Beyond traveling and working: Place attachment of the Chinese local working tourists

Abstract

Given the scarcity of research on working tourists, this exploratory study examines lv xing yi gong’ s (i.e. the local independent Chinese working tourists) place attachment to the destination based on Scannell and Gifford’s tripartite model of place attachment. Data were drawn from a netnographic study of 98 blogs following 23 in-depth interviews. Findings demonstrate Chinese local working tourists’ place attachment in three dimensions: person, process, and place. This study not only confirms the applicability of Scannell and Gifford’s model in the context of Chinese local working tourists, but also identifies some contextual differences. More importantly, this article also provides valuable insights into the under-theorized sense of place among working tourists and identifies practical implications for tourism destination authorities to better serve and manage Chinese working tourists.