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Why immigrants travel to their home places: Social capital and acculturation perspective

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  • Hung, Kam
  • Xiao, Honggen
  • Yang, Xiaotao

Abstract

This paper presents an inductive analysis of the meanings and dynamics of immigrants' travel to their places of origin from the perspective of social capital and acculturation. The narratives from in-depth interviews with 20 informants with different backgrounds vividly portray the dynamic and subjective life experience of the Mainland Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong. The results thematically (re)presents their experience in terms of the “horizontal and vertical changes in social capital and its effects on travel decisions and acculturation, its influence on travel decisions, the effects of social capital on acculturation, and the influence of constraints on immigrants' travel.” Quintessentially, the inductive analysis sheds light on the meanings and dynamics of the immigrants' travel to their home places. For future studies, observations from this interpretive approach could be augmented by empirical testing and measurement of the interrelationships among social capital, acculturation, constraints, and travel decisions pertinent to Mainland Chinese immigrants traveling from Hong Kong to their places of origins.

Suggested Citation

  • Hung, Kam & Xiao, Honggen & Yang, Xiaotao, 2013. "Why immigrants travel to their home places: Social capital and acculturation perspective," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 304-313.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:touman:v:36:y:2013:i:c:p:304-313
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2012.12.010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Veronika Mooses & Siiri Silm & Tiit Tammaru & Erki Saluveer, 2020. "An ethno-linguistic dimension in transnational activity space measured with mobile phone data," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Suh-hee Choi & Haeri Jang, 2021. "How Can Marriage Immigrants Contribute to the Sustainability of the Host Country? Implications from the Leisure and Travel Patterns of Vietnamese Women in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-20, January.
    4. Sergiu Gherghina & Adrian Basarabă, 2024. "Migrants' Voter Turnout in the Home Country Elections: Non‐Integration or Political Anchor?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 12.
    5. Seraphin, Hugues, 2020. "Childhood experience and (de)diasporisation: Potential impacts on the tourism industry," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 6(3), pages 14-24.
    6. Ibrahim Sirkeci & Fatma Zeren, 2018. "Diaspora Marketing Revisited: The nexus of entrepreneurs and consumers," Transnational Marketing Journal, Oxbridge Publishing House, UK, vol. 6(2), pages 139-157, October.
    7. Marschall, Sabine, 2017. "Transnational migrant home visits as identity practice: The case of African migrants in South Africa," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 140-150.
    8. Ami Choi & Ingrid E Schneider, 2023. "Acculturation and tourist stress among US Korean immigrant leisure travelers," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1159-1174, September.
    9. Gálvez-García, María-Cristina & Jaraíz-Arroyo, Germán & Ruiz-Ballesteros, Esteban, 2025. "Homecoming tourism and community social capital," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).

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