From comrades to Bodhidharma: A Bourdieusian analysis of the spiritual experience of Chinese seasonal tourists

Abstract

This study analyzed the role of Zen meditation in shaping seasonal tourists' spiritual experience using a focus group and interview approach. Three main themes emerged from the study: (a) the desire for seasonal tourism Zen meditation induced by local hosts and the environment was generally positive; (b) the attributes of these seasonal tourists reinforced a positive image of Zen meditation through experiences of both sacred Buddhist rituals and secular daily practices in the E'Mei Mountain destination; and (c) the positive spiritual experiences through seasonal Zen meditation gained in the tourism period had a strong impact on these participants' spiritual experiences.

Exploring tourists' experience at private social dining: Dimensionality and satisfaction

“…All three facets are situated at the highest layer of tourists' experience because travel means sightseeing or relaxation for many tourists as well as travel service providers who seldom take this group of experience seriously (Park, Seo, & Kandampully, 2016). Nevertheless, a call to upgrade tourists' experience to a spiritual level is frequently mentioned in different studies (Curtin & Brown, 2019; Zhang, Lee, & Xiong, 2019). Thus, the emergence of private social dining caters to this demand from the perspective of food tourism, which elucidates the academia and the practitioner on how food can be crafted to elevate the service level in tourism and while creating satisfaction.…”

Wellness‐oriented seasonal tourism migration: A field relationship study in China

“…Another research gap is that Chinese seasonal tourism migration studies are mainly concentrated in urban destinations, especially Sanya city in Hainan Province (Dong, 2006) and Lijiang city in Yunnan Province. Only a few researchers have moved their attention to relatively remote and less developed areas, such as mountain regions and rural places (Huang & Xu, 2014; Zhang et al, 2019b), despite the fact that these are the popular areas for Chinese wellness tourism.…”

“…Some of the key concepts of Bourdieu's field theory have been applied to explain tourism phenomena, such as the concept of capital (Hwang & Stewart, 2017; Zhang, Lee, & Xiong, 2019b), and have also been partially extended into explaining seasonal lifestyle migration (Luo, 2011; Ming & Zhang, 2008; Rong, 2007; Tang, 2010). However, previous studies based on this theoretical foundation mainly discussed information from the seasonal tourism migrants themselves (Song & Yang, 2015).…”

Chinese girlfriend getaway tourism in Buddhist destinations: Towards the construction of a gendered spirituality dimension

“…Searching for spirituality in tourism in contemporary Western society is the result of social secularization and the decline of the perceived relevance of and adherence to traditional religious institutions and practices (Zhang, Lee, & Xiong, 2019) that are used to offer stability, cohesion, and spiritual guidance to followers (Houtman & Aupers, 2007;Wuthnow, 2003). Consequently, it is suggested that contemporary society has come to be defined by a search for spirituality (Zhang et al, 2019). Spirituality thus is fundamental to traditional religious beliefs in a higher being external to the self (Vukonic, 2002).…”

“…With respect to the tourist experience itself, this plays a correlation role between tourists and tourist destinations (Zhang et al, 2019) with tourists' subjective perception (Jennings & Nickerson, 2006) of a complex psychological process different from their daily experience (Cohen, 1979;Cutler & Carmichael, 2010). The complexity of tourism experience is also demonstrated in the measurement issue.…”