Abstract
The Great Silk Road offers a high potential for the cultural and heritage tourism development as more travelers are interested in the past and culture of the others. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between patriotism, cultural openness, ethnocentrism and outcomes of tourism in the context of the Central Asia. The study uses a quantitative approach. A survey method was applied to collect data from 146 local residents living in the heritage tourism areas. The analysis included descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis. The obtained results demonstrate that patriotism had a significant positive impact on ethnocentrism of local residents, while cultural openness had a negative impact on ethnocentrism. The ethnocentric attitudes of residents were significantly related to the positive and negative outcomes of tourism. Recommendations are provided for addressing problems related to cultural differences and regional cooperation for better understanding, tolerance, and social interactions between people living in the countries of Central Asia. This study contributes to the academic literature by integrating ethnocentrism and its antecedents with positive and negative outcomes of cultural tourism. It is of value to tourism practitioners and local policy makers in the Silk Road countries.