Chinese diaspora tourists' emotional experiences and ancestral hometown attachment

Abstract

This study adopts a mixed method to examine Chinese diaspora tourists' ancestral hometown emotional experiences. A qualitative approach was used to establish a conceptual framework of emotional experience, and quantitative research was performed to evaluate the effects of respondents' emotional experiences on their ancestral hometown attachment with diaspora tourism. Results show that diaspora tourists' emotional hometown experiences included nostalgic memory and affective arousal, which influenced diaspora tourists' hometown attachment. Specifically, nostalgic memory positively influenced place dependence, place identity and affective attachment; affective arousal positively influenced place identity and social bonding. Diaspora tourists' emotional experiences and hometown attachment also differed demographically. These findings provide practical implications for the construction of diaspora ancestral hometowns.