Conflicting Images of the Great Wall in Cultural Heritage Tourism

Abstract

ABSTRACTAdopting a social constructivist approach to discourse, this study investigates multiple images of the Mutianyu Great Wall as constructed by three key stakeholders, namely domestic tourists, the business operator, and the government regulator. The data consist of 7, 466 online travel reviews from two Chinese travel websites, www.lvmama.com and www.ctrip.com, an interview with an administrator of the business operator of the Mutianyu Great Wall and the government document Regulations on the Protection of the Great Wall. The data analysis is based mainly on quantitative (word frequency count) and qualitative discourse semantics. The research has found that domestic tourists visiting the Great Wall are far more impressed by the modern facilities and services than by its history and culture, with a small number of travel reviews expressing high admiration of this world wonder. The business operator primarily uses the site as a tourist attraction and raised several practical problems concerning protection of the Great Wall. In contrast, the government regulator places great emphasis on aspects of heritage preservation. The study considers the complex interrelationship between the three stakeholders and accounts for their conflicting objectives. The study contributes to the field of cultural heritage tourism studies by developing a cross-disciplinary discourse framework and also suggests research implications for studying cultural heritage tourism and China's image.