In-place or out-of-place? Host–guest encounter under ‘One Country, Two Systems’

Abstract

This study aims to examine the mutual perceptions between Hong Kong residents and Mainland Chinese visitors when they share mall spaces in Hong Kong, further to investigate if and in what circumstances potential conflicts exist between them. Mixed methods, including a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews, were used as a response to the call for including qualitative methods for more thorough understanding of the host–guest relationship. The survey findings suggest that Mainland tourists were perceived negatively while local residents were perceived positively in both Perception of Behaviour and Perception of Crowdedness. Three place identities are also analysed from in-depth interviews, namely Hong Kong residents being ‘in place’, Mainland visitors being ‘out of place’, and Hong Kong residents being ‘outsiders’. The politics of mobility arising from their conflicts leads to and increases fluidity of their place identity. This study contributes to the literature by examining perceptions on an individual level among the nationals of differing national identities in one single country. It also offers insights for authorities in managing relationships and tensions currently existing in tourism spaces. Such an analysis using the concepts of insideness–outsideness and in-place/out-of-place could be extended to a wider scope of relationships by including different stakeholders in tourism.