Generativity and inheritance: understanding Generation Z’s intention to participate in cultural heritage tourism

ABSTRACT

Cultural heritage tourism (CHT) has become increasingly popular among the general public, enriching tourists’ cultural experiences and realizing their generative needs. However, limited academic attention has been paid to the research on young people’s generative needs in CHT. Therefore, this study investigated college students’ generativity and developed an extended TPB model to explore the factors influencing their travel intention in CHT. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed on the questionnaire data of 233 college students. The results indicated that college students’ generativity, attitude towards CHT, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control all positively affected their intention to participate in CHT. The positive correlation between young people’s generativity and their travel intention in CHT has contributed to the existing literature on tourist behavior. Meanwhile, some practical implications were provided for tourism managers and marketers to attract the young generation to engage in CHT.

KEYWORDS:

• Generativity
• theory of planned behavior
• travel intention
• cultural heritage tourism
• college student

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant [722RC645] and The National Social Science Fund of China [22BGL232].

Notes on contributors

Guan-Ming Wu

Guan-Ming Wu is an alumnus of the HNU-ASU Joint International Tourism College of Hainan University. He is now pursuing a postgraduate degree at the University of Hong Kong. His major is Global Management. His research interests include tourist behavior, organization science, and strategic management.

Shi-Ru Chen

Shi-Ru Chen is an alumna of the HNU-ASU Joint International Tourism College of Hainan University. She is now pursuing a postgraduate degree at Zhejiang University. Her major is Public Administration. Her research interests are cultural heritage tourism, social governance, and public policy.

Yu-Hua Xu

Yu-Hua (Melody) Xu, Ph.D., is a Lecturer in the School of Community Resources and Development at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on destination planning, sharing economy, and community resilience. She is dedicated to finding sustainable solutions for destinations and communities in the face of various turbulence and crises.