Impact of Sustainable Cultural Contact, Natural Atmospherics, and Risk Perception on Rural Destination Involvement and Traveler Behavior in Inner Mongolia

Abstract

Rural tourism is emerging in the tourism industry; however, little is known about traveler behaviors at rural destinations. This study explored the role of cultural contact, natural atmospherics, and risk perception in generating destination involvement and approach behaviors for rural tourism in Inner Mongolia. A quantitative data analysis was used to obtain the research objective. Our findings showed that cultural contact and natural atmospherics significantly increased traveler destination involvement and their approach behaviors. Cultural contact included a stronger impact on destination involvement than natural atmospherics. In contrast, natural atmospherics contained a stronger influence on approach behaviors than cultural contact. In addition, rural traveler risk perception moderated the magnitude of the effect of cultural contact on approach behaviors. Overall, the proposed theoretical framework encompassed a sufficient level of anticipation power for involvement and approach behaviors. Our findings can be helpful for inventing rural tourism development strategies in Inner Mongolia.

Korean Domestic Tourists’ Decision-Making Process under Threat of COVID-19

“…Along with the domestic tourism boom in Korea, local governments in tourism have promoted hiking trails, nature-based tourism destinations (i.e., parks, forests), and scenic driving routes for contactless tourism destinations to fulfill the needs for tourists to escape into nature [9]. Under this uncertain tourism phenomenon, understanding travelers' behavior intention is critical for destination management organizations, practitioners, and researchers in tourism [13]. Tourists' behavioral intention under risky situations that can cause physical harm may have a significant impact on travel decision-making [14].…”

Ecosystem Services, Sustainable Rural Development and Protected Areas

“…Rural areas received attention in this Special Issue from multiple perspectives and in different regions in the world, but one set of papers in particular dealt with sustainability in traditional rural villages and towns, interactions between visitors and rural areas, and economic and ecological effects of agroforestry [9][10][11][12]. Kong and colleagues [9] constructed a comprehensive evaluation system for the living protection of traditional villages based on the land-use-integration concept "Production-Living-Ecology", applying it to six traditional villages in Taihu Lake, China.…”

“…Kong and colleagues [9] constructed a comprehensive evaluation system for the living protection of traditional villages based on the land-use-integration concept "Production-Living-Ecology", applying it to six traditional villages in Taihu Lake, China. Han and co-authors [10] developed a theoretical framework to explore how cultural contact, natural environment and risk perception affected traveler destination involvement and approach behaviors in the rural tourism sector in Inner Mongolia, China. Additionally, Ren [11] built an indicator system and measurement model for the assessment of rural functions applied to 11 towns in Jixi County, China, to analyze the differentiation characteristics and rules of rural functions (agriculture and nonagricultural production, life and leisure, and ecological functions).…”