Drug tourism motivation of Chinese outbound tourists: Scale development and validation. (February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wen, Jun; Meng, Fang; Ying, Tianyu; Qi, Hongxia; Lockyer, Tim
• Is Part Of: Tourism management. Volume 64(2018)
• Page Start: 233
• Page End: 244
• Publication Date: 2018-02
• Subjects: Drug tourism -- Motivation -- Commercial cannabis consumption -- Measurement scale development -- Chinese outbound tourists; Tourism -- Periodicals; 338.4791
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2017.08.001
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-5177

Abstract

Abstract: Drug-taking behaviours have been extensively studied in psychology, behavioural science and health studies, yet, limited effort has been invested in understanding the factors that motivate tourists to engage in drug tourism. Given the increasing numbers of tourists who are exposed to commercially available cannabis in overseas destinations, developing a measurement scale for their motivation offers an effective tool to understand drug tourists more comprehensively. Using samples of Chinese outbound tourists who travelled to Amsterdam for consuming commercial cannabis, this study adopted a mixed methods approach and collected two rounds of quantitative data for scale development and empirical test. The results suggested a six-factor motivation scale: spiritual and emotional healing; social prestige; relaxation and escape; cannabis authenticity; commercial cannabis availability; and, cannabis experimentation. The resulting measurement scale demonstrated accepted reliability and validity. Findings further indicated that commercial cannabis availability is the strongest motivation for predicting drug tourists' future behavioural intention. Highlights: Chinese tourists visiting Amsterdam for commercial cannabis were investigated. A scale was developed to measure Chinese tourists' motivations for drug tourism. 10 interviews and 2 surveys were conducted to construct and validate the scale. 6 dimensions of drug tourism motivation were identified and discussed.