The Study Of Cultural Experience Based On Difference Among Roles Of Companions

With the advent of experience economy age, economic values of cultural experience, the significant experience form, have been gradually highlighted. Meanwhile, human beings have stepped into an era of mass tourism. Global and personalized DIY tours have been the new needs of people. Cultural experience serves as the important types of travel, while cultural motivation functions as one of the primary and prime tourist motivations. Cultural experience also emphasizes the customization, liberalization, and personalization. The realistic national condition of our country, however, is that only on May Day Holiday and National Day holidays can citizens accomplish independent travels or carrying on cultural experience with families, friends and so on. Therefore, the primary and prime issue waiting for being tackled is how to satisfy people’s demands not only for independent travels, but also for physical and psychological demands. This thesis presents two hypotheses based on the literature review and relevant theories from an entry point of companion. In first, companions exert influences on cultural experience. It is the second hypothesis that different roles of companions exert different impacts on different stages of cultural experience. This thesis takes Hong Kong Ocean Park as an example as well. Furthermore, this thesis uses 802 usable questionnaires and 752 valid GPS trajectories for data analysis and the results of data analysis proves the two hypothesis mentioned above. In addition, this thesis comes up with oriented advices from the perspectives of experiencers, organizers, and destinations respectively to improve cultural experience.Specifically, the introduction presents the research background, research questions, significance of the study, literature review, research framework and research methods, as well as research creativity and weaknesses.The first chapter clarifies relevant concepts, including difference among roles of companions and cultural experience.In the second chapter, this thesis introduces time geography and theory of affordance, and presents a new theoretical framework and two hypotheses mentioned above.In the third chapter, this thesis takes Hong Kong Ocean Park as a case study. According to results of frequency analysis, crosstabs, correlation analysis and analysis of oval circumferences and areas, this thesis verifies the two hypotheses mentioned above via adopting SPSS20.0 and ArcGIS10.2.Last but not the least, based on the study of companions, the fourth chapter presents oriented suggestions to improve cultural experience, from the angles of cultural experiencer, organizer, and destination. Experiencers can select different companions according to their own needs, leading to a quality experience. Travel agencies can make a living via provide customized experience for cultural experiencers. Destinations can optimize resources and improve marketing strategy, in light of customer.Ultimately, the conclusion summarizes the thesis further and points out future research directions.