Human psychology as a driver of tourism development: The effect of regional personality traits

Li, Yuan (William), Yi Liu, Lisa C. Wan and Yingxin Lin

Annals of Tourism Research, 2024, vol. 109, issue C

Abstract: Theories of tourism development have traditionally emphasized resource-based factors. However, could the local population's psychological characteristics (e.g., personality) influence tourism development? This study, through the lens of geographical psychology, investigates the impact of regional Big-Five personality traits on tourism development in the UK from 2009 to 2018. Findings reveal that a region's psychological makeup matters for tourism. Specifically, regional Openness traits boost local tourism development, while Neuroticism traits inhibit tourism performance. Regional Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness traits show no significant effects. We provide causal evidence for these results through instrumental variable tests. Our work introduces a novel micro-psychological perspective to tourism development literature and urges policymakers to consider the local population's psychological characteristics for achieving competitive and sustainable tourism development.

Keywords: Sustainable tourism development; Local population; Psychological characteristics; Geographical psychology; Regional Big-Five personality traits; Openness and neuroticism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:109:y:2024:i:c:s0160738324001294

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2024.103852

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