How do tourists experience the cuteness of a destination?

Cuteness, as a minor category of aesthetics, is widely recognized but little understood, particularly within tourism experience research. This study fills the gap in the literature by investigating tourists’ experiences of Taipa Village (Macao). We collected longitudinal data from a tourism review website and used Leximancer for analyses of the textual data. Data analysis reveals three themes–“place”, “alleys”, and “casinos”–representing tourists’ direct response to the cuteness attributes of Taipa Village or an appreciation evoked by the contrast of the study site to casino building complexes. Further analysis reveals the role of culture, gender, and age in differentiating tourists’ responses to cuteness qualities. These findings provide implications for destination management organizations to promote an image of cuteness.