Contemporary Perspectives on China Tourism is an innovative and engaging collection which presents unique approaches and critical insights into the policy, development and management practices of tourism and hospitality in modern China. This volume consists of nine independent research reports overarching the consequences of tourism from economic, sociocultural, community, and humanistic perspectives. The book addresses generic issues such as tourism demand, mega events, leisure, tourist experience, cultural representation, community development, and quality of life through tourism, as well as strategies and techniques specific to the tourism and hospitality industries. Contemporary Perspectives on China Tourism draws on methodological traditions of anthropology, business, communication and media studies, geography, linguistics and literature, sociology, and critical tourism studies. Seven of the nine chapters in this book were originally published in a special issue on "Methodological Innovations in China Tourism Research" of the Journal of China Tourism Research.

Covering a wide range of current issues, this comprehensive Handbook explores the links between tourism as a dynamic tertiary industry and China as the world’s most influential tourism market and destination.

Assuming an international perspective, Chinese Tourist Outbound Behaviour presents an insightful exploration of the evolution of China’s tourism market, explores Chinese tourists’ behaviour, and considers how the country’s tourism landscape will expand in the future. Featuring 16 chapters compiled and written by industry experts representing 11 countries, this collection offers a vivid profile of Chinese tourists and the characteristics distinguishing them from other market segments. This book coincides with the growing interest in Chinese tourism and tourist behaviour as the top market in the world in terms of tourism spending and arrival numbers, presenting an overview of Chinese tourist segments and travel-related concerns to paint a clear picture of the market’s status. Chapters address the future of Chinese tourism, providing industry stakeholders an up-to-date view on this valuable market along with suggestions to best harness the market’s power. Providing an up-to-date exploration of numerous contemporary issues, this book will be valuable to a wide audience, including advanced students in tourism, hospitality and leisure and recreation studies and stakeholders, authorities, establishments and employees within the tourism industry. This book offers readers greater knowledge about the past, present and future of the Chinese outbound tourism market.

Twenty years ago, commercial tourism in the People’s Republic of China hardly existed. Today, China has a burgeoning tourist industry, characterized by a unique style with deep roots in traditional Chinese culture. Scenic Spots is an engaging exploration of why Chinese tourists pursue certain kinds of experiences, what they make of them, and how their experiences and interpretations are shaped by the state. Working from within a Chinese cultural framework, Pál Nyíri argues that China’s brand of tourism is distinct from the traditions of both Western bourgeois tourism, which values authenticity, and Soviet tourism, with its emphasis on rugged and selfless experience. In China, tourism development is guided by the state, and “scenic spots” (jingdian) and theme parks are used to demonstrate China’s heroic past and as tools of patriotic education and modernization – or as forms of “indoctritainment.” The tourist site is perceived as a product, and, as such, it is bounded, approved, rated, and consumed. In a style both straightforward and provocative, Nyíri argues that the uniformity and undisguised commercialism of Chinese tourist sites are a direct result of the state’s ultimate authority to determine the meaning of landscape and to control culture. Scenic Spots serves as a lens through which to explore mechanisms of cultural control and resistance in a highly commercialized sphere of everyday life in contemporary China.

The contributors discuss the little-understood yet strong influence of ethnic overseas Chinese on the PRC's tourism development as well as the impact of the Tiananmen uprising. The book concludes with an analysis of the prospects for the future of China's development.

This book offers a comprehensive understanding of China’s tourism development from 1992 onwards, focusing on the social-cultural change that accompanied the rise of tourism. It examines both the economic benefits and sociocultural impacts of tourism and argues that tourism sustainability depends on a delicate balance between economic and social-cultural interests which could manifest differently among the stakeholders of various interests. It also explores, through both theoretical and empirical analysis, how travel connects people and places through the processes of tourist imagination and consumption. The volume portrays how contemporary discourses fuse with individual histories to formulate the ways in which tourists understand China. It will be a useful resource for students and scholars in human geography, tourism management, leisure and recreation, and social sciences.

This book focuses on cultures that shape contemporary Asian tourist experiences. The book consists of 10 chapters, which are organised into two themes: Collectivist Culture and Wellbeing. The chapters cover emerging forms of tourism (e.g., wedding and bridal photography tourism, roots/affinity tourism and shamanic tourism), investigate a wide range of topics (e.g., tourist motivation, tourist anxiety and decision making) and consider Asian perspectives from diverse backgrounds (e.g., China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal). The book provides tourism researchers, students and practitioners a consolidated, comprehensive and updated reference for the understanding of Asian tourists.