Projects / Programmes
BEYOND ‘NI HAO’: HOW THE STATE AND TOURISM INDUSTRY IN SLOVENIA PERCEIVE AND CONSTRUCT THE 'CHINESE TOURIST'
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.11.00 |
Social sciences |
Ethnic studies |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S000 |
Social sciences |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.04 |
Social Sciences |
Sociology |
Chinese tourists, Slovenian tourism industry, ethnic relations, China outbound tourism
Researchers (1)
| no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
26502 |
PhD Martina Bofulin |
Anthropology |
Head |
2014 - 2016 |
164 |
Organisations (1)
Abstract
Some of the Western world’s most renowned media outlets have been documenting the astounding rise in the number of Chinese international tourists in the last decade as well as manifold causes and effects of this development. Facing the downsizing of the European markets, Slovenian tourist industry gradually started to look for ways to attract Chinese tourists. This was done with moderate success since the number of Chinese guests’ overnight stays in Slovenia has been on the slow rise in the last years. In line with the current shifts in tourism industry as well as economic and geopolitical changes the proposed research will therefore examine the perceptions, opinions and strategies of various Slovenian tourism industry actors on the rather novel phenomenon of Chinese outbound tourism by using constructivist framework of understanding ethnicity and cultural encounters.
Significance for science
The research highlighted several aspects of the relatively new phenomenon of non-Western tourists in Slovenia. The starting point was the nature of the cultural encounters through “host – guest” relationship which has for long been been one of the core questions in tourism studies, and which is often seen as marked by social distance and stereotyping (cf. Nun~ez, 1978). This relationship has been approached through analysis of structures that frame cultural encounters (tourism industries policies, international political and economic relations, bilateral ties) as well as from the level of actors that are part of this encounters (tourists and tourism providers). The interviews with “traditional” tourism providers (hotels and restaurants staff, shop keepers) showed that these interactions between Slovenian “hosts” and Chinese “guests” are of highly transient and fleeting nature. While this can be ascribed to extremely short stay of most of Chinese tourists (on average only 1,4 overnight stay) and the considerable language barrier, the indifference of tourism providers regarding the place of origin of “Asians” can also be interpreted as perceiving these tourists as somewhat marginal to the tourism process in Slovenia. In most cases vast social distance and lack of contact also caused the reiterating theme in the interviews with providers: that Chinese (Asian) tourists are docile, very reserved, undemanding and extremely well behaved customers. With regards to ethnic differentiation and stereotyping the existence of positive ascriptions is interesting in that it considerably differs from labels ascribed to China, Chinese and Chinese migrants in the same environment. It shows that ethnic boundary making is always situational, but more important it operates in a specific constellation of power relations. Moreover, the in-depth interviews with a certain segment of tourism providers, namely guides and Chinese restaurant providers, illuminated the role of “mediators” (those who act as go-betweens or cultural brokers) (Cole, 2008) that are crucial in the host – guest process but also highly overlooked by most of “established” tourism industry. The mediators in this specific case come from three different groups; the sinologists and China specialists, resident Chinese migrants (especially grown children of migrants) and Chinese migrants from other locations in Europe. Especially the existence of the last two groups has importantly enriched this research by applying the mobility paradigm, which advocates for different types of mobilities not to be analysed separately but rather approached through its many connections and intertwinings. Through this lens the inquiry into different types of Chinese mobility into Slovenia and wider region becomes crucial and highlights the fact that tourism process cannot be examined separately, without reference to other past and future movements of other mobile groups of Chinese into this location. As illuminated in the research these mediators engage into more meaning making process of cultural encounters due to their ambigious status – being considered the group outsider and insider at the same time they can considerably alter the experience of a tourism destination and the expected guest – host relationship. Following this, the scientific contribution of this research goes beyond identifying and describing the novel phenomenon of Chinese tourists in Slovenia, but analyses the hierarchical nature of this encounters, draws attention to mediators – a less researched theme in tourism – as well as underscore the intertwining of different types of mobilities as well as on the changing role of Chinese state and its impact on the locations where these mobilites unfold.
Significance for the country
The importance of the project results for the development of Slovenia can be found in several inter-related fields. Firstly, the results will support main stakeholders in strategic decision-making as well as quality assurance in the field of tourism industry. Besides scientific articles and the upcoming handbook for tourist providers, researcher has been active on a blog “Potovanje na zahod/ Journey to the West” for the general public and experts addressing the news regarding Chinese tourists around the world as well as the strategies of destination countries and experiences of Chinese tourists. The researcher also actively promoted Slovenian science among foreign researchers and abroad. She was in the organization committee of the international conference on the intersections of tourism and migration together with colleagues from University of Tampere, Finland (Mari Korpela) and Goldsmiths, University of London, UK (Michaela Benson) at ZRC SAZU in 2016. Apart from attending international conferences (also as an invited speaker), she has carried out two lectures at Japanese universities. Moreover, she has, together with Jamie Coates, a researcher from Kyoto University, prepared a short paper for American anthropological Association’s Anthropology News. She was also invited to participate in the Encyclopedia on Overseas Chinese by Maruzen Publishings, Japan, and has submitted an article on Overseas Chinese in East and Central Europe. Throughout the project she has carried out workshops on intercultural communication, prejudice and stereotyping. The goal is the senibilization of different audiences and to promote the importance of reflexive thinking in intercultural contacts, based on an awareness that a success of a destination relies also on the perceptions of general public, not only tourism providers. Dissemination of project results was furthermore achieved through mass media outlets (radio, print). Finally, through particular research methodology, the researcher also become first licensed tourist guide in Chinese language in city of Ljubljana, which has importantly increased the rooster of foreign language guiding tours at Zavod Tourism Ljubljana, the central tourism institution in Slovenia’s capital.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2015,
final report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2015,
final report
