Asian Cultures and Contemporary Tourism

This book is dedicated to the experience of Asians travellers from a cultural perspective, adopting a broad definition of Asia (while it includes relatively mature markets, it also features emerging markets in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Southwest Asia). It covers aspects of Asian culture and the role of religion in travel and tourism, so as to provide tourism researchers, students, and practitioners a consolidated and comprehensive reference for the understanding of Asian travellers.

The book investigates the key characteristics that define contemporary Asian travellers, encompassing beauty tourism, wedding and bridal photography tourism, visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism, spiritual tourism, and cultural tourism, amongst others.

A wide range of topics are discussed, from history to current trends, from motivations to constraints, from the influence of culture and religion on travel behaviour to the search of social freedom through travel, and from destination choice to destination avoidance. The findings and interpretations are drawn from diverse and novel research methods, such as netnography, visual anthropology, historiography, interview, focus group, survey, and document analysis.

"The book has fruitfully brought together different perspectives and advances in current understanding of Asian tourists from the history to current trends, from motivations to constraints, from the influence of culture and religion on travel behaviour to the search of social freedom through travel, and from destination choice to destination avoidance. The most important contribution of this book is that it has built an intellectual platform for many Asian scholars to share their ideas and works with the international tourism academy." - Professor Kaye Chon, Editor-in-Chief, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research; Dean, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Aceasta carte este dedicata experientei calatorilor asiatici dintr-o perspectiva culturala, adoptand o definitie larga a Asiei (desi include piete relativ mature, prezinta si piete emergente din Asia de Sud-Est, Asia de Sud si Asia de Sud-Vest). Acopera aspecte ale culturii asiatice si rolul religiei in calatorii si turism, astfel incat sa ofere cercetatorilor, studentilor si practicienilor in turism o referinta consolidata si cuprinzatoare pentru intelegerea calatorilor asiatici. Cartea investigheaza caracteristicile cheie care definesc calatorii asiatici contemporani , cuprinzand turism de infrumusetare, turism de nunta si fotografie de mireasa, turism de vizitare a prietenilor si rudelor (VFR), turism spiritual si turism cultural, printre altele. O gama larga de subiecte sunt discutate, de la istorie la tendintele actuale, de la motivatii la constrangeri, influenta culturii si religiei asupra comportamentului de calatorie la cautarea libertatii sociale prin calatorie si de la alegerea destinatiei la evitarea destinatiei.