Can tourists become disciples? The formation and mechanism of place conversion in traditional Chinese villages

Abstract

Place attachment has been extensively studied in the field of tourism. However, it is important to recognize that place attachment alone may not fully capture the emotional expression of tourists’ spiritual beliefs and their sense of belonging to a destination. Therefore, a more comprehensive attachment theory is needed to encompass higher dimensions. This article focuses on the ancient Chinese villages of Yantou, Cangpo, and Furong from a tourist perspective, and introduces genius loci in architectural phenomenology. We set out to expand the study of spiritual dimensions of place attachment on the basis of local attachment, redefining tourists’ place connection and putting forward the new concept of place conversion. A qualitative analysis of online text using Rooting theory was conducted to condense 22 categories into 6 main categories and establish a model. The study shows that the mechanism of place conversion is composed of situational perception (place perception and place identity), physical and mental immersion (spatio-temporal immersion and place conversion), and behavioral willingness (tourists intention and conversion behavior). The study has implications for the conservation and development of traditional villages and future research on the spiritual experiences of tourists.

The Effect of Soundscape on Sense of Place for Residential Historical and Cultural Areas: A Case Study of Taiyuan, China

“…In studies on tourist place attachment, previous research results indicated that tourists' perceived value can positively influence place identity [53]. Xu's research suggested that through the place conversions, tourists developed a sense of belonging and appreciation for architectural art, and were thus given meaning and developed place identity with the village [54]. In this study, the level of neighborhood features and cultural preservation in personal evaluations are part of cultural value, while overall environmental evaluations are part of quality value, and residents' perceived value similarly positively influences place identity from these aspects.…”