Young Chinese Becoming Working Holiday makers in New Zealand: A Thematic Analysis of WHMs’ Motivations

ABSTRACT

The working holiday scheme of New Zealand provides young Chinese with a unique opportunity to have a prolonged work or study and travel experience in New Zealand. Until September 2015, New Zealand was the only working holiday destination for young Chinese and more recently only New Zealand and Australia offer this scheme to young Chinese. With the increasing interest in long-term backpacking, Chinese youth have chosen working holidays as their way to experience the world. The question is thus raised as to why it is that Chinese youth chose working holidays among different options and moreover, what affects their decision to embark on working holidays. This study explores and presents a thematic analysis of thirty-four woking holiday makers (WHMs) from Mainland China. Three organizing themes, namely escapism, cost efficiency and timing, are identified and discussed through consideration of cultural and social influences. The findings of this study facilitate the understanding of this growing cohort of Chinese WHMs. With the possibility of more countries initiating similar schemes for young Chinese, implications and future research directions are also discussed.

摘要

新西兰提供的打工度假计划为中国年轻人提供了一个在新西兰长期工作、学习以及旅行的独特机会。直到2015年9月为止，新西兰对中国年轻人来说都是唯一的打工度假目的地，随后澳大利亚也提供了这一计划。随着对长期背包旅行的兴趣日益增长，中国年轻人选择打工度假的方式来体验世界。随之而来的问题则是，为什么中国年轻人会选择这种方式，以及是什么影响了他们做出打工度假的决定。本研究以主题分析的方法探究了34个中国大陆的打工度假者的动机，在考虑到社会文化影响和生活轨迹等因素后，得到三个主题，即逃避现实，成本收益和时机。研究的结果有助于我们更好地了解这个正在壮大的中国打工度假者群体。考虑到未来可能会有更多的国家对中国年轻人实施类似计划，我们也探讨了本研究的意义和未来研究的方向。

KEYWORDS:

• Chinese youth tourists
• working holiday
• working holiday makers
• thematic analysis
• tourist motivation
• China outbound tourism
• working tourists

关键词:

• 中国青年游客
• 打工度假
• 打工度假者
• 主题分析
• 游客动机
• 中国出境旅游
• 打工旅游者

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback to the paper. We also would like to thank The Council for Australasian Tourism and Hospitality Education (CAUTHE) for offering an opportunity to present an early version of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hongrui Zhu

Hongrui Zhu is affiliated with University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. His research interests include backpacking tourism and working holiday tourism (E-mail: [email protected]).

Hazel Tucker

Hazel Tucker is Professor in Department of Tourism at University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Her research interests include tourism encounters, emotion, heritage and gender (E-mail: [email protected]).

Tara Duncan

Tara Duncan is Senior Lecturer in School of Technology and Business Studies at Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden. Her research interests focus on current debates around lifestyle mobility, migration and transnationalism as well as the everyday spaces and practices within tourism, hospitality and leisure (E-mail: [email protected]).

Jingru Zhang

Jingru Zhang is Doctoral Candidate in Department of Tourism at University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. His research interests include backpacking tourism, lifestyle mobility, identity construction and community development (E-mail: [email protected]).