First-time Visitors Research Articles

Cultural Destination Attributes, Overall Tourist Satisfaction and Tourist Loyalty: First Timers versus Repeaters

This paper analyses the effects of the cultural attributes of tourist destinations on the satisfaction levels of visitors and the impact of this satisfaction rating on visitor loyalty. Additionally, a multiple-group analysis was conducted to compare the responses of first-time visitors and repeat visitors. For this study, a self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 411 international tourists who were visiting Istanbul, Turkey, through convenience sampling. The findings indicated that cultural attractions at the destination impacted the overall satisfaction rating of the visitors, and that this specific satisfaction rating determined the loyalty of the tourist to return to the destination. This relationship between cultural attractions, satisfaction and visitor loyalty was a significant factor for both groups.

Examining relationships between COVID-19 destination practices, value, satisfaction and behavioral intentions for tourists' outdoor recreation trips

Using a structural equation model, this study examined the influence of tourists' satisfaction with COVID-19 practices at destinations on tourists' value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions (revisit and recommendation intentions). From a sample of 405 tourists who participated in outdoor recreation trips after March 2020, this study found that satisfaction with COVID-19 practices at destinations had significant impacts on tourists’ perceived value, overall satisfaction, and revisit/recommendation intentions, controlling for the impacts of socio-demographic, trip, and destination-related factors. This study also examined how first-time and repeat visitors developed behavioral intentions differently, using multi-group analysis. Specifically, revisit/recommendation intentions for repeat visitors were not associated with satisfaction with COVID-19 measures, whereas the relationships were significant for first-time visitors. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications based on study findings were outlined and recommendations for future research were made. • A model of behavioral intention including COVID-19 measures at the destination. • Socio-demographics, trip and destination attributes as control variables in the model. • COVID-19 destination practices found to influence behavioral intentions. • Overall satisfaction and value influence behavioral intentions. • Difference in behavioral intention model between first time/repeat visitors.

Role of public space design on the perception of historical environment: A pilot study in Amasya

The experience, perception, awareness, and appreciation of the environment created by public spaces are important elements of urban design. In this context, a strong link exists between perception, public spaces, and historical cities. Amasya is one of the multilayered historical cities in Anatolia. Amasya's holistic urban texture, close relationship with the river, and public spaces are associated with both the Iris River and the historical texture. This pilot study examines the Yalıboyu Promenade, a contemporary open public space designed along the river and across the historical texture in Amasya in Turkey to reveal how it affects people's perception of the historical environment. The study uses the mixed method approach, which includes qualitative and quantitative data. Following the theoretical discussion, the study investigates the context of the promenade. The survey results revealed how the first-time visitors had perceived the historical texture of the promenade based on Rapoport's method of using environmental signs. The results were interpreted by jointly evaluating qualitative and survey data. Furthermore, although some aspects need improvement, the promenade solidifies the perception of the historical environment. Overall, when the public space is integrated with the historical environment and public life, it offers multidimensional contributions that cannot be ignored. Therefore, examining the promenade from perceptual aspects and offering a design approach to promote integration with the historical environment may help to establish a precedent case for future initiatives.

User environment perception in HMD-based immersive virtual reality context

Advances in Virtual Reality (VR) technologies have enhanced the possibility of including this tool in design review procedures intuitively for users. This exploratory research investigates the users’ perception of spatial dimensions and apparent surface temperature in HMD-based Immersive Virtual Environments (HIVE). It aims to raise new questions in the study of VR technologies during design evaluation procedures. The case study consisted of modelling the Pinacoteca building north atrium in São Paulo, Brazil, in VR to assess how users perceive the room according to its dimensions and sense of surface temperature (floor, walls, footbridges, elevators and roof). This exploratory study was conducted with 40 first-time visitors at the Pinacoteca building. The results revealed that users’ immediate position and viewpoint may induce different perceptions of spatial dimensions and sense of surface temperature. The first conclusion is that instant distance to viewpoint influenced users’ perception of width of the immersive virtual environment. The second conclusion was that virtual insolation influenced users’ sense of surface temperature despite the materiality. To sum up, the contribution of this paper is the associative study of spatial perception and sense of surface temperature with instant position and viewpoint of users immersed in HIVE.

Culinary tourism experiences: The effect of iconic food on tourist intentions

Iconic food is unique typical dishes that represent and identify a destination and motivate tourists to visit it. This study aims to analyse whether iconic food maintains its power of attraction once the visitor has enjoyed it. We examine the effect of the type of culinary experience on the behavioural intentions. The study compares individuals who have tried the iconic food versus those who have not, but who have enjoyed other local dishes. Data were provided by international tourists of a top culinary Spanish destination. Results indicate that iconic food reinforces the effect of perceived value on the intention to repeat the experience, while a generic experience with the local cuisine favours the intention to recommend. Based on these results, destination marketers should enhance iconic food, not only as a pull factor for first-time visitors but also as an experience that will bring back memories and motivate tourists to return.

The Economic Sustainability of Culture in Hawai’i: Tourists’ Willingness to Pay for Hawaiian Cultural Experiences

Given the current travel restrictions with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an unprecedented opportunity for Hawai’i to reexamine its current tourism offerings and establish a new approach to support a more authentic, cultural, and sustainable tourism for the U.S. domestic tourist market. As tourists from the continental U.S. are the largest source market for visitors to Hawai’i, the purpose of this study is to examine the trend towards an “authentic cultural” tourism experience and evaluate whether U.S. visitors will be willing to pay for a deeper integration and representation of Hawaiian culture in tourism offerings. The contingent valuation method (CVM) was adopted to quantify the willingness to pay (WTP) more by the tourists to Hawaii in order to experience a more “authentic Hawaiian cultural experience” as well as “sustainable experiences”. Differences between returning and first-time visitors were considered. This study focused on continental U.S. visitors’ perceptions of Hawaiian culture and the sustainability of Hawaiian tourism products, as well as the assessment of locally grown food and tourists’ willingness to pay extra for these tourism products and experiences. The contingent valuation survey demonstrated that continental U.S. travelers were supportive of an additional fee in order to experience authentic Hawaiian cultural and tourism experiences designed and/or facilitated by Native Hawaiians. In addition, U.S. visitors were also supportive of paying additional fees for activities or experiences to support sustainable tourism in Hawai’i, including paying more for locally grown food, indicating that they would be willing to increase their restaurant/hotel food bill in order to support the Hawaii’s local farming industry. The results of this study demonstrate that there are economic opportunities to further integrate Hawaiian culture and sustainability into the experience of visitors, and that U.S. visitors are willing to support these cultural activities financially.

Factors affecting beach walkability- Tourists’ perception study at selected beaches of West Bengal, India

Walkability studies dominated the urban and transportation literature for long. Such studies advented tourism literature recently and specifically the beach walkability is an under-explored domain. Based on tourists' perception, this paper proposes major factors that significantly improve walkability on the beach. Exploratory sequential mixed methodological approach is adopted to find the factors affecting beach walkability. Tourists' perception data was collected in two phases. The first phase involved interviewing the experienced tourists' ex-situ to understand the key issues impacting beach walkability in West Bengal. This was followed by an in-situ semi-structured survey of first-time visitors in the selected beaches of Digha, Shankarpur, Tajpur, Mandarmani in West Bengal, India. Findings show that four key factors regulate beach walkability in West Bengal, viz. beach safety, beach scenery, beach amenities and beach typology. However, t-statistics proves that in Indian context, some other walkability indicators could be important at the beaches, preferences for which are found to vary significantly among the different gender groups like male and female. Theoretically, this research is a novel addition to the existing walkability-literature which lacks specific focus on beach area of a beach destination for in-depth analysis. It also widens up future research scopes on ‘place-attachment’ considering walking as an intrinsic practice of tourists on the beach. With the exploration of major factors of beach-walkability, the study practically works as a ready reference for the tourism practitioners and policy makers to utilize the beach area for promotion of walkable beach as a new tourism product at a beach destination. The present study reveals the significant factors enhancing walkability, mainly at the beach areas instead of the whole beach precinct. Moreover, while analyzing the tourists' perception-based responses, this research unveils that the beach areas of extensive Indian coastline might promote the ‘walkable beach’ as an outdoor recreation option and potentially a new tourism product. However, for the successful promotion of beach walkability, the following recommendations are to be taken care of: - Consider beach walkability as an effective add-on to the tourism product development at beach precincts. - Develop a continuous monitoring system to ensure the natural scenery of the beach areas is intact. - Prioritize the safety and security of the tourists walking along the beaches. - Strengthen walkability by introducing the infrastructure of the way-side amenities for tourists. - Delve more into the tourists' walkability preferences and support future researches on additional recreation facilities for the walking tourists.

The Attractiveness of Quebec's Heritage Sites in The Era of Covid-19

UNESCO World Heritage site designation is an opportunity to achieve international status. Studies have demonstrated that many of these sites are major attractions to international visitors and first-time visitors. While Covid-19 has limited international mobility during 2020, this study aims to understand how those responsible for tourism and World Heritage sites have communicated the heritage of the Historic District of Old Quebec (Canada) to local and national visitors. To measure tourist attractiveness, the study analyzed publications posted on Instagram during the summer of 2020. Strategies for diffusion revealed an approach to enhance natural sites more than cultural heritage.

The Mediating Role of Major Sport Events in Visitors’ Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction, and Intention to Revisit a Destination

Sport events represent a popular motive for travel and can bring a huge influx of visitors with multiple benefits for a destination. The purpose of this article is to analyze the effect of previous experience with the destination on future behavior in the form of intention to visit/revisit it and to shed more light on the relationship between visitors’ satisfaction and their future revisit intentions depending on their previous experience with the destination and the sporting event. The research setting was EuroBasket 2015, Zagreb, Croatia (EB), the largest and the most important basketball competition for national teams in Europe. A face-to-face survey with visitors of each of the 15 played games was conducted on site. In total, 765 questionnaires were collected. For the purpose of this paper, only foreign visitors (461 questionnaires) were included in the analysis. The connection between past experience and future intention to visit was tested with Pearson’s chi-squared test, differences in satisfaction levels—using the t-test for independent samples. In the next step of the analysis, we performed an analysis of impact asymmetry (IA) and of impact range (IR). The necessary input data were obtained through an OLS regression model with binary-coded dummy variables. The results showed that repeat visitors are more likely to express an intention to revisit the destination than first-time visitors, but the level of total satisfaction with EB was the same for both groups (first-time visitors and repeat visitors). The most influential event attributes for overall satisfaction were organization of EB in general, layout of the arena, and preparation of the city for the event. The study expanded the theoretical understanding of the visitors’ satisfaction with sporting event attributes as well their intention to revisit the destination.

Differences between First-Time and Repeat Visitors in a Special Exhibition at a Natural History Museum

This article studies the differences between first-time and repeat visitors to a large temporary exhibition at a natural history museum. Cued visitors were overtly observed and then interviewed. Compared to first-time visitors, repeat visitors generally visited museums more frequently and tended to be more interested in science. During the visit, they appeared more focused and selective. Repeat visitors engaged with fewer exhibits but spent more time on average engaging with single exhibits than did first-time visitors. There was no detectible tendency to use distant areas of the exhibit more during repeat visits. In comparison to first-time visitors, repeat visitors spent more time at interactive stations but less time at noninteractive exhibits.

A cannabis festival in urban space: visitors' motivation and travel activity

PurposeThe present study aimed at classifying cannabis festival attendees based on their motivation and travel activities, profiling the resultant latent groups with demographic and travel characteristics and examining the association between the groups.Design/methodology/approachWith a quantitative-exploratory approach, this study collected 392 out-of-state visitors' responses to a cannabis festival in Denver, Colorado and classified them according to their motivation and activity participation. Using the classification results, the study profiled the festival visitors based on their demographic and travel characteristics. Latent class analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and cross-tabulation were employed.FindingsThe results revealed that festival visitors were categorized into four latent groups by motivation and three latent groups by travel activity participation. Regarding motivation, the cannabis seekers (relatively young, White/Caucasian and residents in liberal states) and multi-purpose seekers (relatively young, Black/African American and residents in conservative states) were strongly motivated by cannabis-related factors. For travel activity participation, moderate participants were more likely to be first-time visitors, whereas active and passive participants were classified as repeat visitors.Originality/valueThe current study filled the research gap in the quantitative exploration of cannabis tourism industry in general and cannabis festival segment specifically. The findings contribute to (1) better understanding of out-of-state visitors' motivation and travel behaviors while attending a cannabis themed festival and (2) serving as a seminal work in the context of cannabis tourism literature since the recreational cannabis legalization in the United States.

Underground Parking Lot Navigation System Using Long-Term Evolution Signal.

Some of the shopping malls, airports, hospitals, etc. have underground parking lots where hundreds of vehicles can be parked. However, first-time visitors find it difficult to determine their current location and need to keep moving the vehicle to find an empty parking space. Moreover, they need to remember the parked location, and find a nearby staircase or elevator to move toward the destination. In such a situation, if the user location can be estimated, a new navigation system can be offered, which can assist users. This study presents an underground parking lot navigation system using long-term evolution (LTE) signals. As the proposed system utilizes LTE network signals for which the infrastructure is already installed, no additional infrastructure is required. To estimate the location of the vehicle, the signal strength of the LTE signal is accumulated, and the location of the vehicle is estimated by comparing it with the previously stored database of the LTE received signal strength (RSS). In addition, the acceleration and gyroscope sensors of a smartphone are used to improve the vehicle position estimation performance. The effectiveness of the proposed system is verified by conducting an experiment in a large shopping-mall underground parking lot where approximately 500 vehicles can be parked. From the results of the experiment, an error of less than an average of 10 m was obtained, which shows that seamless navigation is possible using the proposed system even in an environment where GNSS does not function.

Analysis of a COVID-19 Prescreening Process in an Outpatient Clinic at a University Hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BackgroundTo minimize nosocomial infection against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), most hospitals conduct a prescreening process to evaluate the patient or guardian of any symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 or exposure to a COVID-19 patient at entrances of hospital buildings. In our hospital, we have implemented a two-level prescreening process in the outpatient clinic: an initial prescreening process at the entrance of the outpatient clinic (PPEO) and a second prescreening process is repeated in each department. If any symptoms or epidemiological history are identified at the second level, an emergency code is announced through the hospital's address system. The patient is then guided outside through a designated aisle. In this study, we analyze the cases missed in the PPEO that caused the emergency code to be applied.MethodsAll cases reported from March 2020 to April 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. We calculated the incidence of cases missed by the PPEO per 1,000 outpatients and compared the incidence between first-time hospital visitors and those visiting for the second time or more; morning and afternoon office hours; and days of the week.ResultsDuring the study period, the emergency code was applied to 449 cases missed by the PPEO. Among those cases, 20.7% were reported in otorhinolaryngology, followed by 11.6% in gastroenterology, 5.8% in urology, and 5.8% in dermatology. Fever was the most common symptom (59.9%), followed by cough (19.8%). The incidence of cases per 1,000 outpatients was significantly higher among first-time visitors than among those visiting for the second time or more (1.77 [confidence interval (CI), 1.44–2.10] vs. 0.59 [CI, 0.52–0.65], respectively) (P < 0.001).ConclusionFever was the most common symptom missed by the PPEO, and otorhinolaryngology and gastroenterology most frequently reported missed cases. Cases missed by the PPEO were more likely to occur among first-time visitors than returning visitors. The results obtained from this study can provide insights or recommendations to other healthcare facilities in operating prescreening processes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Willingness to pay for primary health care at public facilities in the Western Cape Province, Cape Town, South Africa

Background and objectives As facilities are being prepared for the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) in South Africa, there is a pressing need to understand how the public equates the provision of health services at Primary Health Care (PHC) centres with monetary value. Accordingly, this exploratory study was designed to ascertain the willingness to pay (WTP) for public primary healthcare services in South Africa and to identify factors that influence the WTP. Methods The study was conducted in Cape Town, South Africa, among 453 persons presenting at two public primary health care centres, namely Bothasig Community Day Centre (CDC) and Goodwood CDC. The study used the contingent valuation range methodology. Descriptive statistics, multiple logistic and tobit regression analyses were conducted to assess demographics, socio-economic, and health access factors that influence WTP. Results Overall, 60% of participants were willing to pay for services offered at the PHC facilities. The average willingness to pay for all participants was 49.44 ZAR, with a median of 25 ZAR. The multiple logistic regression for grouped facilities showed unemployment, public transport, and the facility attended to be significant while public transport, facility visits, and facility attended were the only significant variables in the tobit model. There was less willingness to pay for those unemployed in comparison with students, those using public transport rather than walking, those frequenting the facilities more than first-time visitors and those attending Goodwood facility in comparison with Bothasig. Conclusion This study revealed factors related to the participants’ WTP and to their willingness to contribute towards the health service, though at very low amounts. Understanding the economic value placed upon a service provided in a facility is essential in decision-making for quality care improvements, especially as the South African health system is making the facilities ready for NHI.

An Empirical Analysis of Dimensional Trust in Online Group Buying Sites

Building websites that generate adequate perception of ability, integrity, and benevolence dimensions of trust amongst even the first-time visitors is critically important for online group buying (OGB) sites; otherwise, visitors may be reluctant to transact. Current literature suggests that certain website features can induce overall trust perception (TP); however, their impact on specific trust dimensions has received little attention resulting in scholarly and managerial lacunae to precisely diagnose and remedy the problem with TP. To address this knowledge gap, this study first categorizes the trust-inducing features and then explores their impact on the trust dimensions of an OGB website in India. The results indicate differential impact of feature categories on the trust dimensions, thereby revealing new insights into the theory and practice of achieving targeted trust perception in online retail stores. The study describes limitations and offers meaningful scholarly and managerial implications.

Artistic Consumption Behavior of Domestic Tourists for Tourism Performing Arts in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

This article aimed to study artistic consumption behavior of tourism performing arts, find out factors influencing consumers to buy tourism performing arts products, improve the product market competitiveness, and increase the market share of cultural enterprises. In this study, 405 domestic travelers with individual behaviors were selected as the research subjects, and a mixed approach was adopted to solve this problem. The results showed that female respondents in Guangxi tourism performing arts accounted for 219 (54.1%), mainly aged between 30 and 40 years old (51.6%), bachelor degree accounted for 52%, personal monthly income was relatively average between 4000 and 5000 Yuan. Most of respondents are first-time visitors to Guangxi, with 292 (72.1%) respondents having experience of watched ethnic tourism performing arts, which indicates that a good viewing experience will have an important impact on their re-purchase. Difference analysis of demographic variables, respondents of different ages, education level, monthly income and profession showed significant differences in their artistic consumption behavior, while those of different genders showed little difference. Through multiple linear regression analysis, product cognition, cultural identity, past behavior, reference group and perceptual behavior control have significant influence on artistic consumption behavior and purchase intention. In addition, all hypotheses have been accepted. Independent variables can influence artistic consumption behavior through purchase intention or directly influence artistic consumption behavior, indicating that consumers’ purchase intention is an incomplete intermediary. In order to extend life cycle of tourism performing arts products and maintain the sustainable development of Guangxi’s tourism performing arts, through in-depth interviews, respondents put forward the following suggestions after watched Guangxi’s tourism performing arts: First, extend the performance time, protect the authenticity of Guangxi’s history and culture, and highlight local characteristics; Second, performing arts venues are large, seats are difficult to find, more staff guidance is needed; Appropriately increase the screen, increase online ticket purchase, increase seat selection function, and increase the number of performances; Improving sanitary conditions; Actively deal with complaints and suggestions to improve tourist comfort. Tourism performing arts venues are generally far away from urban areas, supporting facilities and services around performing arts venues are important factors to promote consumers’ accommodation at night and improve the economy at night. Third, make full use of media to publicize and promote media platforms such as TV, newspapers, magazines and road publicity platforms to provide authoritative information for the majority of Internet users; Fourth, adjust ticket prices to promote consumer buying.

Influence of tourists’ sociodemographic characteristics on their perception of destination personality and emotional experience of a city break destination

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of tourists’ sociodemographic characteristics on their perception of destination personality and emotional experience on the example of the city break tourism destination.Design/methodology/approachTo examine this relationship, survey research was conducted on a sample of 203 national and international tourists who visited Novi Sad, the second-largest city in Serbia.FindingsResearch results confirmed the role of travelers’ sociodemographic variables in shaping their emotional experience and destination personality perception. The findings pointed out significant divergences in the perception of emotional experience in the case of respondents’ education level, previous visits to the city and travel companion. On the other hand, the analysis showed that repeat visitors significantly differed from first-time visitors regarding destination personality perception. In addition, differences in both destination personality and emotional experience assessment were found between national and international city break travelers.Originality/valueThe current study is first to focus on the role of travelers’ sociodemographic variables in simultaneous modeling of their perception of destination personality and emotional experience within the city break destination context. Besides, results revealed some new influencing factors of both destination personality and emotional experience perception, thus contributing to the existing tourism literature. In addition, this paper offers useful practical implications for city break marketers to adapt promotional activities, more effectively present the desired brand personality of the city to different sociodemographic categories of tourists and sustain repeat tourists’ perception of Positive surprise.

Usability of two brief questions as a screening tool for domestic violence and effect of #MeToo on prevalence of self-reported violence

ObjectiveDomestic violence is a hidden epidemic. We used a two-question screening tool to explore the prevalence of domestic violence among gynaecological outpatients. We also retrospectively assessed whether there was a change in the prevalence rate of self-reported violence after the launch of the #MeToo movement. Study designOver an 11-month period, all gynaecological first-time visitors to our outpatient clinic were asked two dichotomous questions that screened for domestic violence and examined whether the violence had an ongoing impact on the respondent’s everyday life. We used logistic regression models to assess whether the launch of #MeToo was associated with the answers to these two questions. ResultsOf the 6,957 screened women, 154 (2.2 %) tested positive for domestic violence. Among the screen-positive women, 87 (56.5 %) reported that the violence affected their health and well-being. Of these 87 women, 52.9 % wanted further support and 72.4 % had already contacted psychiatric care. Out of all of the patients, the proportion of screen-positive respondents was 2.3 % before and 2.2 % after #MeToo. We did not detect increased odds of self-reporting domestic violence (odds ratio 0.97, 95 % confidence interval 0.70–1.36) or its ongoing impact on the victim’s everyday life (odds ratio 1.05, 95 % confidence interval 0.53–2.07) after #MeToo. ConclusionsOur two-question screening tool detected a lower prevalence of domestic violence among gynaecological outpatients than previous reports examining the general population. Our results illustrate the dire challenges in screening for domestic violence that persist even in the post-#MeToo era. Domestic violence remains a highly intimate, stigmatising, and underreported health issue, and systematic measures to screen for and prevent it should be advocated, both in gynaecological patients and the general population.

Explanatory variables underlying the route choice decisions of tourists: The case of Geiranger Fjord in Norway

Abstract The tourism industry is rapidly growing, and the massification of certain areas is jeopardising the environment. Certain roads in protected areas or near tourist attractions are experiencing an increase in traffic volumes, leading to higher pollution and noise levels and greater discomfort in the travel experience. To recommend measures intended to ensure a sustainable tourism industry without compromising the environment, it is necessary to obtain further knowledge regarding tourists' travel behaviour as it may differ from that of other travellers, i.e., tourists might choose a route based on variables other than time and cost, such as landscape or tourist attractions. Using Geiranger Fjord in Norway as a case study, tourist route choice preferences were observed and analysed. In total, 60 routes from 12 different origins were observed based on 408 responses collected through a tourist survey administered in the summer of 2018. These data were combined with information regarding road features and the locations of tourist attractions. A path size correction logit model was selected to estimate the significant variables in the choice of one route over other routes. The results showed that tourists selected their routes mainly based on the travel time, road scenery (water bodies and forests), sightseeing places among first-time visitors, and outdoor activities among those living outside of Norway. In addition, the tourists preferred local roads, and 'caravan' tourists were more attracted to roads with fewer facilities. The findings of this study show that tourists’ route choice behaviour differs from that of other travellers. Policymakers should consider these differences to enhance transport systems. Further research should focus on incorporating these findings into a transport model to simulate tourists' travel patterns and quantify changes in traffic volumes due to different sustainable measures.

Exploring the host-Guest interaction in tourism crisis communication

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore the host–guest interaction in tourism crisis communication. Guided by a practice-based approach, our study used the recent event of the 2018 Florida Red Tide as the context. It explored both visitors’ and residents’ information-acquiring and sharing practices in crisis communication. A total of 969 potential visitors and 460 Florida residents were surveyed, respectively. The findings of our study show that visitors preferred residents as their primary information sources in the crisis communication process. Repeat visitors who have no children and are the primary decision-maker are more likely to rely on residents for risk information than first-time visitors. The results further indicate that most respondents in the resident sample have shared Red Tide information with visitors through various channels. Knowledge and social identity influenced their information-sharing behaviour. The findings suggest that residents can act as risk insiders in tourism crisis communication. A new research direction involving the guest–host interaction in tourism crisis management is proposed. This study offers practical implications for promoting effective risk and crisis communication in destinations and incorporating residents in tourism crisis communication and management.