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1 – 10 of 107The Internet is a site of particularly potent discourses demonizing undocumented immigrants (Bloch, 2014; Flores-Yeffal, Vidales, & Plemons, 2011; Sohoni, 2006). Anti-immigrant…
Abstract
The Internet is a site of particularly potent discourses demonizing undocumented immigrants (Bloch, 2014; Flores-Yeffal, Vidales, & Plemons, 2011; Sohoni, 2006). Anti-immigrant discourses have long constructed Latina immigrant mothers as bearing “anchor babies” and burdens to the state. Representing a distinct case of non-citizen reproduction, online news sources began reporting on Chinese maternity tourism in 2011. This form of maternity tourism allegedly involves wealthy tourists visiting the United States to give birth to their children on US soil. In this chapter, I analyze online comments in response to Chinese maternity tourism. I ask, how do online commenters make sense of Chinese maternity tourism? I find that online commenters overwhelmingly demonize Chinese maternity tourism by including this practice into broader debates about “anchor babies” and the reforming of birthright citizenship. Some commenters also use race-specific tropes and malleable claims about class to construct the children of Chinese maternity tourists as a paradoxical asset or threat to the country, often comparing them to the children of undocumented Latina mothers. When commenters employ Asian-specific stereotypes, some commenters offer a racialized conditional acceptance of maternity tourism, revealing that while citizenship is policed among the citizenry, it can also be expanded precariously and problematically.
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Ching‐Chi (Cindia) Lam, Hilary du Cros and Tze Ngai (Louis) Vong
This article aims to examine how Macao could become a destination to attract health and medical tourists from the People's Republic of China (China), as since its return from…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to examine how Macao could become a destination to attract health and medical tourists from the People's Republic of China (China), as since its return from Portuguese control in 1999 it has been capitalising on its position as a cultural link between Portugal and China
Design/methodology/approach
A study was conducted recently on the possible demand for Western and traditional Chinese medicine practices by mainland Chinese tourists visiting Macao. A survey was undertaken of their views on consuming health and medical tourism products.
Findings
It was found that there is a definite opportunity for medical tourism in Macao among Chinese tourists. The bodycheck is the medical service most highly sort and word‐of‐mouth together with the internet are the most preferred channels for information. Majority also prefer to package their medical trip with tourism activities.
Research limitations/implications
Macao is the perfect place to study outbound Chinese tourists and their potential desire for special interest tourism activities, because they are entitled to enter on independent visas. Eventually, this will be the case in many more destinations and the results could be seen as predictive.
Practical implications
A mismatch between the requirements of the demand side and supply has been discovered and needs to be remedied with more public sector encouragement of this emerging niche.
Originality/value
The first study of its kind is carried out amongst Chinese outbound tourists, who can obtain independent leisure travel visas to tour outside China.
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Han Shen, Qiucheng Wang, Chuou Ye and Jessica Shihchi Liu
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the reforms in the public-holiday-policy system and their influence on the domestic tourism in China. The major reforms in the Chinese…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the reforms in the public-holiday-policy system and their influence on the domestic tourism in China. The major reforms in the Chinese holiday system in the last 20 years and the overall changes in the demand for domestic tourism are analyzed in this paper to provide a better understanding of China’s holiday-system reform for policy makers in the future.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper summarizes the development and reform of the holiday system in China. Policy review and domestic tourism statistics were applied to study the intrinsic relationship between the holiday system and the domestic tourism. The statistics of domestic tourism are cited, including the growth rates of both urban and rural tourists, the domestic tourism expenditure per capita, etc. Finally, this research explains the trends of these rates in a comprehensive background.
Findings
The increasing length of holidays positively affects the domestic tourism demand by increasing the leisure time. Yet, the holiday-tourism activities lead to a series of problems, such as a huge pressure on transportation, overloaded tourist attractions, and threats to safety precautions. Paid leave, price leverage, and more reasonable tourist-attraction arrangements will be effective in easing China’s holiday rush.
Originality/value
Through studying the intrinsic relationship between the holiday system and the domestic tourism, this paper points out the problems of excessive concentration of domestic tourism demand in a particular time, caused by the holiday system. Solutions and suggestions are provided on the basis of the analysis.
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Jamie Siu Kam Lo and Bob McKercher
This study aims to examine the process of tourism gentrification from China tourists, a major source market, in two neighbourhoods in Hong Kong: one that has been long exposed to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the process of tourism gentrification from China tourists, a major source market, in two neighbourhoods in Hong Kong: one that has been long exposed to tourism and one that is just being discovered by tourists. Through a series of in-depth interviews with local residents and community leaders, complemented by non-participant observation, the paper tracks the commercial, social and cultural changes that have occurred or are occurring in these two places.
Design/methodology/approach
This study evaluates the process of place change through tourism gentrification in two neighbourhoods in Hong Kong that are at different stages of the process. An ontological approach is adopted using an interpretivist paradigm involving in-depth interviews and on-site observations, supplemented by secondary data. These data were complemented by non-participant observation.
Findings
Both the places have been transformed due to the influx of mainland Chinese tourists. Some impacts felt by both communities have much in common, such as congestion and shop dislocation, while others are more location specific. Even though the degree of tourism gentrification is different, locals from both locations tend to hold negative perceptions towards tourists, although of different strengths. All have also noted the traditional social cohesion is not as strong as before.
Originality/value
The paper argues that tourism gentrification exists on a continuum as neighbourhoods move seemingly inextricably from local-centric nodes to tourist-centric nodes. Apart from enlightening the theory of tourism gentrification, it provides insights to the local leaders on proper tourism development by balancing the social and economic benefits.
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Meixing Liu and Fang Xu
The purpose of this study is to explore the information needs and behaviors of Chinese first-time mothers from the perspective of information journey theory.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the information needs and behaviors of Chinese first-time mothers from the perspective of information journey theory.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the popular coding language Python to write a program to extract 366 posts published by first-time mothers in the Babytree community of China's largest maternal and infant platform. Content analysis is used to analyze and encode the collected data.
Findings
This study summarizes the information needs of first-time mothers in China specifically, which includes six aspects of health, pregnancy care, postpartum parenting, socialization, self-actualization, and entertainment. Then, based on its hierarchical and stage characteristics, more flexible information needs matrix for Chinese first-time mothers has been developed to reflect their changing 15 types of information needs more fully. Finally, it constructs the information journey model of Chinese first-time mothers including five stages.
Originality/value
This is the first time that information journey theory has been applied to the research on information needs and behaviors of first-time mothers. The authors have also further expanded the information seeking and acquisition phases and found new gaps in the phases to further refine the information journey model. This study can help us better understand the online information needs and behaviors of Chinese first-time mothers and provide support for organizations and online health community managers to develop new information services or improve the quality of existing services.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-10-2021-0538.
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The purposes of this study were to identify the sector-specific destination attributes as antecedents of tourism satisfaction in the context of industrial tourism and examine…
Abstract
Purpose
The purposes of this study were to identify the sector-specific destination attributes as antecedents of tourism satisfaction in the context of industrial tourism and examine their relative impact on intentions to recommend and re-participate in factory tour activities as consequences of tourist satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The 26 sector-specific destination attributes ranging from the diversity of on-site and nearby tourism resources, the ease of internal and external accessibility, the availability of lodging and dining facilities to the provision of information services and safety and emergency systems were drawn from the relevant literature. Data were collected with 222 on-site visitors using convenient sampling on three separate weekends in August 2014.
Findings
The results showed that tourist satisfaction with factory tour experience is composed of seven dimensions, namely, lodging and dining facilities, internal accessibility, nearby attractions, external accessibility, provision of safety and emergency systems, on-site attractions and provision of information services. While satisfaction with the provision of safety and emergency systems is the most important positive contributor to overall satisfaction, satisfaction with the on-site attractions exerts a negative effect on intention to recommend. Nevertheless, the higher overall satisfaction the visitors have, the more possibility they will recommend and re-participate in factory tour activities.
Research limitations/implications
There were three limitations to this study. First, this study was confined to Taiwan. The sector-specific destination attributes may be limited and only applicable to Taiwan. Second, this study was based on a convenience sample of 222 domestic tourists at the three selected tourism factory sites. The results may not be generalized beyond this population. Third, overall satisfaction, intention to re-participate and willingness to recommend were all measured by a single question. The use of a single-item measure may cause the measurement error inherent in any singular measure and weaken the reliability of findings.
Practical implications
This study is a step toward strengthening tourist satisfaction with factory tour experience. Ensuring on-site safety and security is listed as the top priority for both the government and industry sectors. The bad publicity arising from any accidents occurring on any tourism factory sties could seriously tarnish the overall factory tour experience, which, in turn, influences more significantly on intention to re-participation than on willingness to recommend. The second task is to diversify the on-site attractions, which enable the pursuit of learning as a type of leisure/entertainment, and promote the authentic aspects of these attractions through social media.
Originality/value
Previous studies have examined the antecedents and consequences of tourist satisfaction with the chosen destination; however, none has been undertaken in the context of industrial tourism. Moreover, the existing industrial tourism literature has mainly focused on the socio-demographic and traveling characteristics of industrial tourists as well as the conditions under which industrial tourism can be successfully developed in the Western context. The perceptions of industrial tourists toward the determinants of industrial tourism potential in the context of Asia generally and Taiwan in particular have been poorly under-researched. This study with an attempt to address these issues is, therefore, both timely and worthwhile.
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Anita Kit-Wa Chan, Lucille Lok-Sun Ngan, Anthony K.W. Wong and W.S. Chan
Cross-border students – children who are permanent residents of Hong Kong but live on the mainland and travel across the border to school every day – have been an important…
Abstract
Purpose
Cross-border students – children who are permanent residents of Hong Kong but live on the mainland and travel across the border to school every day – have been an important social, educational and political issue in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, current discussions regarding this issue focus mainly on the group of students whose parents are Chinese residents and seldom examine the wider contribution of social, geo-political, global-economic and policy changes to the phenomenon. These shortcomings have limited the understanding of the role of the state and the varied needs of these child migrants from diverse family backgrounds. This paper aims to address these gaps.
Design/methodology/approach
It proposes to bring changing border and immigration policies in Hong Kong back into the current analysis and offers a case study of border history. It revisits publications on Hong Kong’s immigration and migration policies, official statistics and government policy papers and (re)constructs the border changes that took place during the period from 1950 to 2013, which led to the rise and complexity of cross-border students.
Findings
This critical historical review offers two important findings: First, it reveals how the government, through its restrictive and liberalized border regulations, has constrained and produced different types of cross-border families. Second, it shows that cross-border students come from diverse family configurations, which have adopted cross-border schooling as a family strategy.
Originality/value
These findings underscore the importance of historical perspective, the wider context in migration studies, the centrality of the state in migrant families and a differentiated understanding of child migrants.
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Danilo Brozović, Anna D'Auria, Marco Tregua and Mark Anthony Camilleri
This chapter delineates the conditions, challenges and opportunities for the sustainability of small entrepreneurial firms involved in local food tourism. It raises awareness on…
Abstract
This chapter delineates the conditions, challenges and opportunities for the sustainability of small entrepreneurial firms involved in local food tourism. It raises awareness on how these businesses can enhance their competitiveness in this market. It puts forward an analytical framework that is based on the economic, social, environmental and cultural sustainability of small local food tourism entrepreneurs in Swedish, Italian and Spanish contexts. This research implies that the financial sustainability of these small enterprises is contributing to local economic growth and employment in their country. From the social sustainability aspect these tourism businesses are intrinsically linked to local communities. Their responsible practices are meant to safeguard the environmental sustainability as well as the preservation of their local culture and heritage. At the same time, they enable them to add value to their destination’s cultural sustainability.
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