Tourism and Marketing: Understanding Chinese Tourist Expectations

This article explores the expectations of Chinese outbound tourists and provides recommended actions for tourism providers to serve the Chinese market effectively.

Running head: TOURISM AND MARKETING
TOURISM AND MARKETING
Name of the student
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Introduction
The tourism managers and marketers must take steps to assess the needs and preferences
of the tourists with the purpose of providing the same with the best possible touring experience
and retaining the loyalty of the customers towards their commendable services. Again, the
touring managers must identify the expectations of the Chinese population, influenced by their
culture with the objective of drawing the attention of the customers through effective value
propositions. Therefore, the purpose of undertaking the research is to develop a coherent
understanding of expectations of the Chinese tourists through cultural influential factors. The
research will also outline a set of recommended activities for the tourism providers to serve the
Chinese markets effectively.
Assessment of Chinese culture and its impact on tourist behavior
The Chinese culture is mostly driven by a restrained society which restricts the
preferences of the inhabitants to the local culture rather than inter-mingling with the different
other cultural constructs. In this relation, the Chinese population mostly appreciates their home
culture and even while traveling outbound the Chinese population expects to find
correspondence to their own culture and values. Hsu and Huang (2016) noted that China follows
a Confucian culture which is the mixture of top-down patriarchy and bottom-up social mobility.
On the other hand, Chiu, Zeng and Cheng (2016) reflected on the Chinese culture by stating
that the Chinese population is tied between ambition for growth and regulations which affected
their sense of morality. However, it has been noted that the Chinese population developed
conservative buying behavior and extreme price sensitivity which is reflected as they make a
humble living at home while spending for leisure holidays.

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Lu et al. (2016) marked that it is a common belief that the Chinese outbound travelers are
mainly interested in shopping and restricts their tastes to Chinese dishes, which is wrong. The
changing theological aspects of Chinese buying behaviors and tour preferences have affected the
rate of operations of the tour managers and the marketing agents. On the other hand, Bi and
Lehto (2018) stated that the changing economic background of the Chinese travelers backed
their capability of empowering a leisure outbound touring experience. It has been noted that
around 80 million Chinese tourists traveled overseas while spending about US$80 billion which
will grow to 100 million by 2020 (Lee & Bai, 2016). The predictions made it clear that the
Chinese travelers are into exotic tour packages even though they are price sensitive. On the other
hand, Chinese food culture is generally known for its diversity, flexibility and adaptability while
encouraging the acceptance of wide range of vegetables, starchy foods like rice and noodles and
meat items.
The tourism development operations of the touring managers and the marketers are
chiefly based on the assessment of the food and the lodging culture of the clients. In this relation,
the delineation of the food culture of the Chinese outbound travelers would enable the same in
arranging the tour packages in orientation with the preferences of the customers. It has been
noted that around 93.5% Chinese population are adaptable with the international cuisines as long
as they are edible and sophisticated, which contradicted with the previous ideas of restrained
Chinese people’s preferences towards food (Cheng, Wong & Prideaux, 2017). On the other
hand, Fu, Cai and Lehto (2017) proclaimed in a research study that Chinese population
differentiated their local foods from the international cuisines based on the principles of core
eating behavior, appetizing assurance and familiar flavor. Therefore, after the assessment of the

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food habits of the Chinese population, it might be noted that they are enthusiastic towards trying
new cuisines as part of their food.
On the other hand, it has been noted through the research undertake by Pan et al. (2017)
that the Chinese outbound travelers are more likely to search for economic lodging experiences.
The research enumerated that more than 67% of the Chinese population prefers economic
lodging which is balanced through leisure dining and site seeing experiences (Shen et al., 2017).
On the other hand, Jørgensen, Law and King (2017) opined that more than 27% of the Chinese
population encourages leisure dining along with royal lodging experience. Again, it has been
found that the young Chinese outbound travelers are more open to short term rentals for their
economic criteria while prioritizing the touring experience while minimizing expenditures on
lodging and food experiences. It has been noted that 61% of the Chinese population are
millennials (GenY) who are changing the face of Chinese culture and touring expectations
(Wang, So & Sparks, 2017). Therefore, the changing face of expectations of the Chinese
outbound tourists are greatly dependent on millennials, who prefer to visit different destinations
and spend money for site seeing and food over lodging.
Moreover, the cultural shifts of the Chinese tourists are also noticed through their
preferences towards visiting the lesser known sites over metropolitan locations. Du, Buckley
and Tang (2016) reflected on a survey stating that around 48% of the Chinese prefers to visit
lesser-known destinations while experiencing local culture. On the other hand, it has been
noticed that most of the Chinese tourists prefer to go alone or in small groups in tours which
again is an important point of consideration for the tour managers and the marketers. The
delineation of the preferences of the Chinese travelers would support the tour managers and the
marketers while determining the package that they might propose. According to Cheng, Wong

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and Prideaux (2017), the Chinese population of outbound tourists also prefers to go for
extensive shopping in a guided tour and thereby the managers and marketers must have a keen
eye for providing the clients with an extensive shopping experience. However, Pan et al. (2017)
argued through a recent survey that the Chinese tourists are more inclined towards gaining
experience from visiting local destinations and less explored sites rather than getting lot in the
multiplexes and shopping malls. It has been noted that more than 52% of the Chinese outbound
tourists are more indulged towards getting a sensuous tour experience through visiting the less
explored destinations over the extensive shopping experiences (Chiu, Zeng & Cheng, 2016).
Expectations of the Chinese outbound tourists
The Chinese outbound tourists are specifically heterogeneous while developing major
archetypes. The assessment of the archetypes would assist in identifying the preferences of the
people and their inclination and motif towards making a tour. It has been noticed that 20% of the
Chinese outbound travelers are Value- seeking sight seeker which included parents along with
their children from middle income groups (Hsu & Huang, 2016). The value seeking group
specifically expects basic sightseeing and are occasional shoppers while moving away from their
usual city life. On the other hand, the shoppers constitute of 19% of the population, consisting of
married couples between the age of 30- 40 years (Lu et al., 2016). The shoppers are identified to
have a motif of portraying a motivated buying behavior and are highly influenced by the social
media platforms. Therefore, the shoppers developed a behavior of conservative spending which
are unrelated to shopping while undertaking guided tours outbound.
13% of the Chinese outbound tourists are individualists who prefers to go for
personalized tour packages within the age group of 20 – 30 years (Lee & Bai, 2016). The most
noted factors of individualistic groups are characterized by their spending on accommodations

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and leisure dining apart from sightseeing. On the other hand, the group being self- sufficient with
high incomes have an inclination towards adventure and are easily influenced by friends through
social media channels. Again, 12% of the Chinese outbound tourists are specifically the
backpackers who belong to middle income groups with inclination towards outdoor activities
while visiting les known destinations (Jørgensen, Law & King, 2017). The age group of the
backpackers are between 20- 30 years and are price sensitive by nature. As per a report, the
backpackers are mostly driven toward the economical tours while portraying an inclination to
revisit their local culture (Wang, So & Sparks, 2017).
On the other hand, it has been noted that 11% of the Chinese outbound tourists are
aspirants who are willing to exceed their budget for showing off their status to their family and
peers (Du, Buckley & Tang, 2016). The aspirants belong to the lower income group who
aspires to afford a metropolitan life even though it might cost over their budgetary concerns.
Another group of Chinese outbound tourists are specifically sophisticated travelers accounting to
10% of the population ho prefers local culture over the outbound culture (Lee & Bai, 2016). The
group specifically consisted of middle aged people who are either retired or are working in
respectable positions. The preferences of the sophisticated traveler are specifically based on their
biases towards Chinese hospitality.
Again, 10% of the Chinese outbound tourists are specifically unplugged as they are single
middle income group and are specifically frustrated by the particular form of lifestyle that is
being led by the same (Lu et al., 2016). Therefore, in this relation, the preferences of the
archetype differed from the others based on the lack of specifications apart from escaping from
the hustle of city life. Moreover, it has also being noticed that the unplugged are price sensitive
and are selective towards destinations which might cost them more than they can afford. The

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novice traveler, coming from a middle income group, accounts to 5% of the Chinese outbound
tourists and prefers Chinese speaking tour services due to the language differences and their own
motivational factors relating to the restrained culture of China (Cheng, Wong & Prideaux,
2017).
The assessment of the different archetypes enabled in identifying the nature of the
challenges that might be encountered by the tour managers and marketing heads while attracting
the attention of the Chinese tourists towards their packages. However, during the assessment it
has been found that the traditional conceptions on Chinese outbound tourists are changing with
the confluence of Western and Asian mindset. On the other hand, the growth of the millennials in
the nation has brought about significant changes in the manner in which the Chinese population
visited places based on their own conceptions. Shen et al. (2017) stated that the higher rate of
disposable income among the Chinese population have empowered their spending habits on
different leisure activities. Again, the changing preferences of the Chinese outbound travelers
have brought about significant modification in the rate of offering that are made by the tor agents
while operating in the different markets.
Therefore, from the assessment of the archetypes it might be critically elaborated that the
Chinese outbound travelers are moving towards a more economic option for lodging while
spending more on sightseeing and leisure dining. The experience oriented approach of the
millennials are the major contributing factor towards the shift in the mentality and approach of
the Chinese outbound travelers. Therefore, careful study on the different possible preferences of
the archetypes would be enabling the tour managers and the marketing agents in developing a list
of ideas for drawing the attention of the customers towards their extensive tour packages.

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Recommended actions that might be considered by tourism providers to serve the Chinese
market
 Developing options of economic lodging and better sightseeing options: The tourism
providers and marketers must take steps to develop options of economic lodging with the
objective of maintaining the efficiency of the services as per the needs and preferences of
the customers. It has been noticed that the Chinese travelers are more inclined towards
the experience of an extensive tour package over the different royal lodging experience.
Therefore, the tourism providers must take steps to develop collaboration with short term
rentals with the objective of providing the clients with economic lodging solutions.
 Improving the package coverage: The improvements in the package coverage through
the inclusion of a longer list of destinations in the same price amount would enable the
tourism providers in encouraging the active participation of the Chinese tourists in their
touring activities. The improved coverage would enable the tourism providers in drawing
the attention of most of the archetypes as they are interested to visit a number of places
while saving money on grand lodging experiences.
 Including less visited destination to the packages: It has been noticed that the Chinese
millennials are more inclined towards the less visited destinations. Therefore, the tourism
providers must take steps to include a list of less visited destinations with the objective of
attracting the attention of the Chinese visitors towards the value propositions. The
inclusion of less visited sites in the packages would also enable the tourism providers in
maximizing the operations while indulging with a wider target market. The key changes
in the operations of the tourism providers are based on the assessment of the preferences
and inclinations of the clients. Therefore, the induction of less visited places in the

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packages would enable the tourism providers in maximizing the rate of operations while
improving their service quality for the Chinese outbound travelers.
 Minimizing extensive shopping options from the packages: The minimization of the
shopping options from the packages would enable the travel managers and marketers in
adhering to the latest trends that are shaping the choices of the Chinese outbound
travelers. The minimization of the shopping options would also enable the touring agents
in including economic value propositions like making the customers visit a local
destinations which would interest the same. It has been noted that the Chinese outbound
travelers are more likely to visit local civilizations and culture. Therefore, curtailing the
shopping option would not affect the rate of propositions made by the touring agents.
 Developing synergies with Chinese speaking organizations for minimizing language
barriers: Avoiding language barriers would eventually assist the travel agents in
developing powerful coalition with the tastes and preferences of the Chinese outbound
travelers. In this relation, the travel agents might take steps to encourage the collaboration
with different Chinese speaking organizations with the objective of minimizing the
chances of language being a barrier to business.
 Providing the customers with authentic experience: The Chinese outbound travelers are
more drawn towards an extensive touring experience being millennials. Therefore, the
travel managers and marketers must take steps to develop authentic scheduling of the
different touring activities for providing the customers with the best value for money. It
has been noted that most of the Chinese outbound travelers are inclined towards the
experience that they would gather from a tour. Therefore, the extensive value of the
touring experience would enable the touring agents in retaining the trust and loyalty of

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the Chinese outbound travelers while operating as per the needs of the heterogeneous
archetypes in China.
Conclusion
Therefore, it might be stated from the above analysis that the value propositions that are
made by the travel and touring agents are critically based on the changing culture of the Chinese
outbound travelers. The research enumerated different culture based preferences of the Chinese
outbound travelers and the manner in which the same influenced their touring behavior. In this
relation, the research also developed the steps that might be initiated by the tourism managers
and marketers for identifying the different preferences of the Chinese outbound customers and
adhering to their inclinations.

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