Destination uniqueness: Scale development and examine impacts on ethnic minority tourism

Abstract

Although the uniqueness of destinations is essential, the concept of destination uniqueness has not been fully explored. Based on ethnic minority destinations, this research aims to develop a measurement scale of destination uniqueness and examine its effect on storytelling in cultural transmission through their experience in ethnic minority destinations. A qualitative investigation was conducted based on 171 online blogs (study 1), which identified three dimensions of the destination uniqueness of minority tourism: differentiation, individuality and irreplaceability. Then, a survey of 412 tourists was conducted in an ethnic minority tourism destination (study 2). Results show that the destination uniqueness of ethnic minority tourism is positively related to the ethnic minority tourism experience (novelty, knowledge and meaningfulness) and storytelling in cultural transmission. The conceptualisation of destination uniqueness provides researchers with a new research direction. The findings enrich the knowledge of ethnic tourism destinations and help managers highlight the uniqueness of a destination.