Attitudes and experiences of tourists on calligraphic landscapes: A case study of Guilin, China

Calligraphy, described as a symbolic element within cultural landscapes, plays an important role in sightseeing by tourists along with their local experiences of Eastern Asian countries. The intention of this study was to investigate the structure of attitudes and experiences of tourists on calligraphic landscapes. To explore the constructs of the attitudes and experiences and the relationships between them, a structural equation model was constructed. Data analysis produced from a tourist survey in Guilin, China, suggested that attitudes on calligraphic landscapes could be explained by three factors, namely, calligraphic cultural cognition, calligraphic landscape preference and calligraphic aesthetic cognition. The experience could be explained by a further three factors, being traveling experience, place identification and involvement. Moreover, the structural equation model provided several further important results in terms of the relationship between these factors: (1) calligraphic cultural cognition and calligraphic landscape preference influenced both traveling experience and place identification; (2) calligraphic aesthetic cognition was found to only influence place identification, not the traveling experience; and (3) the three factors of attitudes on calligraphic landscapes had no significant influence on involvement, and traveling experience was the only dimension having significant influences on involvement.

► Tourists’ attitudes on calligraphic landscapes partly determine their experiences.
► Attitudes on calligraphic landscapes facilitate place identification.
► Attitudes include cultural cognition, landscape preference, and aesthetic cognition.
► Tourism products can be developed through a calligraphic cultural chain.