Showing papers in "Tourism Culture & Communication in 2001"

The emerging golden age of Chinese tourism and its historical antecedents: a thematic investigation.

Abstract: The emerging Chinese domestic and outbound tourism markets may be viewed as part of broader processes of historical change and development in China. Tourism is not a new stage in China's economic development, but is a renaissance and reinvigoration of established economic activity that has roots dating far back into history. History has influenced tourism growth in China in terms of both traveler motivations and destination choice. Literature has influenced perspectives of attractive destinations within China and the Chinese diaspora has influenced international travel. This article examines the significance of China's travel history for the current and future development of tourism in China

Looking for Pontius Pilate's footprints near the Western Wall: Russian Jewish tourists in Jerusalem.

Abstract: This study examined trips to Jerusalem by Russian Jewish tourists who visited Israel during late 1998. The research examines the expectations prior to travel, their actual experiences, and how they related to prior expectations. A content analysis was undertaken of tourist memories and reflective diaries. This analysis was supplemented by personal interviews and by participant observations undertaken during the course of Russian-language guided tours of Jerusalem. The research set out to examine tourist expectations and the differences between expectations and reality. Russian Jewish tourists arrive in Israel having left a country in transition. In the present study it is proposed that what has been called the “master narrative” for Russia has been lost and that this combined with the changed status of religion may have led to an intensified search for roots. The self-identification of today’s post-Soviet Jewish intelligentsia is made up of a unique combination of Jewish legacy and the heritage of the Grand Russian Culture, which has been created by Jewish writers and artists as well, although its main narrative is a Christian one. They regard Jewish writers and artists as having made a significant contribution to the development of Russian identity. In the present research it is suggested that any tour by a member of the Post-Soviet Jewish intelligentsia to Jerusalem may be viewed as a “double pilgrimage.” The first component is as a pilgrimage to King David’s capital, the capital of the original and ancient Jewish state. In this context the Western Wall may be viewed as the most sacred place in Jerusalem. The second component is as a pilgrimage to the roots of Christian civilization. In this context the Via Dolorosa, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Holy Sepulchre may be viewed as key sacred sites in Jerusalem. In practice, however, the landscapes of the Western Wall and the Garden of Gethsemane differ markedly from the expectations that tourists have and incongruity is evident within the dual role as the center of the Judeo-Christian civilization. In contrast to tourists’ expectations of Israel as a destination, Jewish history is in fact communicated most cogently at Yad VaShem, established in 1953 as a place to commemorate Jewish Holocaust victims. It is here that Russian Jewish tourists appear to gain an understanding of their roots.