The tourism industry is recognized as a key sector contributing to regional economic revitalization and the improvement of residents' quality of life. However, short-term development centered on external capital has caused community conflict and reduc...
The tourism industry is recognized as a key sector contributing to regional economic revitalization and the improvement of residents' quality of life. However, short-term development centered on external capital has caused community conflict and reduced resident acceptance. Accordingly, recent tourism policies are shifting toward prioritizing resident participation and embracing residents as the main agents of tourism development. In particular, as Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) establish themselves as central entities in regional tourism policy, building trust with residents is recognized as a prerequisite for the effective functioning of governance.
DMO trust refers to the degree to which residents positively evaluate and support the organization’s policies and operations, consisting of three factors: competence, consistency, and fairness. Place attachment encompasses emotional factors wherein residents identify with the region (place identity), perceive local resources as a basis for life (place dependence), and form social ties within the community (social bonding). Communication serves as a key variable moderating the relationship between DMO trust and place attachment; transparent and interactive communication enhances trust levels and promotes place attachment and participatory behavior.
However, existing studies have only partially addressed the relationships among individual factors such as trust, place attachment, resident participation, and communication. Few studies have comprehensively verified the structural connectivity of these variables within the DMO context. Thus, this study aimed to empirically identify the operational structure of regional tourism governance by constructing an integrated causal model with DMO trust as the independent variable, place attachment and resident participation behavior as dependent variables, and the moderating effect of communication included.
To achieve this purpose, prior literature on DMO trust, place attachment, resident participation behavior, and communication was reviewed. A survey was conducted on residents of cities and counties nationwide in October 2025, using both online and offline methods. Of the total 511 responses, 408 valid samples were utilized for the final analysis, strictly excluding insincere responses and those from residents with no awareness or participation experience with DMOs. Data were analyzed using SPSS 19.0 via reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis.
The analysis results are as follows. First, all three factors of DMO trust (competence, consistency, fairness) had significant positive (+) effects on the sub-factors of place attachment (place identity, place dependence, social bonding) (p<.001). This implies that DMO professionalism, consistent administrative operation, and fair decision-making reinforce residents' sense of belonging, functional dependence, and community cohesion. Second, place attachment had a powerful positive (+) effect on resident participation behavior (β=.852, p<.001). It was confirmed that higher emotional bonds and a sense of belonging significantly strengthen residents' behavioral intention to actively participate in regional tourism policies and DMO activities. Third, communication significantly moderated the relationship between DMO trust and place attachment. Specifically, distinct moderating mechanisms were identified by path: communication demonstrated a positive Synergy Effect in the influence of competence on place identity, while showing a Buffering Effect in the influence of fairness on social bonding.
These findings empirically verify the sequential pathway from DMO trust through place attachment to resident participation behavior, as well as the operational structure regulated by communication. Through these results, this study proposes an integrated model of "Trust–Attachment–Participation–Communication" to explain the performance of regional tourism governance. Academically, this study contributes to the theoretical expansion of regional tourism governance research by comprehensively clarifying the mechanism of DMO trust formation and resident participation. Practically, it provides substantive guidelines for regional DMOs and local governments to establish resident participation strategies based on trust and communication. Future research should conduct comparative studies by region or DMO operational stage to analyze differences in the trust–participation structure and verify an extended model including sub-factors of communication (e.g., information sharing, feedback, collaborative participation) to build a more sophisticated governance model.