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Abstract
It is important to understand tourists' willingness to participate in tourism planning and the factors influencing their willingness because they are an integral part of the destination and ultimately one of the main buyers of the product. Timeshare owners are a special group of tourists who have additional connections with the tourism destination through their timeshare. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among timeshare owners' perceptions of tourism planning, civic engagement, sense of place, and willingness to participate in tourism planning.
This study was based on a questionnaire survey of U.S. timeshare owners. The total sample size was 302. A two‐stage structural equation modeling approach was applied in data analysis. Results from the measurement model suggested that the model fit the data quite well. Results from the structural model suggested that timeshare owners' perceptions of tourism planning, their past history of civic participation, and their sense of place significantly impact their willingness to participate in tourism planning, while timeshare owners' past experience in political participation did not significantly affect their willingness to participate in tourism planning. Implications of the findings in tourism planning and tourism destination marketing are presented.