ABSTRACT
With destinations steadily ‘opening back up for business' (while COVID-19 cases are still high in many areas), there is an increasing need to consider residents. Integrating the cognitive appraisal theory and the affect theory of exchange, this work tests a structural model examining the degree to which residents' perceptions of COVID-19 precautionary measures explain emotions directed toward visitors, and ultimately their willingness to engage in shared behaviors with tourists. Data were collected from 530 residents in 25 U.S. counties with the highest percentages of historical COVID-19 cases per population. A total of 10 of the 12 tested hypotheses were significant, contributing to 60% and 85% of the variance explained in contending and accommodating emotions, and 53% and 50% of the variance explained in engaging in less intimate–distal and more intimate–proximal behaviors with tourists. The implications highlight the complementary use of the two frameworks in explaining residents' preference for engagement in less intimate–distal interactions with tourists.
ABSTRACT
This lead article introduces the double special issue dedicated to methodological and theoretical advancements in social impacts of tourism research. We begin by providing an overview of five key developmental stages of research within this area: Definitions, typologies, and conceptual model development;the advent of case study-based, atheoretical empirical inquiry;scale design, development, and testing;further scale development/refinement and theoretical application;and theoretical model development and testing. Brief evolutionary histories of the methodological and theoretical advancements of research dedicated to social impacts of tourism are then discussed. This includes a review of the most pertinent predictor variables (along with a visual display of each and key studies) in explaining residents' perceptions of social impacts of tourism and a thorough review of most frequently used theoretical frameworks. Following this, brief synopses of the articles are provided along with key themes (e.g. resident-tourist relationships, social impacts and residents' attitudes, residents' empowerment, overtourism, and methodologies) and salient points of each work. In closing, we suggest numerous lines of inquiry that will continue to advance research into social impacts of tourism. Though these studies were undertaken prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, we emphasize that future work should be designed with the pandemic in mind.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2022.2046011
ABSTRACT
This work tests an extended theory of planned behavior model to examine residents' behavioral intent to oppose tourism living in densely populated US counties with historically high rates of COVID-19 cases. The addition of three constructs serves as antecedents to the traditional theory of planned behavior constructs. Results revealed that passive and active opposition explained 67% of the variance in behavioral intent to oppose tourism. Of the proposed model hypotheses, 14 of the 15 were supported with oppositional attitudes toward tourism, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control explaining 78% and 68% of the variance in passive and active behavioral intent, respectively. This paper contributes several theoretical implications (e.g., to ascertain residents' opposition to tourism in the context of COVID-19, the current study employed TPB constructs and showed how TPB constructs effective predictors of residents' intention to oppose tourism). The current study indicates that as the level of residents' awareness of COVID-19 increases, they will have more negative attitudes, norms, opinions, and intentions toward tourism. Our findings will help inform destination marketing organizations in their efforts to navigate the best steps forward while balancing residents' health and well-being with much-needed economic recovery.
ABSTRACT
Purpose>This study aims to uncover socio-demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics of sustainable consumers as a means to advance the demand for sustainability practices by the tourism and hospitality industry. Socio-demographic and psychographic variables were tested for their influence on an individual’s self-assessment as a sustainable consumer, which was then tested for its influence on behavioral outcomes in the form of environmental and social sustainability concerns, objects of sustainability concerns, subjects considered responsible for sustainability and tourism choice vis-à-vis mass vs alternative forms of tourism.Design/methodology/approach>Because of the paucity of a well-established and robust theory on the characteristics of sustainable consumers, both content analysis of the literature and quantitative analysis of survey data were used to identify the socio-demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics of consumers. Plausible variables identified in the literature were filtered through principal component analysis and ordinary least squares regression analysis to fine-tune the variables a priori to develop a suitable model, which was subjected to partial least squares-structural equation modeling to further trim variables a posteriori by testing their reliability and validity.Findings>Understanding who sustainable consumers are and what they are likely to believe and do is imperative for increasing sustainable practices by the industry. The study shows that people who consider themselves to be sustainable consumers are likely to have higher levels of ethical views, be more feminine and more liberal in personality, demonstrate concern with environmental and social sustainability issues, consider all pertinent parties responsible for sustainability and chose alternative forms of tourism over mass tourism. The study implies that general American consumers have the potential to buy into sustainability practices.Originality/value>Despite researchers’ sporadic attempts to describe different characteristics of sustainable consumers and sustainable tourism consumers, past research has not substantiated a comprehensive description of who is a sustainable consumer in terms of socio-demographics, psychographics and behavioral characteristics. The literature on sustainable consumer characteristics is scarce and atheoretical;thus, the current study sets the stage for the development of this area of work across all sectors of the global tourism and hospitality industry. The model test results provide a clear profile of sustainable tourism consumers in socio-demographic, psychographic and behavioral domains for the industry to respond to.
ABSTRACT
Understanding what factors play a role in people?s decisions to travel during a pandemic is important to public health officials and to stakeholders in the travel and tourism industry in the United States (US) and worldwide. This study examines factors influencing people?s decisions to cancel/postpone recreational travel within the US amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Our conceptual framework extends the Expected Utility model, commonly used in economics to model decisions under risk and uncertainty, to incorporate subjective norms and perceived behavioral control from the Theory of Planned Behavior. Our results suggest that risk perceptions, subjective norms, and concerns over transmitting COVID-19 to others play a significant role in the decision to cancel and postpone recreational travel. Results also suggest that perceived behavioral control may be less relevant to travel decisions when traveling involves elevated health risks.
ABSTRACT
Building on common identity theory and intergroup contact theory, this study sought to further understanding of people–place relationships by developing a holistic theoretical model to scrutinize place attachment as an antecedent of social distance, mediated by emotional solidarity and moderated by frequency of contact between tourists and residents. Visitor data analyzed with SEM revealed that place dependence is a significant predictor of social distance given it affects affinity positively and avoidance negatively, both of which are mediated by the three dimensions of emotional solidarity. Furthermore, the mediated relationships (via emotional solidarity) between place attachment and social distance vary by level of visitors' frequency of interaction with residents. This study expands current theorization by examining the merits of emotional solidarity as an affective link in a tourist cognitive-behavioral model. From a practical standpoint, DMOs need to understand these construct linkages and include residents in their marketing strategies to increase repeat visitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Travel Research is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
ABSTRACT
This study examined the role that tourists' emotional solidarity with residents serves in explaining their loyalty to the destination they have visited since the COVID-19 pandemic, between May and August of 2020. In so doing, the original Emotional Solidarity Scale (ESS) and the modified ESS were utilized, where their dimensions were considered as predictors of destination loyalty. All ESS dimensions were significant predictors, but the original ESS dimensions explained greater variance in destination loyalty (36.4%) than those of the modified ESS (22.0%), and the difference was statistically meaningful. The results attest to the importance of emotional solidarity to destinations' success amid the pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Even though empowerment is a frequently mentioned keyword in resident attitude studies, the relationship network of this concept is rather vague. It is critical to understand the factors that influence empowerment, and factors that empowerment influences in return. Therefore, the current study modeled residents? data from the top tourism destination in the United States?Orlando, Florida. Data from 415 residents were analyzed using partial least squares?structural equation modeling on SmartPLS to test the effects of residents? involvement and economic benefits from tourism on their psychological, social and political empowerment, and thus the quality of life, and ultimately, place attachment. Findings revealed that psychological empowerment is the most significant dimension of resident empowerment influencing both place dependence and place identity, suggesting that residents hold special values for their place. Managerial and theoretical implications, along with limitations (in light of the project occurring pre-COVID-19) and future research opportunities are discussed.
ABSTRACT
Due to the spread of COVID-19 and restrictions on international travel, popular destinations around the world have experienced an influx of domestic tourists. Regardless of the economic benefits that tourists could bring, residents have expressed their concerns about the health risks that would accompany tourists. Residents are not risk-proof or risk-tolerant, but the literature to date has overlooked the relevance and importance of residents' perceived risk associated with tourists. Addressing this research gap, this study investigated how residents’ perceived risk, emotional solidarity, and support for tourism were interrelated amid the pandemic. It was found that perceived risk was negatively associated with emotional solidarity and support for tourism, and emotional solidarity had a positive impact on support for tourism. Also, emotional solidarity was a partial mediator between perceived risk and support for tourism. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed within the closing of the article.