Under Control: Performing Chinese Outbound Tourism to Germany

Abstract

It is perceived as common knowledge that tourism is somehow the opposite of the mundane, that the concepts of everyday life and those experiences far away from home do not overlap at all. This article aims to question this very notion, articulated through modern “Western“ liberal ideas, values, and paradigms. Through a wide range of qualitative fieldwork results and an in-depth literature review, the authors examine the structures and the framework of Chinese outbound tourism, as well as the behaviour of Chinese outbound tourists. It was found that Chinese outbound tourism is especially prone to connectedness with daily realities back home in several ways. By identifying three different layers of control, the authors stress that tourism cannot be simplified just to the concept of a counter-world to the mundane.