Ecotourism social media initiatives in China

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of social media by ecotourism management agencies and how this potentially changes the relationship between the ecotourist and the natural environment. It examines the meaning of ecotourism and the way that social media shapes visitor perceptions and meaning through an examination of the content of 775 Sina microblog postings from five leading ecotourism site management agencies in China. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the social media postings, a series of semi-structured interviews was also conducted with followers and management agencies. The findings provide an enhanced understanding of ecotourism marketing and its impacts on the ecotourist while also creating a framework for the use of social media to market ecotourism. The framework outlines the importance of the meanings associated with this form of communication through its promotional appeal to tourists and the outcomes for both the ecotourist and site management.

KEYWORDS:

• Ecotourism
• social media
• content analysis
• social media
• marketing communication
• China

Acknowledgments

The authors of this study would like to thank Jianxiu Shen for her technical help with the map, professor Jenny Edwards for her constructive advice on the earlier draft of this paper and the co-editor professor Graham Miller for his penetrating comments. The authors are also grateful of the financial support from Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre at the University of Technology Sydney for editing this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mingming Cheng

Mingming Cheng is a PhD candidate at the University of Technology Sydney, UTS Business School, Ultimo, New South Wales, Australia. Mingming's core research interests and expertise deal with Chinese generation Y, outbound Chinese tourists, data science and inter-disciplinary research.

IpKin Anthony Wong

Anthony IpKin Wong is an invited professor with the Faculty of International Tourism and Management, City University of Macau, Macau, China. His current research interests include tourism and hospitality marketing, service quality, international marketing, green marketing, and casino and gambling behaviors.

Stephen Wearing

Stephen Wearing has a PhD focusing on Sustainable Tourism. He has conducted numerous projects and lectures worldwide and is the author of 13 books and over 100 articles dealing with issues surrounding leisure and sustainable tourism. His practical experience as an environmental and park planner at local, state and international level have provided him with real world experiences that he brings to his teaching and research. His research interests include ecotourism, community based and volunteer tourism; environmentalism; sociology of leisure and tourism and social sciences in protected area management.

Matthew McDonald

Matthew McDonald is a lecturer in the RMIT University Asia Graduate Centre, Vietnam. Matthew has worked in various academic posts in other countries including Australia, United Kingdom and Thailand. He has published in a range of internationally recognized peer reviewed journals in the fields of psychology, philosophy and environmental sustainability, as well as publishing numerous book chapters, encyclopaedia entries and business case studies. He has published four books the latest including: Social Psychology and Theories of Consumer Culture: A Political Economy Perspective (Routledge) and Critical Social Psychology: An Introduction (Palgrave).