ABSTRACT
Abundant evidence exists that Chinese tourists are traveling in ever-increasing numbers outside of Asia (China Tourism Academy, 2014). In particular, substantial numbers of both independent and group tourists are now visiting Europe (Arlt, 2013; Lai et al., 2013; Wu and Pearce, 2014). Italy has become a prominent destination for these new waves of visitors. Remarkable growth has occurred in 4 regions: Lazio (where the capital city of Rome is located), Lombardia (with Milan as its central city), the Veneto (where Venice is the popular city destination), and Tuscany (with Florence as its feature city). In 2013, these 4 regions hosted almost 50% of Italy’s 538,000 Chinese visitors (CaixinOnline, 2014). For Tuscany, with Florence as its capital, China is now the fifth most important non-European market after the United States, Japan, Canada, and Australia (Ministero Affari Esteri-Agenzia Nazionale del Turismo [MAE-ENIT], 2012). As research on Chinese tourists grows in the Western academic literature, it becomes important to provide detailed information on how the rapidly growing Chinese market engages with pivotal destinations (cf. De Carlo et al., 2009; Woodside et al., 2007). There is a major need to understand the rich reactions of Chinese tourists to the key locations they visit since such studies address tourists’ well-being and offer guidelines for destination managers.
