Different urban settings affect multi-dimensional tourist-resident interactions

Abstract

City centre areas of many tourism destinations are increasingly overcrowding but two tourism development trends are to some extent counterbalancing the crowding phenomenon. Firstly, the decentralisation of tourists aiming to avoid large crowds and product standardisation and, therefore, visiting sites away from the city centre, including suburban areas. Secondly, the rise of ‘new urban tourism’ which means that tourists seek to experience authentic city life in local neighbourhoods. However, systematic examination and comparison of the frequency, intensity and quality of tourist-resident interactions in different urban settings is lacking. This paper does so for tourist-resident interactions in Central (as city centre area), Sha Tin (as suburban area) and Mong Kok (as new urban tourism area) in Hong Kong. The results from the tourist perspective are mostly in line with expectations, only co-presence appeared not to take place relatively less in Sha Tin and focussed interaction not relatively more in Mong Kok. From the perspective of residents, as expected, Sha Tin stands out as a place with less co-presence and less focussed interaction with tourists, and a higher quality of interaction. However, the expectation that Mong Kok as a new urban tourism area would involve both more co-presence and focussed interaction and a lower quality of interaction is not substantiated through our study. Overall, tourists experience a higher quality of interactions than residents, but the asymmetry is smaller in the suburban setting.