To go or not to go: travel constraints and attractiveness of travel affecting outbound Chinese tourists to Japan

The fast growth of the Chinese economy has transformed Chinese outbound tourism into one of the major players in the tourism industry worldwide. However, Chinese outbound tourists may still encounter travel constraints in some countries, such as Japan, which has had a close and complicated relationship in history with China. This study adopted the qualitative approach by applying focus group and in-depth interviews to investigate and triangulate the travel barriers affecting Chinese outbound travel to Japan. The findings indicated that domestic nationalist sentiment played a key constraining role in influencing Chinese outbound travel decision-making, followed by current political factors, while quality products and service, as well as social environment encouraged tourists to travel. This research also found that visitors and non-visitors have perception differences in terms of travel barriers and attractiveness of travel.     

中国出境旅游目的地的市场定位研究

本文探讨了中国出境旅游目的地的市场竞争以及市场定位，研究表明，中国公民出境旅游目的地的特征属性中，“安全性”与“优美的景色”是中国出境旅游者认为的最重要特征属性；KYST研究结果表明，在中国现已开放的出境旅游目的地中，新加坡与泰国、日本与韩国、埃及与德国是两两相似的出境旅游目的地形象；ALSCAL研究结果表明，中国出境旅游目的地的特征属性之间既具有联系，又具有差异；中国出境旅游目的地国家相互之间具有市场竞争性。为吸引更多的中国大陆旅游者出境旅游，中国出境旅游目的地国家应制定相应的旅游市场营销策略。     

The Japanese Travel Life Cycle

Summary

This paper offers an alternative way of segmenting a non-western travel market, namely, the Japanese outbound market. The segmentation schema comprises several institutionalised forms of travel likely to be undertaken by a Japanese individual in the course of his or her life. Coined the ‘travel life cycle,' the concept fits Japanese society well due to the highly organized and group-oriented patterns of travel that have emerged over the past one hundred years. While this form of segmentation is unlikely to be usefully applied to western travel markets, its application in the Japanese context may suggest that it has relevance when examining the travel patterns of other tradition-bound and group-oriented Asian travel markets such as Korea, China or Indonesia. The paper's conceptual contribution lies in the implicit suggestion that particular cultures may develop and exhibit unique forms of consumption behavior that lie outside the conceptual framework normally adopted by western academics and marketing practitioners. Manageri-ally, the paper suggests ways by which tourism operators and tourism promotion bodies can more efficiently and effectively target Japanese travellers according to the stage of travel life cycle.     

Shopping behavior of Chinese tourists visiting the United States: Letting the shoppers do the talking

Chinese tourists visiting the U.S. were interviewed to explore their shopping behaviours and to understand their shopping experiences. This study revealed that the Chinese tourists were interested in a very large variety of U.S. merchandise, ranging from antique watches and jewellery to health products and running shoes. They perceived the quality of American products to be consistent with prices lower than similar products at home. Male tourists in the study tended to be more satisfied with their shopping experiences than females, but all informants expressed a desire for more Chinese-speaking sales assistants as well as Chinese shopping guides and signage. Informants asked that Chinese credit cards be accepted in the U.S. stores, and would encourage banks of both countries to find ways to cooperate with payment methods to make tourists’ shopping experience more enjoyable and free from inconveniences. Informants had a positive image of shopping in the U.S., especially when compared to some European and Asian destinations. Implications of both the methods and the findings for destination marketing strategies are also discussed in the paper.     

Exploring the male Chinese tourists’ motivation for commercial sex when travelling overseas: Scale construction and validation

Sex and tourism has long been understudied. Little is known about tourists' motivations for consuming commercial sex while travelling, and even less, if indeed anything, is known about that of Chinese outbound tourists in particular. Based on twenty interviews and two surveys with a sample of 534 male Chinese tourists who had engaged in commercial sex when travelling overseas in the previous 12 months, this study aimed first to explore why male Chinese tourists travelled overseas and purchased commercial sex, and second to construct a comprehensive scale for measuring male tourists’ motivations for overseas commercial sex. With acceptable reliability and validity, the measurement scale yielded in this study consisted of eight motivation dimensions labelled as socialisation, relaxation and escape, travel-related novelty, sexual desire fulfillment/excitement seeking, sex-related learning, sexual mastery, social prestige, and business/pragmatic purpose. Both the theoretical and methodological implications related to the developed scale are also discussed.     

Chinese Residents' Demand for Outbound Travel: Evidence from the Chinese Family Panel Studies

This paper investigates potential factors influencing Chinese residents' demand for outbound travel. Based on survey data from the Chinese Family Panel Studies project conducted in 2008, we utilize several discrete choice models to analyze (1) factors explaining Chinese residents' participation in outbound travel in the last five years and (2) factors explaining various types of outbound travel. We highlight the importance of age, hukou type, personal income, education level, domestic tourism participation, foreign language proficiency, life satisfaction, and Internet use to explain Chinese residents' outbound travel. We also observe regional differences and urban–rural differences by estimating the model using different sub-samples. Finally, implications are presented concerning marketing efforts in targeting potential Chinese outbound tourists.     

Chinese medical tourists – Their perceptions of Taiwan

This study explores the motivations and perceptions of Chinese medical tourists visiting Taiwan regarding the quality of tourism packages and the medical services consumed. Knowing the factors that motivate medical tourists and their quality demands for tourism operators and medical institutions is important for medical tourism planners to develop and organize services that serve their customers. Particularly, findings can help tourism operators plan customized itineraries and healthcare services, including software and hardware facilities, for Chinese tourists.     

Terrorism,Economic Uncertainty and Outbound Travel from Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper reports on the findings of three consumer surveys conducted in Hong Kong examining and outbound travel frequency and future travel intentions. The surveys were conducted in December, 2000, October, 2001, some three weeks after the September 11th terrorist attacks, and in April/May 2002, thus enabling the researchers to track the immediate and medium term impacts of the 9–11 incident on outbound tourism. The study revealed that a dramatic softening in intentions to travel was reported, yet no apparent differences were noted in overall travel participation rates before and six months after the event. However, consumers have modified their travel activities, taking shorter trips and expressing greater concerns about the safety of travel. The study further reveals that consumer confidence in the safety of outbound travel is returning, but more enduring economic concerns are beginning to affect travel intentions.     

Language facilitation for outbound Chinese tourists: importance–performance and gap analyses of New Zealand hotels

ABSTRACT

Language barriers can negatively affect Chinese outbound tourists’ overseas travel experiences, highlighting the significance of language facilitation during overseas traveling. With survey data of 256 Chinese guests in two New Zealand upscale hotels, this study performed importance–performance and gap analyses on 19 language facilitation attributes. Results revealed that when resources are limited, priority should be given to improving Chinese language facilitation in room safety and security, in-room entertainment, and tourism information. Furthermore, this study reveals that the relationship between tourists’ perceived language barrier and hotel-stay satisfaction varies across socio-demographic characteristic, English language proficiency, and preferences for accommodation standards.     

Factors Influencing Chinese Students’ Behavior in Promoting Australia as a Destination for Chinese Outbound Travel

The importance of Chinese students in Australia has been largely neglected in the tourism development and place branding of Australia. This study explores the factors that influence Chinese students’ word-of-mouth behaviors, as well as other behaviors influencing Australia as a tourism destination. Following a literature review, a taxonomy of word-of-mouth behaviours is proposed in terms of the way information is communicated. “Place attachment to Australia”, “place attachment to China”, and “place satisfaction in Australia”, are proposed as the key factors that influence such behaviors. Using structural equation modelling, the authors find that “place attachment to Australia” and “satisfaction” with Australia are positively related to different behavior outcomes including Chinese students’ word-of-mouth, intentions to recommend Australia as a tourism destination, and willingness to help Chinese tourists to create satisfying experiences in Australia. Based on these findings, the theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

北京旅游目的地形象的感知——中西方旅游者博客的多维话语分析

目前,很少有学者采用旅游者博客这一新兴的方式研究游客对旅游目的地形象的感知。文章选择中西方旅游者博客话语为切入点,从“文化繁荣”、“宜居和生态”、“现代化大都市”、“社会和谐”和“经济发展”5个维度探讨中西方游客对北京旅游目的地形象感知的异同,并讨论了两个不同旅游群体在文化背景、意识形态和消费水平方面的差异。最后,文章对如何提升来京中西方游客的体验评价提出了切实的建议。此研究意在强调旅游者博客在旅游目的地形象研究中的重要意义,同时亦希望能够对话语分析的跨学科发展作出贡献。