NOVEMBER
10.1177/0047287505278979
JOURNAL OF2005
TRAVEL RESEARCH
Preference and Positioning Analyses
of Overseas Destinations by Mainland
Chinese Outbound Pleasure Tourists
SAMUEL SEONGSEOP KIM, YINGZHI GUO, AND JEROME AGRUSA
The objective of this study is to explore the competitive-
ness of overseas destination countries where potential Main-
land Chinese outbound tourists consider making an overseas
travel and the positioning of these destination countries. Ac-
cording to the analysis of importance of a destination’s at-
tributes, Mainland Chinese respondents considered “safety”
and “beautiful scenery” to be the most important attributes.
On the basis of KYST (Kruskal, Young, Shepard, and
Torgerson) analysis, Mainland Chinese respondents per-
ceived that the country pairs of Singapore and Thailand, Ja-
pan and South Korea, and Egypt and Germany showed a
similar image. Results of the alternating least-square scaling
(ALSCAL) analysis provided information on the relationship
of competing countries to destination attributes. The results
demonstrate competitiveness of destination countries and
suggest strategies for destination markets to attract more
Mainland Chinese tourists.
Keywords: positioning; China; destination; preference
With a population of more than 1.3 billion, along with the
steady opening and reformation since 1978, the economy of
Mainland China (officially, People’s Republic of China) has
developed rapidly. The outbound tourism demand of Main-
land Chinese households has been increasing because of an
increase in their disposable income. China has the potential
to put forth greater influence on the marketing and develop-
ment of tourism destinations worldwide during the next
decade than perhaps any other country on the planet. As
Table 1 indicates, the strength of the Mainland Chinese out-
bound tourism market has been increasing tremendously.
The number of Mainland Chinese outbound tourists was 3.74
million travelers in 1993, increasing to more than 10 million
Mainland Chinese outbound travelers by 2000 (China
National Tourism Administration 2003). The number of
Mainland Chinese tourists totaled 16.6 million outbound
tourists in 2002 (China National Tourism Administration
2003). The average rate of annual growth reached 20% from
1993 through 2002. A substantial increase in Mainland Chi-
nese outbound tourists is stated in the World Tourism Orga-
nization (WTO) Tourism Vision 2020 Report, which forecast
100 million Mainland Chinese outbound tourists by 2020
(WTO 1999). This number will account for 6.2% of the
world’s outbound tourist market and ranks fourth among
outbound tourist generating countries, following German,
Japanese, and U.S. tourists (WTO 1999).
In the initial stage of outbound tourism, the Mainland
Chinese government decided to permit only the Mainland
Chinese population to visit their relatives and friends while
leaving China (Xiao 1997). As Table 2 demonstrates, the
Chinese government from 1990 through 1998 had granted
Approved Destination Status (hereafter, ADS) to only Thai-
land, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and the Philippines
for Mainland Chinese tourists who principally wanted to
visit their relatives and friends. By 2003, a total of 26 desti-
nation countries had received ADS for Chinese outbound
tourism (Chen 2004).
The Mainland Chinese government has indicated that the
following seven guidelines must be met for these countries to
receive ADS to allow Mainland Chinese tourists to travel
(Zhong and Guo 2001). First, the countries should gener-
ate outbound tourists to China. Second, the country should
have a favorable political relationship with China. Third, the
countries should have attractive tourist resources and suit-
able facilities for Chinese travelers. Fourth, the safety of the
Chinese travelers should be guaranteed along with freedom
from discrimination. Fifth, the destination countries should
be easily accessible by transportation. Sixth, the outbound
tourists from the destination countries should have a balance
with Mainland China in terms of tourists’ expenditures. Sev-
enth, the market share of tourists from foreign countries to
China, along with tourists from China to these countries,
should be increased reciprocally.
With the enhancement of Mainland China’s national
position and swift economic development, Mainland Chi-
nese outbound tourism’s demand is expected to increase
gradually. Thus, destination marketers have a great interest
in identifying Mainland Chinese tourists’ preferences of
tourism destination attributes and positioning their destina-
tions accordingly. In addition, this information will help the
Mainland Chinese government to forecast tourism demand
according to Mainland Chinese tourists’ choice of destina-
tions and to make decisions on its policies or strategies.
Samuel Seongseop Kim, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the
Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Sejong
University, Seoul, Korea. Yingzhi Guo, Ph.D., is an associate pro-
fessor in the Department of Tourism at Fudan University, Shang-
hai, China. Dr. Jerome Agrusa is a professor of travel industry
management, College of Business Administration at Hawaii Pacific
University, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 44, November 2005, 212-220
DOI: 10.1177/0047287505278979
© 2005 Sage Publications
 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL RESEARCH 213

TABLE 1 Thus, the goal of this study was designed to analyze the
NUMBER OF MAINLAND CHINESE OUTBOUND competitiveness of overseas destinations among potential
TOURISTS Mainland Chinese outbound tourists and the positioning of
these destinations. Five major objectives were involved in
Number of Mainland this study. The first objective was to identify the salient
Year Chinese Outbound Tourists Growth Rate % attributes of destinations that influence Mainland Chinese
outbound tourists to select an overseas destination. The sec-
1993 3,740,000 27.7
1994 3,733,600 –0.17
ond objective was to explore which countries of seven select-
1995 4,520,500 21.08 ed destination countries on an ADS list are preferred. The
1996 5,060,700 11.95 third objective was to examine which countries of all possi-
1997 5,323,900 5.20 ble overseas outbound destination countries, including coun-
1998 8,425,600 58.26 tries not yet permitted by the Chinese government, are pre-
1999 9,231,600 9.57 ferred by Mainland Chinese outbound tourists. The fourth
2000 10,468,600 13.40 objective was to investigate similarities or dissimilarities
2001 12,133,100 15.90 between images of overseas destinations as perceived by
2002 16,602,300 36.83 potential Mainland Chinese tourists. The fifth objective was
Source: China National Tourism Administration (2003). to explore relationships of overseas destinations to Mainland
Chinese tourists’ perceptions of their attributes. In particular,
TABLE 2 the fourth and fifth research objectives were graphically ana-
lyzed using multidimensional scaling method (MDS), which
OVERSEAS OUTBOUND TOURISM DESTINATION
produced perceptual maps indicating the locations of over-
COUNTRIES WITH APPROVED DESTINATION STATUS
BY MAINLAND CHINESE GOVERNMENT seas destinations and Mainland Chinese tourists’ perceptions
of their attributes.
Number of
Permitted
Year Countries Permitted Countries DESTINATION PREFERENCE AND
1988 1 Thailand POSITIONING
1990 3 Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia
1992 4 Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia,
Philippines
Mayo and Jarvis (1981) stated that “destination attrac-
1998 5 Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, tiveness” is a combination of the relative importance of bene-
Philippines, South Korea fits to the tourists and the perceived ability of the destination
1999 7 Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, to satisfy the tourists’ benefits. Convincingly, the more a
Philippines, South Korea, Australia, tourist believes a tourism destination will guarantee his or
New Zealand her travel benefits, the more attractive the destination will be
2000 12 Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the higher the possibility that it will be selected as a
Philippines, South Korea, Australia, potential travel destination. Thus, preferences that tourists
New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam, have from destination attractiveness is likely to be an influ-
Cambodia, Burma, Brunei ential factor in determining a potential tourist’s destination
2002 17 Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia,
Philippines, South Korea, Australia,
choice (Chen and Uysal 2002; Haahti 1986; Hu and Ritchie
New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam, 1993), actual tourist satisfaction (Kozak and Rimmington
Cambodia, Burma, Brunei, Nepal, 1999; Mykletun, Crotts, and Mykletun 2001), intention to
Indonesia, Malta, Turkey, Egypt revisit (Crompton, Fakeye, and Lue 1992; Kozak and
2003 26 Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Rimmington 1999), perception of benefits (Woodside 1982),
Philippines, South Korea, Australia, and a role as a positive opinion leader (Kozak and
New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam, Rimmington 1999).
Cambodia, Burma, Brunei, Nepal, Attractiveness of a destination is likely to be different
Indonesia, Malta, Turkey, Egypt, from those of competitive destinations. Thus, destination
Germany, Sri Lanka, Maldives, managers want to know potential or actual tourists’ percep-
India, South Africa, Cuba, Croatia,
Hungry, Pakistan
tions of attractiveness of their destination and where their
destination is positioned among competitive destinations.
Source: Chen, Fugang (2004). This leads to the usefulness of the concept of positioning. In
the context of tourism destination marketing, positioning is
defined as the process of locating a destination or the attrac-
tions of a destination in the minds of potential customers
As described above, the number of Mainland Chinese within its target markets (Crompton, Fakeye, and Lue 1992;
outbound tourists has been increasing explosively. Despite Chen and Uysal 2002). Positioning for a destination is a pro-
this increase in the number of outbound tourists, attention to cess of identifying its competitors and creating a niche in the
the attitudes and behaviors of Mainland Chinese tourists has traveler’s mind, preferably one that is not occupied by the
been limited to a few studies (Heung 2000; Mok and competing destinations (Woodside 1982).
DeFranco 1999; Qu and Li 1997; Zhang and Chow 2004). A large number of positioning studies in the tourism liter-
Furthermore, there has been an absence of positioning analy- ature have been undertaken by comparing the competitive-
sis on overseas tourism destinations where Mainland Chi- ness of considerable destinations (Andreu, Bigne, and Coo-
nese tourists are considering visiting. per 2000; Botha, Crompton, and Kim 1999; Calantone et al.
214 NOVEMBER 2005
1989; Chen and Uysal 2002; Crompton, Fakeye, and Lue
1992; Gartner 1989; Goodrich 1978; Haahti 1986; Kim
1998; Kozak and Rimmington 1999; Uysal, Chen, and Wil-
liams 2000). In methodological approaches, the positioning
studies can be grouped as follows: MDS (Gartner 1989;
Goodrich 1978; Haahti 1986); correspondence analysis
(Andreu, Bigne, and Cooper 2000; Calantone et al. 1989;
Chen and Uysal 2002; Uysal, Chen, and Williams 2000);
correspondence analysis and logit model (Chen and Uysal
2002); factor analysis, t-test, and one-way ANOVA (Botha,
Crompton, and Kim 1999; Crompton, Fakeye, and Lue 1992;
Kozak and Rimmington 1999), and MDS and correspon-
dence analysis (Kim 1998).
A review of the major previous positioning studies is as
follows. With an introduction of MDS analyses in the tour-
ism destination field, Haahti (1986) identified the position of
Finland as a summer holiday destination in relation to 10
other competing European countries. Dutch respondents per-
ceived Norway and Finland as similar and indicated that the
two countries had a high level of “friendly and hospitable
residents” and “wilderness and camping” compared to those
of other countries. The Dutch respondents believed that Swe-
den had a higher level of “change from usual destinations”
than did other countries. His study contributed to the tourism
destination literature by applying MDS techniques to a posi-
tioning study. Gartner (1989) explored the competitiveness
of four U.S. states—Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and
Utah—on tourism or recreation attributes (activities) using
MDS analyses. According to his findings, respondents per-
ceived Montana and Wyoming to be outdoor recreation areas
with natural resources, whereas Utah and Colorado were
perceived to be more toward cultural resources.
The study by Crompton, Fakeye, and Lue (1992) ana-
lyzed the positioning of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas by
comparing motivations of long-stay winter visitors to the Rio
Grande Valley in Texas compared to other long-stay win-
ter destinations, including Florida, California, Arizona, and
Hawaii. An example of the study’s findings included that the
Rio Grande Valley revealed higher mean scores than Ari-
zona and Hawaii for the “social interaction” and the “escape
from crowds” motivations. Their study concluded that desti-
nation marketers need to differentiate the attributes of other
destinations from those of their own destination as well as
understand the strengths and weakness of their destinations.
Kim (1998) attempted to identify the positioning of five
Korean destinations (Cheju Island, Gyeongju, Sulak Moun-
tain, Haeundae Beach, and the Yusung area). An example of
his findings included that Gyeongju ranked first and the
Yusung resort area ranked last on all six-attribute vectors.
The images of both Gyeongju and Cheju Island were per-
ceived to be similar, with both positioned on all attribute vec-
tors higher and more positively than other destinations. In
Botha, Crompton, and Kim’s (1999) study, the authors
developed a new competitive positioning for Sun/Lost City,
a famous tourism destination in South Africa, comparing
each pair of other destinations in terms of motivations, desti-
nation attributes, and constraints.
Kozak and Rimmington (1999) explored 18 of Turkey’s
competitive destinations by surveying British holidaymakers
who were visiting Turkey. Some of the other countries in the
study included Spain, Greece, Portugal, France, Cyprus, and
Malta, which as summer holiday destinations were regarded
as competitors of Turkey. The results of the study indicated
that Turkey was perceived more positively than its com-
petitors in the areas of “friendliness of local people,” “value
for their money,” “safety and security,” and “local trans-
port.” However, Turkey was rated lower for “cleanliness of
beaches,” “quality of accommodations,” and “sports facili-
ties.” The study also identified a number of complaints made
by British tourists regarding the 19 destinations, including
Turkey. As a result, respondents indicated that Spain was
perceived as the least desirable destination, followed by Tur-
key, Greece, France, Portugal, Malta, Tunisia, Morocco, and
Cyprus. The authors concluded that their investigation
of competitiveness among 19 Mediterranean competitors
would be helpful in establishing a positioning strategy for
Turkey.
Uysal, Chen, and Williams (2000) explored the competi-
tiveness of Virginia as a tourism destination by creating a
perceptual map that indicated similarities and dissimilarities
as to how 10 U.S. states were rated among 48 destination
attributes. As an example of the study’s findings, Virginia
was considered to be most competitive with Pennsylvania,
North Carolina, and West Virginia in terms of natural fea-
tures and with Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, and
Georgia on historic and cultural heritage attributes. The
authors suggested that Virginia should be given a strong
emotional image with a focus on natural and cultural attrac-
tions. The researchers also suggested that destination promo-
tional activities could be established based on the results of
their positioning analysis.
The study by Chen and Uysal (2002) analyzed the market
position of Virginia compared to eight other U.S states and
Washington D.C. in perceiving the image of the destinations.
Virginia illustrated a market position similar to Pennsylva-
nia’s in that both states had a strong image in offering nature/
nature-related activities such as snow skiing and visiting his-
torical Civil War sites. In a two-dimensional solution
between states and perceptions of attractions, Virginia
shared a similar market position with Pennsylvania but was
not seen as being similar to other states. Results of a logit
analysis reported that Virginia was perceived as being the
least competitive with Florida and Washington, D.C. among
the images of activities and attractions.
As seen from the overall review of previous positioning
studies, a tourism destination has multiple attributes that may
be similar or dissimilar to those of other competing destina-
tions. Thus, the assessment of the positioning of competing
destinations helps marketers in creating effective marketing
strategies and plans.
METHOD
In 2002, the number of Chinese outbound tourists was
about 16.6 million. According to an annual report published
by the China National Tourism Administration (2003), the
top destinations of Chinese outbound tourists on the ADS list
with the exception of Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and
Taiwan, include Japan (760,100), Russia (691,000), Thailand
(688,800), South Korea (551,400), Singapore (289,200), and
North Korea (247,900). Along with an investigation of the
market report, a consultation with 10 travel agents employed
at travel agencies in Shanghai specializing in foreign out-
bound tourism was undertaken. The main objective for the
consultation with the travel agents was that through meetings

with their customers, the travel agents would know which
destinations Chinese tourists desired to visit that are on the
ADS list, as well as other desired destinations that are cur-
rently not on the ADS list.
Results of the consultation indicated that Chinese tourists
prefer to go overseas to democratic society countries and cul-
turally differentiated countries with a long history similar to
China. As a result, Russia and North Korea were ruled out
and Egypt was included. Thus, the currently popular or
desired destinations for Mainland Chinese outbound tourists
in this study were regarded as Japan, South Korea, Germany,
Australia, Singapore, Thailand, and Egypt. Specifically,
Japan and Korea were considered because of the proximity
of distance, which are located close to China and thus conve-
nient to arrange travel plans. Singapore and Thailand were
considered to be competitive destination countries to Chi-
nese outbound tourists because they were located close to
China and the Chinese government had placed the two coun-
tries on the permitted travel country list at an initial stage of
liberalization of Chinese outbound tourism. Germany was
the only approved outbound destination country located in
Europe in 2003 among the 26 outbound destination coun-
tries with ADS in which the Mainland Chinese government
allows its people to make an outbound trip to as tourists. The
reasons for selecting Australia were that the country has a
different culture, history, and natural environment from
China and that it has had a good relationship with China for
10 years, since the diplomatic relationship was established.
Finally, Egypt was considered to be a competitive destina-
tion country for Chinese outbound tourism markets because
the length of the country’s history, which can be traced thou-
sands of years, parallels the history of China. Egypt also has
internationally well-known ancient pyramids and artifacts
and is one of two approved destinations in Africa that the
Chinese government had placed on the permitted outbound
travel country list. Thus, Mainland Chinese tourists are likely
to have a preference for overseas travel to these countries. An
open-ended question was asked of the respondents to list, in
preferred order, the overseas destination countries, including
those that have not received ADS, that they would like to
visit as tourists.
For this study, two approaches were used to develop a set
of attributes for these destinations. First, a series of struc-
tured interviews was conducted with 10 travel agents in
Shanghai specializing in overseas tours for Mainland Chi-
nese tourists. Second, a review of the international travel lit-
erature was conducted (Chen 2001; Echtner and Ritchie
1993; Fakeye and Crompton 1991; Hu and Ritchie 1993;
Kim, Crompton, and Botha 2000; Pearce 1982). A pilot
study was then undertaken using the pool of 12 attributes.
Fifty Mainland Chinese people with experience in foreign
tourism were selected for interviews in the pilot study.
Finally, two attributes were ruled out because they were so
unique that they were seldom found in the majority of the
destinations. The two attributes that were eliminated were
“beautiful beach” and “gambling.”
The principal analytical technique used in this study was
MDS. MDS is a useful analysis in that it provides spatial
maps on which perceived relationships between stimuli
(tourism destinations) and multiple destination attributes in
tourism destination positioning studies can be seen (Baloglu
and Brinberg 1997). Among several MDS programs, this
study used the MDS Kruskal, Young, Shepard, and
JOURNAL OF TRAVEL RESEARCH 215
Torgerson (KYST) and alternating least-square scaling
(ALSCAL) programs.
KYST was used to identify distances between any two
points plotted, which can be interpreted as an indicator of
similarity or dissimilarity between pairs of destinations. To
develop questions for the KYST analysis, respondents were
told, “There are seven popular overseas destinations to
Mainland Chinese tourists. For each statement below, circle
the number that best describes the level of agreement of simi-
larity or dissimilarity on perceived image for each pair of the
seven destinations.” For example, one pair of destinations
was “Japan and Thailand.” The respondents were then pre-
sented with a 7-point Likert-type scale where 1 = strongly
dissimilar, 4 = neutral, and 7 = strongly similar.
One of the most applicable MDS programs, ALSCAL is
used to explore relationships of the stimulus points (destina-
tions) to the property vectors (destination attributes; Baloglu
and Brinberg 1997; Fenton and Pearce 1994). In the section
that asks questions for the ALSCAL technique, respondents
were told, “Here we are interested in your views regarding
your perceived agreement level on attributes of overseas
travel destinations. For each statement below, circle the
number that best describes how you feel about the seven des-
tinations in regards to the following ten attributes.” An
example of an attribute item was “good weather.” The
responses to the 10 destination attributes of the seven over-
seas destinations were measured on 7-point Likert-type
scales where 1 = strongly disagree, 4 = neutral, and 7 =
strongly agree. The rectangular matrix consisting of the
stimuli (seven destination countries) and 10 destination
attributes that the respondents evaluated on each destination
country was input as a two-way type data for the MDS
ALSCAL program.
The data were collected through personal interviews
using a standardized instrument with a convenience sample
of 400 people who were sitting at restaurants or on waiting
benches at the Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao
Airport. The reason that these two airports in Shanghai were
selected for the data collection site was that Shanghai is the
most developed city in Mainland China and possesses the
most potential for outbound travelers from China in the near
future. Data collection took place from October 1 through
December 15, 2003. The survey process included one-on-
one personal interviews conducted by a host of trained sur-
veyors. The surveyors waited for the respondents to com-
plete each questionnaire and answered any questions the
respondents had regarding items on the questionnaire. Four
hundred questionnaires were completed. After the exclusion
of 25 incomplete questionnaires, 375 questionnaires were
used for further data analyses.
RESULTS
Characteristics of Respondents
Table 3 summarizes the demographic profile of the
respondents. Fifty-four percent of the respondents were
male, 78.8% of the respondents were under the age of 40,
68.5% of the respondents indicated that they were university
students or graduates, 35.2% of the respondents had monthly
incomes of 4,000–6,000 Chinese RMB yuan (about
US$500–749 dollars), and 28.0% of the respondents were
216 NOVEMBER 2005

TABLE 3 equipped tourism facilities” (M = 5.15), “different cultural

SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF and historical resources from China” (M = 5.10), “good
RESPONDENTS weather” (M = 5.03), “easiness to arrange travel plans” (M =
4.98), “good leisure and recreation facilities” (M = 4.93),
% Chinese “inexpensive travel cost” (M = 4.91), “good place for shop-
Tourists ping” (M = 4.38), and “level of economic development” (M =
Variable (N = 372) 4.01).
Gender
Male 54 Preference of Seven Selected
Female 46.0 Tourism Destination Countries with ADS
Age
Under 30 39.2 The General Linear Model with repeated measures was
30–39 39.6 applied to examine differences in perceived preference of
40–49 18.0 seven selected tourism destination countries with ADS. A
50 or above 3.2 significant difference was found (p = .000). The results are
Monthly household income
Less than 2,000 Chinese yuan (US$250) 11.8
reported in Table 5. The respondents indicated that the most
2,000–3,999 Chinese yuan (US$250–499) 29.6 preferable country of the seven selected tourism destination
4,000–5,999 Chinese yuan (US$500–749) 35.2 countries with ADS was Australia (M = 5.25), followed by
6,000–7,999 Chinese yuan (US$750–999) 10.2 Singapore (M = 5.09), Egypt (M = 5.06), Germany (M =
8,000–9,999 Chinese yuan (US$1,000–1,249) 6.5 4.74), Thailand (M = 4.48), South Korea (M = 4.17), and
More than 10,000 Chinese yuan (US$1,249) 6.7 Japan (M = 3.88).
Education level
High school or below 22.3
University student or graduates 68.5
Preferred Overseas Tourism Destinations
Postgraduate school 9.2 Including countries without ADS, Mainland Chinese
Occupation respondents indicated that they most prefer France (18.8%),
Civil servant 11.0 followed by the United States (18.1%), Australia (11.6%),
Company employee 28.0
Teacher 6.7
Japan (10.8%), Egypt (9.4%), Singapore (7.6%), Italy
Retired person 4.0 (7.6%), Germany (6.1%), Canada (5.4%), and Spain (4.7%).
Professional 11.0 The results are shown in Table 6. In an investigation of the
Student 1.1 second preferred destination countries, respondents most
Independent businessman 19.6 preferred France (19.0%), followed by the United States
Sales or service 8.9 (12.5%), Australia (12.5%), Egypt (11.3%), Japan (10.5%),
Soldier 1.3 Singapore (10.5%), Italy (8.1%), Germany (6.5%), Spain
Others 8.4 (4.8%), and South Korea (4.4%). In a comparison of the first
Preferred type of overseas tour and second preferred destination countries lists, order of
Individual 40.1 preference is almost constant. Even though countries such as
Package tour (exclusively) 32.5
Package tour (partial) 23.4
France, the United States, Canada, and Spain are not
Other 4.0 included on the ADS travel list by the Chinese government
Preferred length of overseas tour as approved foreign outbound destination countries, Main-
Less than 6 nights 15.2 land Chinese tourists indicated a high level of preference to
6–8 nights 54.2 visit these countries as tourists.
More than 8 nights 32.8
Total number of overseas tour, including Results of the KYST Technique
this tour, since 2002
1 62.9 The KYST analysis began by calculating the mean simi-
2 20.0 larity rating for each of the 21 pairs (all combinations of the
3 or more 17.1 seven destinations). After the KYST analysis was complete,
Note: US$1 is equivalent to 8.2 yuan. according to Kruskal and Wish (1986), experts in this tech-
nique, it is important to check goodness of fit in deciding
company employees. The respondents also preferred indi- how many dimensions are appropriate. A measure of fit
vidual tours (40.1%), with a length of stay of 6–10 nights widely used in MDS is stress, which is the square root of a
(54.2%), and an overseas travel experience of one or two normalized residual sum of squares (Kruskal and Wish
occasions (82.9%). 1986). A stress value of zero or near zero indicates that the
goodness of fit is acceptable. In the KYST analysis for this
Importance of Attributes on study, the final stress value was .099. On the basis of
Overseas Destinations Kruskal’s (1964) criterion, a stress value of .10 shows “fair”
goodness of fit.
Table 4 shows the results of the General Linear Model The distances between destinations in the two-dimen-
with repeated measures to investigate differences in per- sional configurations reflect the levels of similarity in the
ceived importance of attributes on overseas destinations. A respondents’ perceptions of each destination. As Figure 1
significant difference was found (p–= .000). Potential Main- shows, three pairs, Singapore and Thailand, Egypt and Ger-
land Chinese outbound tourists placed importance on many, and Japan and South Korea, were perceived as being
“safety” (M = 5.73), “beautiful scenery” (M = 5.69), “well- quite similar, suggesting that it was difficult for the respon-
 JOURNAL OF TRAVEL RESEARCH 217

TABLE 4
IMPORTANCE OF ATTRIBUTES ON OVERSEAS DESTINATION COUNTRIES (N = 368)

Destination Attribute M SD Within-Subject One-Way ANOVA F Value P value

Inexpensive travel cost 4.90 1.40
Level of economic development 4.00 1.50
Beautiful scenery 5.69 1.31
Safety 5.72 1.38
Good place for shopping 4.38 1.73 61.0 .000
Different cultural and historical resources 5.10 1.52
Good weather 5.03 1.42
Good leisure and recreation facilities 4.92 1.51
Easiness to arrange travel plans 4.99 1.39
Well-equipped tourism facilities 5.15 1.43
Note: Answers were on 7-point Likert-type scales, where 1 = strongly disagree, 4 = neutral, and 7 = strongly agree. ANOVA =
analysis of variance.

TABLE 5
PREFERENCE OF SEVEN SELECTED TOURISM DESTINATION COUTRIES WITH ADS (N = 370)

Destination Country M SD Within-Subject One-Way ANOVA F Value P Value

Japan 3.88 1.74
South Korea 4.16 1.45
Germany 4.75 1.36 34.3 .000
Australia 5.24 1.37
Singapore 5.09 2.94
Thailand 4.48 1.58
Egypt 5.07 1.64
Note: Answers were on 7-point Likert-type scales, where 1 = strongly disagree, 4 = neutral, and 7 = strongly agree. ADS = Ap-
proved Destination Status; ANOVA = analysis of variance.

TABLE 6
PREFERENCE OF OVERSEAS TOURISM DESTINATION COUNTRIES, INCLUDING COUNTRIES WITHOUT
APPROVED DESTINATION STATUS (N = 370)

Rank First Preferred Country % Rank Second Preferred Country %

1 France 18.8 1 France 19.0
2 United States 18.1 2 United States 12.5
3 Australia 11.6 3 Australia 12.5
4 Japan 10.8 4 Egypt 11.3
5 Egypt 9.4 5 Japan 10.5
6 Singapore 7.6 6 Singapore 10.5
7 Italy 7.6 7 Italy 8.1
8 Germany 6.1 8 Germany 6.5
9 Canada 5.4 9 Spain 4.8
10 Spain 4.7 10 South Korea 4.4
Note: This was measured as an open-ended question.

dents to differentiate between the destinations within a same
pair.
Results of the ALSCAL Technique
The ALSCAL analyses produced the final plots of the
stimulus points (destinations) and the property vectors (des-
tination attributes). The property vectors help in interpreting
the perceptual maps by showing how the seven destinations
are located on each attribute vector. For interpretation, each
destination attribute’s vector is drawn from the origin and
each destination drops perpendicularly on each attribute’s
vector. For example, when the point of a destination is
dropped perpendicularly on a destination attribute’s vector,
the farther the distance from the origin along the attribute
vector is located, the better the destination explains the
attribute.
A final stress value of the ALSCAL analysis was .060. As
Kruskal’s (1964) criterion suggests, a stress value of around
.05 shows “good” goodness of fit. Figure 2 shows the final
plots of the stimulus points and property vectors for seven
overseas tourism destinations. Respondents perceived that
Australia and Germany were the strongest for the “different
cultural and historical resources from China’s” attribute, fol-
lowed by Egypt, whereas Japan and South Korea had weak-
nesses in this attribute. Australia and Germany were per-
ceived as the most appropriate tourist destinations in regard
to the “beautiful scenery” attribute, whereas Thailand was
218 NOVEMBER 2005
FIGURE 1
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CONFIGURATION FOR
COMPETITIVE DESTINATION COUNTRIES (KYST
ANALYSIS)
Note: KYST = Kruskal, Young, Shepard, and Torgerson.
perceived as the least favorable destination in terms of
“beautiful scenery.”
Japan and South Korea had the most positive perceptions
in terms of “easiness to arrange travel plans” and “good place
for shopping” attributes for an overseas tourism destination
to Mainland Chinese tourists, whereas Egypt had the least
positive perceptions in these attributes. Meanwhile, Singa-
pore, Thailand, Germany, and Australia fell between the
most preferable countries and the least preferable countries
regarding the “easiness to arrange travel plans” and “good
place for shopping” attributes.
With regard to the “inexpensive travel cost,” “well-
equipped tourism facilities,” “level of economic develop-
ment,” “good leisure and recreation facilities,” and “safety”
attributes, Japan was the most favorable destination, fol-
lowed by Singapore and South Korea. However, Egypt was
FIGURE 2
FINAL PLOTS OF THE STIMULUS POINTS AND
PROPERTY VECTORS FOR MAINLAND CHINESE
OVERSEAS TOURISTS (ALSCAL ANALYSIS)
1.0
Japan
South Korea 9
Thailand
.5 5
1
10
8
Egypt Singapore
2
0 4
-.5
6 3
Germany
-1.0 Australia
-3.0 -2.0 -1.0 0 1.0 2.0 3.0
Note: 1 = inexpensive travel cost; 2 = level of economic devel-
opment; 3 = beautiful scenery; 4 = safety; 5 = good place for
shopping; 6 = different cultural and historical resources; 7 =
good weather; 8 = good leisure and recreation facilities; 9 =
easiness to arrange travel plans; 10 = well-equipped tourism
facilities. ALSCAL = alternating least-square scaling.
the least favorable destination for these five attributes. Main-
land Chinese respondents indicated that Singapore, Japan,
and South Korea were considered to be the most appropriate
overseas destinations regarding “good weather” and
“safety.” However, Egypt was seen as the least appropriate
overseas destination with respect to “good weather” and
“safety.”
CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION
The goal of this study was to analyze the competitiveness
of overseas destination countries as perceived by potential
Mainland Chinese outbound tourists and the positioning of
these destination countries. Seven competitive destination
countries were selected on the basis of a report regarding
Mainland Chinese outbound tourism markets and consulta-
tion with travel agents specializing in Chinese outbound
tourism. The seven competitive destination countries
included Japan, South Korea, Germany, Australia, Singa-
pore, Thailand, and Egypt. Ten attributes of these destination
countries were chosen from the review of literature on inter-
national tourism and interviews with Chinese travel agents
specializing in Mainland Chinese outbound tourism. The
attributes consisted of “inexpensive travel cost,” “level of
economic development,” “beautiful scenery,” “safety,”
“good place for shopping,” “different cultural and historical
resources,” “good weather,” “good leisure and recreation
facilities,” “easiness to arrange travel plans,” and “well-
equipped tourism facilities.”
According to the analysis of the importance of destina-
tion attributes, Mainland Chinese respondents considered

“safety” and “beautiful scenery” to be the most important
attributes, whereas “level of economic development” and
“good place for shopping” were regarded as the least impor-
tant attributes. The results of this study indicate that potential
Mainland Chinese tourists prefer destinations that are safe
and have a beautiful environment. It is interesting to note that
the respondents reported that they do not place relative
importance on destination attributes such as “level of eco-
nomical development” (M = 4.00) or “good place for shop-
ping” (M = 4.38) compared to other destination attributes.
Mean scores for the two items were equal to or slightly
higher than a neutral score (4). This indicates that potential
Mainland Chinese outbound tourists taking a pleasure trip
are likely to prefer destinations with good scenery or safety
to that of destinations with economic development and good
places for shopping when selecting overseas tourism destina-
tion countries.
Mainland Chinese outbound tourists most preferred Aus-
tralia as an overseas destination country and showed a rela-
tively high level of preference to Singapore and Egypt. How-
ever, they showed the least preference for Japan and South
Korea. One explanation as to the reason that Chinese out-
bound tourists may not prefer Japan and South Korea is
likely to be that the two countries have relatively similar cul-
tural traits and thus are not as novel as are other European,
African, or American countries.
Regarding preferred overseas tourism destination coun-
tries by the Mainland Chinese respondents regarding the
open-ended question, including countries without ADS, the
two categories of first-preferred country and second-pre-
ferred country lists were similar to the findings of preference
for the seven selected tourism destination countries with
ADS. Mainland Chinese respondents placed the most prefer-
ence on France, followed by the United States, Australia,
Japan, Egypt, Singapore, and Germany. It is especially inter-
esting that both France and the United States, without ADS,
were preferred first or second. The results of this study indi-
cate that an overseas tourism demand to France and the
United States would increase rapidly in the future if these
two countries were granted ADS by the Chinese government
as overseas outbound destination countries.
On the basis of the KYST analysis, Mainland Chinese
respondents perceived that the country pair of Singapore and
Thailand indicated a similar image, the country pair of Japan
and South Korea indicated a similar image, and the country
pair of Egypt and Germany indicated a similar image. This
indicates that these country pairs are placed in a competitive
market position with each other within the terms of image
perception. Thus, these countries need to make substantial
efforts to differentiate their image from that of the competing
country to place its image position in a superior market
position over the other country.
Results of the ALSCAL analysis offer various informa-
tion on the relationship of competing countries to destination
attributes. Mainland Chinese respondents indicated that the
“different historical and cultural resources from China” are
Australia, Germany, and Egypt’s greatest strength and most
unique attributes. This result is understandable because these
countries are based on Western or African culture and his-
tory, which differs from Chinese history and culture. Mean-
while, the results of Japan, South Korea, and Thailand had
relative less favorable destinations in terms of “different cul-
tural and historical resources.” One explanation for these
JOURNAL OF TRAVEL RESEARCH 219
results is that Japan, South Korea, and Thailand have been
influenced by China from an ancient era and Mainland Chi-
nese people may think that their cultural and historical assets
are similar to that of Chinese resources. Thus, Japan, South
Korea, and Thailand need to demonstrate, through their mar-
keting efforts, their uniqueness of cultural and historical
resources to differentiate themselves from Chinese culture or
history.
With regard to Australia and Germany, Mainland Chi-
nese outbound tourists indicated that these two countries’
strongest attribute was “beautiful scenery.” In an investiga-
tion of preferred destination attributes, respondents indicated
“beautiful scenery” as the most important attribute. Thus,
demand of Mainland Chinese outbound tourists to Australia
and Germany is expected to increase. However, Mainland
Chinese respondents reported the lowest preference of the
“beautiful scenery” attribute to Thailand, Japan, and South
Korea. This result suggests that these countries have a weak-
ness in the attribute of “beautiful scenery.” As a result, Main-
land Chinese outbound tourists may not consider Thailand,
Japan, and South Korea to be ideal destinations because
these countries showed a lack of “beautiful scenery,” while
Mainland Chinese respondents expressed a high level of
importance on the “beautiful scenery” attribute. As the
results of preference of overseas tourism destinations indi-
cate, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand were less preferred
destination countries in the selection group.
Japan, South Korea, and Singapore were perceived to be
suitable destinations in terms of the “easiness to arrange
travel plans,” “good place for shopping,” “inexpensive travel
cost,” “well-equipped tourism facilities,” “good leisure and
recreation facilities,” and “level of economic development”
attributes. Meanwhile, Egypt was perceived to be the least
appropriate destination country regarding these attributes,
and the results indicated that Australia and Germany also
have relative weaknesses regarding these attributes.
Mainland Chinese respondents perceived Singapore to be
the most preferable country in terms of the “good weather”
and “safety” attributes. Japan, South Korea, Germany, and
Australia also have relative positive strengths regarding
these two attributes, while Egypt and Thailand were regard-
ed to be the least or less suitable destination countries in
terms of “good weather” and “safety” attributes.
Results of an investigation on rank in preference of over-
seas tourism destinations have a slight difference from those
of the ALSCAL. One of the major reasons for this difference
is that the important attribute influencing Mainland Chinese
outbound tourists’ destination choice can be omitted, and
thus, results of the ALSCAL may provide information in
relation to the competitiveness of destination countries with
only 10 attributes. The other possibility is that when a ques-
tion of preference of overseas tourism destination was asked,
the respondents might show vague or impromptu responses
on preference at the time of the survey. However, when a
detailed question was asked, the respondents might give it
more consideration regarding the linkage of destinations and
their attributes. Thus, future research needs to compare the
results of these two methods and their effectiveness. How-
ever, results of the ALSCAL program exhibited more detail-
ed information on the association of competing destinations
and their attributes.
At the time this research article was completed, there was
a lack of research on the demand of Mainland Chinese
220 NOVEMBER 2005
outbound tourism even though the growth potential of this
market is tremendous. With an estimated 100 million Main-
land Chinese outbound tourists expected by the year 2020,
many tourist destinations will benefit greatly economically.
Thus, the results of this study are expected to provide consid-
erable information to competing countries and will facilitate
the advancement of marketing and development strategies
that will ensure the attraction of Mainland Chinese outbound
tourists. Even though the Mainland Chinese government has
currently (2003) permitted only 32 countries ADS, more
countries are expected to be added in the future. Thus, the
results of this research should be of assistance to the Chinese
government as well as to those countries that the Mainland
Chinese outbound tourists have selected as preferred to visit.
Two countries that would benefit from the results of this
study are France and the United States, both of which were
ranked first and second, respectively, on the lists of first-pre-
ferred and second-preferred countries to visit by the Main-
land Chinese respondents on the list of preferred overseas
tourism destination countries, which also included countries
without ADS.
Currently, there is a lack of studies on the Chinese out-
bound tourist market even though China has been recognized
as a major outbound tourist generating country. This study is
an initial effort to examine the Chinese outbound tourist mar-
ket. Use of the MDS techniques provided a visual picture
with respect to competitiveness of destinations with different
attributes. Thus, the findings of this study are expected to
lead to understanding of competing overseas destinations
and their attributes. Future studies in the areas of the motiva-
tion of Chinese outbound tourists and preference of product
development are needed.
One of the limitations of this study rests on a convenience
sampling method. It is almost impossible to apply a random
sampling method to a population of more than 1.3 billion
people from a country with such an enormous land mass.
Thus, this study used passengers waiting for their flights at
two airports in Shanghai—passengers considered to be
highly committed to overseas tourism—to be the sample
group. The fact that the age of most respondents used in this
study was below 50 is vulnerable to criticism. However, two
major explanations are likely to help in circumventing these
criticisms. First, people of the mature generation in China
(those 50 years of age or older) have grown up and lived their
lives with low levels of economic development. They may
still experience difficult economic times, are rather used to
living a thrifty lifestyle, and may not be willing to spend the
funds needed to travel outside of China (Xu and Chen 2003;
Yu, Zhang, and Ren 2003). Second, suitable outbound tour-
ism products are substantially lacking for the mature or aged
Chinese population (Xu and Chen 2003). Further research is
needed to verify the results of this study.
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