The Guimi Holidays of Young Chinese Women: Evidence from Cyber Communities

ABSTRACT

The phrase ‘guimi holiday’ usually refers to shared travel among female best friends. This study provides insight into guimi holiday (闺蜜游) experiences among young Chinese women. These women were mainly born in China between the 1980s and 2000s, reared under the one-child policy. Aided partly by the diffusion of the internet and guimi-related TV shows and movies, the guimi holiday has flourished in China. For this study, a qualitative methodology was employed to analyze travel blogs of guimi holidays from popular Chinese online travel communities, which revealed several elements of this holiday experience: the guimi style of bonding, pursuing ‘me and my’ authentic time, and social support. This paper concludes with some implications and recommendations for the marketing of the guimi holiday experience in the tourism industry.

摘要

‘闺蜜出游’一词通常指的是最要好的女性朋友之间的共同旅行。本研究的目的是为了探讨中国年轻女性的闺蜜出游体验。这些年轻女性大多出生在1980年至2000年之间, 并在独生子女政策下长大。伴随着网络上与闺蜜相关的电视剧和电影的广泛传播, 闺蜜出游在中国发展迅速。本研究采用质性研究方法, 以网络旅游社群为调查对象, 对描述闺蜜出游体验的相关旅游博客展开分析, 揭示了闺蜜出游体验的几个要素即:闺蜜式亲密连结, 追求‘本我’和‘真我时光’, 社会支持。本文最后针对旅游业开展闺蜜出游营销提出了相关建议。

KEYWORDS:

• Guimi holiday
• young Chinese women
• grounded theory
• friendship travel
• travel blogs

关键词:

• 闺蜜游
• 年轻中国女性
• 扎根理论
• 携友出游
• 旅游博客

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the studentship for research student of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Federation of Societies of Social Sciences of Jinwan District, Zhuhai city [2019ZD002].

Notes on contributors

Xiaolian Chen

Xiaolian Chen is Ph.D. candidate in School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China. Her research interests include gender and tourism, and small group research (E-mail: [email protected]).

Barry Mak

Barry Mak is Associate Professor in School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China. His research interests include airlines, travel agency, and climate change and sustainability (E-mail: barry.mak@ polyu.edu.hk).

Ian Calder

Ian Calder is Doctoral Student in School of Management at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His research interest include sustainability and project management (E-mail: [email protected])