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Understanding and catering

to the Asian international tourist market

The changing face of the international tourist

• Traditionally, the ‘face’ of the international tourist

was predominantly a ‘western’, white, Anglo-

Saxon

• Asians are becoming an increasingly common

feature of the ‘face’ of the international tourist

• It is important for the global tourism industry to

recognise that the tourist desires and service

expectations of Asian tourists are not necessarily

the same as those of Western tourists

Place matters

• Even in an era of unprecedented globalisation

culture and society is still place specific

• Society and culture have a significant influence on

individuals desires and expectations

• Consequently, holiday desires and expectations

about the nature and quality of hospitality and

tourism services will differ across cultures

• This means how you cater to Asian tourists should

differ from how you cater to Western tourists

The dangers of not understand the market

• Fail to understand and cater to tourists and you

are likely to cause visitor dissatisfaction which will

result in a lack of positive word of mouth

advertising and re-visitation

• In the worst cases it will lead to negative word-of-

mouth marketing

Cultural differences between Australian hosts

and Chinese touristsWestern Tourists• Orientation toward individual

• Focus on being independent• Egalitarianism

• Importance of accomplishment

• Materialistic and hedonistic values first

• Focus on being self-reliant

• Focus on privacy• Focus on flexibility

• Informal dress

• Seek agreement• Focus on getting a quick and

best deal

• Focus on informal behaviour

• No tradition of gift-giving• Emotions are displayed

• Explicitness

• Risk-taking• Focus on standing out

Asian Tourists• Orientation toward group

• Focus on being together• Hierarchy

• Importance of age and position

• Importance of group activities and obedience

• Non-materialistic values first

• Focus on being dependent• Privacy does not exist

• Focus on punctuality

• Formal dress• Seek relationships

• Focus on social harmony

• Focus on formal etiquette• Tradition of gift-giving

• Emotions are suppressed

• Implicitness• Risk-avoiding

• Focus on obligation

Food – in restaurants and hotels

Indian breakfast

Chinese breakfast

Western breakfast

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Group travel

• Asian tourists, predominantly on guided tours,

have limited contact with local people outside the

service encounter setting

• The result is a lack of cross-cultural contact and

the lack of development of cross-cultural

understandings

Family

• Western notions of the ‘family’ revolve around the

nuclear family of 2 children and 2 parents

• Asian notions of the ‘family’ often incorporate a

wider group (grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc)

Smoking

• “Smoking is entrenched in Chinese society as the

domain of men. They will find it difficult to accept

smoking bans in public spaces” (ChinaContact,

2008)

• Yet, no smoking signs and laws are common

place in Western tourism destinations

‘Face’

• “As Chinese avoid head on confrontation at any cost,

you may be excused for thinking after a visit that

everything went smoothly and to their satisfaction. In fact, the reason they do not complain is because they

fear it will lead to an embarrassing confrontation. The

concept of ‘face’ is extremely important”

(ChinaContact, 2008)

• “Never assume you have received an honest answer.

The cliché about yes meaning maybe and maybe

meaning no is very much a fact in China” (ChinaContact, 2008)

• This makes cross-cultural communication and assessment of visitor satisfaction difficult

Language

• A common barrier to effective understanding and

catering in the tourism environment is the lack of a

common language between hosts and guests.

• It is especially problematic in the context of Asian

tourists visiting western countries where foreign

language education has traditionally focused on

French, English, and to a lesser extent Spanish

• The lack of commonality between Asian and

western languages is also problematic

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Photos

• “Often, a photograph taken outside an attraction is

as good as a visit inside. "They [Chinese tourists]

have to show pictures back home to prove they

were there," Ms Polain said [a tour guide catering

to Chinese visitors in the UK]” (Jinman & Pai,

2005)

Service style

• Service style, like visitor expectations are

culturally specific

• Even how to greet customers is culturally specific

• Bowing from the shoulders is a well-known way of

meeting and greeting in China

Some Questions

• Is the customer always right?

• Should the service provider meet the expectations

of the customer?

• How easy is this in the multi-cultural tourism

destination?

• Or, as guests should tourists always conform to

host cultural norms and standards?

Meeting ground

• The tourism experience is meant to offer the potential

of a meaningful cultural meeting ground.

• Understanding, however, does not happen

automatically.

• Rather, it needs to be facilitated and worked at.

• This means educating both tourists and hosts about other cultures to avoid misunderstandings and

encourage cross-communication

• Without this visitors may find it easier to exist within a

tourist ‘bubble’ while on vacation

• This will only reinforce problems, raise barriers to

tourist satisfaction, and increase host dissatisfaction

with tourists

Creating culturally informed

international tourists

15 Guidelines for Chinese Tourists Abroad

(Shanghai Daily)

• Do not spit in public• Do not letter in public places• Line up, don-t jump the queues

• Do not take pictures when a sign says ‘no pictures’• Do not talk in loud voices

• Do not polish your shoes with bed linen or the hotel towel• Do not smoke in non-smoking areas• Wear proper clothes

• Do not strip down to the waist (for men) when it’s hot• Do not wear pyjamas in supermarkets or on the street

• Do not remove shoes and socks in airport terminals• Men, observe the ‘ladies first’ rule• Flush after using the toilet

• Do not block other pedestrians by walking side by side • Do not force foreigners to pose for pictures

Suggested readings

• Ryan, C. & Mo, X. 2001, ‘Chinese visitors to New

Zealand-Demographics and perceptions’, in

Journal of Vacation Marketing, 8, 1, pp. 13-27.

• China Contact, 2008. The China Outbound Travel

Handbook.

http://www.ccontact.com/information/handbook.ht

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