A structural model on national identity, tourism ethnocentrism, and domestic tourism intentions: taking a Chinese Youth perspective

Tourism ethnocentrism, a positive in-group bias, has been identified as a symbolic factor that encourages travelers to choose domestic travel locations to aid in the growth of their home nation and its tourism sector. Given the global rise of ethnocentrism, tourism development must comprehend the influence of tourism ethnocentrism on travel aspirations. Based on this, this study collected questionnaire data from 476 Chinese tourists to examine the influence mechanisms of national identity, tourism ethnocentrism, and domestic tourism intentions and to explore the mediating roles of destination security perception, and destination trust, within the context of Social Identity Theory. In addition, a multi-group analysis (MGA) in PLS-SEM was used to capture the effect of age on the path relationships between the different variables. The findings suggest that tourism ethnocentrism can significantly influence domestic tourism intentions, while destination security perception and trust mediate between the two. Also, the study confirms that different ages, genders, and education levels influence the mechanism of political identity on tourism ethnocentrism. Therefore, tourism managers must consider the ethnocentrism of tourists and the positioning of the destination in their minds to reasonably satisfy the tourists’ needs and promote the destination’s long-term development.