Tourists’ Perception of Haze Pollution and the Potential Impacts on Travel: Reshaping the Features of Tourism Seasonality in Beijing, China

Aiping Zhang, Linsheng Zhong, Yong Xu, Hui Wang and Lijuan Dang
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Aiping Zhang: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Linsheng Zhong: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Yong Xu: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Hui Wang: School of Tourism, Bohai University, Jinzhou 121000, China
Lijuan Dang: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: Haze pollution has worsened and has received close attention by news agencies in the past two years. This type of environmental pollution might have a great effect on tourism image and the entire tourism industry of a destination. This study aimed to reveal the potential impacts of haze pollution on the tourism industry. Based on a case study in Beijing using questionnaires for potential tourists, awareness of haze pollution, impacts of haze pollution on travel and attitudes toward the impacts were discussed. The results indicated that haze pollution has a considerable potential impact on travel, and there are distinct differences among travel elements and tourism market segments. Due to its impacts, haze pollution could be taken into account in tourists’ decision-making processes, causing a portion of potential tourists to cancel tourism plans. As a result, tourist arrivals to similar destinations could decrease by a small margin, but the most significant impact could be on the temporal distribution of tourist arrivals, namely tourism seasonality, due to tourists’ “avoiding” psychology.

Keywords: haze pollution; potential impact; perception; tourism seasonality; Beijing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (35)

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