Destination Image of Taiwan From the Perspective of Hong Kong Residents: Revisiting Structural Relationships Between Destination Image Attributes and Behavioral Intention

Destination image plays an important role in how tourists make their travel and purchase decisions. This study examines the perceived image of Taiwan as a travel destination from the perspective of Hong Kong residents. The Hong Kong outbound tourism market is important for Taiwan. Using a self-completed questionnaire, this research examines the destination image of Taiwan among 213 Hong Kong residents. The results indicate that affective image is a stronger predictor of travel intention than cognitive image. Affective image also plays a mediating role in the relationship between cognitive image and behavioral intention. Hence, affective image is an important intangible quality for today’s destinations.     

基于地方情感的旅游目的地选择模型建构研究

旅游目的地选择模型建构的研究多数以微观经济学、认知心理学与市场营销学等为基础理论,较少从个体与地方感情连结的视角探讨游客旅游目的地选择决策行为。文章以旅游目的地选择为研究主轴概念,结合地方情感概念中的旅游目的地意象和地方依恋,根据研究文献梳理结果、基础理论界定模型建构的路径变量与逻辑框架,进而提出基于地方情感的旅游目的地选择模型及模型过程步骤。文章建构模型表明,游客旅游目的地选择始于旅游目的地意象的形成,随着整体认知意象的深化,游客对旅游目的地将产生地方认同感,再通过选择决策行为选择意向的旅游目的地从事旅游活动,通过对旅游目的地旅游体验的功能满足产生依赖感,最终形成对旅游目的地的地方依恋感。研究成果对于旅游目的地选择具有交叉研究的创新价值,对于旅游目的地市场战略规划实践活动而言具有参照价值。     

The implicit measurement of destination image: The application of Implicit Association Tests

The previous studies about destination image measurement mainly focused on measuring tourists’ explicit cognitive processes without measuring their implicit cognitive processes. This study introduces the Implicit Association Test (IAT) into the domain of destination image measurement, and utilizes a traditional questionnaire to measure Chinese tourists’ perceived image of Japan and Hong Kong both at explicit and implicit level. Results show that Chinese tourists’ explicit preference between Japan and Hong Kong is insignificant, but there is significant implicit preference for their perceived image of Hong Kong over that of Japan. This study advances the research on destination image and enriches the method on the measurement of destination image.     

PI背景下的TDI结构方程模型

态度理论为地区形象(PI)和旅游目的地形象(TDI)的联合研究提供了一个平台。本文构建了一个理论上的地区形象背景下的旅游目的地形象结构方程模型。模型是一个具有因果关系的结构方程模型,包括8个潜变量和28个观测变量。以徐州为例,在运用SPSS15.0软件对数据进行信度检验的基础上,利用LISREL8.70软件对模型进行了验证性因子分析和路径分析。研究发现:(1)结构模型中各潜变量之间的路径与假定基本符合,模型的整体拟合性能良好;(2)旅游资源认知和旅游服务认知会对旅游意愿产生作用,这符合我们的传统理念;(3)地区特征和居民素质对旅游服务感知、目的地评价和旅游意愿三者均有效应,而地区竞争力和居民竞争力仅对旅游服务感知产生影响。     

Measuring spa-goers’ preferences: A conjoint analysis approach

The spa market has been growing tremendously in the Asia-Pacific region. Besides its growth potential in the tourism industry, spas are becoming important revenue centers for hotels and resorts. Despite the enormous growth and potential of the spa market, the preferences of spa-goers are overlooked. The aim of this research is thus to fill this gap in theory and practice by spa-goers’ preferences based on their preferred combination of spa attributes. The study is exploratory in nature and adopts a conjoint approach to analyze the preferences of the spa-goers. The findings reveal that mid-level prices, a high level of therapist qualifications, a high level of privacy, a full range of spa facilities, and branded spa products are preferred by customers. Moreover, therapist qualifications, price, and level of privacy are found to be the most important attributes in making spa bookings. Paper also examines the relative importance of different spa attributes to spa-goers of different sociodemographic backgrounds and spa visit characteristics.     

Virtual MICE Promotion

ABSTRACT

Hong Kong and Singapore have been the leading cities for hosting MICE in Asia. Every year, thousands of events are held, both by local and international organizers, in Singapore and Hong Kong. Despite the significant economic contributions of MICE to a local economy, hospitality and tourism literature seldom analyzes Hong Kong and Singapore in terms of MICE promotion. The absence of published articles is particularly true in the context of virtual promotion. This paper reports on a study examining events promotion in the Web sites of the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Singapore Tourism Board. The paper also analyzes the performance of the official Web sites in providing useful site selection information to event organizers and meeting planners. Empirical results of a content-based analysis indicate that the information provided by the Singaporean Web site is more comprehensive than its Hong Kong counterpart.     

Sino-western Tourists’ Place Attachment to a Traditional Chinese Urban Destination: A Tale from Hangzhou,China

This article investigates the constructs of tourists’ place attachment to a traditional Chinese urban destination as well as the differences of these constructs across tourists with different cultural backgrounds. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis show that place attachment consists of four major factors: place identity, place dependence, affective attachment, and social bonding. Estimation results also reveal differences in the importance of place attachment constructs between Chinese and Western tourists. In addition, tourists’ socio-demographic and travel characteristics are found to be associated with their attachment to places in the urban destination. Based on the empirical results, policy implications are provided.     

旅游地意象、地方依恋与旅游者环境责任行为——以浙江省旅游度假区为例

文章综合旅游地意象、地方依恋及环境责任行为理论,将旅游地意象分为5个要素,将地方依恋分为2个要素,并构建了旅游地意象、地方依恋与旅游者环境责任行为之间的关系模型。研究发现:(1)景观意象、设施意象、服务意象及安全意象均直接影响情感意象。设施意象与服务意象不仅直接影响地方依赖,且通过情感意象来实现。安全意象和景观意象间接影响地方依赖。安全意象、服务意象及景观意象不仅直接影响地方认同,且通过地方依赖来实现。设施意象间接影响地方认同。服务意象不仅直接影响旅游者环境责任行为,且通过地方依恋来实现。景观意象、设施意象及安全意象间接影响旅游者环境责任行为。(2)情感意象直接影响地方依赖,间接影响地方认同与旅游者环境责任行为。(3)地方依赖直接影响地方认同和旅游者环境责任行为,且通过地方认同间接影响旅游者环境责任行为。     

Analyzing International Travelers' Profile with Self-Organizing Maps

It is generally agreed that knowledge is the most valuable asset to an organization. Knowledge enables a business to effectively compete with its competitors. In the tourism context, an in-depth knowledge of the profile of international travelers to a destination has become a crucial factor for decision makers to formulate their business strategies and better serve their customers. In this research, a self-organizing map (SOM) network was used for segmenting international travelers to Hong Kong, a major travel destination in Asia. An association rules discovery algorithm is then utilized to automatically characterize the profile of each segment. The resulting maps serve as a visual analysis tool for tourism managers to better understand the characteristics, motivations, and behaviors of international travelers.