Chinese tourists’ perceptions and consumption of cultural heritage: a generational perspective

ABSTRACT

This study investigated Chinese tourists’ perceptions of domestic cultural heritage in general and consumption of a renowned Chinese cultural heritage site in terms of motivation and satisfaction across four generations. Seven hundred and five self-administered questionnaires were collected at Kulangsu. Findings showed tourists were interested in cultural heritage that conveys national history and culture, yet considered famous people and literary works secondary. They held strong positive views of World Heritage designation, yet the Post-80s and Post-90s showed lower interest in famous heritage places than prior generations. While consuming Kulangsu, the Lost Generation was cultural-heritage-oriented, whereas the younger generations were experience-oriented.

KEYWORDS:

• Generational difference
• Chinese cultural values
• heritage tourism
• World Heritage
• confucianism
• motivation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Education was recoded into two levels, namely “middle school or lower” and “high school or technical school” as “low education” level, and “college or bachelor”s degree” and “master”s or higher” as “high education” level. It was treated as a dummy variable in ANCOVA.

Additional information

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China Science Foundation of China [project serial number: 41471122]