Preferences and Attitudes of Chinese Outbound Travelers: The Hotel Industry Welcomes a Growing Market Segment

Numbering more than 70 million, the market of outbound Chinese travelers is already large and continues to grow. A survey of Chinese travel operators paints a picture of their clients as a focused group of travelers who seek to experience diverse aspects of the world’s cultures on trips while also making the best possible use of the time available. To that end, China’s travelers prefer such hotel room amenities as a pot to make hot water for tea, and a double sink with a separate vanity. A buffet breakfast is also high on the list, as another time saver. Most travel organizers book their clients in full-service urban hotels, because the travelers want to be close to shopping, attractions, and activities, while resorts are less popular. Although China’s outbound tourists have primarily been visiting nearby Pacific-region destinations, their target destinations are expanding to Europe and the United States, among other locations. While tour package price is always a consideration in deciding where to go, a particular problem for the Chinese travelers is the difficulty of obtaining U.S. visas. While China’s travelers would prefer planning their own independent trips, the reality is that package tours are the most practical for the foreseeable future. The world’s hotel chains have taken notice of this important market, and have developed concepts and amenities specifically intended to improve the guest experience for Chinese travelers

Beyond the stereotypes:Opportunities in China inbound tourism for second‐tier European destinations

2017-2018 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journal201810 bcr

Tourism in contemporary cities. Proceedings of the International Tourism Studies Association Conference: University of Greenwich, London, UK 17–19 August 2016 Conference Proceedings

The 6th International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA) Biennial conference was held at the University of Greenwich, London, England from 17‐19 August 2016. This was the first time that the conference had been held in Europe and it provided a unique opportunity to meet, hear from and network with tourism scholars and professionals from across Europe, Asia, Australasia, and North and South America. ITSA has a mission to encourage interaction and cooperation between developing and developed countries and the conference was successful in attracting 130 delegates from 29 countries. The main theme of the conference was 'Tourism in Contemporary Cities' with four conference sub‐themes of ‘Tourism Cities and Urban Tourism’, ‘The Chinese Market for European Tourism’, ‘River, Cruise and Maritime Tourism’, and ‘Heritage Tourism in Cities’, The subthemes were chosen to reflect the unique location of the conference on the UNESCO Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, and London which is Europe’s most visited tourist destination. The conference also presented ‘Dark Tourism and Cities’ and ‘Tourism and Communist Heritage’ as special sessions

Analysis of Chinese travel blogs of New Zealand

The Chinese outbound tourism market is a fast growing source market for many destinations. However, more research is needed to better understand the Chinese outbound tourism market and its diversity and complexity. Again, it can be argued that consistent monitoring of what is a fast evolving market is required, even where prior research has been undertaken. The aim of this research is to provide the tourism industry with a better understanding of the Chinese tourist market and the attitudes of Chinese visitors with specific reference to New Zealand. Consequently perceived destination image, travel motivations, and patterns of online communications of and about New Zealand were identified by analysing travel blogs written by Chinese tourists. Given that there were 181 million bloggers existing in China by the end of 2009 (CNNIC, 2009), blogs written by Chinese visitors have a significant market value for tourism organisations and marketers. This study used content analysis to identify the perceived destination image held by Chinese tourists to New Zealand. In this study, the analytical process was divided into two parts, namely photographic and textual analysis. In each of the two parts, qualitative content analysis was first undertaken, and then followed by secondary quantitative analysis to support the findings discerned through the qualitative process. By analysing 6968 photographs and 408 blog entries posted by Chinese visitors, an image of New Zealand as a tourism destination was identified. The findings revealed that the main components of New Zealand, as perceived by Chinese visitors, were that it possessed a protected ecological environment, offered a variety of activities, and had a highly developed society with a “Pakeha” culture. The research also indicated that Chinese cultural norms played an important role in the process of decision making, perception formation and interpretation. These norms included the desire of harmony, Li, Junzi Aspiration, and a respect of authorities. The results of the study also included details about travel patterns in dining, accommodation, and tourism activities. These results indicated that content analysis of visual and textual materials provides rich information about perceived destination image, travel preference, and online information search behaviours. Online photographs and narratives posted by visitors are not only valuable information source for potential visitors who read the blogs, but can also be an effective way to understand the Chinese market. Based on the results, it can be concluded that blogs are important, and point a way by which destination marketing organisations can seek to influence potential visitors. For example, blog celebrities are an effective way by which to attract thousands of readers to know more about the country. The use of the Chinese language and creating special arrangements for Chinese festivals are shown to be effective means by which hosts can display a friendly attitude to their Chinese guests. With more and more countries being granted Approved Destination Status (ADS) by the Chinese government, Chinese citizens have more choices as to where to travel overseas, thereby intensifying competition for their custom. It is vital for tourism destinations to promote their unique features through all possible channels according to different target markets. Additionally, because service quality is a crucial issue for group tourists, consistent monitoring the travel blogs is an effective way of facilitating the improvement of the service quality of tourism product suppliers

Incorporating both positive and negative association rules into the analysis of outbound tourism in Hong Kong

This article presents a novel approach to data mining that incorporates both positive and negative association rules into the analysis of outbound travelers. Using datasets collected from three large-scale domestic tourism surveys on Hong Kong residents\u27 outbound pleasure travel, different sets of targeted rules were generated to provide promising information that will allow practitioners and policy makers to better understand the important relationship between condition attributes and target attributes. This article will be of interest to readers who want to understand methods for integrating the latest data mining techniques into tourism research. It will also be of use to marketing managers in destinations to better formulate strategies for receiving outbound travelers from Hong Kong, and possibly elsewhere

Guidelines for Managing Mainland Chinese Tourists to National Parks 2107

[Extract] This report aims to provide an educational tool for QPWS about cultural and national differences related to protected area management and offer guidelines on how to respond to these differences to ensure protected areas are managed under the principles of ecological sustainability. This aim evolved out of an internship program developed between JCU Business and QPWS in response to management issues raised at Green Island National Park. The program provided Chinese speaking interns to assist with communication of minimal impact and safety behaviours to Mainland Chinese package tourists. The report reviews the available published evidence on Mainland Chinese tourists and incorporates lessons learnt from the Green Island program to date. This report focuses on characteristics and issues likely to be relevant to all Mainland Chinese international tourists and also examines elements specific to First Wave tourists as they are the current dominant group likely to be encountered in national parks in Queensland now and for the foreseeable future

The case study of Cascais municipality place branding based on Chinese tourist preferences

With the intensification of competition among tourist destinations in the market for source of tourists, the importance of tourist destination marketing to the development of tourism in various places has become increasingly prominent. The achievements of China's economic and social development in recent years have strongly promoted the expansion of the outbound tourism market. Despite the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in 2020, Chinese national economy still maintains a strong resilience and a firm growth momentum, which shows that the economic support for the development of outbound tourism is still strong. Since the popularity of the Cascais tourist destination brand in the Chinese market is currently not high, in order to effectively develop the Cascais brand in the Chinese market in the future, the intention of this paper is to clarify the main directions that Cascais Municipality develops destination branding architecture through investigating the insight of Chinese outbound tourists who have intentions to visit Cascais. The study applied the qualitative and quantitative methodology to understand the portraits of the target segment and their preferences of Cascais destinations attributes, and a questionnaire was carried out on Weibo social platform

COVID-19: potential effects on Chinese citizens’ lifestyle and travel

Purpose: The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is projected to have adverse consequences on the global tourism and hospitality industry. This paper aims to examine how the outbreak may alter Chinese tourists’ lifestyle choices, travel behaviour and tourism preferences in the short and long term. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is based on the synthesis of news broadcasted by several media outlets to be supported by an overview of the related literature on tourism marketing, tourism management and tourist behaviour. The authors’ experiences investigating trends in tourism and hospitality at the local and international level have also contributed to the study. Findings: This paper predicts that COVID-19 will likely affect Chinese travellers’ consumption patterns, such as the growing popularity of free and independent travel, luxury trips and health and wellness tourism. New forms of tourism including slow tourism and smart tourism may also drive future tourism activities. Such changes are likely to force businesses to reconsider their service designs and distribution channels. Research limitations/implications: While Chinese and other potential visitors rethink how they travel, professionals, too, should reflect upon how to bring positive or negative changes to the tourism industry following this pandemic. Subsequent research should also consider how to mitigate the effects of similar public health crises in the future. Practical implications: Recommendations for industry practitioners and policymakers focus on tailoring travel arrangements to tourists’ backgrounds. The suggestions may help to alleviate outbreak-related stress, offer travellers newly enriching experiences and partially mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality industry. These recommendations can also apply more broadly to global tourist markets. Social implications: The COVID-19 outbreak has already brought significant impacts to nearly every society and industry. Tourism scholars and practitioners should carefully consider this tragedy and how it may inform industry and social practices. This and other public health crises represent sterling opportunities to view the industry holistically in terms of its effects on the environment, climate and travellers themselves. Originality/value: This paper presumably represents a frontier study, critically examining the possible impacts of COVID-19 on Chinese travellers’ consumption patterns and how the tourism and hospitality industry may respond to such changes in the future

The Chinese are coming – is Fiji ready? A study of Chinese tourists to Fiji

Many tourism destinations are diversifying to new markets, and specifically to the Chinese outbound market to sustain their tourism industry. China has also been the fastest growing emerging market for Fiji. However, China is not a homogenous market. Their motivations and expectations differ from people from Western countries or even those from other parts of Asia. There has been limited research carried out on the Chinese outbound tourists to Pacific Island Countries. This study employed a survey questionnaire to 149 Chinese visitors to Fiji to identify the socio-demographics of Chinese visitors to Fiji and to assess their perceptions of Fiji as a tourist destination following their visit. The results provided a basic understanding of the profile of the Chinese tourist to Fiji in terms of their gender, marital status, education, residence, previous outbound experience, destination attributes and perceptions of their visit to Fiji

Young Chinese in Europe: Travel behavior and new trends based on evidence from Spain

Chinese tourism in Europe has tripled over the last decade to reach 6 million tourists in 2018. Understanding tourist behavior allows for improvement of the tourist experience and better management of destinations. To these ends, this study analyzes (1) the motivations, expectations and satisfaction of Chinese tourists and (2) defines the main differences between young Chinese (18-29 years old) and more mature Chinese tourists. Data is extracted from 360 survey questionnaires that were administered to tourists after their trips to Europe. Destination Spain, in Western Europe, is selected as the case study. Mean analysis, one-factor ANOVA and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) have been conducted. The results show that more mature travelers have significant differences in the travel arrangements, motivations, expectations and evaluations of their trips than do younger travelers. Younger tourists chose independent trips, while the more mature ones chose either full group packages or independent trips. The younger have a wider range of motivations and preferences for activities at their destinations. New trends in Chinese tourists visiting Europe are discussed and implications for the destination are explored