The challenge of retaining highly educated migrants in tourism destinations: Case comparison of Macau and Hong Kong

Abstract

Increased global competition for highly educated talent has motivated research into the significant factors involved in retaining such individuals in many different sectors of the economy. Our study explores how industry characteristics and the representation of the industry in the overall economy are related to the settlement intentions of highly educated migrants. We also suggest that the relationship is influenced by the experience of workplace exclusion. The study is based on recent data collected from 2018 to 2020 of migrants from mainland China in Hong Kong and Macau, both of which have a strong emphasis on tourism. Our study shows that individuals who work in the tourism industry have weaker settlement intention than those working in non-tourism industries. We also found that the perception of workplace exclusion has a mediating effect. However, we found different patterns in Hong Kong and Macau, which may reflect the different representation of tourism in the overall economies of those cities.