Tourism practices of Chinese residents in South Africa

Abstract

Chinese consumers are different due to their cultural background and way of life and this necessitates a conversion of the business model and products offered by leisure and tourism service providers. Very little is known about tourism practices of resident Chinese in South Africa. Research was conducted amongst resident Chinese in Pretoria, South Africa, to better understand who these consumers are, what tourism-related activities they have undertaken/participated in/experienced, and lastly what they want to do/experience. New knowledge is beneficial to decision-makers, especially in the leisure and tourism industry, and this knowledge can be used to guide decision-making within a business context. The research instrument used was a structured self-administered questionnaire and 100 resident Chinese were invited to participate. The response rate was 97% and the data indicate that a large percentage of the participants are visa holders, mostly male, fairly young, and still single. Respondents indicated that the highest order of their ‘Have Done’ activities is sightseeing and they definitely ‘Want To’ visit national parks and costal destinations. The emerging resident Chinese market in South Africa can be a worthwhile market to the leisure and tourism industry. However, this is conditional as service providers should be acquainted with this market. Unfortunately the emerging resident Chinese market in South Africa has up to date not been researched extensively and thus presents researchers with copious research opportunities if the difficulty of accessibility is surmounted.

Keywords: Tourism, tourism activities, customer preferences, resident Chinese.