A number of studies have been conducted to examine the attractiveness of tourism destinations. However, there has been little research done on festival attractiveness nor on its impact on destination loyalty. This study employed a mixed method approach to investigate the festivals in Guangzhou city, China. Firstly, through a qualitative method, the four dimensions of festival attractiveness were identified, i.e., strong festival atmosphere, harmonious interpersonal interaction, distinct cultural symbols and rich festival activities. Then, based on a cognitive–affective–conative model, a quantitative method was used to explore the mechanism through which festival attractiveness impacts sense of place and destination loyalty. Structural equation modeling showed that all dimensions of festival attractiveness have positive effects on place attachment, but not all of them have positive effects on place identity. Findings further indicate that place attachment has a positive effect on place identity, and that place attachment and place identity both have positive effects on destination loyalty. These results indicate that festival hosting destination loyalty follows the processes of both festival attractiveness cognition and destination affection evaluation.

Although neglected in previous studies, tourist-to-tourist interaction (TTI) is a core part of festival experience. It is widely acknowledged that interactions between tourists significantly influence behavioral reactions such as desire to stay, satisfaction, and loyalty, which are important for tourism destination marketing. This study used grounded theory to obtain insights into onsite interactions between tourists and to propose a conceptual model of TTI on the Midi Music Festival in China. The model constitutes the types, drivers, and influence of TTI. Compared with mutual assistance and conflict, entertainment interaction plays an essential role in the overall evaluation of the festival experience. Individual characteristics are the internal drivers of interactions between tourists. Environmental elements including the festivalscape and social festivalscape are influential exogenous factors. Additionally, spatial locations of tourists at the venue play mediating roles between the driving elements and TTI. Since entertainment incidents construct the essential part of onsite interactions at festivals, managers can shape the atmosphere to encourage tourists to engage in interactive entertainment with others tourists. This should improve participants’ overall evaluations of the festival experience as well as the sustainable development of destinations where festivals are held.

This study used a meta-analysis to examine the relationship between authenticity and tourist loyalty. A total of 144 effect sizes and 27,986 accumulated sample sizes from 68 independent empirical studies were analyzed. The results revealed that authenticity positively correlates with tourist loyalty, in different magnitudes. Specifically, objective authenticity has the greatest impact on tourist loyalty, followed by constructive authenticity and existential authenticity. In addition, this study also examined four moderators of the relationship between authenticity and tourist loyalty. Then we discussed the theoretical and practical implications of authenticity for tourism destination marketing.

This article explores festival attendees’ experiences on social media. Data on festival attendees’ posts on the Guangzhou International Light Festival were collected from TikTok. The Jieba Chinese word segmentation tool was applied to tokenize the texts and then classify the high-frequency words and phrases into five dimensions of festival experiences. The five dimensions of festival attendees’ experiences are cognitive, novel, affective, physical participation, and social interaction. A combination of the modularity algorithm and Gephi was used to cluster and visualize the festival attendees’ overall experiences and the different experiences in terms of gender and age. The results indicate that, in festival attendees’ overall experience, cognitive experience accounted for the largest proportion, followed by physical participation, and the proportion of social interaction, emotional experience, and novel experience was less. Moreover, the demographic characteristics of gender and age differ in the festival experience.

E-sports events play a crucial role as significant entertainment activities and platforms for emotional interaction among the public. This study seeks to delve into the processes underlying the emotional experiences of online spectators during interactive rituals within e-sports events. It employs the core concept of emotional energy within interaction ritual chains as framework for analysis. To accomplish this, we conducted one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 20 online spectators actively engaged in the League of Legends professional league. These interviews specifically targeted their emotions, feelings, evaluations, behaviors, and other relevant experiences both preceding, during, and subsequent to spectating. Our analysis revealed four distinct stages within the emotional energy change process: emotional arousal, immersion, climax, and continuity. These stages collectively culminate in the formulation of a dynamic, continuous, and cyclical emotional energy model. Notably, spectators adeptly employ various emotional regulation strategies to mitigate the impact of disruptive factors. The integration of ritual symbols, coupled with the positive feedback loop of emotional energy, serves to connect the five identified stages and establish a cohesive cyclic upward mechanism. These findings not only offer unique insights into the micro-level emotional experiences of online spectators but also hold practical implications for the effective management of e-sports events.

Traditional festivals hold immense cultural and tourism value, but striking a balance between preservation and adaptation in the face of globalization is challenging. This study focuses on the Hmong New Year, the largest traditional festival in a prominent Hmong settlement in China. Through mixed research methods, it examines the impact of festival attachment and political trust on residents’ attitudes toward festival tourism development. The results reveal the significant influence of festival attachment on residents’ perception and judgment of festival tourism, with political trust playing a crucial moderating role. Successful repetition of festival activities fosters stable cognitive perceptions of festival tourism, outweighing potential risks. This research enhances our theoretical understanding of festivals and provides insights into the sustainable development of traditional Hmong festivals, offering support for studying traditional festivals in diverse cultural contexts.