Travel Behavior of International Students at a University in Japan: A Comparison of Chinese and Non-Chinese Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the travel behavior of international students. Specifically, it is to examine the differences between two groups of students: Chinese and non-Chinese. A mail survey of international students at a university in Japan was conducted. The overall results indicated that international students tended to visit destinations within day-trip distance. A statistical test showed that Chinese students rarely used booking services for car rentals and preferred to stay at tourist hotels; public media was a major source of travel information for them. The non-Chinese students, on the other hand, preferred lodging at campgrounds/cottages and tended to rely on word-of-mouth recommendations of their friends.

本文旨在研究留学生的旅游行为；具体地说，是研究中国和非中国留学生的旅游行为的差异。研究人员把问卷以邮寄的方式发给就读于一所日本大学的留学生。问卷调查结果显示留学生倾向于游览那些可以当日往返的旅游目的地。统计调查显示中国学生很少使用租车服务；他们喜欢住在酒店和主要利用大众媒体获取旅游资料。非中国学生则大多在野营地/村舍过夜，和选择听取朋友的口头建议。

Keywords:

• Travel behavior
• international students
• Chinese students
• non-Chinese students
• tourism marketing
• Japan

关键词:

• 旅游行为
• 留学生
• 中国学生
• 非中国学生
• 旅游行销
• 日本

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Professor Emeritus Katsuhiko Demura of Hokkaido University for his guidance throughout this research. Yaoxuan Shi acknowledges the financial support from the Japan Association for Planning Administration Hokkaido Office and the Alumni Association, Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University. Part of the research was presented at the Sixth China Tourism Forum, held in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, May 12–13, 2009. We thank the forum participants for their constructive comments. The responsibility for any errors and shortcomings in this article remains ours.

Notes

1. Because we used the latest available list (as of October 2007) of the international students of the university, this figure differs from that in Hokkaido University (2007).

2. The contents of the questionnaire were mainly constructed based on the previous studies of international students in other countries. Because of the very different background, for example, modes of transportation, the findings of travel patterns of the study should be carefully compared with those researched in other countries.

3. Though we used the same data as in Shi et al. (2009), they did not examine the relationships between the attributes of the Chinese students and the characteristics of their travels compared with those of the non-Chinese students.

4. Chinese students refers particularly to international students from mainland China studying at Hokkaido University.

5. Shi et al. (2009) found that about 50% of respondents reported that they had never traveled to any destination outside Hokkaido during their study period. Therefore, we limited our discussion to their travel behaviors within the confines of Hokkaido.

6. For instance, the questionnaire included Shiretoko Peninsula, one of three United Nations Educational, Scientific and Culturla Organization (UNESCO) World Natural Heritage sites in Japan, and the only one of those in Hokkaido. Shiretoko Peninsula is located north east of Hokkaido, approximately 430 km from Sapporo, or about 7 hours by train. The response rate for Shiretoko Peninsula is 10.7%, and it is ranked 17th.