CHINESETOURISMINSPAIN.PDF

Cuadernos de Turismo, nº 37, (2016); pp. 243-268 Universidad de Murcia ISSN: 1139-7861 eISSN: 1989-4635 DOI: /10.6018/turismo.37.256231 CHINESE TOURISM IN SPAIN: AN ANALYSIS OF THE TOURISM PRODUCT, ATTRACTIONS AND ITINERARIES OFFERED BY CHINESE TRAVEL AGENCIES1 Aureli Lojo Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona ABSTRACT Analysis of the characteristics of tourism in China, and the evolution of Spain as an international destination, illustrates the importance of understanding Chinese outbound tou- rism and its implications for the Spanish tourism industry. The results of the paper present the characteristics of the tourism product offered by Chinese travel agencies. The study also indicates the itineraries, the main destinations within Spain and the distinctive elements of Spain that are valued by the tour operators. The purposes of this study are (1) to identify the patterns of the tourist groups from China to Spain and (2) to understand the characteristics of the tour packages offered by Chinese travel agencies. Keywords: Chinese tourism; Spain; tour operators; tourism product; content analysis. Received: 31 October 2015 Returned for revision: 30 November 2015 Accepted: 15 December 2015 Departamento de Geografía. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Edificio B. 08193 Bellaterra. BARCE- LONA (España). E-mail: aureli.lojo@uab.cat 1 Aureli Lojo is a PhD candidate and this article is part of his dissertation within the PhD Programme in Geography of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Acknowledgements The author greatly appreciates the support of Anqi (Angel) Wang from the University of Memphis for their genero