Contact Hypothesis in Tourism: A Systematic Review
Short Abstract
We evaluate contact hypothesis in the tourism field from a residents’ perspective. Contact between residents and tourists is a key factor of tourism industry and contact hypothesis is a promising theory to examine it. However, the evidence of the effect of resident-tourist contact is ambiguous. While some studies found positive effects, others found negative or mixed effects. We assemble and review studies that applied contact hypothesis in tourism, of which there are 43 in total, and ran a meta-analysis. We find the evidence that contact typically has positive outcome in resident-tourist relationship, a result consistent with other meta-analyses in other contexts; but our analysis also shows that contact effects contradict some previous studies. Furthermore, we uncover important gaps, which must be addressed empirically before contact hypothesis can reliably guide policy to improve tourism development.
Keywords: contact hypothesis; resident-tourist interaction; tourism; meta-analysis.
Type of Submission
Paper Presentation
Location
Gran Canaria
Recommended Citation
Purper, Luciana M. and Araña, Jorge E., "Contact Hypothesis in Tourism: A Systematic Review" (2022). ITSA 2022 Gran Canaria - 9th Biennial Conference: Corporate Entrepreneurship and Global Tourism Strategies After Covid 19. 6.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/itsa/ITSA2022/ITSA2022/6
Participation
Attend the conference at Gran Canaria in person.
Contact Hypothesis in Tourism: A Systematic Review
Gran Canaria
We evaluate contact hypothesis in the tourism field from a residents’ perspective. Contact between residents and tourists is a key factor of tourism industry and contact hypothesis is a promising theory to examine it. However, the evidence of the effect of resident-tourist contact is ambiguous. While some studies found positive effects, others found negative or mixed effects. We assemble and review studies that applied contact hypothesis in tourism, of which there are 43 in total, and ran a meta-analysis. We find the evidence that contact typically has positive outcome in resident-tourist relationship, a result consistent with other meta-analyses in other contexts; but our analysis also shows that contact effects contradict some previous studies. Furthermore, we uncover important gaps, which must be addressed empirically before contact hypothesis can reliably guide policy to improve tourism development.
Keywords: contact hypothesis; resident-tourist interaction; tourism; meta-analysis.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/itsa/ITSA2022/ITSA2022/6