The Impact of Tiananmen Square on China's Tourism Image

Abstract

The People's Republic of China (PRC) has yet to recover from a dramatic drop in tourism due to the Tiananmen Square conflict. Occupancy levels remain lower than those existing before the conflict. Although the drop in tourism can be quantified, it was not known if there was a corresponding drop in the touristic image of the country. A study assessing the image of the country held by the mature market in the United States was completed one day before the Tiananmen Square conflict. In an attempt to assess image change due to Tiananmen Square, the initial study was repeated one year after the conflict using a similar sample population. Images of tourism attractions and services were compared between groups using Anova procedures. Touristic images of the country, for the most part, had declined; however, not all image components changed equally. Some evidence suggests that the image changes for touristic services may mean more to future travel to the PRC than the image changes noted for attractions.