Award Date

1-1-2007

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Hotel Administration

First Committee Member

James Busser

Number of Pages

170

Abstract

Second-homes have become common place in many destinations. The visitation to these homes has become known as second-home tourism. Previous literature suggests that these homeowners might possess traits that would be attractive to tourism planners such as repeat visitation, word-of-mouth promotion, and the hosting of other visitors; The purpose of this study was to explore the presence of these traits in the context of international second-home owners and test a theoretical model that proposes place attachment as a driver of these behaviors. Attachment has been shown as a predictor of visitation and positive word-of-mouth in previous research. Borrowing from the visiting friends and relatives' literature, a new construct known as hosting is developed and tested in the model; This study expands previous research on place attachment into a cross-cultural context by sampling residents of the United States and Canada that own a second-home in Costa Rica. Using theory and previous research findings, place attachment was proposed as a driver of homeowner visitation, word-of-mouth promotion, and hosting; data were collected and tested for model fit; Findings from the study suggest that the relationship between the dimensions of place attachment (place identity and place dependence) do not support the relationship with visitation. Place dependence and visitation were not supported in model. Place identity was supported as a driver of word-of-mouth promotion and hosting. In addition, word-of-mouth promotion was supported as a driver of hosting. Findings from this study provide insight into the behaviors of second-home owners and utilization of their home. Tourism planners should develop strategies to engage these owners by enriching their experiences at the destination to nourish their attachment.

Keywords

Attachment; Destination; Driver; Home; Owner; Place Attachment; Place Dependence; Place Identity; Promotion; Second-home Tourism; Second Home

Controlled Subject

Industrial management; Marketing; Recreation

File Format

pdf

File Size

3092.48 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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