The ‘xenophobic’ resident: modelling the interplay between phobic cognition, perceived safety and hospitality post the Chinese ‘zero-COVID-19’ policy

A conceptual mediation model was developed to explore the resident-tourist nexus, particularly the interplay between xenophobia and the perceived safety of travel and tourism activity in influencing residents’ hospitality towards inbound Chinese tourists post-China’s ‘zero-COVID-19’ policy. Data from a cross-sectional deductive study were generated from n = 499 residents. Underpinned by the Stimuli-Organism-Response model, the results of the mediation model reveal the negative indirect effects of resident xenophobic attitudes on residents’ hospitality. Primarily via the intervening effect of perceived safety. Residents’ phobic attitude also directly influences how safe residents perceive travel and tourism activity in their locale to be and how hospitable residents would be towards inbound tourists from a selectively ‘ostracised’ source market such as China. The findings highlight the importance of the resident-tourist nexus as an antecedent to the overall post-crisis tourist experience and sustainable tourism recovery. The resident-tourist interaction emerges as a critical post-crisis discourse and the in-situ empirical findings of this study offer tourism marketing practitioners and policy-makers critical insights into resident-responsive behaviour towards foreign tourists.