Chinese tourists’ motivation and their relationship to cultural values

Abstract

Tourists’ motivations are deeply rooted in the cultural values of the native country’s culture. This study examined Chinese outbound leisure tourists’ motivations and analysed their relationship to Chinese cultural values. These motivations were identified using means-end chain-based laddering interviews with 60 respondents from three major Chinese cities. Analysis identified 15 motivations at the values level which were grouped into three themes: self-enhancement, nurturing the soul, and harmony relationships. These cultural values influence how and why Chinese tourists travel overseas. This paper contributes to the tourism literature by establishing a set of cultural values based on the respondent’s own answers, and by relating tourists’ motivations and cultural values identified.