The “People” Aspect of Destination Attachment in International Tourism

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe majority of research on place attachment has been conducted within a domestic context where local culture is fairly familiar to the visitor. International tourism research has begun to address destination attachment, but has not yet fully explored the concept where the people and the culture are substantially different. This research used in-depth qualitative interviews with international visitors to Thailand to examine the role of local people in destination attachment. Results show that one of the main attributes of international visitors’ attachment is the Thai people. A follow-on survey confirmed that “people attachment” is an integral part of the measurement of destination attachment.