An application of the new visitation paradigm to ecotourism in China

Abstract

ABSTRACT With increasing visits to protected areas, tourism researchers suggest a new visitation paradigm (NVP) and the need for ‘mass park-visitor symbiosis.’ This study adopted the NVP approach to assess the mass symbiosis potential of the Chinese ecotourism market. Data from in-depth interviews were analysed using Leximancer, a computerised qualitative data analysis programme. The results suggest ecotourism in China has the potential to achieve the symbiosis goal, as indicated by visitors’ good knowledge of ecotourism and their environmental motivation. However, ecotourism experiences are not found to be strongly related to any environmental aspect, suggesting the mass participation for site enhancement activities might have been missing. The findings have important implications for tourism policy makers as well as providers wishing to attract Chinese tourists to ecotourism activities.