Annoying Tourist Behaviors: Perspectives of Hosts and Tourists in Macao

Abstract

The study of annoying tourist behaviors is timely as key destinations in Asia welcome large waves of new arrivals. In this study in Macao, 728 respondents—half of whom were tourists and the other half local residents—provided ratings of the perceived frequency and levels of annoyance of 40 potentially problematic behaviors. The behaviors studied were identified by a two-step, inclusive, emic and conceptually driven process and classified with a new framework. The results provided evidence that a few select behaviors (smoking in public, spitting and littering, not flushing toilets, abusing service personnel) were both highly annoying and frequent. An action grid was developed to illustrate the behaviors across these two measurements. Most undesirable behaviors studied are not yet widely prevailing in Macao but these annoying behaviors could pose potential threat to stakeholders as the number of tourist arrivals continued to increase. The authors also linked the findings with numerous theories in the literature including those of cultural convergence, personal relevance, and self-serving biases in attribution. Communities seeking to manage less desirable behaviors can build their strategies based on these kinds of empirical findings.