Tourist-resident interaction affects mutual understanding but defined by social distance

ABSTRACT This paper examines the interrelationships of social distance, tourist-resident interaction and mutual understanding between mainland Chinese tourists and residents in an urban destination of Hong Kong. Social distance affects tourist-resident interaction that predicts their mutual understanding for both tourists and residents are tested. A total of 416 tourist questionnaires and 315 resident questionnaires were obtained. The results show that quality of interaction is a major factor in predicting mutual understanding but negatively affected by social distance for both tourists and residents. From tourist perspective, only quality of interaction predicts the understanding but negatively affected by their social distances. From resident perspective, both quality of interaction and focused interaction positively affect the understanding but defined by their social distances. Co-presence does not affect residents’ understanding but is positively related to their social distance. Overall, tourist-resident interaction may contribute to mutual understanding, but only when the social distance is small to start with. The research findings have significant implications for sustainable development of tourism destinations.