Assessing mainland Chinese tourists' satisfaction with Hong Kong using tourist satisfaction index

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to test a two-step tourist satisfaction index framework empirically. The first step estimates sectoral-level satisfaction indexes based on a structural equation model, and the second obtains an overall tourist satisfaction index by conducting second-order confirmatory factor analysis. This study acts as a pilot test of the theoretical framework based on three selected tourism-related sectors in Hong Kong. The results indicate that mainland Chinese tourists are most satisfied with the hotel sector in Hong Kong, followed by the retail sector, and least satisfied with local tour operators. The aggregate tourist satisfaction index for Hong Kong is 74.04 out of 100. The results of this study have important practical implications for long-term destination management.

Comparing Mainland Chinese Tourists' Satisfaction With Hong Kong and the UK Using Tourist Satisfaction Index

“…The original theoretical model of tourist satisfaction in Figure 1 is estimated for Hong Kong and the UK, and the results (see Figures 2 and 3) show high consistency with the results of Song et al (2011). None of the path coefficients between the tourist characteristics construct and its consequences is significant in both cases of the UK and Hong Kong.…”

“…This study adopts the general TSI framework developed by Song et al (2011Song et al ( , 2012. Different from previous research design, this study applies the theoretical model of TSI in Figure 1 to the overall destination satisfaction assessment instead of the evaluation for each of the key tourism-related sectors.…”

“…In the current study the sectoral level tourist satisfaction is also examined in order to establish the relationship with the overall satisfaction, but the antecedents and consequences of the sectoral level satisfaction are beyond the scope of this comparative study and are hence excluded from the survey. The research instrument is developed based on the studies of Song et al (2011Song et al ( , 2012. The survey consists of four parts: overall destination satisfaction assessment of the UK, overall destination satisfaction assessment of Hong Kong, sectoral level satisfaction assessment of both the UK and Hong Kong, and demographics.…”

“…The expectationmaximisation (EM) algorithm in SPSS 18 was employed to impute the missing values and obtain a complete data set. Model validity was assessed by determining the significance of the model's estimated path coefficients using the bootstrapping option, in line with Song et al (2011Song et al ( , 2012.…”

“…The contrasts between the two selected destinations allow an in-depth analysis leading to an enhanced understanding of Chinese tourists' behavioural characteristics. This is an extension of the studies by Chen (2011) andChen (2012), who developed a Tourist Satisfaction Index (TSI) framework. This comparative study aims to achieve the following objectives: 1.…”