Travel behaviour of Mainland Chinese international students in Norway

Abstract

Mainland Chinese International Students (MCIS) were chosen for this study due to the growing and increasing market of both MCIS and Chinese tourists in Norway. A qualitative methodology approach was employed and semi-structured interviews were conducted.Contradictions with previous findings, the choice to travel alone or in small groups is due to more freedom and reducing hassle of conflicting ideas, travelling by plane is due to convenience and price as well as choosing cheap and budget accommodation such as Airbnb because of price but also because the respondents value other additional services. It can be argued that travel behaviour and choices are depended on the study destination, its infrastructure and facilities rather than the respondents' status as international students.

International students: potential clients for Mekong Delta Tourism

“…Đối với loại hình lưu trú, các khảo sát trên thế giới cũng cho thấy tùy vào từng nhóm cụ thể mà sinh viên quốc tế có sự lựa chọn cơ sở lưu trú tương ứng, tuy nhiên một trong những tiêu chí quan trọng là giá cả phải chăng 13,15 . Trong trường hợp của Na Uy, du học sinh có xu hướng chọn các dịch vụ "nghỉ đêm và bữa sáng" (bed & breakfast) như homestay, khách sạn bình dân (hostel), hay Airbnb với lý do giá cả phải chăng và dịch vụ phù hợp 16 . Tương tự như vậy 46,7% sinh viên gốc Á trong nghiên cứu của Lee & King (2015) lựa chọn ở qua đêm trong các khách sạn balô (backpacker hostel), còn các du học sinh phương Tây có xu hướng chọn lưu trú tại khách sạn với tỷ lệ 40%.…”

Redefining Asian tourism

“…In addition, Asian students studying abroad and their associated travel behaviour have received a fair amount of attention in recent years (Aquino, Tuazon, Yap & David, 2017;Deng & Ritchie, 2018;Lantai & Mei, 2017;Lee & King, 2016;Pan, 2017). This observation piqued our interest, because the burgeoning middle class in Asia has resulted in an unprecedented dispersal of young people seeking higher education abroad, a segment which experiences sustained interactions with their host institution's culture for a significant amount of time during their studies, which are often conducted in western universities.…”

Understanding travel constraints: An exploratory study of Mainland Chinese International Students (MCIS) in Norway

“…For such reasons, researchers and practitioners are keen to explore this segment. As this market may be difficult to reach due to language issues and restricted itineraries, Mainland Chinese International Students (MCIS) can be considered as a useful group to study in order to further understand such segment (Hughes, Wang, & Shu, 2015;Lantai & Mei, 2017). Although international students are argued to be a distinctive market different from the tourist market, studying MCIS may provide further understanding of an increasingly important segment within the Chinese tourist market which seeks novel and unique experiences.…”