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How to alleviate tourist incivility (i.e., social and environmental deviant behaviors) is not only a practical concern but an emerging tourism research topic. Advocating civilized tourist behavior could be an effective tool in enhancing sustainable tourism. In this paper, we test how anticipated emotions and perceived severity (of tourism incivility problems) shape tourist civility via an extended norm activation model (NAM). A total of 401 valid questionnaires were obtained from tourists of a national wetland park in China. The results indicated that: 1) both positive and negative anticipated emotions not only have a direct impact on tourist civility but also have an indirect impact via personal norms, 2) positive anticipated emotions (as compared to negative ones) play a more vital role in the tourist civility formation, and 3) perceived severity of tourism incivility problems negatively moderates the links of personal norms and negative anticipated emotions to tourist civility. This paper provides theoretical and practical implications to better understand the role of anticipated emotions and perceived severity in tourist civility decision-making.

In an increasingly complex global context, Chinese tourist green behaviors and their face-culture have attracted growing academic attention. The interactions among tourists play a critical role in influencing actions, yet little is known about the influence of Chinese tourists’ encounters on their green behavior. To address the literature gap, this research examined how tourist-to-tourist interactions within different relationships impact on-site green behavior in Chinese face-culture tourism settings. Based on a qualitative research approach using the critical incident technique, 76 incidents were investigated involving 29 Chinese tourists with different backgrounds. This research showed that the encounters among tourists were affected by tourists’ relationships (family, friends, and strangers) and Chinese face culture (the desire to gain and fear of losing face). The results contribute to the sustainable tourism literature by taking into consideration various types of social interactions, which positively or negatively affect green behavior. Fresh insights are revealed on how face consciousness influences Chinese social interactions and pro-environmental behavior in tourism. The analysis of social interactions among tourists provides a new perspective for destination management organizations to enhance green behavior and improve sustainable management practices.

Small tourism firms (STFs) established and operated by local families can be an engine of sustainable rural tourism. This paper stresses the intimate intertwining of family and business in rural STFs and conceptualizes their entrepreneurial success as a combination of business performance and family well-being. Integrating the resource-based view and network embeddedness theory, relationships among the STF owners’ dual social networks (family and industry networks), entrepreneurial resource acquisition, and entrepreneurial success are proposed and tested with a sample of 276 STFs in rural China. The empirical analyses reveal that (1) compared with tangible and knowledge-based resources, the owners’ acquisition of psychic resources has the strongest effect on entrepreneurial success; and (2) although industry networks provide more diverse access to entrepreneurial resources, family networks are superior in facilitating psychic resource acquisition, thus are especially important to the entrepreneurial success of rural STFs. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

A lack of credibility in the tourism sector is becoming a social and environmental concern. This article argues that destination source credibility as a destination-level stimulus can have significant influences on tourist environmentally responsible behavior (TERB). Based on the stimulus-organism-response theory, this paper developed an integrated model of the relationship between destination source credibility and TERB, with destination image (cognitive and affective) and place attachment as mediators. Three sets of survey data were collected at a Chinese national wetland park (N=451), a world heritage cultural landscape site (N=453), and a world cultural heritage site (N=450). The serial multiple mediation model was tested through combining bootstrapping and Bayesian approaches. Results indicated that destination source credibility enhanced tourists’ cognitive and affective image, place attachment, and TERB. In addition, the effect of destination source credibility on TERB was partially and sequentially mediated by (cognitive and then affective) destination image and place attachment, among which place attachment emerged as the most powerful mediator. Robustness of these findings was confirmed across different destination types. Theoretical contribution and practical implication for sustainable destination management are discussed.

Tourists’ pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) in travel destinations features the social attributes of altruism and collective action. In addition to recognising the power of individual attitudes (e....

Family visitors are important audiences for museums. This paper develops a model that examines the influence of Chinese family visitors’ leisure experiences in museums on their behavioural intentio...

Family travel with aging parents has emerged as a growing market in China. This study applies social practice theory to examine family travel practices and related sociocultural factors. Qualitative interviews with 23 families were conducted to identify parents’ and adult children’s subjective experiences of intergenerational differences and action logics throughout the trip. The findings reveal that, because of urban-rural distinctions, the two generations have differing travel habits, preferences, and capabilities, which foster interdependency but also induce tensions. Influenced by reciprocal filial piety, both generations feel obligated to make compromises and gratify the other’s needs to fulfill their desirable prospects of family travel. The urban-rural distinctions are gradually resolved as the ongoing negotiations unfold. This study advances existing research by integrating the zooming-in and zooming-out lenses of practice theory to highlight the interplay between family travel practices and wider social structures.

The reproduction of social relationships in a rural tourism destination is examined through a micro-sociological lens that explores residents’ everyday interactions. Interaction ritual theory is adopted as the theoretical foundation. Zhinan, a mountainous village in Hangzhou, China, which initiated tourism in 2014, is the study site. Two rounds of focus groups and interviews were conducted with village residents. Qualitative inquiry shows that, under the influence of tourism, residents’ daily interactions consist of three interaction rituals, that is, rural living rituals, tourism operation rituals, and event and festival rituals. Due to the distinct ingredients, these rituals unfold differentially and engage different social actors. They complement each other in the co-construction of rural social relationships that have symbolic, emotional, collective, and normative connotations. This study provides in-depth, contextualized understandings of rural residents’ interactions and relationships, and draws practical implications for sustainable development of rural tourism destinations.

In the international education market, much attention has been paid to China, as it is the world’s largest source country in sending students abroad. The other side of the story, that is, China, as...

Many indigenous communities are greatly influenced by tourism development and their support for tourism matters to both developers and tourists’ experiences. Therefore, it is important to u...

The influence of visiting Buddhist heritage sites on happiness is the core concern of this article. China’s four sacred Buddhist mountains provided the setting for the study. Sixty semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine the positive effects of Buddhism on visitors. Thematic analysis was first undertaken to understand the Buddhism-induced happiness. In the terms of Buddhism, the visitors’ happiness was related to the law of karma, impermanence and reincarnation. The PERMA model from positive psychology was then utilized as a second interpretive framework, in which positive changes in visitors’ attitudes, behaviours and life were noted. The links between the core values of Buddhism and the PERMA model were then established and portrayed. The study makes a theoretical contribution by connecting the positive psychology constructs and the effects of Buddhism in the tourism context. In addition, this study provides insightful suggestions for local communities to manage religious heritage sites sustainably.

This study explores the current status of research on inbound tourism to China, which ranks third globally among tourist receiving countries. The importance of inbound tourism as an indicator of na...

People's pro-environmental behavior (PEB) is commonly recognized as a result of individual rationality or moral considerations. However, the compative roles of rationality and morality in fostering such behavior in the tourism/leisure context remains to be investigated. This paper uses the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the norm-activation model (NAM) as representatives of rational and moral notions, and examines the relative strengths of the models in explaining visitors' pro-environmental intentions in nature-based destinations. An empirical study was conducted in three natural parks in Hangzhou, China. Local visitors (N = 323) and tourists (N = 231) participated in the survey. Structural equation modeling was adopted. It is found that although both the rational and the moral models could explain the participants' pro-environmental intentions, yet the NAM model was superior, especially in interpreting nonlocal tourist pro-environmental intentions. Recommendations are provided for a more holistic understanding and effective promotion of PEB in nature-based destinations.

The role of children in family tourism has been recognized increasingly. However, their travel experiences are under-researched. This is the first study that focuses on children's views of family tourism in the world's most populous country, China. It explores Chinese children's views of family tourism experiences. More than one hundred (139) children aged 8–11 from three schools in a coastal Chinese city participated in the research by drawing pictures and sharing stories with the researchers. The results suggest that Chinese children, at least in these schools, have extensive travel experiences and a clear idea of what constitutes a memorable family tourism experience. Such experiences usually occur with their nuclear family, and are centered upon family togetherness and physical activities. Animal encounters, tasting local food, and appreciation of natural and built environments also matter. As future tourists, their views offer implications for destinations interested in attracting more Chinese tourists.

This study considers that hosts can be active builders in rural tourism destinations. By extending the concept of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) to rural tourism communities, this paper develops and validates a scale to measure the discretionary, spontaneous, and positive behavior of hosts towards the community and tourists, labeled as community citizenship behavior (CCB). A four-stage study with a mixed method design was conducted. Study 1 identified five dimensions and 34 initial items through an extensive literature review and conducting five focus group discussions. Study 2 (n = 225) adopted an exploratory factor analysis to filter the items. Study 3 (n = 302) provided empirical support for a 27-item and five-dimension solution to the CCB scale which consisted of helping behavior, keeping interpersonal harmony, involving behavior, protecting behavior, and recommending behavior through confirmatory factor analysis. Study 4 (n = 260) further tested nomological validity of the developed scale. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

This study examines Chinese adult children’s holiday travel with their parents as a unique type of family travel. A netnographic examination of 158 detailed online blogs was conducted to explore the adult children’s motivations for taking such travels. The results of the netnographic study revealed that the motivations for traveling with their parents by Chinese young adults include health and recovery, novelty and knowledge, commemoration and celebration, dream fulfillment, family togetherness and relationship, compensation and reward, expression of filial piety, escape and relaxation, and pleasure seeking. These motivations can be classified as parent-oriented motivations, family-oriented motivations and self-oriented motivations. The study identifies features of the adult children-senior parents’ travel market and offers insights about the continuity of family roles in the social context of an aging Chinese society. Marketing implications for this growing Chinese market are provided.

Tourists’ green behavior has recently attracted much academic interest. The majority of the existing studies use quantitative research methods and explore how tourists’ cognitive and emotional factors influence their environmental actions. This study assesses tourists' green behavior from a unique perspective, that is, how hosts at rural Chinese B&Bs interact with tourists and shape their sustainable actions. The research team analyzed why the rural hosts are motivated to promote tourists’ green behavior, and identified the strategies they pursue to convince the tourists to be more sustainable. Guzhu Village, well known for its rural tourism and popular with senior tourists in the Yangtze River Delta, was the site for the study. Auto-ethnography was used as the key research method. It was found that both tangible and intangible environmental benefits motivate the hosts to guide tourists’ sustainable behavior. Hosts specifically structure some leisure activities and use compelling signage to both promote positive environmental actions and simultaneously enhance tourists’ satisfaction. This is the first study to emphasize the active roles of the hosts in shaping tourists’ green behavior through dynamic social interaction. The findings highlight the processes, such as humor and social approval, which have broad international applicability. Further, it was noted that the hosts employ ‘face’, a distinctive Chinese concept, to limit tourists’ less-desirable behaviors. Practical implications are also offered for sustainable destination management.

This study seeks to assess the factors influencing the satisfaction of Chinese tourists when they undertake self-drive international vacations. There are few existing studies about this independent travel market. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken to gather initial views about the attributes contributing to self-drive satisfaction. A questionnaire-based survey was then employed in Shanghai. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to test the factors which significantly affected tourists’ satisfaction. Analysis of the data reflected some of the findings from limited previous studies of other international groups: the scenery, road facilities, and available activities all have a significant positive impact on satisfaction. However, for the Chinese drive tourists, the responses of the local community to their trip, as well as key environmental issues, notably air quality, are distinctively important concerns. Implications are identified for international destination management organizations which are interested in promoting to and developing this self-drive Chinese market.

The family, as a leisure unit, is an important museum consumer group. The literature on family leisure in museums concentrates on the cognitive and the learning aspects in science museums and art g...

The well-being of participants at major destination events has received little empirical attention in the literature. This paper explores LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & other sexual minority) event participants' hedonic and eudaimonic well-being at the iconic Hangzhou Rainbow Marathon (HRM) in China. PERMA (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Achievement) psychological model of human flourishing was adopted to analyze hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Mixed qualitative methods, in the form of semi-structured in-depth interviews and a focus group, were used to address the research aim. This data was supported by informal personal observations at the marathon site. Distinctions among participants' experiences were identified, resulting in slightly different perceptions of PERMA elements for paraders, volunteers and organizers. Through this role-based perspective, an event specific PERMA model emerged. Implications for event organizers and marketing specialists are provided.

The hospitality industry has been suffering from a pervasive climate of suspicion among guests who are concerned about potential hygiene or safety issues. From the perspective of protection motivation theory, this study presents a conceptual model elucidating the underlying mechanism through which generalized distrust shapes hotel guests' defensive coping behavior. Exploratory semi-structured interviews and online posts were combined to identify hotel guests' on-site coping strategies and underlying mechanisms. Then, an online questionnaire was distributed to 532 respondents, and structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed research model. Results provide empirical support for the “cognition–emotion–coping behavior” pattern in cognitive appraisal theory. This study offers valuable insight into the management of hotel guests’ generalized distrust.

This study emphasizes the intersection of two topics: the breaks or gaps in the life trajectory of Chinese citizens which may facilitate travel behaviour, and the analysis of forces which may constrain this activity. To understand the future possibilities for Chinese gap time tourism, the present survey expands on Wu, Pearce, Huang, and Fan’s [(2015). Gap year in China: Views from the participants and implications for the future. Current Issues in Tourism, 18(2), 158–174] earlier netnographic work. The researchers document the demographic characteristics of Chinese potential gap time holiday takers, their preferred style and their perceived constraints. Respondents preferred relatively short breaks during their early career for their gap time. They were predominantly constrained by a culturally distinctive hierarchy of concerns that differed from those found in western studies. In order, the constraints were financial and time issues, lack of travel companions, social responsibility obligations, personal ...

Senior tourists are key figures in the world's drive tourism market. This study focusses on the 'Grey Nomads' in Australia, the core aim being to understand the tourists' motivations patterns for attending recreational vehicle (RV) rallies. At a typical RV rally in a key regional destination, 170 questionnaire-based surveys were collected. Building on the theoretical analysis of travel motivation studies, factor analysis of the combined internal and destination feature motivational attributes suggested five key motivations with three hierarchical levels of influence. The leading motivational influences were destination attractiveness and the appeal of the rally itself, while the desire to enhance one's relationship and socialisation were a powerful part of the total pattern. Escape and achievement, and knowledge enhancement, were important but significantly less prominent in the overall arrangement of the motivating forces. An analysis of the rally goers' activities on site and in the region reinforces the hierarchical nature of the RV participants' motivation. This work helps to better understand the forces shaping senior RV tourists' travel choices and also offers implications for regional destinations that are seeking to attract the large, nationally important and mobile tourism community.

Family travel is conducive to family function and tourists' personal development. Despite its long-established emphasis of family and learning through travel, limited effort has been invested in understanding Chinese adolescents' learning outcomes in the family tourism literature. This study adopted a mixed-method approach to establish a measure for such learning outcomes and validated the measurement scale via three rounds of surveys. The results suggested an eighteen-item and four-factor learning outcome structure with acceptable levels of reliability and validity. The four factors were family awareness, personal capability, destination knowledge and self-reflection. Family awareness was found to be the strongest predictor for Chinese adolescents’ well-being in family travel.

Seasonal migration is an emerging trend among seniors in China. In comparison with the lifestyle-oriented migrations of seniors in much of the western world, Chinese seniors often travel with a focus on improving their health and longevity. Adapting the concept of a therapeutic landscape, the changes experienced by seniors with health problems who visit Bama County, a remote area in southwest China well-known for the longevity of its residents, are explored through personal observation and in-depth interviews. All seniors reported improvements, to different degrees, in their physical, mental and social health. These positive transformations were attributed to the therapeutic physical, social and symbolic landscapes of Bama, as well as to the seniors’ proactive actions and their positive mindset. Implications are offered to the service industry, especially the broad tourism and hospitality industry, that is interested in attracting and catering to the aging Chinese population.

Narrative communities consist of closely interacting participants who frequently discuss their views of the world. The aims of this study were to establish the credibility of using a narrative community approach to the recreational vehicle (RV) market and, if appropriate, both identify common themes in the public discourse and direct attention to sensitive issues which those seeking to influence this market need to consider. Primary data were collected in Australia through focus groups at a typical regional RV rally site. This material was supplemented by close study of the main membership magazine produced for the target group. The researchers were able to confirm the applicability of the narrative community approach through noting the frequent repetition of symbolic stories, recurring phrases and highly favoured topics. The extended focus group conversations and the supplementary materials revealed six highly consistent themes binding the perspectives of the RV tourists. The celebrated common concerns were enjoying a new family, safety, freedom, health and living economically while contributing to the communities visited. This commonality was seen as constituting enthusiastic advocacy for RV travel and opens lines of communication for those seeking to influence RV users.

Purpose This study aims to assess international customers’ experiences in the leading hotels of the iconic city of Shanghai. Design/methodology/approach Leximancer, a qualitative analysis software program, was used to examine over 2,000 reviews appraising Shanghai’s superior hotels. The reviews were posted on Agoda.com. Findings Overall, the international tourists were actually quite satisfied with the superior Shanghai hotels. This study highlighted the continuing importance of the attentive and professional “staff”, physical attributes of the “hotel”, comfort of the “room”, “location”, proximity to a “shopping” area and co-creation possibilities to deliver some “beautiful” experiences. Segments of the market based on tourists’ origins, travel style and hotel management styles emphasized different expressive and instrumental features. Some strong commonalities were identified. The most satisfied customers, no matter what their backgrounds, were those who were more impressed with the expressive and intangible elements in the hotel, especially their interaction with and the service qualities of the hotels’ professional and attentive staff. Practical implications The work offers a potential range of insights and emphases for individual properties in Shanghai and other locations to help market and co-create experiences in their properties in distinctive ways. Originality/value The work is framed within the wider theoretical concerns of extending the meaning of co-creation in the experience economy. The work argues that co-creation is not limited to the on-site experience but rather that post-visit appraisals through user-generated contents constitute an extended form of interaction which may assist in understanding the full trajectory of the hotel experience.

With increases in disposable income in China as well as the traditional focus on family life, family tourism is one of the fastest growing segments in contemporary Chinese tourism. This study presents a systematic review of 66 research articles from Chinese academic journals published between 1995 and 2015. The general trend, themes and methods are analyzed. Listening to children’s voices, paying attention to diverse family types, the influence of social media on family travel, collaboration among researchers with different backgrounds, and thinking through the role of Chinese culture are posited as topics requiring increased attention to enhance future family tourism research in China.

Integrating craft heritage with tourism activities is one way to perpetuate craft culture. The museums alongside Hangzhou's Grand Canal innovatively address craft heritage perpetuation by fostering interactions between visitors and craft-makers. Combining social practice theory with interaction ritual theory, this study explores the viability of this initiative through interviews with artisans who work in museums and interact with visitors. Craft-makers' work routines consist of three practices: cultural production, transmission, and operation. These practices demonstrate both collaborative and competitive relationships. The nature of relationships depends on whether or not ritual ingredients are congruent. The craft-makers develop different levels of agency to cope with tensions. This study enhances understanding of heritage perpetuation and visitor engagement.

Museums have been widely considered as informal educational sites. Studies about families in museums heavily concentrate on the cognitive aspects and the learning outcomes in science museums and art galleries. Compared with previous research, this study emphasizes four distinctive themes: a focus on the pre-trip stage of the museum visit, museums depicting local heritage, a Chinese context, and attention to social and cultural issues. In detail, this study explores the motivations of Chinese parents who take their children to a cluster of heritage museums at the southern end of China’s Grand Canal, a newly designated world heritage site in Hangzhou. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with parents visiting the museums with their children. It was found that the key push factors include education and learning, relaxation, creating positive experience for children, relationship enhancement (quality time with children) and extended family obligations. Free admission, the innovative displays, th...

Holiday camping and time spent in outdoor environments are critical childhood experiences. This study aims to identify the outcomes and processes underlying children's experiences of holiday camping. The researchers use the contextual model of learning as the theoretical background underpinning the study. Chinese children who left their families and participated in structured camping trips formed as the research respondents. Several child-centred research methods, including participant observation, focus group discussions, and interviews based on elicited drawings, were employed to study the children's construction of their experiences. Children mainly reported positive camping outcomes, including enhanced interpersonal skills, improved self-awareness, general knowledge and skills, and positive emotions. Negative outcomes including feelings of anxiety and boredom were also occasionally observed. The ongoing interplay of personal, social, and physical contexts works together to generate these camping outcomes. Practical and theoretical implications are offered to enhance positive outcomes and reduce negative ones when children go camping.

This study contributes to an understanding of how young citizens in developing tourist areas view and welcome tourists and tourism. The work is embedded in and builds on the conceptual and theoretical traditions of the tourist gaze and intercultural contact literature. The work was conducted in Lhasa, Tibet, and explored the views and preferences of over 250 young hosts for the types of tourists who visit the area. Photo-elicitation interviews, focus groups, and a questionnaire-based survey were employed in sequence to generate data. The welcome given to the tourists varied according to the classifications employed and the locations which the tourists visited. Five factors, which have relevance for other contexts, were identified to interpret the prospective welcome likely to be given to future tourists. The key issues shaping the young hosts’ responses were the immediate public impression tourists created, the extent of cultural distance between hosts and tourists, the nature of the tourist sites, local cultural values, and the hosts’ social life. Ways to assess young citizens’ views for incorporating in planning sustainable destination are offered.

Entertainment is a feature of some tourism settings and acts as a key pull factor for visiting certain destinations. Research-based studies about entertainment and the tourist experience are, however, rather limited. This study pursued this research opportunity and explored international tourists’ experiences in an iconic performance-based entertainment, the Impression Sanjie Liu in southern China. More than 350 tourists’ spontaneous reviews posted on TripAdvisor were analyzed through Leximancer software. It was found that international tourists were generally positive toward the culturally distinctive style of the entertainment. Despite the challenge of comprehending meanings and the language, they were impressed with the grand spectacle, the performances of many people, and the context. The disruptive behavior of other tourists, particularly the domestic Chinese tourists, troubled some international tourists. Implications for both academic research and the tourism entertainment industry are offered.

Building on the theory of social representations, and some new lines of work asserting the importance of mundane components of the tourist experience, the aims of the study are to categorise and interpret Chinese tourists’ online visual representations of an Australian iconic landscape: the Great Ocean Road. Over 10,000 pictures posted online were coded using a nine-part scheme developed by the researchers. The work builds an understanding of the content of Chinese tourists’ photographs and highlights a way to uncover the social representations in such material. The study provides evidence that a two-part emancipated social representation characterises the online photographs: one portrays the spectacular physical environmental features of the setting, while the other represents many small-scale and mundane places, contacts and sites. The study articulates a role for mundane authenticity in tourism studies and provides evidence for this emerging perspective through the analysis of the photographs.

Building on the under-utilized power of case studies, this conceptual review considers information to enhance Asian tourism sites and attractions. Soft infrastructure, defined as the total effect of the hospitality, interpretive and person-to-person encounters, was considered at 16 strategically selected locations drawn from 7 Asian countries. An emic, tourist-oriented perspective was used to appraise the effects of the soft infrastructure. The researchers employed information from academic publications, attraction websites, tourists' reviews and personal visits to identify common cross-site issues. Seven key issues were identified: the importance of emotional labour/sincerity; the value of quality and professionalism; creating understanding and the role of language; the appeal of performance and spectacle; the usefulness of immersion and participation; the power of authentic local voices; and the management of crowding and close encounters. Site and tourist precinct attraction managers can evaluate these...

Chinese tourists, who are increasingly traveling out of Asia independently, need trustworthy and readily available information sources. This study explores the motives of Chinese tourists who have invested considerable time (mostly more than a week) in creating information-rich, influential, and interactive online travel blogs—effectively creating personalized little “Lonely Planets” that serve these growing information needs. This study assesses the demographic characteristics of the “Lonely Planets” creators, the features of their blogging behavior, and the motivations for the involvement. It reveals six motive categories: “positive self-enhancement through online social connection,” “altruism: being helpful to fellow travelers,” “social status issues,” “personal status and achievement,” “self-documentation and sharing,” and “hedonic enjoyment of blogging.” Superficially, these motivations seem to be similar with previous Western studies of blogging behavior, but significant contextual and cultural issues exist and are explained. Management implications and future research arising from the current study are provided.

A new group of participants, young, independent, technology empowered Chinese tourists, are entering the international recreational vehicle (RV) drive market. This study addressed three research questions: Who are they? Why do they travel in this style? Where do they go? Netnography was undertaken as the research approach. The findings were contextualized by comparison with existing knowledge about mature RV users (e.g., Grey Nomads, Snowbirds, and retirees). It was found that the Chinese RV tourists share some commonalities with the mature RV market. The differences, however, were also substantial. Implications for other markets and destinations in developing the international driving market are offered. Furthermore, the use of netnography to offer insights to understand new markets and/or new activities is highlighted.

The present study is one of the first to assess the characteristics and consider the implications of the emerging gap year phenomenon within China. More specifically, the research answers three questions: (1) Who are the Chinese gap year takers? (2) What motivates the Chinese gap year participants' involvement in the new activity? and (3) How does the concept of a Chinese gap year differ from its Western counterpart? A netnographic study of 103 blogs was followed by 18 in-depth telephone interviews. The findings were compared with existing knowledge from studies about the Western gap year participants. It was found that individuals taking a Chinese gap year differed from their western counterparts both in demographic and behavioural terms. The type of gap year (career gap vs. pre-university gap) and forces from within the broader Chinese cultural context are producing a growing, distinctive and positively perceived travel phenomenon. The present study offers initial implications for international tourism ...

The present study uses accessible online and emic material as a window to approach the assessment of tourists’ experiences at a small themed tourist attraction. The research adopts the approach of seeing experiences as an orchestrated model of interacting elements that are linked to expressive and instrumental components. The study then seeks to identify the dominant concepts and phrases used by tourists in reporting their attraction visit. Further aims include examining how tourists with different overall evaluations of their experiences and from different origins respond to the attraction. Using Leximancer analysis, the work explores the linkages among 167 tourists’ reviews of the site in terms of reacting to the theme and reporting expressive and instrumental evaluations. The work confirms the value of the approach, establishes the power of the attraction’s theme, and builds a pathway for experience evaluation studies linked to expressive and instrumental attributes.

This study analyzes an uncommon tourism attraction pricing phenomenon in China, known as “free West Lake”. West Lake Scenic District in Hangzhou is a World Heritage Site in China׳s most prosperous eastern region. Here, the admission fee was progressively removed and free access was introduced. This paper uses Chinese newspaper reports, official documents and academic articles to explore the evolution of the pricing policy and its consequences for visitor use and government finances, with implications for other attractions in China and elsewhere. This novel pricing initiative resulted in an initial economic loss to the local government but eventually broadened the economic base, reduced the environmental pressure on certain sensitive heritage sites, and enhanced tourists׳ experiences, residents׳ quality of life and the city׳s reputation, providing novel insights into public resource management in China. The case highlights the importance of adopting a broad perspective on admission pricing, as the implications may extend beyond the narrow confines of the facility in question.

Chinese outbound tourists are pivotal global players in current international tourism. Their anticipated role in taking up new activities in the future warrants attention. This study focused on one emerging activity—drive tourism—as a model of the ways to manage the growth of new specialist interests. In detail, it examined Chinese recreational vehicle (RV) tourists’ self-reported safety concerns during their Australian RV trips. The study identified the successful coping mechanisms that Chinese tourists employ across the preparation, initial familiarity, and driving stages of their travels. A holistic safety and coping framework outlining 18 coping techniques was identified. The study revealed the symbiosis between tourists, tourism businesses, and associated organizations that can lead to positive behaviors to enhance safe and enjoyable experiences as new markets adopt novel activities in unfamiliar countries.

This study examines international tourists' experiences in Beijing's Silk Market, one of the China's most well-known tourist markets. Tourists' spontaneous reviews on TripAdvisor were analyzed through Leximancer, a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software. The study confirms that markets can be major tourism attractions and can provide important experiences for international tourists. Most international tourists were impressed with their Silk Market trip. The dominant narratives of their experiences were the “price” of the items they “bought”, the “fun” of “bargaining”, and the “fake” quality of the products. Further analyses show that different satisfaction groups used somewhat different narratives to represent their shopping experiences and that male international tourists enjoyed the Silk Market experiences more than their female counterparts.

This study reports an investigation of the ways in which local youth understand tourism in a rural heritage community in Tibet, China. The sustainable livelihoods framework was adopted to organise the areas of interest. Focus groups were initially conducted, and the resulting information was used in a subsequent questionnaire-based survey. It was found that the young Tibetan hosts understood tourists as ‘passers-by' in different vehicles. The tourists were seen as visiting the community because of two major tourism resources: the traditional Tibetan incense-making techniques, and the residence and culture of a Tibetan historical figure. The youth were positive towards tourism development in their community and identified some activities and strategies for their involvement in tourism. In assessing future outcomes and directions for tourism, the rural Tibetan youth would like to see both community and personal well-being improved through tourism.