Service providing hosts’ perceptions and responses to an evolving Chinese tourist market: Evidence from Sri Lanka

Abstract

The past two decades has seen a flourishing of research on the characteristics and behaviors of Chinese tourists. Much early research viewed this phenomenon through an essentialist cultural lens; presuming a relatively static and homogeneous market. Recent scholarship has criticized this approach, as risking creating or reinforcing stereotypes of tourists, and overlooking other valid explanations for behavior. Thus, there is a call to focus on cultural complexity, recognizing that culture evolves and responds to changing contexts and situations. Drawing insights from the Sri Lanka host service providers in the retail shopping setting, this study explores the perspectives and responses of host service providers to the characteristics and behavior of the Chinese tourist market with whom they interact. Applying a dynamic and context-specific perspective of culture, the study reveals an evolving and negotiated context in which retail service providers respond to the Chinese market, and adapt their strategies, as the latter also alter their behavior in a dynamic context of host-tourist interactions.