Border Tourism:What Are The Preferences Of Chinese Travelers To Visit North Korea

This study was aimed at finding out main preferences of Chinese travelers to visit North Korea.The study was prompted by the fact that Chinese tourists began to visit North Korea as a border destination more and more often.In the theoretical part,the main factors of tourists' interest in North Korea,a description of main preferences,moreover current state of tourism in North Korea was presented.Multiple research methods were applied,including quantitative and experimental methods.The study was organized in three phases,corresponding to specific goals:a)understanding Chinese tourists' motives in choosing North Korea as a destination for travel;b)designing sets of North Korea tour attributes with different levels for main questionnaire;c)finding out preferences of Chinese travelers to visit North Korea.The first element was obtained from a survey undertaken online,among Chinese travelers who have visited North Korea before.After checking the literature and analyzing the results of the first questionnaire-the second step was obtained.In the second step,different tour sets with tour attributes and levels were developed and later it used with a Stated Preference Choice Method to find preferences of Chinese tourists in North Korea in the third step.The third step,likewise,was obtained from online survey among potential Chinese travelers to North Korea.The results provide new findings on Chinese tourists' preferences for visiting North Korea.The results show that "Visiting historical and cultural destinations" had the highest value of all travel sites in North Korea."Modem sightseeing sites," "Entertainment tour sites," "Tour sites including shopping"were also valuable tour attributes that increased the amount of package tours acquired from North Korea.