This study explores the psychological factors affecting small tourism firm (STF) owners’ decision making about reopening businesses in the midst of COVID-19 based on protection motivation theory and the theory of planned behaviour. The data were collected from a sample of 300 STFs in the Ancient City of Pingyao when the lockdown policy was lifted in China. A symmetric approach, i.e., partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS–SEM), and an asymmetric model, i.e., a fuzzy set/qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), were used to analyse the net effect of the psychological determinants and correlations between the variables leading to high and low behavioural intentions to reopen businesses. The results indicate that social norms and perceived business uncertainty were the critical factors influencing the intention to reopen. The pathway (low perceived risk of infection, low perceived business uncertainty, high reward, high response efficacy, high self-efficacy, high attitude, and high subjective norm) was only one configuration for a high intention to reopen. The study results are discussed based on dual-process theory, and practical implications are offered to guide STF recovery amid COVID-19.

Against the backdrop of modern people-oriented urban construction, culture-tourism integration drives urban regeneration. Qiaoxiang cities (overseas Chinese hometowns), as special units linking overseas Chinese to their homeland, have unique cultural-tourism resources and complex social structures, making their regeneration nationally significant. How Qiaoxiang cities achieve scale jumping and regeneration through culture-tourism integration has become a key research topic. Taking Kaiping city in Guangdong province as a case study and utilizing local chronicles, policy documents, and in-depth interviews, this study adopts a scale-theory perspective to explore how Qiaoxiang cities achieve scale jumping and urban regeneration between national policies and transnational networks under culture-tourism integration. Findings reveal that: (1) Kaiping's development exhibits a path-dependent yet breakthrough scale circulation. Driven by cultural tourism, it experienced three scale jumps: World heritage inscription-driven promotion, diaspora network-facilitated global dissemination, and national strategy-guided functional transformation, forming a nested progressive pathway. (2) It demonstrates a multi-scalar linkage mechanism across local to global scales, where two-way interactions through policy support, capital flows, and social identity help the city break boundaries and achieve a cross-hierarchical rise from a marginal position. (3) Government leadership, capital support, and community participation are the core driving forces. The overnment provides institutional platforms, capital drives spatial reproduction through cultural projects, and overseas Chinese mobilize transnational resources via emotional and network ties, jointly shaping the regeneration path. This study reveals how Qiaoxiang cities seek differentiated development within global-local scalar relationships, providing empirical experience and a case reference for numerous Chinese Qiaoxiang seeking breakthroughs in urban regeneration pathways and model transformation under the new paradigm.