Bonding to a new place never visited: Exploring the relationship between landscape elements and place bonding

Place bonding is the positive emotion that individuals associate with a certain place and was believed to be absent from tourism research. Most place-bonding-related studies in tourism concerned the relationship with loyalty or involvement. Few tourism studies have discussed how individuals form bonds with destinations, especially first-time visitors. Although some scholars believe that individuals develop bonds with a place after long-term interaction with the place, others have suggested that individuals may bond emotionally with places they have never visited. Using a photo-based survey of two groups of respondents who grew up in different countries, the current study demonstrated that individuals' place bonding can be significantly enhanced by adding familiar landscape elements into unknown places. The results suggest that individuals may form initial bonds to destinations they first visit based on their prior experiences with similar environments. This initial bonding will be incorporated into composite bonding with the place that directly resembles the place. Detailed analysis and applications are discussed.