{"id":5503,"date":"2019-11-20T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T01:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.ift.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/?p=5503"},"modified":"2019-11-20T11:01:20","modified_gmt":"2019-11-20T03:01:20","slug":"world-heritage-site-brand-powerful-for-family-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.utm.edu.mo\/NewsPortal\/world-heritage-site-brand-powerful-for-family-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018World Heritage Site\u2019 brand powerful for family tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"\u4e2d\u6587\u6458\u8981 \/ Summary in Chinese<\/span>\n

A study involving a scholar from IFTM indicates families from Mainland China travelling to places on UNESCO\u2019s World Heritage List expect their children to glean educational benefits from such trips. Tourism operators should take note, and develop products that address such expectations, the researchers say.<\/p>\n

The study was co-authored by Dr. Fiona Yang, from the University of Macau, in partnership with IFTM\u2019s Ms. Virginia Lau.<\/p>\n

Chinese families consider \u201cchildren\u2019s experiential learning one of the most critical motives for family travel,\u201d the authors wrote. The \u2018World Heritage Site\u2019 brand is \u201cparticularly appealing\u201d to them in this regard. \u201cTourism operators should capitalise on such accreditation and tailor promotions to this lucrative market,\u201d added the authors.<\/p>\n

The comments \u2013 featured in the paper \u201cExperiential learning for children at World Heritage Sites: The joint moderating effect of brand awareness and generation of Chinese family travelers\u201d \u2013 were published in the June issue of the scholarly journal Tourism Management.<\/p>\n

The primary objective of the study was to analyse the relationship between parents\u2019 motivation to offer their children an educational experience on family travels, and their overall engagement with World Heritage Sites. The researchers also studied the influence of what they termed \u201con-site engagement by visitors\u201d \u2013 with destinations \u2013 regarding possible educational benefits such UNESCO-listed sites offered for children.<\/p>\n

The study results were based upon a survey answered by 557 respondents. The sample comprised tourists from Mainland China visiting major landmarks included in the Historic Centre of Macao, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site. Surveyed tourists had to be visiting the city as a \u201cnuclear\u201d Mainland Chinese family \u2013 i.e. 2 parents plus 1 child younger than 18.<\/p>\n

The study examined parents\u2019 general perceptions of the potential educational benefits that could accrue to their offspring via family travel. One of the findings was the \u201ccorroboration\u201d of what the researchers termed positive \u201cWorld Heritage Site brand effects\u201d among travelling Chinese families that \u201ccrave nurturing their offspring\u201d.<\/p>\n

Such findings \u201cconfirm the importance of the World Heritage Site designation as a branding tool,\u201d wrote Dr. Yang and Ms. Lau.<\/p>\n

Promotion opportunity<\/strong><\/p>\n

The authors suggested several ways for destination managers of World Heritage Sites to tap into the burgeoning family-trip market of Mainland Chinese. They centred on tapping into such consumers\u2019 interest in offering their offspring new educational opportunities.<\/p>\n

World Heritage Sites should \u201callocate more resources in promotion campaigns targeting family travellers,\u201d and ensure such locations have child-friendly facilities \u201caugmented with technologies to create an immersive learning environment,\u201d Dr. Yang and Ms. Lau wrote. World Heritage Sites could be \u201cpresented as avenues of learning for children\u201d and their families via experiences that involve \u201cinteractivity with the environment, technology and parents\u201d, said the authors.<\/p>\n

The researchers stressed the importance of employing technology \u2013 including sound and light shows, augmented reality, QR codes and touchscreen devices \u2013 to create additional ways for visitors and their children to explore and interact with a particular site. This, they added, would also stimulate what they termed \u201cspontaneous learning\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another suggestion included in the study was the introduction of \u201csimple games, puzzles and quizzes for both parents and children\u201d at World Heritage Sites to test such visitors\u2019 knowledge of the place. These games should be tied to access to either souvenirs or certificates, as evidence of the experience the family has enjoyed at the site.<\/p>\n

Chinese families are generally regarded as units that contain \u201chigh-achievers who possess positive attitudes toward exams and quizzes\u201d and see such things as a way to measure the abilities of the adults and of their children, the researchers explained. Such families also \u201cfavour materialistic substance to make tangible their experience\u201d.<\/p>\n

The scholars cautioned that their study showed generational differences within Mainland Chinese families regarding the influence of the World Heritage Site brand on experiential learning during family trips. Such influence was not as strong among so-called \u2018Generation Y\u2019 parents \u2013 those born between 1980 and 1995 \u2013 compared to older Chinese parents.<\/p>\n

Generation Yers \u201ctreasure more the experience\u201d provided by the specific heritage site rather than the branding, the researchers stated. \u201cFor this segment of family travellers, site operators could develop hands-on programmes\u201d to enable those people to explore the site independently \u201cat their own pace without restrictions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThematic programme offerings such as movies, art, and music revolving around aspects of the World Heritage Site are particularly appealing to Generation Y family travellers and could pull them to the site for a unique experience,\u201d concluded Dr. Yang and Ms. Lau.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

More info<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The researchers<\/div>\nDr. Fiona Yang is an Assistant Professor at the University of Macau. She has a PhD in industrial engineering and logistics management from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Her academic research interests include tourism and hospitality marketing, organisational behaviour, and supply chain management. Dr. Yang has been engaged in a number of government-funded research projects in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao.<\/p>\n

IFTM Lecturer Ms. Virginia Lau holds a master\u2019s degree in business administration from Santa Clara University, California, in the United States. Her academic research interests focus on tourism and hospitality management, branding, corporate social responsibility, and tourism education. Ms. Lau\u2019s work experience includes accounting-related positions in public and private entities, in respectively the United States, Hong Kong and Mainland China.
\n<\/div>\n

The paper<\/div>\n– The paper
\nFiona X. Yang and Virginia Meng-Chan Lau: \u201cExperiential learning for children at World Heritage Sites: The joint moderating effect of brand awareness and generation of Chinese family travelers\u201d, Tourism Management, Volume 72, pages 1-11, 2019.
\nhttps:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.tourman.2018.11.011<\/a>
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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