Residents' participation in rural tourism and interpersonal trust in tourists: The mediating role of residents' perceptions of tourism impacts

Interpersonal trust is a critical psychological factor that reveals the quality of resident-tourist relationship in tourism destinations. However, residents' positive attitudes toward tourists are gradually taken for granted, with research on residents' psychological tendency (i.e., interpersonal trust) in providing tourism services and creating mutually beneficial resident-tourist interaction lagging behind. Based on interpersonal relationship theory and social exchange theory, this study employed a sequential mixed-methods design to examine the formation of interpersonal trust in tourists during resident participation in rural tourism. The dimensions of resident participation (i.e., decision-making, economic, and social participation) and the conceptual model were first identified through qualitative analysis. Subsequently, through the PLS-based structural equation modeling using a sample of 469 residents from Jiuzhai Valley, China, the study suggested that economic and social participation were instrumental in shaping residents' cognitive and affective trust in tourists both directly and indirectly through residents' perceived benefits of tourism. This study offers implications for academia and destination management to promote sustainable tourism development and social harmony against the crisis of trust between residents and tourists caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inbound tourism – a bibliometric review of SSCI articles (1993–2021)

PurposeThis study aims to present a holistic synopsis of the current scientific structure of inbound tourism research and suggest further research directions.Design/methodology/approachA 30-year bibliometric analysis was conducted using the Web of Science Core Collection database through CiteSpace, covering 568 Social Sciences Citation Index articles.FindingsThis study systematically identifies the evolution of scientific structures and emerging research trends in the inbound tourism field. The findings show that: co-authorship patterns reveal a trend of international cooperation;the evolution of research themes is consistent with the development of the macro-environment and inbound tourism industry, the most recent focus being on sustainable development of destinations;varied multivariate data analysis methods dominate current empirical analysis;there exist three major research dimensions in the inbound tourism field;and unilateral political factors in destinations and bilateral linkage factors affecting inbound tourism demand have aroused research interest increasingly.Practical implicationsThis study helps scholars and practitioners understand the current issues and needs of the inbound tourism industry and develops a future research agenda to promote the industry’s continuous development.Originality/valueThis study is the first attempt to provide insights into the theoretical development of inbound tourism over the past three decades from the perspective of a knowledge-based platform and further facilitate sustainable development of the industry.