Abstract
Over the last decade, political tensions between Hong Kong and mainland China over the territory’s status, culminating with the 2019/20 pro-democracy demonstrations, spilled over into tourism, with rising antagonism among “HongKongers” toward Chinese tourists. Central to these strained relationships are complex identity tensions that position HongKongers as distinct from mainland Chinese, despite being essentially “compatriots.” The sense of belonging to a social group is derived from the interactions that distinguish “us” from “others,” whilst the Chinese have been signified as “others” in this scenario, their perspectives on the issue are poorly understood. This study utilizes social identity theory to unpack these identity positions. Our results uncover changes in Chinese tourists’ reflections on perceived othering they experienced by HongKongers and how identity plays a significant role in redefining relationships between hosts and guests.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Travel Research |
| Early online date | 29 Dec 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 29 Dec 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants through the Sino-British Fellowship Trust (No. SRG1920\100526).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
Keywords
- identity conflict
- identity threat
- intergroup conflict
- resident-tourist relationship
- social identity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Transportation
- Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management