Investigating tourists’ and local residents’ perceptions of a Chinese film site

Abstract

Film tourism is a growing phenomenon worldwide. The shooting of popular films and TV series at a destination can be seen as a very efficient driver for attracting tourists. This study focuses on a Chinese film site, Grand View Garden, located in Beijing. As the existing studies focus mainly on Western film sites, this study fills the gap with respect to the lack of research in the literature focusing on Chinese film tourism. This article examines both tourists’ and local residents’ motives for using such attractions, as well as the attitudes residents have toward tourists, and suggests that residents play a role in the creation of a sense of place that is valued by tourists. By using qualitative methods, this article provides a comparative view between tourists’ and local residents’ perceptions. Tourists thought the Garden’s interpretation services were poor and questioned the authenticity of the site, while local residents were concerned more about the Garden’s basic services and facilities. However, both classes of visitor attached importance to the retention of the heritage and culture of the Garden.