China Viewed by the West before COVID-19: Spaniards’ Perceptions and Knowledge of China as a Tourist Destination

Pedro Cuesta-Valiño, Antoni Serra-Cantallops, José Ramón-Cardona and Rafael Ravina-Ripoll
Additional contact information
Pedro Cuesta-Valiño: Department of Economics and Business Management, Universidad de Alcalá, 28802 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Antoni Serra-Cantallops: Department of Business Economics, University of the Balearic Islands, 07122 Palma, Spain
José Ramón-Cardona: Ibiza Island Council University College of Tourism, University of the Balearic Islands, 07800 Ibiza, Spain
Rafael Ravina-Ripoll: Department of Business Organization and INDESS, University of Cádiz, 11002 Cádiz, Spain

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-20

Abstract: China is not only becoming a major international tourist destination, and it also has huge potential as an issuing market. Spain, meanwhile, has long ranked among the world’s top tourist destinations, and as an issuing market, it is gradually growing in importance. There is high potential for an increase in tourist flows between Spain and China in both directions. This paper analyses Spaniards’ perceptions of China as a country and as a tourist destination and their familiarity with the reality of this Asiatic country, before the first news about COVID-19. Likewise, it aims to identify possible factors that might inhibit Spaniards from traveling on holiday to China while also offering an initial insight into Spain’s future potential as an issuing market to China. For this purpose, 1063 interviews were conducted and analyzed. The results point to a strong potential intention by Spaniards to visit China, although it also reveals very little familiarity with the reality of China as a tourist destination, except for its two major symbols, Beijing and the Great Wall. The results also seem to indicate the existence of big travel inhibitors among certain segments, mainly related to the travel costs, politics and safety, environmental issues, and a lack of awareness of the quality standards of China’s tourist sector. Future studies should analyze the changes that the pandemic may have produced in China’s image.

Keywords: Spain; China; perceptions; knowledge; tourism destination image (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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