Tourist perceptions of landscape in Chinese traditional villages: analysis based on online data

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore how tourists perceive the landscapes in traditional Chinese villages and to provide recommendations for developing and utilizing resources that improve these landscapes. To this end, a database containing over 13,000 online comments from tourists was created from domestic travel websites. A Likert scale was applied to score tourists’ qualitative perceptions of the landscapes of five traditional villages, and based on the importance-satisfaction analysis approach, a model to evaluate satisfaction with – and importance of – landscape indicators was created. The results indicated that the perception of visual elements was extremely important for tourists, but satisfaction scores for some indicators were low. Tourists’ satisfaction with tactile perception was low, and its importance was also low. Regarding physical activities available in villages, satisfaction and importance scores were high. Satisfaction with olfactory elements was also high but not important. Based on the evaluation model, traditional Chinese villages should prioritize the following: (1) protecting overall village style and features, (2) improving village service facilities, and (3) developing characteristic folkloric and cultural activities to enrich tourists’ behavioral experience.