Travel motivations of domestic film tourists to the Hengdian World Studios : serendipity, traverse, and mimicry

Abstract

While past studies have sought to understand the travel motivations of international film tourists, more attention can be paid to examine the motivations from domestic visitors. This distinction is critical as domestic tourists have different travel experiences, familiarity, and cultural proximity with their country than international tourists, which can affect their travel motivations. To address this research gap, this study examines domestic tourists’ motivations for visiting the Hengdian World Studios in China via a netnographic approach. Three dimensions were identified, reflecting interpretations from tourists’ voices: their desire for serendipitous experiences, to traverse and dream, and to compare the mimicry of Hengdian to real heritage sites in China. This study contributes to the literature from a psychological perspective by analyzing post-trip reflections to infer pre-trip motivations. This study also provides implications for tourism marketers in other emerging countries where some of the world’s largest film destinations are being developed. 尽管以往文献意图了解国际电影旅客的旅游动机，对于国内电影旅客的动机也应进行探索。此区别至关重要，这是由于国内旅客跟国际旅客对自身的国家有不同的旅游经历、熟悉感和文化接近性，从而影响他们的旅游动机。为处理此研究缺口，本研究通过网络民族志法，调查国内旅客参观中国横店世界工作室的动机。研究确定三个维度，反映国内旅客的心声：他们对偶然体验的渴望、穿越和梦想，以及将横店与真实遗产地进行比较。本研究从心理学的角度分析旅行后的感想来推断旅行前动机，并为其他正在发展中的新兴电影旅游目的地的市场营销者提供建议。