A multi-stakeholder examination of destination image: Nanluoguxiang heritage street, Beijing, China

ABSTRACT

Perceived destination image is rarely examined through the gaze of stakeholders other than visitors, in particular residents and tourism business operators. This hinders the comprehensive understanding of destination image and limits its practical implications for destination marketing and management. Therefore, this study proposes a multi-stakeholder approach to image evaluation to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the destination image and better inform destination planning and management. Taking Nanluoguxiang hutong tourism site in Beijing as an example, the image perceptions of residents, on-site business operators, and domestic and international tourists are compared. Questionnaire surveys with both types of tourists and semi-structured interviews with residents and business operators are the main research methods. Major between group differences are identified in the evaluation of the authenticity of this Beijing hutong area, its representation of traditional Beijing culture and whether or not it is a place in which to relax. Results demonstrate that visitors, residents and business operators share similar cognitive images of Nanluoguxiang as a traditional historical street and a special business street with Beijing character. However, the historical and cultural values of Nanluoguxiang are undervalued. Moreover, distinct differences exist between the actual motivations for visiting held by domestic and international tourists and their motivations as perceived by residents and business operators. Suggestions are made to better meet the expectations and desires of all stakeholder groups through the provision of participatory programmes and activities to enrich the visitor experience of hutongs and the hutong lifestyle while maintaining a boundary between tourists and residents’ personal space to reduce unnecessary interruptions to residents’ daily life.

摘要

目的地形象感知研究很少以游客之外的视角进行, 尤其忽视了居民和旅游业经营者的视角。这妨碍了对目的地形象的全面了解, 并限制了其对目的地营销和管理的实际影响。因此, 本研究提出多利益相关者视角的目的地形象评估方法, 以获得对目的地形象的全面了解, 并更好地指导目的地规划与管理。本文以北京南锣鼓巷胡同旅游目的地为例, 分析对比了居民、旅游业经营者、国内和国际游客对南锣鼓巷的目的地形象感知。针对两种类型游客的问卷调查和针对居民和经营者的半结构化访谈是主要的研究方法。主要的群体差异表现在评价北京胡同的真实性、对北京传统文化的代表性以及它是否是一个放松的地方。研究结果表明, 游客、居民和旅游业经营者具有共同的认知意向, 认为南锣鼓巷是传统历史街区和北京特色商业街。然而, 南锣鼓巷的历史和文化价值被低估。此外, 国内外游客对旅游的实际动机与居民和经营者感知的旅游动机存在显著差异。因此, 本文提出南锣鼓巷旅游发展应关注不同利益主体的期望和需求, 通过提供多样的参与性活动来丰富游客对胡同及胡同生活方式的体验, 同时保持游客和居民个人空间之间的边界, 以减少对居民日常生活不必要的干扰。

KEYWORDS:

• Heritage
• destination image
• perception
• stakeholder
• authenticity
• hutong
• Beijing, China

关键词:

• 遗产
• 目的地形象
• 认知
• 利益主体
• 原真性
• 胡同
• 北京
• 中国

Acknowledgements

The authors highly appreciate the valuable inputs of all reviewers and editors of Tourism Geographies. The research was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China (16XNB014) to Dr Ming Ming Su and the Special fund for development of world top universities (disciplines), Renmin University of China (中国人民大学“中高建设世界一流大学 (学科) 和特色发展引导专项资金) to Dr Zhong Ma.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities; Research Funds of Renmin University of China [grant number 16XNB014] and the Special fund for development of world top universities (disciplines), Renmin University of China (中国人民大学“中高建设世界一流大学 (学科) 和特色发展引导专项资金).

Notes on contributors

Ming Ming Su

Ming Ming Su is an associate professor at the School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing. She received degrees from the University of Waterloo in Canada and Tsinghua University in China. Her research focuses on community and tourism relations, tourism at protected areas and tourism issues in China.

Geoffrey Wall

Geoffrey Wall is a distinguished professor emeritus, Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Canada. His research focuses on the implications of different types of tourism for destination areas with different characteristics and he has been involved in numerous tourism and environmental projects in China.

Zhong Ma

Zhong Ma is a professor and the former dean of the School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China. He a leading scholar in China in researching and implementing environmental economics and policies and he has been working extensively with the governments and international agencies on many aspects of environmental and natural resources management, environmental policy, environmental finance and taxation, and water pricing. He serves as a senior advisor to the China Ministry of Environmental Protection and is a member of the China Council for International Cooperation of Environment and Development.