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Asian Cultures and Contemporary Tourism pp 201–220Cite as

Chinese Travelling Overseas and Their Anxieties

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Part of the book series: Perspectives on Asian Tourism ((PAT))

Abstract

The changing economic, social and political circumstances of China in the last decades, together with the uneven rolling out of social engineering programmes in the country, such as the promotion of selected Chinese traditions, urbanization, standardized education and exposure to plethora of popular cultures, have created a diverse group of Chinese who behave in similar and yet different ways, even when they travel. To make sense of the centripetal and centrifugal forces that shape Chinese tourists, this chapter will look at culture as a social institution that serves important functions and also an arena of conflict and negotiation. Essentially, this study analyses Chinese tourist behaviour in the context of the social forces they face at home and when they travel and found that tourism anxiety has been much neglected in literature. Fieldwork was conducted in Tasmania, Australia, and data was collected through interviews and participant observations. It revealed that the lack of planning and local knowledge, inadequate pretravel research, limited travel time, expectations for value of money, cultural clashes, quest for authenticity, language barriers and choices of dining are triggers of anxiety during travel. Consequently, anxiety influences Chinese tourists’ behaviour. Not only do these factors constrain positive outbound travel experiences, they also shape tourist travel behaviour and experiences. Mediators play a significant role in affecting some of the anxieties.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Wu Xing(五行), Bagua(八卦), Yin Yang(阴阳): These are thoughts from observation of nature and the practice of human social production by ancient Chinese; and are developed as an idea and mode of thinking characteristics of philosophical abstract (Pan 2009).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia

    Yue Ma, Can-Seng Ooi & Anne Hardy

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  1. Yue Ma
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  2. Can-Seng Ooi
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  3. Anne Hardy
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Correspondence to Yue Ma .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia

    Elaine Chiao Ling Yang

  2. Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia

    Catheryn Khoo-Lattimore

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Ma, Y., Ooi, CS., Hardy, A. (2018). Chinese Travelling Overseas and Their Anxieties. In: Yang, E., Khoo-Lattimore, C. (eds) Asian Cultures and Contemporary Tourism. Perspectives on Asian Tourism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7980-1_11

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