Lawal M. Marafa

How a green city brand determines the willingness to stay in a city: the case of Hong Kong

ABSTRACT This paper studies how biophysical green resources can become brand dimensions that affect the willingness of non-local people to stay in Hong Kong. Based on the Green (Resource) Brand Hexagon (GBH), the green brand attributes of Hong Kong were tested with two samples: inbound visitors (n = 396) and outsiders, most of whom had not visited Hong Kong (n = 235). The results show that visitors have more diversified determinants than outsiders, with safety, accessibility, and the aesthetic value of parks and landscapes in particular increasing respondents’ willingness to stay in Hong Kong. Outsiders perceive that a pleasant experience in physical spaces is primarily relevant to their willingness to stay in Hong Kong for seeking employment and education. However, green brand attributes play only a small part in the views of both respondent groups, indicating the presence of non-environmental factors in the decision to stay in a city.

An assessment of place brand potential: familiarity, favourability and uniqueness

This paper aims to present an approach by which to assess the potential of branding a particular type of place resource or feature.,A review was conducted to analyse three key periodicals (Journal of Brand Management, Place Branding and Public Diplomacy and Journal of Place Management and Development) in the field of branding and place branding between 2000 and 2011. These three periodicals are recognized as the three leading periodicals of place branding, and they followed the clear establishment and development of the field of place branding.,Familiarity, favourability and uniqueness are the three dimensions that give a quick indication of the level of place brand equity, and in turn they represent the level of place brand potential.,In the literature, brand potential is not well conceptualized. This paper identifies this knowledge gap through a review of place branding studies, and it closes the gap by connecting brand potential with place brand equity.,This paper suggests practical and research directions by which to study these three dimensions to generate valuable brands for places.

Does authenticity exist in cultural theme parks? A case study of Millennium City Park in Henan, China

ABSTRACT Authenticity has always been a salient concept in tourism studies. Most previous studies focused on cultural heritage sites while much less research was conducted on man-made attractions. Given the importance of authenticity in the tourism industry, this research investigates different authenticity concepts in a unique context: a Chinese cultural theme park. Millennium City Park is a typical cultural theme park in Kaifeng, Henan, China, and was chosen as the case study. This study identifies the perception of authenticity from the perspectives of both park managers and park visitors. It is found that visitors value authentic experience in the experience economy. Authenticity plays an important role in the tourism industry, in which activity-related authenticity is more important to visitors than object-related authenticity in cultural theme parks since visitors prefer more participation and involvement during their visits. It is suggested that park planners emphasize cultural elements in various products in cultural theme parks.

The Mainland Chinese market for nature tourism in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT Nature tourism has been emerged as an ecologically sensitive form of tourism in developed and developing countries. A large influx of tourists would have both benefits and adverse impacts on these destinations. With an increasing influence of Chinese market in many destinations and tourism activities worldwide, it is important to understand the perceptions and preferences of Chinese tourists toward natural attributes so that proper approaches to destination planning and marketing can be derived to better attract these segments of tourists and sustainably manage tourism resources. The results of an empirical study of a sample of Mainland citizens (n = 430) to Hong Kongs nature areas show that (1) they exert a high degree of interest in participating in nature tourism; (2) female and older people are more interested in visiting natural environment; (3) these potential nature tourists from China prefer going to places in association with sea views, and engaging in photo-taking, non-commercial activities and less artificial elements; and (4) the nature tourism attributes form two factors related to aspects of educational needs and relaxation (an experiential factor), and nature-oriented but also convenient (a functional factor). These considerations can lead to the development of ecotourism products that are better suited to meeting the interests of mainland Chinese tourists, while also enriching the host experience.

Nature Tourism in Hong Kong for the Mainland Chinese Market: A Study of Preference and Perception

This paper seeks to explore the development potential of nature tourism among Mainland Chinese citizens with regard to their interest, preference and perception of natural attributes in Hong Kong. The results of an empirical study of a sample of mainland citizens (n=430) show that they exert certain degree of interest in participating in nature tourism in Hong Kong. Such interest in nature in Hong Kong demonstrates a major core cluster across the central and eastern provinces of China, while distance-decay pattern is absent. These potential nature tourists prefer going to places in association with sea views, and engaging in photo-taking, non-commercial activities and less artificial elements. The nature tourism attributes form two components among the respondents, which are related to aspects of education needs and relaxation, and nature-oriented and convenience. These aspects also imply a specific market potential for ecotourism development in Hong Kong.