Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to apply what can be learned from the emergence of nature tourism to understand some current and future trends of tourism.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted the evolutionary paradigm for investigation.FindingsThe emergence of nature tourism in early medieval China can be attributed to four major factors, including transformation of value orientations, seeking longevity, interest in suburbs and population migration.Research limitations/implicationsHistorical studies help understand the current and future trends. When the contributing factors for nature tourism are linked to the contemporary world, it can be found that these factors are still playing a part in shaping tourism trends or patterns in their original or alternative forms. These trends or patterns are worthy of scholarly investigations.Originality/valueThis paper offers a comprehensive understanding of the origins of nature tourism.
Highlights
The origins of tourism have been a fascinating area for investigation
Tourism can be classified into two types, cultural tourism and nature tourism
The origins of cultural tourism have been traced to pilgrimage in the medieval world (Theilmann, 1987), or to the ancient world (Foertmeyer, 1989; Stumpf, 2003)
Summary
The origins of tourism have been a fascinating area for investigation. According to Cohen (1972, as cited in Stronza, 2001), such investigation should pay attention to the specific forms of tourism as different forms of tourism might have different origins. Meyer-Arendt (2004) attempted to explain the reasons why human are attracted to the natural environment and attributed the origins of nature tourism to traditions such as Romanticism, nature in religion and the Spring and seaside traditions. Such views neglect the leisure pursuits of literati in early medieval China, which saw the emergence of nature tourism for reasons different from those of the western world (Yan and McKercher, 2013). Investigation of the complex reasons helps understand why nature tourism emerged in China in that period. The evolutionary paradigm helps the researcher to determine the major issues relevant to the observed phenomenon and offers a quick way for communicating research ideas (Bresson, 1987)
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