Incentives and motivations of Chinese destination management organization officers

Purpose: This research divided expectations into three timeframes based on expectancy theory – short-, medium- and long-term. The incentive-motivation structures of government tourism officers were identified by these timeframes and the effects of incentives on job engagement, performance and satisfaction were investigated. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted in 31 provinces of China, and a total of 650 responses were used for data analysis after removing invalid surveys. The statistical analysis techniques adopted were confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings: The results showed that: realistic motivations, career prospects and “macro-vision” were the motivational factors of tourism officers in the short-, medium- and long-term, respectively; incentives positively predicted tourism officer job engagement, performance and satisfaction; and job engagement and performance mediated the influence of incentives on job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation was that the respondents were from 31 provinces in China, and there may be regional and local differences due to the unique and complex geographic and social conditions, as well as dissimilar economic development levels and administrative systems. Practical implications: Public sector tourism departments must recognize tourism officer needs and motivations in the short-, medium- and long-term and develop tailored incentive programs. Originality/value: Based on expectancy theory across different timeframes, this research identified the incentive-motivation structure and its effect on Chinese destination management organization officers and potentially provides a theoretical basis for the optimization of this administrative incentive system.