Recently, Yang Tingting, a doctoral student from the College of Tourism at Huaqiao University (HQU), published a first-authored research paper titled “The indelible stains: Exploring destination stereotypes after crisis events” in Tourism Management.

Tourism Management, with an impact factor of 10.9 in 2023, is a JCR Q1 journal and an ABS four-star journal dedicated to publishing the latest research findings in tourism management, policies, marketing, economics, destination management, and tourist consumer behavior.

Popular perceptions of a destination could be shaped and changed by a crisis event, even if this event was at an end. However, few studies have explored the content and formation of destination stereotypes in the crisis context. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting qualitative research based on 34 interviews and 133 online posts. The results reveal four categories of destination stereotypes: unsafe, uncivilized, distanced, and victim. They are affected by seven influencing factors: event characteristics, government management, individual cognition, psychological proximity, popular behaviors and attitudes, group relations, and information transmission. In addition, an integrative model of the formation of destination stereotypes is suggested to explain the interrelationships and synergistic effects among these influencing factors. This study offers comprehensive insights into destination stereotypes in the context of crisis events and provides implications for destination managers to suppress and weaken stereotypes through crisis management.

This paper was published with HQU College of Tourism as the first affiliation and Prof. Ruan Wenqi as the corresponding author. Other co-authors include Yang’s supervisor Prof. Li Yongquan, Dr. Zhang Shuning, and doctoral student Zhou Yan.

Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2024.105020

(Editor: Wei Linying)