The Meanings of Destination: A Q Method Approach

Abstract

While researchers increasingly address place meaning and place attachment as the cornerstones for understanding human–place relations, the factors that make a tourism destination meaningful have received less attention. Using Q method, this study investigated the dynamic nature of place meanings from the tourist perspective, and developed a theoretical framework to explain the construction of destination meanings. Data analyses identified four subjective views toward the meanings of destination and four underlying continuums that illustrate how a complex process of co-construction reveals distinct patterns of destination meanings. This study makes theoretical as well as practical contributions to the literature.

Identifying stakeholder perspectives and worldviews on sustainable urban tourism development using a Q-sort methodology

“…Even though it is used regularly to appreciate beliefs and values in relation to governance issues (Addams & Proops, 2000;Durning, 1999), Q methodology is little used in tourism studies with some notable exceptions (e.g. Huang, Qu, & Montgomery, 2017;Phi et al, 2014;Wijngaarden, 2017). The value of Q methodology is that it combines the mathematical rigour of quantitative approaches with the interpretative component that is common in qualitative research (Robbins & Krueger, 2000).…”

“…The basic premise of the methodology is that participants are asked to rank and comment on a set of items or statements, from which shared or 'typical' perspectives are extracted by means of a rotated factor analysis. This allows for richer insights than can be gained from a pure quantitative approach, whilst also mitigating researcher bias in the interpretation of participants' narratives (Huang et al, 2017).…”

A formative measurement approach for exploring how to form service quality in hot spring resorts

“…Having been adapted to various disciplines, the construct of place attachment refers to the study of human thoughts and behaviours which are related to the physical environment (Lee et al., 2012). In the field of destination study, place attachment is a basic element which helps people to understand human–place relations (Huang et al., 2016). Place attachment occurs if people feel an emotional tie with a place, and if they have some meaning related to a place, based on their social interactions within that place.…”

Mindsets Set in Concrete? Exploring the Perspectives of Domestic Travellers on New Zealand’s (Auto-)Mobility Culture

“…In the tourism field, several studies exist using Q methodology as a research method. Their focus primarily lies on either the visitors' destination meanings or images [42,46,56], stakeholder perspectives [57], or the residents' perspectives on how tourism affects their community [45,56]. Since this study focuses mainly on transport mode choices concerning leisure trips, different meanings associated with the visited places are secondary for this study.…”

“…The interviews started with a short welcome, followed by the questionnaire completion and an introduction to Q methodology. After that, the participants were asked to describe a memorable domestic summer leisure trip to provide them with a tangible picture in mind, as described by [56]. They were then handed the 47 statement cards and were asked to sort them into piles of agreement, disagreement and neutral, followed by the fine sorting on the bell-shaped Q-sorting board (see Figure 1).…”