Understanding travel motivations of Chinese tourists visiting Cairns, Australia

Using survey data sets collected in 2008 and 2012, this study provides insights into the demographic profile, travel characteristics and travel motivations of Chinese tourists to Cairns. Strong correlations between the push and pull factors indicate that the attributes Cairns offers largely match the Chinese tourists' push motivational factors, which may explain why China has been Cairns' fastest-growing inbound tourism market. The special attributes of Cairns such as the Great Barrier Reef and reef-associated activities could be promoted in the Chinese market to strengthen Chinese tourists' push motivations. This study also suggests that certain groups such as females, people under 30 years of age and high income earners could be specifically targeted in tourism promotions as these groups tend to place higher values on the features and lifestyle of Cairns. Given that most of the respondents are experienced travellers, the findings of this study provide some empirical support for the travel career pattern theory of travel motivation.