A Review of Chinese Outbound Tourism Research and the Way Forward

Abstract

Outbound tourism from China has been the subject of many empirical studies conducted over the last two decades. These studies have collectively analyzed a wide variety of situations. The large volume of findings illustrates researchers’ keen interest in Chinese outbound tourism, the existence of diverse research areas, and also the craving to understand this very important market. The barriers to understanding this market are related to its cultural background, language, and governmental intervention. This study integrates the empirical findings and discussions in 80 papers on Chinese outbound tourism. The aim is to identify the main areas of research interest, analyze how they are related in terms of tourism framework, critically evaluate the research areas, and explore future directions. The study advocates future Chinese outbound tourism research to be more concerned with the source market where the main causal factors of tourist flows are located; the social impacts of Chinese outbound tourism on its own people and destinations; and the legal and ethical aspects of the outbound tourism.

中国出境旅游一直是过去二十年间许多实证研究的课题。这些研究集体分析了各种各样的情况。大量的调查结果反映了研究人员对中国出境旅游以及其不同的研究领域的浓厚兴趣，并渴望理解这个非常重要的市场。文化背景﹑语言和政府干预都对理解这个市场造成障碍。本研究结合了实证研究的结果和对80篇有关中国出境旅游的论文进行讨论。其目的在于确定研究方向的主要领域，分析它们如何在旅游框架方面相互关联，严格评估研究领域，并探讨未来的发展方向。本研究主张将来有关中国出境旅游的研究应更着重其客源市场﹑对当地居民和目的地所带来的社会影响以及与出境旅游相关的法律和道德问题。

KEYWORDS:

• China outbound tourism
• destination image
• tourist motives
• source market
• tourism policy

关键词:

• 中国出境旅游
• 目的地形象
• 旅游动机
• 客源市场
• 旅游政策

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tony S.M. Tse

Tony S.M. Tse is an Assistant Professor and Programme Director (Industry Partnerships) in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China (E‐mail: [email protected]).