Social Impact of the Individual Visitor

Scheme (IVS) of Chinese Mainland

Tourists on Hong Kong: Evidence from
Hong Kong Residents

James Shen
Hanqin Qiu
Xi Li
 Agenda

• Introduction
• Research Gap
• Objectives
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Findings, Discussions and Implications
Introduction
 Introduction (1)
Historical Development of Individual Visit Scheme
(IVS)
 Implementation of IVS in 2003
 49 mainland cities covered until 2007
 Expansion of IVS in 2009
one-year multiple-trip permit for 4 million
Shenzhen residents
 62.4% of IVS visitors were under a multi-
trip permit in 2013
 Introduction (2)
Positive Impact of IVS
40.7 million visitors from mainland China to Hong Kong
(75% of total visitors )
 IVS accounting for 67% of total mainland visitors
Daily Expenditure: HKD3593 for IVS, HKD1970 for non-
mainland visitors
72.9% expenditure on shopping for IVS visitors
Economic Contribution of IVS
1.3% of GDP ( HKD 12.6 billion,114,280 jobs)
22.2% of total retail sales
 Encounter with local residents (transportation mode, shopping
areas)
 Introduction (3)

Negative Impacts of IVS

 Social capacity issues

Transformation of the retail distributions

 Conflicts between locals and IVS visitors

 Research Gap

• Previous research of IVS mainly on the behaviors,

very few researches paying attention to the
dimensions of social impacts.
• Current research on IVS has been mainly
concentrated on the industry and visitor aspects,
with few exploring it from the perspective of local
residents.
 Objectives

• To identify the major dimensions of the social impact of

IVS from the perspective of residents
• To investigate the impacts of the social dimensions of IVS
on the attitudinal and behavioral inclinations of the local
residents
• To propose practical measures to enhance social
sustainability of the IVS as a special mode of travel by
mainland visitors to Hong Kong
Literature Review
 Literature Review (7)

Social Representation Theory

 It can be defined as the knowledge systems of
preconceptions, images and values held by
members of the community that are culturally
embedded and distinguished from individual
experiences.(Ying, 2004)
 Embodiments of social representations are products
of socialization in themselves, including
experiences, information, knowledge way of
thinking.
 Literature Review (8)

Main sources shaping social representation

 Direct control(culture, group)

 Conversation and social interaction in its various
levels
 Direct Experience
 Literature Review (9)
Social representation IVS contexts
- Social and cultural peculiarities of IVS
- Incomprehensive analysis of traditional theory on
IVS
- Social representation better explaining tourist-
resident relationship
Theoretical Framework and
Hypotheses (1)
 Theoretical Framework and
Hypotheses (2)
• H1: The perceptions of Government regulations have a
positive impact on the attitude of local residents
• H2: The perceptions of the social impacts of IVS by local
residents has a positive impact on their attitude toward IVS
• H3: The level of place attachment of local residents has a
positive impact on their attitude toward IVS.
• H4: The attitude of local residents in Hong Kong toward
IVS has a positive impact on their behavioral intentions.
Methodology
Methodology(1) Research Process
Methodology(2) Sampling
Findings, Discussions and
Implications
Findings (1) The measurement model

χ2=900.311, df=451, p < 0.001,CFI=0.936,

GFI=0.93, and RMSEA=0.07
Findings (2) The structural model

χ2=900.311, df=451, p < 0.001,CFI=0.936,

GFI=0.93, and RMSEA=0.07
Final Structural Equation Model
 Results of Hypotheses Testing
Hypothesis Path Supported or not
supported
H1 Government regulations Residents’ Supported
attitude (B= 0.44, T=7.26)
H2.1 Socio-economic impact Residents’ Not Supported
attitude
H2.2 Social life impact Residents’ attitude Supported
(B=0.32, T=8.63)
H2.3 Cultural Landscape Residents’ attitude Supported
(B=0.27, T=6.52)
H3 Place Attachment Residents’ attitude Supported
(B=0.32, T=9.57)
H4 Residents’ attitude Behavioral Supported
Intention (B=0.79, T=11.8)
 Discussion (1)

• Overall negative attitude towards IVS

• Positive influence of social life and culture

landscape impact.

• insignificant relationship between socio-

economic impact and residents’ attitude
 Discussion (2)

• Level of endorsement with government

regulations positively related to residents
attitude

• Positive correlation between place

attachment and residents’ attitude
 Theoretical Implications

• Integration of traditional conceptualizations of

social impact and social representation
perspectives

• The placement attachment function as

antecedents of residents attitude

• Incorporation of government regulations

 Practical Implications
• Social Factors identified for minimizing negative social
impact of IVS
• More attention on socio-economic impacts
• Establishing a balanced system of values regarding place
attachment
• Incorporation of residents’ attitude when designing tourism
policies
• Attributes identified helping to translate the social impact
into its social benefits
Thank you!
Q &A