Place attachment and attendees’ experiences of homecoming event |
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| Authors: | Hongping Zhang Zhuowei Huang B Christine Green Shangzhi Qiu |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Tourism, Recreation &2. Sport Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA;3. Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA;4. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA |
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| Abstract: | This study explores the complex of attendees’ experiences in the context of homecoming events that overlap sport activities, event, and tourism elements during a weekend. Focusing on alumni attendees who travel to the college town for the event, the present research argues that these attendees have multiple identities such as event attendees, university alumni, and destination tourists. Derived from this notion, this study proposes and examines two dimensions of attendees’ whole event experiences: event program-related experiences and destination tourism experiences. In addition, relationships between the whole event experiences, place attachment, and satisfaction are empirically tested. The results indicate that place attachment and satisfaction are significantly enhanced by attendees’ experiences of Event Programs & Information, Destination Products, and Natural Environment. Alumni attendees tend to evaluate their experiences more positively when they have a unique perception of the college town and a strong emotional bonding with their Alma Mater. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are also discussed. |
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| Keywords: | Homecoming event place attachment whole event experiences satisfaction |
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