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Building on key ideas about the value of savoring in understanding the importance of vacation memories, a sample of Iranians were asked to write a long paragraph (one page) which described a particularly important, happy, and enjoyable vacation occasion. The answers were coded using five categories developed from savoring studies. By benchmarking the scores with data from well-matched samples from other countries (specifically a European sample from Austria, and Chinese and Japanese respondents), the Iranian tourists were shown to be especially appreciative of vacations being grateful, marveling, luxuriating, and having a strong sense of the status value of their time. For Iranians, vacations provide powerful, evocative highlights for their lives.

This chapter explores the cultural interest and needs of Thai group tourists undertaking specific tours. The perspectives of a specialist Thai tour operator in choosing routes and conducting tours for these tourists in Europe provide the basis for the points identified. The special appeal of themes linked to Thai life is emphasized. The development of a group travel itinerary is documented as a pragmatic exercise in matching the expectations and the spending power of the participants with the business goals of the tour provider. The wider pan-Asian implications of the work include the need for a high level of personal care and the necessity to explain and interpret often little understood historical facts.

This introductory chapter defines and notes the development of tourism out of Asia as a new force in global human communication. The complexities and some efficiencies in defining Asia are reviewed. The chapter considers dispersal patterns from a number of Asian countries and notes the chief destinations as provided by current statistical counts. Key issues arising from attempts to interpret these data are noted. The importance of out of Asia tourists is confirmed through the material presented. The visibility of Asian tourists is considered and the subtleties of recognizing intra-Asian differences are noted. Some select theoretical approaches focussing on societies in contact are introduced. These theories offer pathways to bring academic and managerial insights to this evolving phenomenon.

In Verona, Italy, one site attracts global tourist interest: the courtyard and balcony made famous in Shakespeare’s tragic play Romeo and Juliet. There is a collision of fact and fantasy in declaring this site to be the one in the famous play. More importantly, the contemporary space labeled as Juliet’s balcony is a commercial tourism hub, attracting a truly diverse international audience who are arguably at least intrigued by the potential for contact with a site embodying love and a tragic romance. Using the time tourists spent at the site as an organizer, combined with TripAdvisor ratings, the researchers revealed how authenticity was variously rejected, redefined, and constructed through the tourists’ behavior.

This study systematically outlines a multifaceted approach to Persian culture using the anthropological acronym of KERP (kinship, economics, religion, and politics). Possible touch points between the tourist and both modern life in Iran and the historical world of Persian culture are identified. It is proposed that these touch points would be revealed through the knowledge emotions of surprise, confusion, and interest. The chapter examines the detailed accounts of experienced Iranian guides who reported on their tourists’ knowledge emotions about the visited culture. A comprehensive catalogue of the key incidents evoking these knowledge emotions is developed. The chapter further proposes a spectrum of cultural accessibility for Western tourists using this catalogue of emotional responses.

Consistent exposure to sunshine with high ultraviolet values has significant negative effects on human skin. Key risks include melanoma and the rapid onset of signs of ageing. For Chinese, these are viewed as undesirable, because their genetic legacy predisposes them to greater numbers of skin blemishes and because darker shades are culturally and socially viewed as less attractive. Properties in sunshine locations may need to modify aspects of their infrastructure and service delivery to meet the needs of the globally influential Chinese market. Shaded spaces, new activities, scheduling of experiences in the early morning, evening and at night, are all a part of the required innovations in experience design.

This chapter explores the modern phenomenon of Japanese tourists visiting anime-related places abroad. While similarities to film-induced tourism exist, anime-linked locations require tourists to use their imagination and permit a special interplay among the sites, fantasy, and cultural values. To examine the phenomenon, samples of popular anime titles were selected and Japanese online word-of-mouth records were collected as a set of data. Key Japanese cultural concepts were used to explain the significance of the anime-linked locations. Site managers can embellish the experience by subtly suggesting parallels in the real world to the idealized creations of leading anime artists.