THE EXPOSURE ON KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND INTENTION TO VISIT ASIAN CITIES OF THAI UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
Keywords:
social media, tourist destination image, cross-national survey, Asian citiesAbstract
This study attempts to understand how exposure to a city or region via various types of media or interactions affects self-perceived knowledge and attitudes about that location and, ultimately, the desire to visit that location. Cross- national online opinion polls on Exposure on Knowledge, Attitude, and Intention to Visit a City were carried out in Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Seoul, Phuket, Pattaya, Manila, Cebu, Chennai, Mumbai, Bali, Labuan Bajo and Penang between September and October of 2023.
This article restricts the findings to a preliminary comparative description and analysis of 809 Thai university students. More solid and deep comparisons will be carried out by local polling leaders of 14 Asian cities. Three key threads stand out from these preliminary comparisons. First, social media is an informative channel that shapes knowledge and attitudes toward a city. Second, factors that did not appear relevant to their opinion of the cities' image as tourist destinations are safety, economic center, and technological center. Thirdly, cities that are generally well-known, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Phuket, are also thought to be more important in the future.
