Peiyi Ding

Research on environmental impacts of tourism in China: Progress and prospect

With the rapid development of tourism industry in China since 1980, the country has experienced an increasing use of its natural and cultural environment for tourism, resulting in tourism resources being adversely impacted in many tourism destinations. This paper described the research progress in tourism impacts on the environment in the context of China through a review of the growing literature in this field. Specifically, research on tourism impacts on the biophysical and socio-cultural environments, tourism carrying capacity, environmental quality assessment, and measures for the protection and management of tourism resources was reviewed. The review found that the majority of research was qualitative and descriptive in nature, and there was a lack of case studies and theoretical development. Future research should focus on the evaluation of environmental impacts, particularly those gradual cumulative impacts on the tourism environment; examination of the quantitative relationship between the impact and the level of tourism use for different activities; development of methods to estimate the carrying capacity; and understanding of positive impacts of tourism.

Tourism Research in China: Understanding the Unique Cultural Contexts and Complexities

China provides many interesting opportunities for tourism research owing to its unique historic, economic and cultural background. This paper provides an overview of tourism research in China and provides an insight into the unique cultural contexts and complexities that have influenced tourism development and tourist behaviour. The perspectives, traditions and contexts of Chinese tourism research are explored by focussing on two important research areas: tourism development and tourism cultural studies. As a result of Chinas increasing openness to the international academic world, Western tourism research has begun to have a significant impact on research in China. However, the uncritical adoption of Western theories and research paradigms is not always appropriate. Key issues for facilitating the future development of tourism research in China are discussed.

Using means-end chain theory to explore travel motivation An examination of Chinese outbound tourists

This study examines the travel motivation of Chinese outbound tourists at the levels of attribute, consequence and values based on means-end chain (MEC) theory and its associated laddering technique. In-depth interviews with respondents were analysed to identify six key MECs. The two major travel motivation chains are (1) respondents visit destinations that are ‘famous’ or have a ‘good environment’ because they value ‘the beauty of nature’ and ‘pleasure’ and (2) respondents want to visit ‘different’ destinations, because they value experiences and knowledge. These results illustrate the use of MEC theory in understanding travel markets and demonstrate the use of motivation chains as the basis for segmenting the Chinese market. The research findings contribute to the travel motivation literature by identifying directed, hierarchically organized motivation structures with interconnected levels of attributes, consequences and values. Further marketing and product development implications are provided to help attract this emerging market.

Chinese and international visitor perceptions of interpretation at Beijing built heritage sites

Research exploring visitor perceptions of heritage sites indicates that a site may hold different meanings for visitors depending on their cultural backgrounds. Little research has, however, identified visitor cultural preferences and so informed the development, delivery and management of on-site heritage interpretive experiences. This paper addresses this need by identifying cultural differences and similarities between Chinese and international visitors in relation to their interpretive motives, preferences and perceptions. Questionnaires were completed by 277 domestic Chinese visitors and 94 international visitors at five key Beijing built heritage sites. Differences between Chinese and international visitors’ conceptions of heritage; ratings of importance of facilities, services and interpretive content; and perceptions of the visitor experience are identified. Amongst many findings, Chinese respondents were more likely than international respondents to state that heritage sites should be an important part of the countrys national heritage, convey the countrys power and be famous. They sought built heritage sites visited by someone famous and that feature in well-known Chinese paintings and poetry. International visitors were more likely than Chinese visitors to state that heritage sites should have authentically old buildings and be relevant to contemporary life. Implications for interpretive and management practice at Chinese heritage sites are discussed.

Impact of Chinese outbound tourism to Australia: Reviewing the past; implications for the future

To support research-based planning this article aims to identify the similarities and differences between the Japanese tourist boom of the late-1980s and the current Chinese tourist boom, in the context of Australia. By investigating the past issues this analysis will assist the Australian tourism industry in providing an informed response to current issues and the predicted levels of Chinese visitation. This will provide the basis for positive host–visitor relations and assist sustainable inbound tourism development within Australia.

Management of Tourism Research Knowledge in Australia and China

Research is often considered the immediate precursor of economic success and innovation but from a knowledge management (KM) perspective it is only an input into a system with knowledge production, adoption, and innovation as components. This article examines and compares the history and characteristics of tourism research in Australia and China to analyse areas where improvements in KM implementation may be made. Overall the amount and breadth of research in tourism in both countries appears to have improved over the past several years. The paper suggests a need for research into improving the transfer of knowledge to tourism business operators and different models of knowledge transfer applied.

Research Agenda for Tourism and the Chinese Dream Dialogues and Open Doors

This article describes a research agenda for investigating the relationship between tourism and the Chinese Dream, informed by the G20 First East-West Dialogue on Tourism and the Chinese Dream held in late 2014 on Australia’s Gold Coast. Six themes comprise this agenda, including (1) clarification of the “Chinese Dream” construct, (2) connections between the Dream, tourism and consumers, (3) geopolitical considerations, (4) conventional Triple Bottom Line sustainability considerations, (5) tourism and nontourism systems as open states, and (6) hybrid research perspectives. All themes are permeated by an implicit seventh theme of rapid change.

Residents' attitudes toward the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai prior to and during the event.

This paper examines residents’ attitudes to a major non-sport-related mega event, the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Resident attitudes research can ascertain how best to accommodate host community views, a key issue in developing sustainable tourism strategies. The paper breaks new ground by examining attitudes both before and during the event, revealing considerable fluidity in attitudes, and it examines residents’ attitudes in China, reflecting the importance of non-western cultural and political systems on attitude development. The paper contributes to longitudinal research, an area where little research is available. Two studies were conducted before and during the 2010 Shanghai World Expo using the same survey instrument. It is based on a representative sample of residents of Shanghai who were asked about their attitudes to Expo 2010. Results indicate that residents on the whole strongly supported (77.9%) or supported (12.7%) the event with all the average scores of the attitude items higher than 5 (on a 1–7 scale). Some negative impacts were identified such as increased prices, traffic problems, crowding and congestion. Residents were classified into three groups in the pre-event survey (whole embracer, ambivalent embracer and neutralist), according to their level of support, and two groups for the survey during the event.

Exploring Chinese Outbound Tourism Motivation Using Means–End Chains: A Conceptual Model

Over the last decade, the Chinese outbound tourism market has experienced rapid development, and understanding the tourism motivations of this growth market is critical to understanding their decision-making processes and tourism behaviors. By reviewing the literature on tourism motivations and analyzing the limitations in this research area, this theoretical article develops a conceptual model based on means–end chain (MEC) theory to study the tourism motivations of Chinese outbound tourists and discusses the associated laddering technique required by the MEC theory. It is argued that exploring tourism motivation with the MEC theory will make both theoretical and methodological contributions to tourism motivation research, as well as provide more meaningful information for understanding Chinese outbound tourists.

Distortions in Tourism Development in the Dali Autonomous Region, China

This paper presents a tourism destination development sequence for Dali, Yunnan Province, China. The development of Dali highlights limits in the power of the local government as the lead stakeholder, which took a top-down approach to economic development. The government sought to address increasing control of the tourism sector by external tour operators through increasing its own control of local tourism attractions. This approach has been only partially successful in reducing distortions in the tourism channel. The origins of these distortions are described and analysed. A number of additional responses are suggested to improve the local benefits obtained from the inflow of tourists to this new destination area including development of a more market oriented competitive strategy that seeks to co-opt stakeholders into collaborative activities.