Tourist ethnocentrism and tourism intentions during a political crisis

ABSTRACT

In the context of a worldwide resurgence of ethnocentrism, understanding the effect of tourist ethnocentrism on tourism intentions is important for the sustainable development of tourism. This study of tourism intentions is centred on the recent social unrest in Hong Kong, which has aroused the ethnocentrism of mainland Chinese tourists. A conceptual model is constructed, comprising positive and negative tourist ethnocentrism, tourists’ perceptions of safety and security, and tourism intentions. The opinions of a sample of 558 Chinese mainland college students are collected to test the hypotheses. The findings indicate that positive tourist ethnocentrism increased tourism intention to travel to Hong Kong when the mainland Chinese participants regarded Hong Kong as a Chinese ethnic in-group, whereas negative tourist ethnocentrism reduced tourism intention to travel to Hong Kong when the mainland Chinese participants regarded Hong Kong as a Chinese ethnic out-group. Perceptions of safety and security were important mediators in the relationships between tourist ethnocentrism and tourism intentions. Therefore, tourism managers must consider potential tourists’ ethnocentrism and how a destination is positioned in tourists’ minds to reasonably satisfy their needs and thus promote the long-term development of the destination.

KEYWORDS:

• Tourist ethnocentrism
• tourism intention
• perceptions of safety and security
• political crisis
• mainland Chinese
• Hong Kong

Acknowledgement

Thanks to Dai Meiling and Ou Yanghong (doctoral students in the College of Tourism and Service Management at Nankai University) for their help to the paper. We are also very grateful to the editor and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China: [Grant Number 42171227]; the Hundred Young Subjects Leader at Nankai University: [Grant Number 91923111]; the Tianjin Art and Science Planning Project: [Grant Number B20014].

Notes on contributors

Ma Xiaolong

Dr. Ma Xiaolong ([email protected]) is a Professor in the College of Tourism and Service Management at Nankai University.

Zhang Litian

Zhang Litian ([email protected]) is a master student in the College of Tourism and Service Management at Nankai University.

Yang Lu

Yang Lu is a doctoral student in the College of Tourism and Service Management at Nankai University.

Wang Rong

Wang Rong ([email protected]) is a doctoral student in the College of Tourism and Service Management at Nankai University.