents (HKPRs) were selected as the target population and a quota sampling approach based on age, gender and area of residency was employed through the use of online survey questionnaires. In order to validate the measurement items adapted from existing literature, a qualitative pre-study involving semi-structured in-depth interviews with 15 HKPRs was held, followed by a panel of experts with 7 topic-experienced scholars. Finally, a pilot study, which returned 199 valid questionnaires, was launched online. After the common procedures for validating a questionnaire, including principal component analysis, an improved version was sent for the main survey. 651 valid questionnaires were returned and after the proposed model was validated using cross-validation of a split data sample, the structural model was tested with the AMOS 20.0 software. The findings show strong support for the proposed model by supporting 8 of the 9 initially proposed hypotheses; only the moderating function of residents' place attachment on the relationship among residents' destination brand attitude and residents' brand ambassador behavioral intention was not supported. An added open-ended question also provided suggestions for other possible antecedents for residents' destination brand ambassador behavior. While the proposed model was found to explain up to 80% of the variance in the brand ambassador behavioral intentions construct, in particular self-congruity was found to be a strong related antecedent.
In addition to successfully reaching all the proposed research objectives, this study also leads to a variety of applications for both, academics and practitioners. First, the notion of residents' destination brand ambassador behavior was successfully conceptualized, aiding the understanding of the concept in related studies. Next, the findings offer a reliable framework to tourism scholars, which broadens the understanding of both, antecedents of residents' destination brand attitude and brand ambassador behavioral intentions. While this study introduces the notions of psychological empowerment and public trust into the field, in particular self-congruity is highlighted as a key concept to be considered when studying residents and destination brands. Finally, it is empirically proven that residents showing positive brand attitude can indeed aid DMOs through positive behavioral intentions, highlighting their role as a friend and not only foe in the destination branding process. This is also hoped to assist the destination branding process for practitioners by proposing important concepts which, when included in the brand, could diminish the risks for counter-branding campaigns and related public indignation. In particular for the case of Hong Kong, where the Tourism Board has claimed that resident involvement is crucial for their destination brand, the qualitative pre-study identifies several context-specific concerns and the related framework offers general concepts which could further foster this collaboration. This study finally acknowledges several limitations and offers directions for future research. First, brand ambassador behavior was measured as intentions, which might have biased residents towards responding more positively. Also, the study was held in Hong Kong and its respondents were largely mono-cultural, which opens the door for future research testing the model in other geographic and cultural contexts. The choice of an online panel and quota sampling is also a limitation in capturing the heterogeneity of the highly complex resident stakeholder. It is hoped that future studies can bridge this gap, as well as test the other identified possible antecedents in a follow-up empirical research.
A clear understanding of residents’ attitudes towards tourism development and its determinants is a crucial pillar for designing tourism development strategies to promote sustainable development. The literature on the influence of host–tourist interactions and place attachment on residents’ attitudes towards tourism development in developing countries is still scarce. To extend knowledge in this field, this study aims at developing and testing a structural model to examine direct and indirect causal effects of place attachment, host–tourist interaction, and perceived positive and negative tourism impacts on the residents’ attitudes towards tourism development in an island tourism destination – Boa Vista Island in Cape Verde. Results suggest that the residents’ attitudes are positively affected by place attachment, host–tourist interaction, and perceived positive impacts; and negatively affected by perceived negative impacts. Host–tourist interaction emerges as the strongest (direct and indirect) determinant of the residents’ attitudes towards tourism development. Moreover, although both positive and negative perceptions of tourism impacts have significant impacts on the residents’ attitudes, the influence of the former is stronger than that of the latter. The paper ends with relevant theoretical and practical implications to promote positive residents’ attitudes towards tourism development in Boa Vista.
In coastal destinations climate change adaptation is needed to address coastal erosion due to a combination of sea level rise and more frequent extreme weather events leading to loss of natural features and tourism infrastructure. Managed realignment is increasingly adopted as a strategy to address coastal change; however, this has often proved a contentious strategy with stakeholder groups. This study explores tourists' representational framework of managed realignment and how this frames understanding of the concept, understanding of how coastal resources might change and implications for future visitation. Data compiled using a questionnaire adopted a social representations theory perspective to analyse how collective tourists’ ideas may serve to mobilise the public in various ways. In general tourists have a poor understanding of managed realignment anchored to historic coastal management strategies and contextualised by use values with consequent implications for tourism planning and coastal management decision making.
Sport tourism is one of the fastest growing market segments in the tourism industry and is receiving increased attention for its social, environmental, and economic impacts upon destinations. Prior research in tourism impacts has tended to focus exclusively on tourism as a whole and does not differentiate among the different types of tourism that may be present in a destination. The purpose of this study was to examine how residents of Indianapolis, Indiana perceived the impacts sport tourism has upon their city. A total of 347 surveys were returned in a mailed questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a four factor structure of social benefits, environmental benefits, economic benefits, and general negative impacts. Social and economic benefits were strong predictors for support for further sport tourism development revealing a strong identification with the advantages of sport tourism in their city such as an increased cultural identity and social interaction opportunities.
Nurses are increasingly involved in research, particularly qualitative research. This article aims to prepare nurses for conducting semi-structured research interviews.
Purpose
– The aim of this study is to examine the roles of social identity and perceived cultural distance in forming the attitude of Hong Kong residents toward the relaxation of the individual visit scheme (IVS).
Design/methodology/approach
– Face-to-face interviews with local Hong Kong residents were conducted. A total of 24 respondents’ interviews were qualified for qualitative analysis using the snowball sampling technique.
Findings
– The perceived positive and negative impacts, social identity and perceived cultural distance of Hong Kong residents were important in explaining their attitude toward tourism development. Perceived cultural distance influenced both the perceived negative impacts and social identity of residents, which, in turn, affected their attitude toward mainland Chinese tourists and tourism development.
Research limitations/implications
– The sample size for the interviews was relatively small; however, it was acceptable for qualitative studies.
Practical implications
– First, the Hong Kong Government should enhance civic education among mainland Chinese tourists to reduce their cultural conflicts with Hong Kong residents. Second, the Hong Kong Government should enhance national education among Hong Kong residents to mitigate the negative influence of the relaxation of the IVS.
Originality/value
– This study sheds light on the roles of perceived cultural distance and social identity in the attitude of residents toward tourism development, thus narrowing research gaps. Moreover, the current study applies an intercultural-interaction perspective, social identity theory, common in-group identity theory and social distance theory to understand resident attitude toward tourism development.
Serge Moscovici first introduced the concept of social representations into contemporary social psychology nearly forty years ago. Since then the theory has become one of the predominant approaches in social psychology, not only in continental Europe, but increasingly in the Anglo-Saxon world as well. While Moscovici's work has spread broadly across the discipline, notably through his contributions to the study of minority influences and of the psychology of crowds, the study of social representations has continued to provide the central focus for one of the most distinctive and original voices in social psychology today.
This volume brings together some of Moscovici's classic statements of the theory of social representations, as well as elaborations of the distinctive features of this perspective in social psychology. In addition the book includes some recent essays in which he re-examines the intellectual history of social representations, exploring the diverse ways in which this theory has responded to a tradition of thought in the social sciences which encompasses not only the contributions of Durkheim and Piaget, but also those of Lévy-Bruhl and Vygotsky. The final chapter of the book consists of a long interview with Ivana Marková, in which Moscovici not only reviews his own intellectual itinerary but also gives his views on some of the key questions facing social psychology today.
The publication of this volume provides an essential source for the study of social representations and for an assessment of the work of a social psychologist who has consistently sought to re-establish the discipline as a vital element of the social sciences.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to build on the concept of using a population or portfolio of events to help rejuvenate or redefine the strategic position of a destination. The aim is to gain a general understanding of the local community outlook towards a process of repositioning the tourism product based on a portfolio of sporting events.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research design using a case study approach examined resident attitudes in a beach community of south Italy. In total, 740 questionnaires were received and a cluster analysis was used to study the 11 statements about residents’ perceptions of tourism development and sport events.
Findings
The findings reveal that resident attitudes towards tourism development are strongly related to their perceptions of their degree of involvement in the setting of strategy and the direction of development. The results also support previous beliefs about increasing interest in the sport tourism product and that sporting events are viewed as important drivers of tourism destination development. The research reveals the presence of different resident attitudes and the cluster analysis is helpful in finding homogeneous groups of residents within the destination.
Originality/value
There is limited understanding of the degree to which the local community fits into the plans of a city's pro‐growth agenda and the role that a tourism strategy based on sport events can have. This is particularly true in southern Italy where the classical sun, sea and sand (3S) tourism model is in severe crisis and new ways of development are urgently required.
It has long been recognised that it is incumbent on those responsible for the planning of tourism to seek to optimise the well-being of local residents whilst minimising the costs of tourism development.
It is not surprising, therefore, that academic attention has long been paid to the social impacts of tourism in general and to the understanding of host communities' perceptions of tourism and its impacts in particular. Nevertheless, despite the significant volume and increasing scope of the research, the extent to which understanding of residents' perceptions of tourism has been enhanced remains uncertain. Thus, the purpose of this Progress Review is to explore critically the development of the research into residents' perceptions of tourism. Highlighting key themes and trends in the literature, it identifies a number of limitations in the research, including a narrow case study base, a dependence on quantitative methods, a focus on perceptions as opposed to responses, and the exclusion of the tourist from the majority of the research. Consequently, it argues for a multidimensional approach to the research.
Research has neglected to consider the role residents’ feelings toward tourists play in formulating attitudes about tourism and tourism development. Following a two-step process (i.e., establishing a measurement model and structural path model), the Emotional Solidarity Scale (ESS) and its factors were used to predict levels of the Tourism Impact Attitude Scale (TIAS) and its factors. In confirming the factor structure for each scale, both were found to have high internal consistency (through composite reliability and maximal weighted alpha coefficients) and high validity (through convergent and discriminant validity). Collectively, each of the three ESS factors (welcoming nature, emotional closeness, and sympathetic understanding) significantly predicted the two TIAS factors (support for tourism development and contributions tourism makes to the community), with two exceptions. Implications are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.
Community tourism (CT) commonly influences the lives of local residents, and their attitudes in turn greatly affect the tourist experience. This study addresses a gap in the existing literature on CT by proposing a framework that integrates social exchange theory with the theory of reasoned action in order to map residents' decision-making processes about CT development. The results show that the attitude of community residents is a valid predictor of their intention to support tourism. In addition, perceived benefits for residents have a larger impact on attitudes about CT than perceived costs. Finally, the study concludes that the marketing program of a specific community had little impact on resident perceptions of CT development.
This paper explores how residents in the Balearic Islands of Spain regard tourism as affecting their community, thereby providing a framework for research into attitudes toward this industry in a mature Mediterranean destination. Local attitudes were used to segment the sample into five different opinion groups using a cluster analysis. The overall results indicate that the respondents are aware of some of both the positive and negative effects, and are relatively ambivalent about development proposals that imply an increasing number of tourists. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that some development strategies incur considerable conservation-based opposition while others enjoy general support.
The present study was designed to assess and segment local residents with respect to their attitudes, interests, and opinions toward tourism. An analysis of AIO data from a mail survey of 415 Florida residents uncoveredfive clusters of differing degrees of attitudes toward the state's tourism efforts. A strong anti-tourism, anti-growth segment in the state seems to indicate that state government should devote a portion of the state's tourism promotion efforts toward enlightening the residents regarding the positive multiplier effects of tourism. Additionally, some recommendations are discussed that could encourage this effort.
In the last 30 years, community perceptions of negative impacts from tourism have encouraged research from several different fields into community attitudes, with the goal of overcoming opposition to tourism development. Drawing on a study of Charleston, SC, this article explores the relationships between community attachment, existing through such bonds as friendship and kinship, and resident attitudes toward tourism development. We studied Charleston to understand the differences in attitude toward tourism development among its neighborhoods, based on community attachment variables, and to explore the role of community attachment in predicting these attitudes, especially regarding residents of historic residential districts. This research has implications for tourism planning in Charleston and other tourism cities with historic residential districts.
Relatively little research has been carried out on host community reactions to the impacts of events. However, the affinities between general tourism and events means that insights derived from the former are potentially useful as a foundation. While there is a considerable body of research on community reactions to tourism, this has been constrained by the dominance of a case study approach and the variety of theories and methodologies applied. This paper draws on social representations theory and compares the results of the current study with previous cluster analyses in an effort to identify some parallels in residents’ perceptions of tourism and events across communities.
Most impact of tourism studies have been restricted to economic analysis and benefits occurring to the area. Recently, concern has been aired on the existence of negative impacts. This article describes a study conducted during the summer of 1976 in an attempt to examine empirically the existence of these negative impacts of tourism. A total of 1,636 residents and 212 entrepreneurs of Cape Cod, Massa chusetts, were interviewed to measure their perception of how tourism impacts on different domains. An Attitude-Index was created by averaging the scores of each respondent. Comparisons were made between the respondents attitudes toward tourism and their dependence on tourism for a livelihood.
A review of the literature on branding in general, and on destination branding more specifically, raises several questions about the branding of tourist destinations. What is clear is that confusion exists in the concept of ‘brand’ in the tourist destination context. This panel study was designed to explore how experts perceive the meaning of destination branding and its main characteristics. Five propositions were developed and explored in regards to the lack of clear definition of destination brand, the confusion between brand and image, the lack of conception of similarities and differences between branding for consumer products and tourist destinations, the difficulty of identifying one symbol for countries, and the lack of commonly-known brands of tourist destinations. This article then proposes a model of branding and its ramifications in the tourism destination context, as well as providing several methodological, theoretical and practical implications.
This study aims to investigate and analyze the current hotel operating environment and the projected future of hotel development in China. It is evident that most hoteliers are optimistic about hotel future development. However, competition among hotels will remain keen and the quest for quality human resources will continue to be acute due to such rapid growth. Hotels could lose their business easily to competitors that provide better service. The findings also suggest that contingency planning is essential for both the private and public sectors to protect the industry in case of crisis and drastic contextual changes.本文旨在研究和分析中国当前酒店业的经营环境以及发展前景。酒店从业员明显对酒店的发展前景感到乐观。不过，正因为酒店业发展飞速，行业竞争激烈的情况将会持续，对高素质酒店业人才的需求仍然强烈。酒店服务质量比竞争对手逊色的话便会流失顾客。本文的研究结果显示，应变计划在危机出现或发生重大变化时能够保护酒店业，对私人或公共企业都十分重要。
Since 2003, the Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland (CM) governments have established Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) which simplifies the process for CM people to visit Hong Kong. The resulting tremendous increase of CM tourists affects significantly the Hong Kong fashion retailing industry (HKFRI). In this research note, we study the challenges and opportunities brought by IVS for HKFRI. Recommendations are proposed and managerial findings are developed. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The rationale for this collection is based on a perceived need in sport tourism research and practice that the future developement of the area needs to be grounded in relevant theoretical frameworks. A theory is an explanation that is subject to revision as subsequent research supports or refutes various tenets associated with it. This collection of essays provides a compendium of theories that have been, or have the potential to be, applied to the study and practice of sport tourism. Part one is comprised of theories from a socio-cultural perspective and includes discussions on constraints, serious leisure and social identity and nostalgia sport tourism. Part two draws upon paradigms used in sport and tourism studies, those of tourist roles, destination branding, seasonality, host–guest relations and urban regeneration. Part three outlines concepts and paradigms from business studies including marketing, service quality, economics, policy and management issues.
A social representations framework and a mixed methods approach was used to analyse cycling in a UK destination (Purbeck, Dorset). An initial exploratory interview phase provided in-depth knowledge of social contexts and facilitated a subsequent quantitative phase employing travel diaries and a questionnaire survey. Cycling was considered a leisure practice frequently associated with “other” people that was marginalised, isolated from everyday life and situated in other places at other times. While there is potential for cycling to be developed as a tourism product, the need to transport cycles to special places makes it questionable as a sustainable practice. The findings show how, in the absence of actual experience of cycling, social conceptions shape people's knowledge of cycling and the potential for cycle use.