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The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of an exploratory research paper undertaken in Auckland, New Zealand which focused on the Approved Destination Status (ADS) inbound tour operators’ understanding of the Chinese market and their strategies for developing Auckland as a sustainable destination.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten managers out of the 25 registered ADS inbound tour operators. The qualitative responses were coded and analysed using pattern identification and categorisation of emergent themes.

The findings profile New Zealand ADS inbound operators, summarise their knowledge of the Chinese market in terms of visitor expectations and characteristics, present the operator’s perceptions of Qualmark quality accreditation scheme and ADS Code of Conduct, and demonstrate the quality management initiatives they have developed in addition to addressing the issues within the Chinese market operation.

The study provides implications for destination marketers and tour operators in terms of the sustainable operation of the growing Chinese market.

This paper aims to identify the changes of researched destinations along with the Approved Destination Status scheme to investigate the development of research problems, and to track the changes of research topics in the context of the development of China’s outbound tourism. The research methods and applied theories are also identified and analyzed.

Three large databases, namely, ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost and Google Scholar, were selected to search for published articles (i.e. 107 empirical articles and 15 review/policy articles) related to China’s outbound tourism. Thereafter, the retrieved articles were categorized and analyzed. Finally, a theoretical framework was provided for future studies on China’s outbound tourism.

The major findings indicated that the main topics related to China’s outbound tourism included market segmentation, travel motivation and travel behavior. One or two theories are generally applied to investigate a certain topic. The most common research methods are interviews and a questionnaire survey.

Future studies are suggested to apply more theories to investigate one topic. A single theory can also be applied to investigate different topics. Adopting different and innovative research methods, such as online interaction observation, can also be considered.

This study contributes to the literature through an in-depth qualitative assessment of China’s outbound tourism literature, comparing researched destinations with the Approved Destination Status policies, and reviewing articles based on research.

Laws, regulations, and policies, including specific intergovernmental visa agreements, exert significant influences on people’s mobility and cross-border travels. Such forces are powerful in shaping the emerging Asian tourism market. This chapter provides a critical review and analysis of the laws and regulations that have shaped Chinese outbound tourism. It first reviews the evolution of China’s policies and government attitude toward outbound tourism. The three tourism administration regulations promulgated by the State Council are then reviewed and their implications for outbound tourism are discussed. The Tourism Law enacted in 2013 is reviewed and discussed separately due to its significance and supreme power in China’s legal system. Finally, the chapter discusses the impact of intergovernmental visa facilitation arrangements on Chinese outbound tourism.

Tourism is one of the main income generator for the Singapore’s economy. Since China is the second largest tourist group to Singapore in the past 15 years which is due to the newly middle class and the appreciation of Chinese Yuan, this study attempts to explore the market potential by understanding Chinese tourist’s repeat visit intention. A sample of 192 Chinese tourists is collected at Singapore Chiang International Airport to study eight selected satisfaction attributes using systematic random sampling techniques. The mean scores indicate that all attributes are above the average. In addition, transportation and environment/safety are tied as the most satisfactory attribute. Further, a logistic regression model identifies which attributes lead the Chinese tourists’ likelihood to revisit Singapore. Three attributes entailing lodging, attraction and environment and safety, are significant. The managerial implications are also discussed.

As the Chinese outbound travel market has become a paramount target for world tourism with significant growth potential, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact that the Chinese outbound travel market has on the European tourism industry.

The paper reviews both academic and trade literature to provide an overview of the opportunities and challenges that the China outbound travel market might bring to the European tourism industry.

The paper presents the major topics relating to China outbound tourism research and the current research gaps. Chinese outbound tourists are not a homogenous group of tourists. The paper addresses opportunities and challenges from two key segments of China outbound travel (Chinese international students and Chinese senior tourists).

The paper calls for alternative and innovative research methods and research behaviour in tracking the impact of Chinese outbound tourists. Closer collaboration between academics and industry practitioners might provide a better understanding of this market.

The paper offers recent insights on the Chinese outbound tourism market based on an analysis of relevant literature by both academics and industry practitioners. This allows the relevant stakeholders to adopt proactive strategies to minimise potential negative impacts and maximise opportunities.

This study attempts to demystify the mechanism behind the negative event of the so‐called “zero‐commission” tours that have become synonymous with the booming Chinese outbound tourism in the past decade.

Utilizing the Atlas.ti computer qualitative analysis software, nine proposed key factors constituting the zero‐tour phenomenon are examined and proven through a content analysis of 30 case studies.

The validity of the proposed nine factors causing the zero‐tour and their respective degrees of relevance to the phenomenon are also investigated and empirically tested in the study.

The study used the cases from destinations such as Hong Kong and Thailand. It will be better if cases from other destinations such as Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, and Australia can be examined in future studies since the zero‐tour phenomenon also exists in other countries.

This study may serve as a reference for the drafting and implementation of both policy and business countermeasures to curb the zero‐commission tours. Consequently, this would facilitate more positive contributions of the Chinese outbound tourism industry to global tourism development.

No empirical study on the zero‐tour phenomenon was found in the literature. Based on the game theory, the proposed and empirically tested nine factors can serve as the foundation on which future studies on the zero‐commission tour can be conducted.

The purpose of this paper is to take a holistic view of the body of knowledge of the second wave of Chinese outbound tourists so as to develop a strategic framework towards positioning Greece in the China outbound tourism market.

The survey adopted a perspective from knowledge management, investigating a deeper understanding of the knowledge about, from and for the Chinese tourists, and Greece was taken as a case study. An online survey with quantitative aspects was conducted from October 2013 to January 2014.

The knowledge about the Chinese tourists depicts a young, well-educated segment with a predominance of female and western China residents. The knowledge from the Chinese tourists reveals that they prefer: visiting islands and heritage sites; safety while travelling; a faster visa process; a direct flight between China and Greece; and making a trip combined with other Schengen countries. The knowledge for the Chinese tourists indicates that purchasing tourism products/services online provides better price, is enjoyable, convenient and time-saving; and the top five digital platforms often used are Ctrip, Qunar, QQ, Weibo and WeChat, which could be effective tools for the promotion of Greek tourism in China.

This research offers a first step to investigate the knowledge of Chinese tourists for the destination of Greece. The findings help to propose a strategic knowledge framework for the Greek tourism authorities so that Greece can become a more active player in the Chinese outbound tourism market.

The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between culture-based tourism development and cultural sustainability in the established tourism destination of Gold Coast, Australia. It seeks to contribute to the debate on local development and tourism through evaluating the development of the newly-born Gold Coast Chinatown.

Two types of analysis were developed for this study. The first one aims at assessing the general features of the case study site. It was done by the urban analysis of the precinct, the count of the shops associated with the identification of their function (e.g. retail, services, etc.), street visual survey, and the assessment of ethnic expression/representations. The second analysis aims at assessing place-attachment, development impacts and cultural attitude. It was done by questionnaire surveys.

The analysis evidences mainly two findings. First, tradition, authenticity or ethnicity are not perceived as key drivers, and tangible pre-requisites do not appear as a priority for a culture-based tourism development. Second, correlation studies show the longer the length of residence the higher is the attitude towards positive perceived economic impacts and positive cultural attitudes. It is the opposite of what is usually found in literature review. As such, it challenges the concept of cultural sustainability, and helps us to reconsider the weight of the evaluative factors of community attachment, development impact and cultural attitude in tourism development.

The recent creation of the Gold Coast Chinatown not only raises the question of the rationale of what is usually recognised as a community-based settlement, hence its cultural foundation and the legitimacy of transfer of cultural models, but also the processes at stake between cultural sustainability and tourism development. To the knowledge, no publication exists on this case study.

This paper aims to investigate the preparedness of regional destinations for new and developing markets (NDMs) focusing on service provision and cultural considerations.

In-depth interviews using semi-structured questions and quantitative and qualitative analyses were undertaken with regional tourism-related stakeholders to investigate NDMs, levels of preparedness for these markets, perceptions on service quality and host and visitor culture.

Regional tourism operators and organisations within the case study were not well prepared for NDMs such as China and India. There was a strong desire to present a local experience with services that reflect the Australian culture, rather than replicate the visitors’ culture. Levels of awareness for the services preferred by NDMs and the intention to cater specifically to these preferences was found to be inconsistent. Key challenges include market diversity, staff training, limited resources and inadequate infrastructure. Resource allocation to address these challenges may not be a high priority, impacting NDMs’ preparedness and regional tourism growth.

Globally, tourism organisations are directing marketing efforts towards NDMs. However, ill-preparedness for these markets can lead to low levels of tourist satisfaction, reduced re-visitation and fewer positive word-of-mouth recommendations, all of which negatively impact tourism growth and development. Limited research has been undertaken in this area; thus, this study aids in identifying areas of focus for regional preparedness, service provision and resource allocation for existing markets and NDMs.