A phenomenological study of tourists' travel experiences

Scholars of many persuasions have recognized the experiential features of geography, which tourism researchers have largely overlooked. Partially in response to this omission, this study takes a phenomenological approach to examine tourists' travel experiences. By describing the experiences of two separate groups of Canadian tourists travelling to and within China on two separate package tours, it explores the educational dimension of tourism. The aim is to study how this dimension relates to geographical consciousness so as to draw implications for tourist consumption and sustainable tourism.;Phenomenology has to do with the origins of our experiences, such as anxiety, behavior, religion, place and topophilia, which we cannot understand through observation and measurement: we must first live through them to grasp these experiences as they really are. Therefore, in deciphering the meanings of tourism texts in travel experiences, it is appropriate to use a phenomenological method as phenomenology allows us to contact phenomena while actually experiencing them. Basically, phenomenology has two principles: to seek understanding rather than the quantitative characteristics of the phenomena in question; and to describe rather than to explain the phenomena of immediate experience. Thus the investigator of this study conducted the surveys by travelling with the tourists on two separate tours in October 1997 and March 1998. Semi-structured and unstructured interviews were used for gathering the data. Participant observation was also used to see the tourists' experiences as they unfolded. The raw data were transcribed and analyzed thematically, after the field surveys, to ascertain the presence of shared experiences. The findings suggest that certain aspects in travel experience, such as motivation of learning, cross-cultural education, and ecological awareness, may enhance the appreciation of the culture, social life, and natural environment for the tourists. Aspects such as these, if identified by tourism institutions and governments, may help to encourage sustainable tourism.