Leisure and Tourism Management Arlt

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt

International Tourism Management:

Example Asia

Hochschule Bremen, January 2010

Why East Asia as Example for International Tourism Management?

Why is it necessary to know about cultural differences in tourists behaviour?

EXAMPLE CONSEQUENCES OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES:

SHOPPING BEHAVIOUR OF
CHINESE AND GERMAN TOURISTS

Chinese tourists	German tourists
Shopping a main activity during leisure trip, scheduled	Shopping incidental activity during holiday trip, not scheduled

Cultural aspects of behaviour

Follow majority	Find something special
Believe in authorities, celebrities	"Own" taste
Satisfy own dignity	Check affordability
Showing off with luxury	Showing taste
Typical products	Handmade, "authentic" products
Either very cheap or very expensive	“Preis-wert”
Souvenirs relationship orientated (presents)	Souvenirs friendship orientated (curio)
Buy more than you need	A little extra
Always bargain	Clear, comparable price
Cash against product, checking product	Trust, consumer protection

How much international knowledge do we have?

Which different countries are the members of this group coming from?

Which countries have the members of this group already visited
(stay of at least two nights)?

b) Demand and Supply Approaches

Tourism theories and concepts can be divided in

demand side orientated and supply side orientated approaches.

Demand-side orientated: Looking at tourism through the eyes of the consumers.

Examples:

All parts of destination part of product.

Destination defined by visitor.

UNWTO definition:
The activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited.

Most social scientists have demand-side orientation.

Over-supply in post-industrial societies leads to concentration on demand side.

Demand-side orientated definition of tourism demand:
"The relationship between individuals' motivation to travel and their ability to do so."
(Pearce 1995)

Supply-side orientated: Looking at tourism from producers point of view.

Examples:

Direct and derived (abgeleitetes) product.

Destination defined by political border and financing.

Pearce/Morrison/Rutledge definition:
Tourism is the sum of government and private sector activities which shape and serve the needs and manage the consequences of holiday and business travel.

Most economic scientists (especially in Germany) have supply-side orientation.

Under-supply in industrial societies lead to concentration on supply side.

Supply-side orientated definition of demand:
"The total number of persons who travel, or wish to travel, to use tourist facilities and services at places away from their places of work and residence."
(Mathiesson/Wall 1982)

Asia as part of Global International Tourism

2005 International Tourism Receipts (USA = 100)

--> QUANTITATIVE RESULT:
(EAST) ASIA second biggest source region in the world,
with big potential to grow further

BUT also qualitative differences:

Asians as tourists are different from European tourists, in traditions, behaviour, expectations, perception patterns.

--> Accordingly tourism management in Asia and for Asians has also to be different

What kind of travel traditions, behaviour, expectations, perception patterns and organisation can you imagine/ do you know which might be different in different countries/cultures?

Do you think there are big, fundamental differences or only small, gradual differences between different cultures and countries in these fields?

MASLOW's PYRAMID

A western idea:

The pyramid in Asian societies:

pyramideasia

John Ap (2006)

session2

Contact: arlt@fh-westkueste.de