Chinese Visitors in the Tourist Bubble: Exploring the Seoul Destination Experience Using Q Method

Abstract

With the acceleration of globalization, international tourism has developed rapidly, especially in Seoul. Tourist bubble phenomenon appears with the development of international tourism. The term “tourist bubble” was originally proposed by Cohen, which conceptualized as the “protective walls” to reduce strangeness when tourist encounter a new environment and create a psychological space. The tourist bubble comprises a concentrated geographic area of tourist-oriented facilities and attractions, which is separated from its surrounding environment by spatially or psychologically created boundaries. Many studies focus more on the classification and formation process of the tourist bubble, but rarely involve tourists’ perception of tourist bubbles and the destination experience of tourists in the tourist bubble. Therefore, in this paper, it used Chinese tourists traveling in the tourist bubble of Seoul as a case to analyze the perception of international tourists on the tourist bubble phenomenon and the destination experience of tourists. It classified 5 types of Chinese tourists to identify their experience in Seoul. By using Q methodology, a technique designed for the systematic study of subjectivity in terms of beliefs, opinions, and attitudes, to find the subjectivity of Chinese tourists in the tourist bubble. It aims to provide reasonable tourism planning suggestions that how to make use of the tourist bubble phenomenon to make better tourism marketing for the Korean international tourism market.