The Motivations of Chinese Tourists Visiting Abisko

Abstract: China has been one of the most important markets for Abisko tourism. The significant growth of Chinese tourists raised academia interests in understanding what motivates them to this remote town. As little information has been documented about Chinese tourists' travel motivations to Abisko, this study attempts to identify the factors that influence Chinese tourists' choice of travel destination.  Based on the push-pull theoretical framework in tourism, the authors conducted qualitative research and created a model. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 Chinese tourists living both in Sweden and China. The problems were identified related to both psychological factors as "push factors" and destination factors as "pull factors". The analysis delineated 5 push factors (physical factors, emotional factors, cultural factors, interpersonal factors, and prestige factors) items and 7 (transportation, accommodation, food & beverage, recreation activities, natural environment, public safety, and technology) pull factors. The finding revealed what push and pull motives were the determinant factors of Chinese tourists in deciding to select Abisko as their destination choice. Discussion and suggestions were also made for the tourism industry of Abisko.