Tourist-host social contact, as a unique type of social contact, is not getting sufficient attention in tourism academia considering its remarkable impacts on tourists' travel attitudes, behaviors and long-term perceptions. The objectives of the current study are to explore the dimensions of tourist-host social contact and to contribute to the theory of tourist typology according to their dynamic nature in tourist-host social interaction. Forty-five in-depth interviews were conducted to generate insightful information. The software of NVivo 10 was applied to examine and code the transcripts. As a result, six dimensions were adopted to describe touristhost social contact, which are purposes, determinants, activities, intensity, impacts and attitudes. Five types of tourists were pinpointed and theoretical and practical contributions of the study were discussed.

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Tourist-host social contact significantly influences the perceptions of tourists and deserves more attention from scholars in the field of tourism research. However, studies on the relationship between these two constructs are limited. To address this research gap, the present study develops and validates instruments for measuring social contact and perceived cultural distance in the context of tourism, explores the effects of social contact on perceived cultural distance, and provides implications for tourism stakeholders, including governments, tourism operators, and local communities. A survey was conducted among Hong Kong tourists traveling to Mainland China. The study had two significant findings: 1) the quality of contact negatively influences tourists' perceived cultural distance; 2) in terms of the quantity of contact, socialoriented contacts negatively influence perceived cultural distance, whereas service-oriented contacts positively affect perceived cultural distance. Implications were provided to contribute to theoretical and empirical realms, and to guide policy formulation.Keywords: tourist-host contact, perceived cultural distance, quantity of social contact, quality of social contact, policy issues 2 INTRODUCTIONIn the tourism academia, social contact and cultural distance are widely believed to play important roles in developing the understanding of intergroup relations, travel experiences, and the attitudes of tourists. Contact between different groups can boost mutual understanding, eliminate bias and stereotypes, and enhance intergroup relations (Allport 1979;Pettigrew 1998; Kawakami et al. 2000; Binder et al. 2009; Kirillova, Lehto, and Cai 2015). Furthermore, such contact may reduce negative emotions-such as anxiety, distrust, and cultural sensitivitytoward outgroups, who are considered socially repulsive (Dovidio et al. 2002; Islam and Hewstone 1993;Stephan and Stephan 1985). Contact between separate groups can also enhance empathy toward outgroups, thereby positively influencing intergroup relations (Baston et al. 1997;Stephan and Finlay 1999). However, social contact may not necessarily lead to a positive change in attitude (Pizam, Jafari, and Milman 1991;Anastasopoulos 1992;Pizam, Uriely, and Reichel 2000; Chen, Lin, and Petrick 2013). Sometimes, intergroup contact may increase tension, hostility, and suspicion. The greater the social contacts are, the more likely that friction and hostility will be triggered (Bochner 1982). Tourist-host social contact-as a unique type of social contact-deserves more attention from scholars in the field of tourism research considering its remarkable influence on tourists' perceptions, which is a major determinant in choosing a travel destination. Cultural distance negatively affects tourists' enthusiasm to travel to a certain region. Cohen (1979) argued that people seek novelty and change when traveling but only to the extent that the novelty and change remain non-threatening. Goeldner and Ritchie (2008) argued that the greater the cu...

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3Despite increased concerns about the negative economic impacts of tourism on host communities, 4 insufficient attention has been paid to assess tourism economic sustainability. This paper aims to 5 develop and validate a framework for assessing economic sustainability from the perspective of 6 local stakeholders. In-depth interviews with 12 major stakeholders and a telephone survey with 7 1839 Hong Kong citizens were conducted. The tourism economic sustainability construct 8 consisted of three dimensions: economic positivity, development control and individual welfare. 9The reliability and validity of the dimensions were confirmed by the data of sub-samples. The 10 links between socio-demographic characteristics and attitudes toward tourism economic 11 sustainability were evaluated. This paper enhanced our understanding of tourism economic 12 sustainability by expanding the measurement from the macro level to micro level. Using the 13 study setting in Hong Kong, it transcends previous analysis by providing a context to learn from 14 ongoing controversies about the effects of tourism on host community. 15