A Review of Chinese Outbound Tourism Research and the Way Forward

Abstract

Outbound tourism from China has been the subject of many empirical studies conducted over the last two decades. These studies have collectively analyzed a wide variety of situations. The large volume of findings illustrates researchers’ keen interest in Chinese outbound tourism, the existence of diverse research areas, and also the craving to understand this very important market. The barriers to understanding this market are related to its cultural background, language, and governmental intervention. This study integrates the empirical findings and discussions in 80 papers on Chinese outbound tourism. The aim is to identify the main areas of research interest, analyze how they are related in terms of tourism framework, critically evaluate the research areas, and explore future directions. The study advocates future Chinese outbound tourism research to be more concerned with the source market where the main causal factors of tourist flows are located; the social impacts of Chinese outbound tourism on its own people and destinations; and the legal and ethical aspects of the outbound tourism.