Asian tourism in Europe: consumption, distinction, mobility, and diversity

ABSTRACT

While research on Asian tourism has increased in recent years, studies on Asian travellers’ consumption patterns in Europe are still rather rare. Taking a sociological perspective, this research examines Asian tourists’ consumption in Vienna in relation to their sense of distinction and mobility. Combining results of a quantitative survey of 560 tourists from China, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand with semi-structured interviews of tour guides and representatives of a destination marketing agency, the authors tested a hypothetical model of factors driving Asian tourists’ status consumption. While Japanese and South Korean tourists tended toward lifestyle consumption, Chinese and Thai visitors were more likely to engage in material consumption to gain social status. The authors explain the variation of status consumption across Asian tourist groups in terms of the mobility and socio-cultural characteristics of the middle class from the four countries.

KEYWORDS:

• Tourism consumption
• social distinction
• mobility
• Asia
• middle class

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Tibor Assheuer and 56 students of the Department of Development Studies at the University of Vienna who supported the data collection of the quantitative survey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Alexander Trupp http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1093-2824

Notes on contributors

Huong T. Bui is an Associate Professor, and a Field Leader of the Tourism and Hospitality Program of the College of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), Japan. She published articles in leading journals with topics such as ‘Asian tourism’, ‘Heritage conservation in Asia’, ‘Sustainable tourism’. She worked in the tourism industry and was a consultant for tourism development projects in Southeast Asia for the World Bank, JICA and SNV prior to her career in academia.

Alexander Trupp is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management (STHM) at The University of the South Pacific (USP) and editor of the Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies (ASEAS). His research interests include cultural tourism, sustainable, tourism, and mobilities, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.