Backpacker tourism: sustainable and purposeful? Investigating the overlap between backpacker tourism and volunteer tourism motivations

Alternative tourism, particularly backpacker and volunteer tourism, has developed significantly in recent times. This rapid development has contributed to criticism of potential negative effects, notably of the environmental, cultural, economic and social impacts associated with backpacker tourism. Volunteer tourism, by contrast, has been seen in positive terms as more sustainable, combining altruistic motivations with the travel concept. This paper explores backpacker interest in volunteer tourism and identifies overlaps in motivations between the two forms of tourism; 249 self-administered questionnaires were collected from backpackers within backpacker hostels in central Melbourne, Australia. The findings of this study suggest that a motivational overlap exists between backpacker and volunteer tourists, indicating potential for the creation of volunteer tourism products catering specifically for the backpacker market. This may encourage more sustainable tourism experiences within the burgeoning backpacker market, thus addressing some of the negative criticism of the latter. This paper also discusses the implications of these findings for the marketing and development of volunteer tourism products for both the backpacker and volunteer tourism markets.     

Becoming a backpacker in China: A grounded theory approach to identity construction of backpackers

Backpacking tourism has gained in popularity among Chinese young people since the 1990s. While learning from their western counterparts, Chinese backpackers have also developed their own unique group identification strategies. By focusing on how backpacker identity is socially constructed in the Chinese context, this research explores the meaning and process of becoming a backpacker in China. Grounded theory was adopted, and the structure “image-identity-strategy” emerged to organise the process of becoming a backpacker into three phases. The findings show that Chinese backpackers employ various strategies to continuously negotiate and reconstruct their backpacker identity. It is thereby shown how the process itself of becoming a backpacker is always ongoing.     

Too afraid to Travel? Development of a Pandemic (COVID-19) Anxiety Travel Scale (PATS)

Pandemics are affecting tourism in many ways. Being a niche research field before, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic created a strong urgency to develop this topic. For researching pandemic-induced changes in tourist beliefs and travel behaviour, we developed a construct that measures the intra-personal anxiety of travellers (and non-travellers): the Pandemic (COVID-19) Anxiety Travel Scale (PATS), using two large online studies (N = 2180; N = 2062) and including two different cultural contexts (US and Denmark). In Study 1, explorative and confirmative factors analysis confirms a short and easy-to-use 5-item solution, while the presented model adds face validity. Study 2 confirmed the structure (reliability) and tested nomological validity, by putting PATS into the context of different constructs (xenophobia and prevention focus). Although the proposed scale arose from the coronavirus (COVID-19), it is not limited to this specific pandemic and will hopefully prove to be a valuable measurement tool for future pandemics as well.     

Backpackers in Hong Kong – motivations,preferences and contribution to sustainable tourism

This paper examines the backpacker market in Hong Kong, in terms of profile, motivation, preferences, and contribution to sustainable tourism development. The purpose is to provide an understanding of this market to help in marketing and promoting services and products that meet backpackers’ needs as part of expanding Hong Kong’s target market. Currently, Hong Kong relies on tourists from mainland China and recent reports reveal the issue of social conflicts between mainland tourists and Hong Kong residents. Based on a survey of backpackers in youth hostels and hiking trails in Hong Kong, this study revealed that backpackers are pushed by the search for new ideas and pulled by the uniquefood culture of Hong Kong, preferring to experience such a unique food culture in a traditional setting. Moreover, they are less likely to spend on international brands in Hong Kong as part of promoting sustainable tourism development.     

Do Blue Flag promotions influence tourists’ willingness to pay a price premium for coastal destinations?

The Blue Flag is a popular eco-label in tourism. This study aims at examining the effectiveness of Blue Flag promotion on tourists' willingness to pay a price premium to coastal destinations via two online experiments. Study 1 shows (n = 152) that the Blue Flag stimulates higher willingness to pay a price premium for coastal destinations directly as well as indirectly through self-congruity and destination brand identification. Study 2 (n = 160) used a new sample to enhance external validity and generalizability of the Study 1 findings. Study 2 shows that destination brand quality and destination brand identification serially mediate the effect of Blue Flag promotions on the tourist's willingness to pay a price premium. The findings suggest that destination managers should deploy the Blue Flag Logo in destination promotions to enhance self-congruence, destination brand identification, perceived destination quality, and the tourist's willingness to pay a price premium.     

Backpacker ethnography

This paper presents an ethnographic study of the travel culture of international backpackers. Their sociodemographic characteristics are described, the contours of a concept of tourism culture are delineated, and on that basis, that of backpackers is outlined, with particular focus on the key phenomenon of road status. The analysis of backpacker tourism as a culture furthers the comprehension of change within the phenomenon. Examples of factors of change include the guidebooks, the short-term backpackers, and in particular the internet. This study demonstrates the merit of a dynamic concept of culture where culture takes place whenever activated by social circumstances.     

Measuring perceived risk in sharing economy: A classical test theory and item response theory approach

Sharing economy is considered as a disruptive innovation in the Internet age and inevitably brings huge concerns and risks for tourists. This study aims to develop a multidimensional scale to understanding the tourist risk perception in the sharing economy (TPRSE). First, focus group interviews, and online text analysis were conducted to elicit the initial items. Second, pilot survey involving a sample size of 218 was conducted, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and item response theory (IRT) were applied to refine this preliminary item pool. Third, the TPRSE scale was further validated using the CFA and IRT (n = 745). The TPRSE scale was successfully developed and validated, which including five dimensions of financial risk, social risk, privacy risk, performance risk and physical risk. This study advances the theories of risk perception in the context of sharing economy and provides management strategies to reduce perceived risks in Airbnb accommodations.     

The impact of knowledge hiding on targets’ knowledge sharing with perpetrators

Using a sequential mixed-methods approach, this study explored how knowledge hiding (KH) targets react to perpetrators in the hospitality industry. Study 1 entailed in-depth interviews of 20 employees from 13 hotels. Findings indicate that KH influences knowledge transfer behavior through negative emotions. Moreover, individual personality and motivation, team and interpersonal factors, job characteristics, and KH characteristics can moderate this effect. In Studies 2 (n = 54) and 3 (n = 118), two scenario-based experiments reveal that KH negatively affects targets’ knowledge sharing (KS) with perpetrators directly and indirectly through negative emotions. In Study 4, the results of a survey from 475 employees indicate that when the need for affiliation of employees and task interdependence is high, the negative effect of negative emotions on KS with perpetrators is weaker. This study advances the literature on KH by offering a sound theoretical treatment of emotional concerns and the interaction between knowledge seekers and knowledge hiders.     

Harmony rules in Chinese backpacker groups

Despite recognition that Chinese backpackers travel in small, self-organised groups, studies have yet to examine how group dynamics affect the travel experience. Multi-sited ethnography and netnography were deployed to follow Chinese backpackers in Europe to explore their group dynamics. The findings reveal that Chinese backpackers sustain hierarchical group relations by applying cultural attributes of ‘respect for authority’ and ‘keqi’. A conflict-free status is achieved by following the codes of ‘guanxi’ and ‘conformity’. Harmony is practiced to either develop harmonious relationships or resolve potential discord. This study contributes to the literature on harmony by synthesising relevant cultural attributes to understand their applications in group dynamic. It furthermore contributes to the literature on backpacker tourism and self-organised travel group dynamics.     

Backpackers: The need for reconceptualisation

Indubitably, an eclectic body of academic literature exists on backpacking dating back from the start of the 1990s. However, the characterisation of backpackers in several studies points evidently to incongruities among researchers. Consequently, there is as yet no standard operational criteria for defining backpackers. Ergo, this paper reviews the existing literature in tourism and rouses the need to rethink the definition of a backpacker for valid data gathering.     

How to catch their attention? Taiwanese flashpackers inferring their travel motivation from personal development and travel experience

Backpackers first appeared in the seventeenth century. The twenty-first century has witnessed the rise of a new backpacker subculture given the changing times: one that is closely related to technology use is called flashpackers. The research discussed in this article explores the relationships between travel experience, personal development, and travel motivation of flashpackers. The study uses convenience sampling taken in the lobby of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. A total of 400 questionnaires were issued and 375 valid questionnaires were recovered; the rate of return was 93.8%. The results of this study are the following: (1) there are differences between travel experience and travel motivation for Taiwan’s flashpackers; (2) there is a relationship between personal development and travel experience of Taiwan’s flashpackers; (3) there is a correlation between personal development and travel motivation for Taiwan’s flashpackers; and (4) personal development moderately affects the relationship between travel experience and travel motivation for Taiwan’s flashpackers. This study contributes to the tourism industry by enhancing direct targeting of customers, and it provides hospitality and travel agency managers with the means to determine appropriate marketing strategies for flashpackers.     

An empathy lens into peer service providers: Personal versus commercial hosts

The focus of the peer-to-peer in tourism (Airbnb) has shifted recently from personal peer providers (i.e., individuals that rent a room) to commercial peer providers (i.e., companies that manage several Airbnb lodgings). While prior research encourages peer service providers (Airbnb hosts) to focus on social interactions, there is scant research on how consumers respond to the social dimension across the two peer provider types (personal vs. commercial provider). Two experimental studies (N = 600) reveal that consumers exhibit higher loyalty towards personal (vs. commercial) providers when they focus on communal norms, and this effect is driven via empathy. Study 2 examines the moderating effect of perceived warmth and demonstrates that low perceived warmth has a detrimental effect on loyalty among personal (vs. commercial) peer providers.     

Exploring well-being as a tourism product resource

This study employs a qualitative research approach where focus groups (n = 11) with key stakeholders were used to understand how tourism investors view the concept of well-being in relation to tourism and the potential to use it as a tourism product resource. Findings validated by a wider group (n = 50) exposed the barriers and enablers of implementing well-being in this way. The potential for businesses and policymakers to transform these barriers into enablers was also identified. In addition, study findings were mapped onto a robust model extracted from the public health sector and applied in a tourism context using a systems theory approach. This further highlighted the potential offered to the fields of public health and tourism in the concept of well-being, and demonstrated the well-being value of tourism. Data from this research will aid tourism business practice and development by embedding a well-being philosophy for tourism destinations' strategies.     

The effects of perceived service quality on repurchase intentions and subjective well-being of Chinese tourists: The mediating role of relationship quality

The current study provides and tests an integrated model that examines two relationship quality constructs (overall customer satisfaction, customer-company identification) as mediating variables between Chinese tourists' lodging service quality perceptions and two outcomes (repurchase intentions, subjective well-being). The results of a study with domestic Chinese hotel guests (n = 451) provide support for the proposed model. Specifically, the results indicate that overall customer satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between perceived service quality and repurchase intentions and subjective well-being, respectively. Customer-company identification partially mediates the relationship between perceived service quality and repurchase intentions and subjective wellbeing, respectively. We provide empirical validation that customers do, indeed, identify with hospitality providers, and this, in-turn, provides positive consequences for both the service provider (i.e., repurchase intentions) and the customer (i.e., subjective well-being). Managerial implications are provided, limitations noted, and future research directions suggested.     

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourist public transportation use and on its determinants: Evidence from a Catalan coastal destination

Despite the key importance of public transportation for the accessibility, attractiveness, and sustainability of tourist areas, little is known about how the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted its use among tourists. In response, we compared the likelihood of using transit among visitors in a Catalan coastal area based on surveys conducted in 2019 (n = 1493) and 2020 (n = 1465). The pandemic caused a significant decline in tourists' use of public transportation, from 54.5% in 2019 to 34.6% in 2020, and in mobility at the destination. Results from a set of bivariate probabilistic models revealed that though most of the traditional determinants of visitors' use of transit remained unaltered, pandemic-related factors were associated with its decline. For the tourism sector and for local authorities and transit agencies, those results characterize the crucial challenge of ensuring the use of public transit among visitors in consideration of its many environmental and social benefits.     

Travel motivation for Taiwanese hearing-impaired backpackers

Why do hearing-impaired people desire to undertake outbound travel as backpackers despite their hearing and speaking limitations? To investigate the reasons, this study applied the push and pull model of travel motivation as the framework. A total of 30 hearing-impaired backpackers participated in face-to-face interviews and responded to questions concerning their motivation to travel overseas. The results of this study reveal many unique motivation themes in the push and pull groups; specifically, five push themes (constraints of group tours, self-challenge, independence, different experience, and invitation by hearing-impaired friends) and two pull themes (enjoy local culture and lifestyle and the “I have been there” feeling) were identified. Furthermore, the participants’ desire to travel as backpackers is based on their previous negative experiences in group tours. Moreover, they prefer backpacking with hearing-impaired partners than with normal-hearing partners. Furthermore, for them, their independence enables them to their parents that they can travel alone. In addition, the study findings suggest that “communication negotiation” should be considered for inclusion in the motivation typology as a new dimension for hearing-impaired backpackers. Finally, the current study provides valuable insights into the behaviors of hearing-impaired backpackers and recommendations for tourism operators.     

TouRes: Scale development and validation of a tourist resilience scale

Resilience in a tourist context describes the capacity for individuals to use psychological and social resources to adapt and bounce back from adversity. We theorize tourist resilience as a multi-dimensional construct consisting of four dimensions – preparedness, adaptiveness, social support, and risk reduction – and describe the development and validation of a behavioural measure of tourist resilience (TouRes). In study 1 (n = 260), exploratory factor analysis supports the four-dimensional structure of TouRes. In study 2 (n = 284), confirmatory factor analysis substantiates the scale's factor structure, and its convergent and discriminant validity. Data from study 2 and study 3 (n = 386) were also used to ascertain nomological and predictive validity of TouRes against various measures. Developed in the general context of unexpected changes to travel and destination experiences, TouRes can also be used to assess tourist resilience relative to travel plans disrupted by disasters and pandemics. Theoretical and managerial implications are offered.     

Online branding: Development of hotel branding through interactivity theory

The present study aims to develop and test a theory-based model of website interactivity as an online branding tool. It explores the relationships among website interactivity, the dimensions of brand knowledge, and brand value in the context of hotel booking websites. An online questionnaire was completed by four hundred forty two (n = 442) responses who booked a hotel room in the previous year. Leaning on the fundamentals of branding literature and the website interactivity theory, a model was designed and seven hypotheses were tested. A two-phase analysis was considered, first a Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and then a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were conducted to test hypotheses. The results of the study show that the dimensions of website interactivity, namely two-way communication and user control, positively impact the dimensions of brand knowledge, namely brand awareness and brand image, which in turn impact brand value. We offer both theoretical and managerial implications.     

Effects of price sorting display on extreme option choice aversion: The role of ease of comparison in multiple option displays

Due to the popularity of online travel agency (OTA) booking platforms, OTAs display diverse information, including features of products, on their websites. Based on choice architecture literature, this study aimed to examine the effect of product quality and price sorting (vs. non-sorting) on extreme option choice aversion and identify the moderating effect of displays that made it difficult to read information. The results of a series of four experimental studies (total n = 2838 online panel members) demonstrated that the tendency to choose the non-extreme or middle-attributed options was stronger when quality and price were displayed sorted (vs. non-sorted). It was theorized that easy comparison of multiple options leads to decision-making. The positive effect of quality and price sorting on extreme option choice aversion was significantly reduced when customers had difficulty reading the displayed information.     

The effect of destination social responsibility on tourist environmentally responsible behavior: Compared analysis of first-time and repeat tourists

Utilizing a Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this study presents and examines an integrated model that investigates consumption emotions (positive and negative) and tourist-destination identification as mediating variables between perceived destination social responsibility and the environmentally responsible behavior of Chinese tourists (n = 539). Previous research has suggested that prior experience with a service can impact the relationships between constructs; as such, this study also investigates the potential moderating impact of visitation frequency on the proposed model. Findings indicate that consumption emotions (positive and negative) and tourist-destination identification do mediate the effect of perceived destination social responsibility and environmentally responsible behavior. Only positive emotions were found to significantly impact tourist-destination identification. A moderating effect for first-time, relative to repeat visitors, was found for some paths between the investigated constructs in the proposed model. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed, limitations provided, and future research directions suggested.