Chinese outbound tourism: An alternative modernity perspective

Abstract

Chinese outbound tourism has become of great interest to tourism scholars. This paper provides a brief review of the current theoretical discussion about modernity and alternative modernity and their connection to Chinese outbound tourism developments. The paper traces the progress of Chinese outbound tourism via the binary structure-agent approach. Its study integrates the institutional development of the Chinese tourism governing body over four decades as social structure, and as agents, analyzes the changing perceptions of Chinese outbound tourists. The study advocates that the Chinese outbound tourism sector has developed within the scope of alternative modernity. The paper indicates that the development of Chinese outbound tourism reflects a process of developing modern institutions and conceptual modernity over time.