{"id":2595,"date":"2017-07-11T09:21:21","date_gmt":"2017-07-11T08:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.ift.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/?p=2595"},"modified":"2017-07-11T09:33:54","modified_gmt":"2017-07-11T08:33:54","slug":"the-power-of-nostalgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/the-power-of-nostalgia\/","title":{"rendered":"The power of nostalgia"},"content":{"rendered":"\u4e2d\u6587\u6458\u8981 \/ Summary in Chinese<\/span>\n

Mainland Chinese now living in Macao should be seen as a tourist segment with unique needs when they go on leave to their respective home areas, says a study from an IFT scholar. As this visitor segment is very familiar with the destination, tourism operators are advised to tailor sophisticated services and products for such clients, focusing on authenticity in tourism offerings relating to heritage, adds the research.<\/p>\n

The study was conducted by IFT scholar Dr. Io Man U. The results were featured in her academic paper titled \u201cExploring the impact of past memories on tourist experiences of homeland visit: The case of the Chinese immigrants in Macao\u201d, published in the Journal of Vacation Marketing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHomeland visitors should be treated as a single market segment due to their special tourist experiences and connection [with the destination],\u201d Dr. Io wrote. She added: \u201cEmigrants have a higher level of familiarity with and a deeper emotional attachment to their homeland than foreign\u2026 tourists, and emigrants\u2019 deep emotional attachment to their homeland facilitates them to gain a memorable tourist experience and satisfaction with their homeland visit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IFT scholar noted that a visit either to friends or relatives is traditionally considered as the major motive for home area visits by migrants. Hence, this tourism consumer group is often put under the heading \u2018visiting friends and relatives\u2019 (VFR). However, studies have shown that \u201crecollecting memories and connecting with their homeland could be important motives for a homeland visit\u201d by migrants, Dr. Io stated.<\/p>\n

Her study results were based on questionnaires answered by 500 Mainland Chinese living in Macao for at least a year at the time of the research. More than 77 percent of respondents reported visiting their home area at least once during the previous 12 months. Approximately 36 percent of respondents reported having stayed for at least 6 days on their most recent visit to their home area.<\/p>\n

The majority of the Macao population \u2013 approximately 46.2 percent or around 255,000 people \u2013 was born in Mainland China, according to the results of the city\u2019s 2011 census. Fewer than 41 percent were born in Macao.<\/p>\n

Happy days<\/strong><\/p>\n

The IFT scholar suggested destination managers make use of her research findings in order more effectively to attract Chinese migrants to go home for a holiday. She said: \u201cThe findings suggested that the more often respondents used\u2026 memories related to their homeland in their everyday life, the more positive tourist experiences they had; thus, destination managers should attract Chinese emigrants to come home for vacation by stimulating their need for\u2026 nostalgic feelings and [for] reliving their\u2026 life in their homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Io added: \u201cMoreover, destination managers may introduce the traditional culture or customs of the place to homeland visitors and remind them of their original cultural identity and emotional bond with their homeland.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researcher however noted that this type of visitor could be especially demanding due to their high level of familiarity with the destination. \u201cDestination managers should be aware that a good sense of authenticity in the heritage offerings is important, as [such] visitors are familiar with their homeland, and thus they may have sophisticated requirements for tourist services and heritage offerings,\u201d she said. \u201cAlso, authenticity is important for tourists\u2019 satisfaction with their heritage consumption and understanding of place identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study findings suggested that respondents enjoyed tourist experiences related to their past life and related to reviewing the changes that have occurred in their personal life and home area. As suggested by Dr. Io, this too could be a piece of useful information for tourism operators: \u201cDestination managers may develop a tourism programme to help homeland visitors to understand the past, present and future of their homeland and enhance their emotional bond with their homeland by introducing the traditional sites and culture as their own heritage as well as the changes in the place over the past years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Io noted that tourism in Macao could also benefit from the fact Chinese migrants living in the city return to their home area for holidays. \u201cThese Chinese immigrants can be an important source for spreading positive words about Macao,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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More info<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The researcher<\/div>\nDr. Io Man U, Ph.D. holder, is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT). Dr. Io is certified as a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Specialist Guide Trainer. She teaches subjects related to hospitality, heritage tourism and consumer behaviour. Her research interests include tourist experience\u00a0and behaviour in the area of cultural tourism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The paper<\/div>\nIo Man U: \u201cExploring the impact of past memories on tourist experiences of homeland visit: The case of the Chinese immigrants in Macao\u201d, Journal of Vacation Marketing. Volume 21, Issue 2, pages 191-204, 2015.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1356766714555941<\/a>
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Mainland Chinese now living in Macao should be seen as a tourist segment with unique needs when they go on leave to their respective home areas, says a study from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":2596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knowledge","category-main_headline"],"views":387,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2595"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2600,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2595\/revisions\/2600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}