Souvenir shopping experiences: A case study of Chinese tourists in North Korea

This study (premised on inductive approaches) examines Chinese tourists' souvenir shopping experiences in North Korea, a unique destination by reason of its strict controls over tourism, where even a self-drive tourist must have a North Korean guide in the car accompanying the driver and passengers. Consequently tourist souvenir shopping can only be undertaken at approved retail outlets, The paper reports findings based on fifty in-depth interviews analysed with the help of Leximancer textual analysis software. This study confirms that, in this context, gift-giving for relatives and friends remains an important motivation for Chinese tourists to purchase souvenirs. The most popular souvenir was traditional Chinese medicine, especially for elderly tourists. Chinese tourists described their North Korean souvenir shopping experience from four aspects: store attributes, payment methods, tour guides, and souvenir sellers. Further analysis show that elderly tourists recalled memories of their childhood while shopping in North Korean Souvenir shops. Finally, based on these findings, a model of tourist shopping is suggested.