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THE NEXUS BETWEEN TOURISM AND 

IMMIGRATION: A STUDY OF TRAVEL 

PATTERNS OF CHINESE NEW ZEALANDERS 

A 52. 787 Thesis 

presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements 

of the degree of Master of Business Study at Massey 

University 

KATHY L. FENG 

98225420 

1999 



Abstract 

With the worldwide increase in migration and tourism, the issue of ethnicity has 

become a major discriminating factor in population movements around the world. 

Therefore, there is a growing research interest in the area of ethnic tourism. This 

study examines the travel patterns and travel habits of the Chinese population in New 

Zealand, particularly, those of the recent immigrants to the country with a focus on 

the impact of family ties and kinship in motivating travel for family reunion. It also 

examines the impact of family reunion, Visiting Friends and Relatives travel and other 

factors in shaping the travel patterns of Chinese immigrants in New Zealand by 

comparing the Chinese New Zealanders' travel patterns with the travel patterns of 

New Zealanders and the travel patterns of the Chinese from China. This study 

provides one example of ethnic tourism in gaining a better understanding of the nexus 

between tourism and immigration. This may also form a basis for comparative 

studies between different ethnic groups in terms of their patterns of outbound travel. 

The study also develops a number of themes which require further research and 

development to establish the extent to which such patterns are indicative of global 

processes shaping the travel habits of immigrant groups. This study commences with 

a review of the limited literature on the interface of tourism, migration and 

globalization as a basis for establishing the conceptual framework for the study. This 

is followed by a detailed study of the demographic profile of Chinese population in 

New Zealand to establish the context of Chinese immigration. A questionnaire survey 

was conducted in June 1999 to examine the tourism-migration nexus and the results 

were evaluated using correspondence analysis and other quantitative statistical 

methods to establish the dimensions and extent of ethnic outbound travel within New 

Zealand. Research that could further substantiate the results is also suggested in the 

conclusion. 



CONTENTS 

List of figures 

List of tables 

Acknowledgements 

vi 

vii 

1. INTRODUCTION 

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 

2.1 Tourism 

2.1.1 Concept and Definition of Tourism 

2.1 .2 Technical Definition of Tourism 

2.1.3 What is International Tourism? 

2.1.4 Typologies and Classifications of Tourists 

1 

7 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

2.2 Relationships between Tourism and Migration 12 

2.2.1 Definitions of Migration, Immigration and Emigration 12 

2.2.2 

2.2.3 

Tourism and Migration Interrelationships 

Globalization, Tourism and Migration 

13 

15 

2.2.4 Issues and Implications of Tourism and Migration 16 

2.3 Tourism, VFR and Family Travel 17 

2.3.1 EthnicTourism 18 

2.3.2 Visiting Friends and Relatives: A Neglected Area of 19 

Tourism Research 

2.3.3 The Demand for Travel and Tourist Motivation: 23 

A Dichotomous relationship 

2.4 The Process of Migration-Immigration to New Zealand 27 

2.4.1 History of Chinese Immigration 28 

2.4.2 New Zealand Government Policy and Immigration: 30 

Towards an Asian Focus 

2.4.3 Immigration to New Zealand: Patterns and Trends in 32 

the 1990s 

2.5 Summary 33 

1 



3. THE PROFILE OF CHINESE-NEW ZEALANDERS 36 

3.1 Introduction 36 

3.2 Understanding Travel Behaviour 36 

3. 3 The Meaning of 'Asian' in a New Zealand Context 3 8 

3.4 The Chinese Population in New Zealand: A Historical Perspective 38 

3.5 The Chinese Community in New Zealand 44 

3.6 The Demographic and Economic Profile of Chinese Immigrants 48 

3.6.1 General Characteristics of Chinese Immigrants in 48 

New Zealand 

3.6.2 Age, Sex and Family Structure 50 

3 .6.3 Education 54 

3.6.4 Labour Force, Employment, Occupation and Income 57 

3.6.5 Settlement Patterns 65 

3. 7 Travel Habits of Chinese Population in New Zealand 69 

3.7.1 Outbound Travel from New Zealand 70 

3.7.2 Outbound Travel from China 79 

3.7.3 Chinese Visitor Arrivals in New Zealand 86 

3.8 Summary 89 

4. METHODOLOGY 93 

4.1 Research Methods 94 

4.2 Sample Design 94 

4.3 Questionnaire Design 95 

4.4 Data Collection 96 

4.5 Data Analysis 96 

4.6 Limitations of the Study 98 

5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 99 

5 .1 Tests for Goodness of Fit for the Sample Size of this Survey 99 

5.2 The Profile of the Sample of Chinese New Zealanders 104 

5.3 Chinese New Zealanders' Outbound Travel Patterns 113 

5 .3 .1 Frequency of Trav.el 114 

5.3.2 Outbound Destinations 116 

11 



5.3.3 Purpose of Travel 121 

5.3.4 Length of Travel 130 

5.3.5 Travel Companion 132 

5.3.6 Travel Decision-Making and Travel Booking 134 

5.3.7 Plan for Future Outbound Travel 137 

5.3.8 Ethnic Tourism in Chinese New Zealanders' Patterns of 138 

Outbound Travel 

5.3.8.1 Respondents' timing of visit to China 139 

5.3.8.2 Accommodation arrangements 140 

5.3.8.3 Length of stay in China 142 

5.3.8.4 Travel activities in China 142 

5.3.8.5 Variables linked to Chinese New Zealanders' 143 

outbound patterns 

6. IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION 147 

REFERENCES 155 

APPENDICES 167 

111 



FIGURES 

3 .1 Distribution of Chinese by Birthplace, 1921-1991 40 

5 .1 The Observed Count of the Sex Category 100 

5.2 The Association between 'VR' and 'Visiting China' 123 

5.3a Multidimensional Scaling among Variables of 'VR', 'Visiting China' 126 

'China by birth' and 'Duration ofresidence in New Zealand' 

5.3b Multidimensional Scaling among Variables of 'China by birth', 129 

'Visiting China', 'VR' and 'Duration ofresidence in New Zealand' 

5.4 The Association between 'Travel with Family' and 'VR' 133 

5.5 Chinese New Zealanders' Outbound Travel Plan 137 

lV 



TABLES 

3.1 The Population of Chinese Residents in New Zealand by Birthplace, 1996 41 

3.2 The Population of Chinese Residents in New Zealand, 1986, 1991, 1996 42 

3.3 Duration of Residence in New Zealand (in years) 44 

3.4 Chinese Residents in New Zealand by Age Group, 1996 51 

3.5 Family type among Chinese Residents in New Zealand, 1996 54 

3.6 Extended Family Type among Chinese Residents in New Zealand, 1996 54 

3.7 Highest Qualification of Overseas and New Zealand Born People, 1996 55 

3.8 Highest Education Qualification of Chinese and New Zealand Population'96 56 

3.9 Occupation of Chinese and New Zealand Population, 1996 56 

3.10 Labour Force Status of Chinese Residents in New Zealand, 1996 60 

3.11 Selected Languages Spoken by Chinese Residents in New Zealand, 1996 62 

3.12 Personal Income of Chinese Residents in New Zealand, 1996 64 

3.13 Geographical Distribution of Chinese Residents in New Zealand, 1996 66 

3.14 Residential Tenure by Territorial Local Authority and Ethnicity of Recent 68 

Migrants in Auckland Region 

3.15 Ethnicity of New Zealand Population by Birthplace in 1996 72 

3.16 Consumer Expenditure on Overseas Travel for New Zealand in 1997: 74 

Key Indicators (all statistics are weekly expenditure in NZ$) 

3.17 New Zealand Residents Departing Temporarily (intended absence less 76 

than 12 months) by Main Country of Destinations 1991-97 

3 .18 New Zealand Residents Departing Temporarily (intended absence less 77 

than 12 months) by Main Country of Destination and VFR as Main 

Purpose of Visit 

3.19 New Zealand Residents Departing Temporarily (intended absence less 78 

than 12 months) by Origin 1991-97 

3 .20 Chinese Citizen Departures from China, 1990-97 79 

3 .21 Outbound Travel from China by Passport Type, 1991-93 81 

3.22 Major Destinations for Chinese Outbound Travellers, 1994-96 83 

3.23 Age and Gender of Visitors Arrivals from China for Year Ended June'99 86 

v 



3.24 Port of Entry of China's Visitor Arrivals for Year Ended June'99 87 

3.25 Visitor Arrivals from China, 1997-99 for Year Ended June'99 87 

3.26 China's Visitor Arrivals by Purpose for year Ended June'99 88 

3 .27 Average Intended Length of Stay of Visitors from China for Year Ended 88 

June '99 

5.1 Goodness of Fit Test for 'Sex' Variables of Sample Size against Population 100 

5.2 Goodness of Fit Test for 'Age Group' of Sample Size against Population 101 

5.3 Goodness of Fit Test for 'Family Type' of Sample Size against Population 103 

5.4 Characteristics of the Sample of Chinese New Zealanders 105 

5.5 Number of Overseas Visit, January 1997-June 1999 115 

5.6 Outbound Travel Destinations, January 1997-June 1999 116 

5.7 Purpose of Travel, January 1997-June 1999 121 

5.8 Number of Visits to China, January 1997-June 1999 124 

5.9 Distribution of Variables Illustrating the Link between Tourism 126 

and Immigration 

5.10 Length of Outbound Travel, January 1997-June 1999 131 

5.11 Length of Stay by Travel Purpose of Respondents, January 1997-June 1999 132 

5.12 Travel Companions, January 1997-June 1999 134 

5.13 Decision-makers for Outbound Travel 135 

5.14 Travel Arrangement for Outbound Travel 136 

5.15 Planned Outbound Destinations for Future Chinese Travel, 1999-2000 138 

5.16 Flow of Visitors to China by Month, January 1997-June 1999 140 

5.17 Accommodation Used during the Visit in China 142 

5 .18 Length of Stay in China 142 

5.19 Travel Activities in China 143 

5 .20 Summary of Significant Cross-tabulations with Variables to China 144 

Vl 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

I am sincerely grateful to my supervisor, Professor Stephen Page for his immense 

encouragement, support, knowledge and contribution that I have received during 

writing this thesis. Professor Page spent many hours of his precious time on reading 

closely my early drafts of this thesis and gave valuable comments and advice which 

have improved this study. I also wish to acknowledge my gratitude to Dr Denny 

· Meyer for her guidance and advice on the section of quantitative analysis. Lastly, I 

would like to thank my family for their love, support and encouragement throughout 

this research process. 

Vll 



1. INTRODUCTION 

Tourism has a close relationship with migration: tourism can generate permanent 

immigration, and in turn, permanent immigration can generate a demand for tourism, 

particularly for the purpose of visiting friends and relatives (hereafter VFR) (see 

Jackson, 1990; Murphy, Dwyer, Forsyth and Burnley, 1993; King, 1994; Paci 1994; 

King and Gamage, 1994; Morrison, Hsieh and O'Leary, 1995; Seaton and Tagg, 

1995; Williams and Hall, 1999). These studies argued that many forms of migration 

generate tourism flows, in particular through the geographical extension of friendship 

and kinship networks. The migrants themselves may travel back to their country of 

origin for VFR or other purposes. Moreover, the migrants to a new country may be 

followed by their friends and relatives who choose to visit them in their new country. 

These flows of tourism are very much structured by the life course of migration, with 

each round of migration creating a new spatial arrangement of friendship and kinship 

networks, which potentially represent VFR tourism flows. The extent to which these 

are activated depends both on the particular characteristics of those networks, such as 

their intensity, reciprocity and utilisation of different forms of sustaining contacts and 

the particularities of place (Williams and Hall, 1999). Tourism may also serve to 

generate migration flows. First, labour migration to provide services required by 

tourists. Second, consumption-related migration systems with a symbiotic relationship 

to tourism flows and spatial outcomes such as property ownership, second home 

development and retirement settlements. 

Tourism-migration relationships are important for understanding not only this nexus, 

but also the two sets of processes in their own right. Furthermore, tourism-migration 

relationships also serve to illustrate the importance of an understanding of the impacts 

of contemporary global economic and political processes and the circulation of capital 

and labour on tourism (Williams and Hall, 1999). Within spatially-oriented research 

on tourism, there have been a number of attempts to develop a new research agenda 

which examines the relationships between tourism and migration. The recent 

International Geographical Union (IGU) project also highlights a core of over 40 

researchers with an interest in this area although publication outputs still remain few 

in number although a special issue of Tourism Geographies in 2000 will be exploring 

1 



these relationships in detail. Williams and Hall (1999: 2) pointed out, with the 

exception of second home development, the relationship of tourism and migration is 

an area of tourism studies that has been relatively heglected. They further argue that 

'the largely discreet literatures on tourism and migration have, at best, served to mark 

out the core areas of their research concerns, and fail to adequately conceptualise and 

define their fields of enquiry' . Such an assessment points to the interface of 

population geography, migration research and tourism studies as a largely unexplored 

domain. 

In the 1990s, tourism has become the world's most important economic activity and is 

widely recognized as the world's largest industry. It is increasingly interconnected 

with the international economy though the relationship with international business is 

poorly articulated. Tourism is also highly dynamic and is strongly influenced by 

economic, political, social, environmental and technological change. The ability of 

tourism to generate foreign exchange revenue, create employment and absorb 

unemployment has provided it with an economic, political and social legitimacy in the 

developed and developing world. According to the World Tourism Organisation 

(hereafter WTO) (1996), tourism expenditure represented more than 8 percent of the 

world merchandise exports and one-third of world trade in services in 1995. In 1996, 

some 592 million international trips were made, and according to the WTO forecasts 

(1997), it will almost have trebled to some 1.6 billion international trips and worth 

some $2 trillion annually by the year 2020. 

In the context of the Asia-Pacific region, it has been widely recognised that this region 

is the world's fastest growing tourist receiving region and the most dynamic area for 

the travel and tourism industry (Hall and Page, 2000). Forecasts point to the 

enormous potential of a region where few tourism markets have even begun to 

approach the maturity of, for example, those in Western Europe. For example, China 

recorded major growth in receipts ranking the 6th of the world's top tourism 

destinations in 1994 from ranking the 19th in 1980 (WTO, 1996). International 

tourism grew faster in developing countries both for arrivals and receipts reflecting a 

wider redistribution of tourism revenues in favour of the traditional and new emerging 

tourism destinations .in the third world (Hall and Page, 1999). At the same time, the 

rapid expanding tourism industry in the region would also increase the migratory 

2 



movement. Thus, this provides a meaningful opportunity to study the interrelationship 

between tourism and migration of this dynamic region, in particular, a study of the 

Chinese ethnicity for the global and regional distribution of its population. 

In the past decades, the world had been expenencmg changes and uncertainty. 

Political and economic forces, technology development and social and lifestyle 

changes had led to the globalisation and regionalisation of products and services, and 

in tum these factors exert powerful influences on the globalisation and regionalisation 

of tourism and migration. The increasing uncertainty and change of economic growth 

in the global environment has attributed greater labour market volatility and has a 

major impact on population flows. Careers now have more discontinuities, and job 

changes have become more frequent, therefore, possible multiple careers in one 

lifetime. As Williams and Hall (1999) argued this has two important consequences. 

First, by contributing to the tendency for early retirement, it thereby changes the scope 

for retirement migration. Second, there has been increased labour mobility, both 

sectorally and spatially, which has contributed to the geographical dispersion of 

friendship and family networks. These phenomenon indicate that not only the links 

between tourism and migration become more important in determining mobility, but 

also they are increasingly being expressed at the international scale as opposed to the 

intra-national scale as a result of the globalisation of tourism markets, tourism capital, 

changes in post-working lives and changes in the reorganisation of the labour process. 

Therefore, globalisation and regionalisation have been typical causes of international 

migratory movements since 1990 (Jean-Pierre, 1992). 

With the emergency and globalisation of the world economy, migration has 

'exploded' at all geographical scales and become a major concern amongst 

governments and policy-makers and the most important branch of demography to be 

studied in the last quarter of the century (Walmsley and Lewis, 1993). The implication 

of globalisation and labour mobility has resulted in more migration and numerically 

greater population flows. According to a report by P. Martin and J. Widgren (1997) 

for the Population Reference Bureau in the United States, international migration was 

at an all-time high in the 1990s and would likely increase further in the near future. 

About 125 million people now live outside of their country of birth or citizenship. 

This is roughly equal to the population of Japan and accounts for a full two percent of 

3 



the total world population. The number is also increasing by two to four million a 

year. Factors such as family reunification, political instability, and wage differences 

across countries are all contributing to this increase. As a result, the international 

migration demonstrates a greater dynamism in population flows and is contibuting to 

major changes to demographic patterns. For example, migrant workers are beginning 

to change the demographic structure of developed countries. Seven of the world's 

wealthiest countries - Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, 

Japan, and Canada - are host to about one-third of the world's migrant population, and 

migrant workers now account for a large percentage of those countries' annual 

population growth. In fact, they account for all of such growth in Germany and about 

one third of it in the United States. 

In the context of globalisation, this has had a catalytic effect upon the Chinese 

economy and society as Chinese political leaders have developed a nationalist rhetoric 

of inclusion that seeks to encompass a population that extends far beyond China's 

borders (Schiller, 1999). Since the implementation of' open door' policy in China in 

1978, there have been increased migratory movements in the country. China has 

emerged as a major exporter of labour, and brought economic benefits to the country 

of $8 billion in 1994 from remittances (Migration News, 1997). Furthermore, a 

significant number of skilled and professional people, students, business investors and 

other sorts have emigrated overseas. This has certainly increased since the takeover of 

Hong Kong. The Chinese migratory wave is part of a worldwide trend of ethnic 

Chinese people on the move. In turn, this migration of the Chinese is a manifestation 

of the ' global village' phenomenon, when people of all races worldwide have become 

much more mobile and move in search of a lifestyle that suits them better. 

Understanding this dynamic of migration is very complex, especially when tourism is 

superimposed on it as a wide range of relationships emerging. These include the 

relationship of tourism and migration with changes in the life course, travel careers, 

family and friendship networks, government and governance, and the distribution of 

cultural/economic/environmental impacts (Williams and Hall, 1999). Thus, the main 

unknown relationship is how migration and tourism interact, especially among 

migration groups with a new outbound travel habit, particularly where the family 

networks have expanded and evolved into a global network. They may be a new 

4 



phenomenon which the wider tourism literature constantly talks about ( eg. Hall, 

1997), but few have understood how closely rel<!ted migration is to their travel habits. -

Ethnic-ties are also an emergmg area of study. Ethnicity is increasingly being 

recognised as a powerful driver of return visits to relatives and friends in the country 

of origin of the immigrant.~telill-s of Chinese immigrant~' travel habits and patterns 

of both domestic and international travel, relatively little is known. In a New Zealand 
-

context, local, regional and global processes may be shaping migration, which is inter-

connected with travel and patterns of tourism emerging that are distinctive and 

'-complex. Considering the increased global demand for business, and significance of 

- con-sumer behaviour that incorporates ethnicity, tourism and international trade, and 

the significant volume of immigration-induced tourism in tourism flows, ethnic 

tourism is a fruitful area for research (Rossiter and Chan, 1998). Given the limited 

degree of understanding and research on the interface of population geography, 

migration and tourism, this study of Chinese New Zealanders' travel patterns will 

consider the impact of family reunion, VFR travel and other factors in shaping the 

travel patterns of Chinese immigrants in New Zealand by comparing them with the 

travel patterns of New Zealanders and the !ravel patterns of the Chinese from China. 

It will provide one example of ethnic tourism to gain a better understanding of the 

relationships between tourism and immigration. This study will also be a basis for 

comparative studies between different ethnic groups in terms of their patterns of 

outbound travel. 

This study comprises several chapters. The first chapter introduces the topic, purpose 
- Y· 

- / -__... .-__ 

and objectives of this research. The second chap~er examines the literature which is 

germane to the various elements associated with the multidisciplinary context of a 

topic which incorporates a range of different subjects. In particular, the literature 

review examines the relationships that exist between various components of the study 

associated with: tourism, migration (including immigration and emigration) and the 

relationship between these components. The areas for consideration are: the concepts 

and definitions of tourism; the nexus between tourism and migration; tourism, VFR 

and family travel; and the process of migration-immigration to New Zealand. The 

review will provide a context in which this study can make a contribution to an 

5 



evolving area of study, particularly in relation to the nexus between tourism and 

immigration. 

The third chapter explores the profile of the Chinese population in New Zealand in 

order to identify specific factors impact upon their travel patterns and habits. It 

examines the demographic and socioeconomic profile of Chinese New Zealanders. 

This is because the profile can provide relevant information regarding age, sex, 

income, education, employment and other related characteristics of Chinese New 

Zealanders which are essential to understand the factors influencing and shaping their 

outbound travel. By constructing this profile from secondary data sources, one can 

gain better insights of specific determinants of Chinese New Zealanders' outbound 

travel which may be influenced by specific variables such as country of origin, ethnic 

ties and VFR. Therefore, the areas of examination contain: how to understand travel 

behaviour; the meaning of 'Asian' in a New Zealand context; the Chinese population 

in New Zealand from a historical perspective; the Chinese community in New 

Zealand; demographic and socioeconomic profile of Chinese immigrants; and travel 

habits of Chinese population in New Zealand. 

The fourth chapter outlines the methodology used to prepare the primary research 
- -

reported in this study. It explains the sample design, questionnaire design, data 

collection and data analysis processes with an emphasis on correspondence analysis. 

It also highlights the limitations of this research. The fifth chapter presents the 

outcomes of the questionnaire survey. It also analyses and interprets the results of the 

survey. Discussion of the result is also carried out in this chapter focusing on issues 

such as the sample representativeness of this survey; a statistical description of the 

characteristics of the sample; and the patterns of travel of Chinese New Zealanders. It 

also discusses the results and findings which may contribute to existing knowledge in 

the context of the relationship between tourism and immigration. The last chapter 

summarizes the main themes in the research, especially the results and findings. It 

highlights the implications and limitations of this research and also provides 

suggestions for future research. 

6 



2. LITERATURE REVIEW 

This chapter examines the literature which is germane to the multidisciplinary context 

of this study, which involves a discussion of a range of different subjects. In 

particular, this literature review examines the relationships that exist between various 

components of the study that are associated with: tourism, migration (including 

immigration and emigration) and the interrelationship of these components. This 

necessitates a consideration of the following areas: 

• The concepts and definitions of tourism; 

• The nexus between tourism and migration; 

• Tourism, VFR and family travel; and 

• The process of migration-immigration to New Zealand. 

The review will provide a context in which this study can make a contribution to an 

evolving area of study, particularly in relation to the nexus between tourism and 

immigration. For this reason, the initial discussion begins by focusing on the context 

of the study which is tourism. 

2.1 Tourism 

In the 1990s, tourism has become the world's most important economic activity and is 

widely recognized as the world's largest industry. According to the WTO (1996), 

tourism expenditure represented more than 8 percent of the world merchandise 

exports and one-third of world trade in services in 1995. In 1996, some 592 million 

international trips were made ( 1997), and according to the WTO forecasts, by the year 

2020 this will almost have trebled to some 1.6 billion international trips, worth some 

$2 trillion annually. The ability of tourism to generate foreign exchange revenue, 

create employment and absorb unemployment has provided it with an economic, 

political and social legitimacy in the developed and developing world. For instance, 

the travel and tourism industry has become the principal source of job creation in 

many countries and employs more than 100 million people worldwide. So what is 

tourism since it is recognised as having such a global significance? 

7 



2.1.1 Concept and Definition of Tourism 

The terms travel and tourism are often interchanged within the published literature on 

tourism. According to Chadwick (1994: 65), they are normally meant to encompass 

'the field of research on human and business activities associated with one or more 

aspects of the temporary movement of persons away from their immediate home 

communities and daily work environments for business, pleasure and personal 

reasons'. It is widely acknowledged that the two terms are used to 'describe' three 

concepts (Chadwick, 1994: 65 cited in Hall and Page, 1999: 58): 

• the movement of people; 

• a sector of the economy or an industry; 

• a broad system of interacting relationships of people, their needs to travel outside 

their communities and services that attempt to respond to these needs by 

supplying products. 

In a historical context, Burkart and Medlik ( 1981 : 41) identify the historical 

development of the term 'tourism', noting the distinction between the endeavours of 

researchers to differentiate between the concept and technical definitions of tourism. 

The concept of tourism refers to the ' broad notional framework, which identifies the 

essential characteristics, and which distinguishes tourism from the similar, often 

related, but different phenomena'. In contrast, technical definitions have evolved 

through time as researchers modify and develop appropriate measures for statistical, 

legislative and operational reasons implying that there may be various technical 

definitions to meet particular purposes (Hall and Page, 1999: 58). 

Burkart and Medlik' s ( 1981) approach to the concept of tourism continues to offer a 

valid assessment of the situation where five main characteristics are associated with 

the concept: 

• Tourism anses from the movement of people to, and their stay in, various 

destinations. 

8 



• There are two elements in all tourism: the journey to the destination and the stay 

including activities at the destination. 

• The journey and the stay take place outside the normal place of residence and 

work, so that tourism gives rise to activities which are distinct from those of the 

resident and working populations of the places, through which tourists travel and 

in which they stay. 

• The movement to tourist destinations is of a temporary, short-term character, with 

the intention of returning home within a few days, weeks or months. 

• Destinations are visited for purposes other than taking up permanent residence or 

employment remunerated from within the places visited. 

(Burkart and Medilk 1981: 42) 

On the basis of Burkart and Medlik' s ( 1981) concept of tourism, the essential 

characteristics of tourism can best be interpreted to embrace a wider concept. All 

tourism includes some travel but not all travel is tourism, while the temporary and 

short-term nature of most tourist trips distinguish it from migration. Therefore, from 

the broad interpretation of tourism, it is possible to consider the technical definitions 

of tourism. 

2.1.2 Technical Definitions of Tourism 

Technical definitions of tourism normally have three principal features (Hall and 

Page, 1999: 59): 

• Purpose of travel (eg. the type of traveller, be it business travel, holidaymakers, 

visits to friends and relatives or for other reasons); 

I • The time dimension involved in the tourism visit, which requires a minimum and a 

maximum period of time spent away from the home area and the time spent at the 

destination. In most cases, this would involve a minimum stay of more than 24 

hours away from home and less than a year as a maximum; 

1 ' ",. 
I ~ I 
y ( J r 

1~ 
i 1 ~ • Those situations where tourists may or may not be included as tourists, such as 

cruiseship passengers, those tourists in-transit at a particular point of 

embarkation/departure and excursionists who stay less than 24 hours at a 

destination (eg. the European duty free cross-channel day trip market). 

9 



In 1991, the WTO defined tourism as ' the activities of a person travelling outside his 

or her usual environment for less than a specified period of time and whose main 

purpose of travel is other than exercise of an activity remunerated from the place 

visited', where 'usual environment' is intended to exclude trips within the areas of 

usual residence and also frequent and regular trips between the domicile and the 

workplace and other community trips of a routine character where ' less than a 

specified period of time' is intended to exclude long-term migration, and 'exercise of 

an activity remunerated from the place visited' is intended to exclude only migration 

for temporary work. The following definitions were also developed by the WTO 

(WTO cited in Chadwick 1994: 66): 

• International tourism: consists of inbound tourism and outbound tourism. 

• Visits to a country by non-residents and outbound tourism residents of a country 

visiting another country. 

• Internal tourism: residents of a country visiting their own country. 

• Domestic tourism: internal tourism plus inbound tourism (the tourism market for 

accommodation facilities and attractions within a country). 

• National tourism: internal tourism plus outbound tourism (the resident tourism 

market for travel agents and airlines). 

2.1.3 What is International Tourism? 

International tourism normally involves a tourist leaving their country of origin to 

cross into another country which normally (but not always) involves documentation, 

administration formalities and movements to a foreign environment. International 

tourism consists of inbound tourism and outbound tourism. Inbound tourism involves 

non-residents travelling in another country, and outbound tourism involves residents 

travelling in another country (V ellas and Becherel, 1995: 2). 

Hall and Page (1999: 64) point out that there are two principal organisations which 

collate data on international tourism - the WTO and the Organisation for Economic 

Cooperation and Development (OECD). Such statistics contain summaries of the most 

10 



salient tourism statistics for countries and territories, and most of the main generating 

and receiving areas. 

Statistics on international tourism are normally collected to assess the impact of 

tourism on a country's balance of payments by the governments. They are also 

utilised by marketing arms of National Tourism Organisations to base their decisions 

on who to target in international marketing campaigns. The wider tourism industry 

also makes use of such data as part of their strategic planning and for more immediate 

purposes where niche markets exist. There are concerns about the approaches taken 

by national and international agencies associated with international tourism statistics 

with respect to the procedures and methodology used to measure international 

tourism. For instance, one debate concerns whether business travel should be 

considered as a discrete activity in relation to tourism (Chadwick, 1994: 75, cited in 

Hall and Page, 1999: 64). This leads to situations where tourists may or may not be 

included as tourist and their purpose of travel. The result as Hall and Page (2000) 

shows in parts of the Asia-Pacific region, is a lack of a united approach to data 

collection for international and domestic tourism. Even where data exists, it does not 

necessarily allow a discussion of the patterns and motivation associated with tourist 

travel. 

2.1.4 Typologies and Classifications of Tourists 

In order to improve statistical collection and improve understanding of tourism, the 

United Nations (UN) (1994) and the WTO (1991) recommended differentiating 

between visitors, tourists and excursionists. The WTO ( 1991) recommended that an 

international tourist be defined as: 'a visitor who travels to a country other than that 

in which he/she has his/her usual residence for at least one night but not more than 

one year, and whose main purpose of visit is other than the exercise of an activity 

remunerated from within the country visited' . An international excursionist, eg. cruise 

ship visitors, is defined as ' a visitor residing in a country who travels the same day to 

a country other than which he/she has his/her usual environment for less thin 24 hours 

without spending the night in the country visited and whose main purpose of visit is 

other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the country visited' 

(WTO 1991; UN 1994). 

11 



The term 'domestic visitor' describes any person residing in a country, who travels to 

a place within the country, outside his/her usual environment for a period not 

exceeding 12 months and whose main purpose of visit is other than the exercise of an 

activity remunerated from within the place visited. 

It is clear from the above consideration of technical definitions that tourism mainly 

involves a temporary movement, the emphasis is on the intention of returning home, 

and not taking up permanent residence. This is significant, because trips have a return 

function that is not necessarily present in other forms of migration in the shorter term. 

This, therefore, raises the issue of more permanent migration, such as staying in 

another country for more than 12 months of the time limits, or taking up employment 

remunerated from within the places visited. 

2.2 Relationships between Tourism and Migration 

Tourism to a country can generate permanent immigration, and permanent 

immigration, can in turn, generate increased tourism, particularly for the purpose of 

visiting friends and relatives (Murphy, Dwyer, Forsyth and Burnley, 1993). For 

example, research by Williams, King and Warnes ( 1997: 115) shows that retirement 

migration from the UK to the Mediterranean has been shaped by previous patterns of 

travel and tourism. For the purpose of this study, the relationships among tourism, 

migration and globalisation will be the focus of discussion. 

2.2.1 Definitions of Migration, Immigration and Emigration 

Boyle, Halfacree and Robinson (1998: 34) argue that 'migration is usually defined 

spatfally as movement across the boundary of an areal unit and it is generally agreed 

that there will be some permanence to a move described as a migration'. This 

movement function is reiterated in the Encyclopedia of Sociology (Borgatta, 19xx), 

where migration is defined as the relatively permanent movement of individuals or 

groups over varying distances to change one's place of residence; permanence and 

distance are its major defining dimensions. Migration is a type of geographic 

mobility status. Furthermore, international migration is a term used to refer to change 

of usual residence between nations. The number of international migrants is always 

12 



very much less than the total number of persons traveling across international 

frontiers, because the overwhelming majority of such travellers do not intend to 

change their usual residence. International migration contrasts with internal 

migration, which refers to a change of usual residence within a nation. The term 

immigration is used to denote the flow of persons establishing a usual residence in a 

given nation whose last residence was in some other countries. The term emigration is 

used to denote the flow of persons relinquishing usual residence in a given country to 

establish residence in some other nation. Therefore, there are a wide range of inter­

related terms used within the literature on migration and these have not been 

developed with any concern for travel or tourism research. 

2.2.2 Tourism and Migration Interrelationships 

As mentioned in the previous section, tourism does have a relationship with 

migration. That is, tourism can generate permanent immigration, and in tum, 

permanent immigration can generate a demand for tourism (see Jackson, 1990; 

Murphy et al, 1993; King, 1994; Paci, 1994; King and Gamage, 1994; Braunlich and 

Nadkarni, 1995; Meis, Joyal and Trites, 1995; Morrison, Hsieh and O'Leary, 1995; 

Morrison and O'Leary, 1995; Seaton and Tagg, 1995; Yuan, Pridgen, Haieh and 

O'Leary, 1995; Seaton and Tagg, 1995; and Williams and Hall, 1999). These studies 

argued that many forms of migration generate tourism flows, in particular through the 

geographical extension of friendship and kinship networks. The migrants themselves 

may travel back to their country of origin for VFR or other purposes. Moreover, the 

migrants to a new country may be followed by their friends and relatives who choose 

to visit them in their new country. These flows of tourism are very much structured 

by the life course of migration, with each round of migration creating a new spatial 

arrangement of friendship and kinship networks, which potentially represent VFR 

tourism flows. The extent to which these are activated depends both on the particular 

characteristics of those networks, such as their intensity, reciprocity and utilisation of 

different forms of sustaining contacts and the particularities of place (Williams and 

Hall, 1999). The significance of VFR and family ties will be reviewed in the later part 

of the literature review. 

13 



Studies also point out that tourism may also serve to generate migration flows ( eg. 

Coppock 1977; Monk and Alexander, 1986; Oakes, 1992; Snepenger, Johnson and 

Rasker, 1995; Williams, 1999; Aitken and Hall, 1999; Butler 1999; Williams and 

Hall, 1999, and Kang and Page, 2000). First, labour migration to provide services 

required by tourists. It is mainly through the demand generated for labour which, if it 

cannot be met locally, will stimulate labour migration. In addition, King ( 1994) argues 

that such labour mobility may be differentiated by nationality, gender, ethnicity, and 

skills depending on the particular features of the tourism industry, and of the local 

labour market. Moreover, migration by entrepreneurs to establish small businesses 

with niche markets or lifestyle factors. Second, consumption-related migration 

systems with a symbiotic relationship to tourism flows and spatial outcomes such as 

property ownership, second home development and retirement settlements. For 

example, the case of permanent migration recently investigated and identified as a 

function of retirement migration (Williams, King and Warnes, 1997; Williams and 

Hall, 1999). These studies examined the scale and geography of these migration 

flows in Europe and the implications for host communities, and the development of 

migration where migrants are attracted by the quality of life in the destination areas 

with a metropolitan economy. 

Kang and Page (2000) highlight, within the context of geographical research on 

tourism, that there have been a number of attempts to develop a new research agenda 

which examines the interrelationships between tourism and migration, particularly in 

terms of production and consumption. The studies regarding the relationship between 

immigration and tourism have largely been carried out in Australia. One reason for 

this is that Australia has one of the world 's highest intakes of immigration per capita 

and also has a rapidly expanding tourism industry (Dwyer, Forsyth, Burnley and 

Murphy, 1995). Some examples of these studies are: Factors affecting demand for 

international travel to and from Australia (Smith and Toms, 1978); Determinants of 

demand for travel to and from Australia (Hollander, 1982); VFR Tourism: Is it 

underestimated? (Jackson, 1990); Tourism - Immigration Linkages: Some 

implications for infrastructure (Murphy et al, 1993); The impact of migration on 

Australian inbound and outbound tourism (Forsyth, Dwyer, Murphy and Burnley, 

1993); Economic impacts of migration induced inbound tourism (Dwyer et al, 1995). 

The results of these studies show a strong relationship between the number of persons 

14 



in Australia who were born in other countries and the 'visiting relatives' category of 

tourist for both inbound and outbound travel. The studies also indicate that not only 

the links between tourism and migration become more important in determining 

mobility, but also they are increasingly being expressed at the international as 

opposed to the intra-national scale (Dwyer et al. 1992). 

2.2.3 Globalisation, Tourism and Migration 

In the past decades, the world had been expenencmg changes and uncertainty. 

Political and economic forces, technology development and social and lifestyle 

changes had led to internationalisation of products and services, and in tum these 

factors exert powerful influences on globalisation, tourism and migration. Williams 

(1999) and Williams and Hall (1999) explain the development of migration flows 

with a distinct tourism dimension as a function of the globalisation of tourism 

markets, the internationalisation of tourism capital, changes in post-working lives and 

changes in the reorganisation of the labour process. Other factors which are influential 

include: the ageing of populations and social changes in work and non-work. The 

outcome is tourism-related migration and a wide range of social, cultural, economic 

and political issues for individual migrants, host communities and governments. This 

was reaffirmed by Hitchcox (1994: 218) who argued that 'migration is a social 

process that is historically situated in a political-economic context'. 

Williams and Hall (1999) argue that increasing uncertainty of growth in the developed 

world can be attributed to a degree of greater volatility in the labour market. Careers 

have more discontinuities, and job changes have become more frequent. There are 

two important consequences of these changes. First, by contributing to the tendency 

to early retirement, it thereby changes the scope for retirement migration. Second, 

there has been increased labour mobility, both sectorally and spatially, which has 

contributed to the geographical dispersion of friendship and family networks. 

Studies by Aislabie, Lee and Stanton (1994) and Dawkins, Kemo and Cabalu (1995) 

note that the globalisation of the economy has led not only to the globalisation of 

financial resources, but also of human resources in labour markets. As Williams and 

Hall (1999) highlight, the growth of transnational tourism capital has created a greater 

15 



need for skilled international migration, particularly of senior management. 

International labour migration, especially of skilled workers, has internationalised the 

potential networks of visiting friends and families tourism. In addition, there are 

increasing nwnbers with experience of working and living abroad, which both 

increases their search spaces at retirement and removes the barrier of lack of 

familiarity with living abroad. 

2.2.4 Issues and Implications of Tourism and Migration 

Williams and Hall (1999) recognise that the rapid expansion of tourism in the 

twentieth century had two important implications for migration. First, the scale and 

speed of destination and resort growth had implications for the requirement for labour 

migration. Secondly, it widened the search spaces of the first and subsequent 

generations of mass tourist as they progressed through the various stages of the life 

course. In addition, local demographic, social and economic structures will condition 

the availability of local labour and the requirement for in-migration. Comparative 

wage differentials, levels of education and training, working conditions and job status 

in tourism and other sectors all influence the availability of workers, as also does the 

overall level of unemployment. In the case of labour shortages, labour has to be met 

through permanent immigration and temporary work-permits for appropriately skilled 

foreign staff (Industries Assistance Commission 1989). 

However, the need of appropriately skilled foreign Jabour through immigration could 

have many implications. Kang and Page (2000) argue that once the individual/family 

emigrates, the conditions in the host country and process of adaptation are taken into 

account together with the challenge posed by a new culture, expatriate acculturation 

process, sociological factors (eg. language ability and family and kinship ties) and the 

opportunities in the local labour market which also affect the individual/family's 

perceived assimilation into the host community. In a study of Taiwanese immigrants 

to New Zealand, Boyer (1996) indicated that over 21,000 Taiwanese had immigrated 

to New Zealand on the basis of their skills, qualifications and work experience by the 

end of June 1995. Although expecting a fall in income as well as some language 

difficulties, the net result has been unemployment and underemployment and many of 

these immigrants have had to relocate one or all of the family members back to 

16 



Taiwan. This is part of a process which has been labelled 'semigration'. Although in 

a few early cases, semigration is attributable to lifecycle factors such as family 

responsibilities (Richmond, 1969), since the early 1990s, this 'semigration' 

phenomenon appears to have become more involuntary. Unable to obtain employment 

in New Zealand and thereby support their families, many immigrant males have been 

forced to separate from their families and return to their home of origin to work. In 

some cases, this separation can be semi-permanent with husbands returning to New 

Zealand only for 'holidays' adding a new dimension to the tourism-migration 

relationship. 

To summarise, the principal findings of the literature regarding the relationship 

between tourism and migration are as follows: many migration flows are typically 

explained in terms of 'push and pull factors', and models of specific migrations flows 

have been developed ( eg. refugee movements and labour flows from Eastern to 

Western Europe using temporary travel visas). But the wider implications and 

linkages to tourism have been neglected. Despite the obvious relationship with 

migration, researchers in the demographic literature have tended to overlook the 

growth of tourism and its relationship to population movements and border crossings 

in the context of migration research (eg. Cohen 1996a, 1996b; White and Jackson 

1995). Williams and Hall (1999) argue that ' the largely discreet literatures on tourism 

and migration have, at best, served to mark out the core areas of their research 

concerns, and fail to adequately conceptualise and define their fields of enquiry.' This 

points to the interface of population geography, migration research and tourism 

studies which remain a largely unexplored domain. 

2.3 Tourism, VFR and Family Travel 

Tourism has a close relationship with migration since immigrants remain emotionally 

attached to their country of birth. Many make return visits to the home region, often 

visiting or staying with friends and relatives (King and Gamage, 1994). This section 

will review the literature regarding ethnic tourism, VFR tourism and family reunion, 

the demand for travel and tourists motivations to travel. 

17 



2.3.1 Ethnic Tourism 

Studies of ethnic tourism are few in number and are scattered across a range of topic 

areas. Most of the studies that have discussed the phenomenon have done so in the 

context of travel motivations and travel patterns. The topics are usually associated 

with VFR and are often seen as closely related to patterns of migration (Nguyen and 

King, 1998: 350). The term 'ethnic tourism' has been used to convey three different 

meanings in the tourism literature. The first meaning is used for travelling with a 

purpose for the consumption of exotic culture and people; the second meaning relates 

to travel for ethnic reunion purposes, and the third meaning is applied to 'multi­

cultural tourism' or 'minority tourism' that normally is regarded as a tourism product. 

The last category of ethnic tourism is related to the supply side of tourism whereas the 

previous two categories are related to the demand side. The more frequent use of the 

term ethnic tourism is travel motivated primarily by the search for first hand,7 

authentic and sometimes intimate contact with people who remain emotionally ' 

attached to their country of birth. Thus, many make return visits, often visiting 

friends and/or relatives (Thanopoulos and Walle, 1988; Jackson, 1990; King and 

Gamage, 1994; Liu, Var and Timur, 1984; Forsyth, Dwyer, Murphy and Burnley, 

1993; Seaton, 1994; Ostrowski, 1991). 

Studies of ethnic tourism have been largely case study based with little contribution to 

any theoretical development of the literature. Countries that have been the focus of 

research have included Poland (Ostrowski, 1991), Sri Lanka (King and Gamage, 

1994), Australia (King, 1994), and Greece (Thanopoulos and Walle, 1988). Ethnic 

tourist markets can be important for both host countries and for generating countries 

(Ostrowski, 1991). Most VFR studies have also been case study based and there have 

been fewer studies on VFR than on holiday and business travel (Morrison and 

O'Leary, 1995). 

Examples of ethnic tourism include travellers from North America tracing their 

ancestry in Ireland or Scotland. In China, one tourism bureau (China Travel Service 

or CTS) exists to attract and host external ethnic Chinese from Taiwan, Macau and 

Hong Kong (King, 1994). Several international publications outline the economic and 

cultural importance of ethnic tourism. According to international tourist arrivals in 

18 



Ireland in 1988, the generating countries ethnically linked to Ireland hold the top 

positions: first the UK with 1, 465, 000 visits a year and second the USA with 

373,300 (tourist arrivals in 1988 totalled 2,346,000). The statistics of tourist arrivals 

to the UK are another example. Out of 15.8 million visitors to the UK in 1988, the 

major proportion (16.6 Percent) were from the USA, with the next largest group 

coming from West Germany (Ostrowski, 1991 ). Israel is one of the other countries 

where ethnic tourist arrivals constitute a significant proportion of total tourism 

arrivals. Out of 1.4 million foreign visitors in 1987, the highest number were from the 

USA - 293,000, with West Germany second - 182,000 (King, 1994; Ostrowski, 1991). 

Despite the significance of this category of ethnic tourism in relation to tourism 

demand, the term ethnic tourism appears frequently in the tourism literature as the 

search for exotic cultures, but travel by expatriates to their country of birth has 

merited less attention (King and Gamage, 1994 ). There are two studies in the latter 

category. Thanopoulos and Walle (1988) examined Greek Americans in Ohio and 

concluded that of the one million plus Greek-Americans in the United States, 30 

percent are potential travellers to Greece. In a survey conducted at the Polish frontier 

by Ostrowski (1991), 38 percent of respondents were Polish born. 

These exploratory studies established a basic research framework for the marketing of 

tourism to a specific ethnic group. The differences between ethnic travellers and 

nonethnic travellers have been highlighted in a study by King and Gamage (1994), 

with particular reference to their economic impact. Liu, Var, and Timur (1984) 

concluded that ethnic travellers accounted for higher income multipliers than 

nonethnic travellers, implying that ethnic travellers can be very valuable to the host 

country. To summarise, these studies indicate that ethnic tourism has significance 

from two perspectives - the 'generating country' and the 'host country'. 

2.3.2 Visiting Friends and Relatives: A Neglected Area of Tourism Research 

There is a very close relationship between ethnic tourism and visiting friends and 

relatives (VFR) tourism. Ethnic tourists' primary motivation is ethnic reunion, which 

also includes a desire to delve into family histories through travel to their country of 

birth. Due to such motivational factors, this type of ethnic tourism has tended to be 

19 



regarded as virtually synonymous with VFR tourism (King, 1994). The recent 

publication of a special issue of the Journal of Tourism Studies (1995) on VFR travel 

reflects a growing awareness in the literature of the complexity and magnitude of this 

tourism phenomenon. A study by Jackson (1990: 13) has asserted a strong link 

between VFR traffic and migration patterns that countries which were recently 

populated by migrants, may have inbound and outbound tourism flows associated 

with the ethnic roots of new immigrants: 

... the total flow of VFRs as proportion of the size of country of birth migrant 

groups is significantly and directly related to the proportion of recent migrants. 

(Jackson, 1990: 13) 

Despite the potential significance of such associations, the VFR market tends to be 

underestimated (Jackson, 1990). Furthermore, King (1994: 17 4) points out one of the 

problematic aspects with regard to the close use of VFR and ethnic tourism is: 

The use of the VFR label as an alternative to ethnic tourism has come about for 

reasons of convenience. National and regional tourism organisations, for example, 

seem to prefer the term VFR, thereby categorising visitors by the type of 

accommodation used rather than by their motivation .... The categorisation may in 

fact result in a failure to gain a full understanding of a significant market. 

(King, 1994: 174) 

What King ( 1994) is alluding to is the difficulty of disaggregating VFR and ethnic 

tourism, a feature which Dann (1993) also highlighted in relation to the use of 

nationality in establishing the origin of visitors. 

With regard to the scope of VFR tourism, Seaton (1994: 317) argues that 'the VFR 

category is ambiguous: visiting friends and relatives can be a primary motivation, the 

reason for a trip, or merely a trip descriptor, meaning simply that friends and relatives 

provided accommodation, irrespective of whether they were the main reason for the 

trip'. Seaton and Palmer (1997) describe the former as motivational VFRs and the 

latter as accommodation VFRs. Then, they argue that motivational VFRs are the only 

true VFRs. Yuan, Fridgen, Hsieh and O'Leary (1995) also see VFR tourism as the 

20 



major purpose for the trip. Morrison, Hsieh and O'Leary (1995: 48) reinforce this 

context of the definition by stating that: 

It involves travel with the purpose of visiting friends and/or relatives. However, as 

might be the common perception, it does not necessarily mean that VFR travellers 

share the living accommodations of their friends and/or relatives. 

(Morrison, Hsieh and O'Leary, 1995: 48) 

Paci (1994) classifies VFR to tourism as a distinctive segment of the travel market 

which should not be undervalued and suggests that VFR ethnic tourism has strong 

growth potential, demonstrating a strong propensity to travel repeatedly to a single 

destination. This proposition has been consistently neglected in the literature and yet 

is a critical issue for tourism planners and marketers. Paci (1994) claimed that 'VFR 

tourism remains poorly documented and under-researched and such data [sic] 

available is poor'. The scale and significance of the VFR market is underestimated by 

many National Tourism Organisations (Danman, 1988; Jackson, 1990; Seaton, 1994), 

partly because VFR tourists make less use of commercial accommodation facilities 

and are consequently assumed to be of less economic importance than other tourists. 

Destination organisations whose membership consists of a significant number of 

accommodation enterprises are discouraged from undertaking VFR research and 

marketing by their own members who perceive little potential benefits from the 

results of such initiatives. 

To clearly identify VFR tourism as a significant travel market within international 

tourism one needs to understand the VFR category from a motivational perspective 

rather than an accommodation perspective. There is another concern about the VFR 

tourism which is that VFR as an aggregate category may conceal differences between 

those who visit friends (VF) and those who visit relatives (VR). Seaton and Tagg's 

(1995) research undertaken in Northern Ireland highlights the distinction between VF, 

VR and VFVR (visiting both friends and relatives). These VF categories were less 

likely to have ethnic connections with Ireland while VR and VFVR categories were 

more likely to have ethnic connections with Ireland. As the Northern Ireland research 

suggests, in order to overcome non-consumer-oriented and imprecise measures of the 

VFR category, Seaton (1994) suggests splitting the VFR category into three groups: 

21 



(i) visiting friends; (ii) visiting relatives; (iii) visiting friends and relatives. Seaton 

(1994) established, through a survey, that the VFR trips taken by Asian ethnic 

minorities in Britain, are actually VRs - family trips back to Pakistan or India and 

other ex-commonwealth countries where members of the extended family are living. 

Also, through the Northern Ireland example, Seaton and Tagg (1995: 16) make the 

following points: 

Splitting the VFR category has particular value for the analysis of ethnic tourism. It 

allows precise, quantified profiling of its main subjects, showing them to be, in 

Northern Ireland, first generation emigre or emigrant VRs returning to the places 

where they were born. 

(Seaton and Tagg, 1995: 16) 

Thus, it can be deduced that the purpose of ethnic tourism is more likely to be visiting 

relatives (VR) rather than visiting friends (VR). This implies that splitting VR and 

VF category can reflect more precise market trends particularly in relation to ethnic 

tourism trends. 

King (1994: 174) examined the role of tourism as a form of migration, noting that 

travel for ethnic reunion is closely linked with VFR travel. He stated that such 

travellers display ' a sense of belonging to or identifying with a way of life that have 

been left behind'. King further suggested that the links between ethnic tourism and 

migration need to be clarified where family connections and shared cultural values are 

involved. Yuan, Fridgen, Hsieh, and O'Leary (1995) and Meis, Joyal, and Trites 

(1995) have viewed VFR tourism as a special segment of international tourism. 

Despite the growing interest in ethnic reunion, the prevailing literature remains case 

study driven and no attempt has been made to draw the existing findings into a 

framework to look at the totality of the process and to highlight where further research 

may be needed to fill in gaps within existing knowledge (Kang and Page, 2000). 

King (1994) has emphasised that, to gain a proper understanding of ethnic tourism, 

one needs a fuller understanding of the motivation for travel rather than the mode of 

accommodation used, and there should be more effort expended to reassess the 

22 



present VFR category. Only then, will the link between ethnic tourism and VFR 

tourism be more clearly assessed, so that ethnic tourism as a market segment within 

international tourism would gain more attention from the industry as well as the 

academics. 

2.3.3 The Demand for Travel and Tourist Motivations: A Dichotomous 

Relationship 

Why do tourists seek to travel? Where do they go? And when do they travel and how 

do they get there? These seemingly simple propositions remain one of the principal 

challenges for tourism research. According to Hall and Page (1999: 50), these basic 

issues have spatial implications in terms of the patterns of tourism, where tourism 

impacts will occur and the nature of management challenges for destinations which 

may attract a 'mass market' or be seeking to develop tourism from a low base. In 

other words, an understanding of tourism demand is a starting point for the analysis of 

why tourism develops, who patronises specific destinations and what appeals to the 

client market. Research in this subject has been led by psychologists, sociologists, 

marketers and economists. The area of tourist behaviour has a more developed 

literature within the field of social psychology, highlighted by the seminal study by P. 

Pearce (1982) and more recently by P. Pearce (1993). 

The precise approach to the analysis of tourism demand is largely dependent upon the 

disciplinary perspective of the researcher. However, demand and motivation are not 

synomous with each other even though the literature sometimes use them inter­

changeably. Geographers view demand in a uniquely spatial manner as 'the total 

number of persons who travel, or wish to travel, to use tourist facilities and services at 

places away from their places of work and residence' (Mathieson and Wall, 1982: 1), 

whereas in this context demand 'is seen in terms of the relationship between 

individuals' motivation [to travel] and their ability to do so (D.G. Pearce, 1995: 18)' 

with an attendant emphasis on the implications for the spatial impact on the 

development of domestic and international tourism. In comtrast, the economist 

emphasises 'the schedule of the amount of any product or service which people are 

willing and able to buy at each specific price in a set of possible prices during a 

specified period of time'. Psychologists view demand from the perspective of 

23 



motivation and behaviour (Cooper, Fletcher, Gilbert and Wanhill, 1993: 15). 

Nevertheless, the factors which shape the tourist decision-making process to select 

and participate in specific forms of tourism is largely within the field of consumer 

behaviour and motivation (Hall and Page, 1999: 52). 

Tourist motivation studies are the basis of many consumer analyses in tourism. The 

general issue of understanding consumer needs in tourism falls within the area of the 

psychology of tourist behaviour although there is growing evidence of an emerging 

literature on consumer behaviour. Thus, a major focus of consumer studies which 

look at the psychology of tourist behaviour is the study of tourist motivation (Pearce, 

1995; Ryan and Page, 2000). Needless to say, it is imperative that the tourism 

industry properly understands why their customers choose one product over another 

since understanding their motivation is critical for the success of their business. 

Goodall (1990) identifies motivation as a factor influencing holiday choice and D.G. 

Pearce (1988) regards these as a key factor in explaining observed holiday patterns. 

D.G. Pearce (1995) sees tourism demand in terms of the relationship between 

individuals' motivation to travel and their ability to do so. Morrison (1989) also 

argues that tourist motivation as well as marketing, destination features and 

contingency factors such as money, health and time forms tourism demand. 

Therefore, it should be understood that tourist motivation represents a significant part 

of tourist demand. Further, this also means that analysing the motivation of tourists is 

not synonymous with the distinctiveness of tourist behaviour (Leiper, 1990). 

Tourist motivation is an incredibly complex area of research. P. Pearce (1993: 114) 

outlined a 'blueprint for tourist motivation', arguing that in an attempt to theorise 

tourist motivation one must consider the following issues: 

• the conceptual place of tourism motivation; 

• its task in the specialism of tourism; 

• its ownership and users; 

• its ease of communication; 

• pragmatic measurement concerns; 

• adopting a dynamic approach; 

• the development of multi-motive perspectives; 

24 



• resolving and clarifying intrinsic and extrinsic motivation approaches. 

Cooper et al. (1993:20) view the individual as a central component of tourism demand 

to understand what motivates the tourist to travel. Their research acknowledges that: 

no two individuals are alike, and differences in attitudes, perceptions and 

motivation have an important influence on travel decisions [where] attitudes 

depend on an individual's perception of the world. Perceptions are mental 

impressions of ... a place or travel company and are determined by many factors 

which include childhood, family and work experiences. 

Hall and Page (1999: 52) argue that if one views the tourist as a consumer, then 

tourism demand is formulated through a consumer decision-making process, and 

therefore one can discern four elements which initiate demand: 

• energisers of demand ( eg. factors that promote an individual to decide on a 

holiday); 

• filterers of demand which means that even though motivation may exist, 

constraints on demand may exist in economic, sociological or psychological 

terms; 

• affecters which are factors that may heighten or suppress the energisers that 

promote consumer interest or choice in tourism; and 

• roles where the family member involved in the purchase of holiday products 

and the arbiter of group decision-making on choice of destination, product and 

the where, when and how of consumption. 

These factors underpin the tourist's process of travel decision-making although it does 

not explain why people choose to travel. 

Ryan's (1991: 25-9) analysis of tourist travel motivators (excluding business travel) 

identified the following reasons commonly cited to explain why people travel to 

tourist destinations for holidays, which include: 

• a desire to escape from a mundane environment; 

25 



• the pursuit of relaxation and recuperation functions; 

• an opportunity for play; 

• the strengthening of family bonds; 

• prestige, since different destinations can enable one to gam social 

enhancement among peers; 

• social interaction; 

• educational opportunities; 

• wish fulfilment; and 

• shopping. 

Within most studies of tourist motivation these factors emerge in one form or another 

(Crompton, 1979; Iso-Ahola, 1980; Dann, 1981; Mcintosh and Goeldner, 1990; 

Pearce, 1993, 1995). 

The influence of friends and relatives becomes important when examining the 

dynamics of group decision-making processes for travel. The role of the 

spouse/partner and children has tended to be emphasised, though there has been a 

growing recognition of the role of other relatives and of friends (Crompton, 1981 ). A 

study by Gitelson and Kerstetter (1994) concluded that friends and/or relatives are 

influential throughout the decision-making process prior to, during, and/or after the 

trip has begun. The assumption that consumers will only purchase an item if it is seen 

as satisfying a 'need' is probably valid in the case of VFR and ethnic tourism - people 

may visit both the homes of friends and relatives and visit tourist attractions that 

reflect the local culture. Many are repeat visitors who rely significantly on their 

friends and family to plan their itinerary and to recommend things to do and places to 

see (Paci, 1994 ). Friends and relatives play a crucial role in the decision-making 

process for a number of reasons: First, the VFR tourism experience tends to be a 

highly social event. Secondly, friends and/or relatives will typically be more 

knowledgeable about the destination area and hence in a good position to provide 

advice. Lastly, the friend/relatives may themselves form part of the group visiting a 

particular attraction. 

In many cases, the potential traveler may consider him or herself to be under an 

obligation to make a particular trip. In some cultures persons are required by social 

26 



convention to attend particular rites de passage, to care for the graves of their 

ancestors, or to marry members of particular families in the presence of their relatives. 

The extent to which VFR travel is subject to obligation has been given little 

consideration in the literature (Seaton, 1994) although Nguyen and King (1998) 

explore the subject briefly. 

In their recent study of Vietnamese migrants' travel patterns from Australia to Viet 

Nam by Nguyen and King (1998), they indicate that the form and extent of social 

obligations for migrant Vietnamese in Australia vary according to religion, age, the 

social position of his/her family, and his/her birth order. In societies influenced by 

Confucian principles, the network of social obligations extends to almost every aspect 

of daily life and involves the extended family. A Vietnamese defines himself/herself 

by reference to his/her family, and the family and its members are seen as the most 

important priority (Muzny, 1985; Nguyen, 1994; Te, 1962). The Vietnamese travel 

phenomenon may be a case of travel to reaffirm family membership. Travel may be 

undertaken to protect the social circumstances of the participants including the right to 

inherit property, and to ensure that their children are included within the extended 

family (Nguyen and King, 1998: 351). 

Even though there is already a wide range of literature dealing with the topics of 

tourism demand and motivation, more research is needed that is empirical and which 

uses appropriate methodology in order to have a better understanding of this topic 

than exists at present. D.G. Pearce (1995: 178) emphasises that 'as tourism grows 

into an increasingly sophisticated consumer industry, the need to understand the needs 

of travellers will increase and the motivation of tourists will become a core part of all 

tourism studies'. Therefore, having examined the tourism context and literature 

relevant to this study, attention now turns to the issue of migration and the 

significance in a New Zealand setting. 

2.4 The Process of Migration - Immigration to New Zealand 

New Zealand is a country which has largely been populated by immigration. As the 

1986 Review of Immigration Policy noted, the entire population is ultimately the 

27 



consequence of immigration to this country over more than 1,500 years. For the first 

1,200 years, the source of migrants was restricted to the Pacific, and most immigrants 

were Polynesian. The immigration history of the last 300 years shows greater 

diversity with settlers from the British Isles, France, other parts of Europe, Australia 

and Asia. The Chinese were the first non-European group to emigrate to nineteenth 

century New Zealand, and they are collectively the biggest immigrant group of Asian 

origin in this country, followed by Indian and Filipino Asian groups according to 

Statistics New Zealand (Statistics New Zealand, 1995, 1998). 

2.4.1 History of Chinese Immigration 

There are several studies examining Chinese immigration issues in New Zealand ( eg., 

Chan, 1983; Fong, 1959; Greif, 1974; Ip, 1990; Ng, 1993; Pearson, 1990; Murphy, 

1994). These studies are scattered across a range of topic areas, such as the Chinese 

assimilation in New Zealand; life stories of Chinese women in New Zealand; the 

origins of ethnic conflict in the country; the poll-tax in New Zealand; and issues 

regarding immigration and national identity in New Zealand. However,"Yfew studies 

have focused on the history and background of Chinese immigrants in New Zealand. 

Ng (1993), whose study of the history and earlier Chinese settlers in New Zealand is 

an exception to this. 

The Chinese who emigrated to the Pacific-Rim nations in the nineteenth and early 

twentieth centuries all originated from the Pearl River delta area of the southern 

Chinese province of Guangdong. At that time, Guangdong was a place of desperate 

poverty. The California goldrush of 1848 caused a sensation in Guangdong province, 

and by 1854 more than 40,000 Chinese goldminers had emigrated there. The Chinese 

called the United States 'Gold Mountain'. When gold was discovered in Australia 

two years later, Chinese began emigrating there. They differentiated the two places by 

calling the United States 'Old Gold Mountain' and Australia 'New Gold Mountain'. 

According to various historical archival records ( eg. the Otago Witness, Dunstan 

Times, Don, A. Diary, cited in Ng, 1993), in 1861, gold was discovered in the Otago 

region precipitating a major goldrush. Thousands of miners from Australia flooded 

into the country. By 1863, the goldfield population totalled 24,000. However, by 1865 

both Otago and Dunedin found themselves suffering a decline in business activity. 

28 



The Dunedin Chamber of Commerce remedied the situation by inviting Chinese 

miners from Australia to Otago to fill the gap left by departing European miners. The 

arrangements were made by a Victorian merchant, Ho Ah Mee, and in early 1866 the 

first 12 Chinese miners arrived. These were soon followed by others. By 1867 there 

were 1,270 Chinese miners in the province, and by late 1869 over 2,000. The Chinese 

coming from Victoria were soon supplemented by compatriots arriving direct from 

China. 

However, as the number of immigrants rose, severe restrictions were imposed on 

those who were regarded as 'race aliens' and, from 1881, the particularly stringent 

constraints against Chinese immigrants - the Chinese Immigrants Act was passed. A 

poll-tax of £10.00 had to be paid by every Chinese entering the country. The tax was 

raised to £100.00 in 1896. This poll-tax was unique as no other ethnic group was 

required to pay such a tax to enter the country. In 1934, payment of the tax was 

waived by the Minister of Customs, and in 1944 the tax was officially repealed. 

Between 1882 and 1934, the New Zealand Government earned approximately 

£308,080 from the exploitation of the Chinese people of New Zealand through 

levying this tax (The New Zealand Select Committee on Chinese Immigration, 1871 , 

cited in Murphy, 1994). 

Ng (1972: 34) argued that Chinese history in New Zealand may be divided into three 

eras. The first dates from 1866 (upon the arrival of the first party of Chinese 

goldseekers) to 1900. This was the New Zealand-Chinese goldseekers' era, when the 

migrants were virtually all men, goldmining was their principal occupation and they 

were sojourners in outlook. The second era dates from 1900 to 1951 when the New 

Zealand-Chinese remained as aliens in the land, were still predominantly male, but 

were seeking the settlement of their families here and an end to the legal 

discrimination against them. They were mainly established in market gardens, fruit 

shops and laundries (Ng, 1972 cited in Ng, 1993: 7). The third and continuing era 

dates from 1951 when the New Zealand-Chinese gained the right of naturalisation, 

and the discriminatory laws and regulations against them had almost all been 

repealed. Many Chinese families had been reunited in New Zealand. Following the 

communist victory in China in 1949, most Chinese New Zealanders also abandoned 

29 



the long cherished idea of returning to China to live. These factors, combined with 

the relaxation of anti-Chinese legislation, led Chinese settlers and migrants to begin to 

regard New Zealand as home. From 1951, the Chinese in New Zealand who gained 

New Zealand citizenship could freely emerge with a new ethnic identity to realise 

their full potential. They entered the professions, become medical superintendents, 

scientists, manufacturers, financiers, farmers, teachers, city councillors, fashion 

designers and artists. They served on voluntary bodies, became active in sports and 

recreation, and are an integral part of the general community. Intermarriage, the 

dreaded 'miscegenation' of old, is now accepted within the wider society and is 

becoming commonplace (Greif, 1974). 

2.4.2 New Zealand Government Policy and Immigration: Towards an Asian 
Focus 

The migration of people of Asian ethnicity to New Zealand is closely linked to the 

country's political, social and migration history and government policy. As 

mentioned earlier, the i986 Review of immigration Policy noted, New Zealand is a 

country of immigration. Despite the history of government policy towards Chinese 

immigration, since 1986, New Zealand's immigration Policy Review established a 

new objective of enriching the 'multicultural social fabric of New Zealand society', 

thus opening the door to more Asian immigration (Burke, 1986). Furthermore, New 

Zealand's Immigration Service introduced four main categories of government 

residence policy - general skills (often called 'point system'), business investor, 

family and humanitarian categories. The points system along with a more expansive 

pro-immigration policy, affirmed this intent by aiming 'to attract quality migrants 

from a wider catchment of countries' (New Zealand Immigration Service, 1991). 

As a result of the new policy, people who were born in New Zealand made up 82.5 

percent of New Zealand's resident population in the 1996 Census, a slight decrease 

from 1991 (New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1998). Between 1991 and 1996 New 

Zealand's overseas-born population increased by almost 78,000 people, with 72 

percent of that number having been born in Asia, particularly in Northeast Asian 

countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, which together 

accounted for an increase of almost 37,000 people. Subsequently, the total Chinese 

30 



residents in New Zealand increased to 70,227 in 1996 (Statistics New Zealand 

Census, 1996). In 1996, more than half (44,184) of the country's Chinese New 

Zealanders resided in Auckland. Although the number of Asian immigrants has 

increased since the 1980s, people of Asian ethnicity only comprise about 3 percent of 

New Zealand's total population. 

In recent years, the subject of immigration to New Zealand, particularly Asian 

immigration and more specifically Chinese immigration, has been a topic of heated 

public debate within New Zealand. Numerous researchers (eg. Ip, 1995; Greif, 1995; 

and Brooking and Rabel, 1995), point to the 'Business Roundtable', representing New 

Zealand's largest international trading companies, pushing for more rapid opening of 

the country to Asia so that skilful entrepreneurs can bring in their managerial know­

how, their trade connections with their home countries, and their investment capital. 

On the other hand, there is the 'New Zealand Defence Movement' which claims to 

protect Maori and Pakeha common interests against the invasion of alien Asian 

capitalists. However, one should not forget the Asian immigrants who were at the 

centre of the debate. What about the challenges and difficulties they have to face in 

their new adopted country? 

As noted in Boyer's study (1996: 60), 'despite being based on a points system which 

rewarded education, few migrants were aware that gaining points and gaining 

recognition of qualifications by professional bodies were two quite different things. 

As a result, many immigrants have been denied access to employment opportunities 

commensurate with their qualifications'. The challenges and difficulties that the 

immigrants have to face include lack of English skills, unfamiliarity with the New 

Zealand economy and business culture, and the older age of many migrants, often 

compounded lack of recognition of their skills in New Zealand. The net result of 

these has been unemployment, underemployment and semigration of immigrants as 

emphasised in the previous section. 

Richmond (1969) pointed out that many foreign-born migrants in a host country 

experience 'downward occupational mobility' as a consequence of geographic 

mobility. According to Leventman (1981 ), underemployment occurs when employees 

take on a job which is less interesting, less challenging, less secure or less well 

31 



remunerated than their previous job, or reqmres a level of skill and knowledge 

utilization far below the employees' level of qualification or experience. As 

Richmond (1969) stated, particularly where there are substantial linguistic barriers, 

significant cultural differences or discrimination against migrants by employers, the 

opportunity to obtain employment at or above the former employment status of the 

migrant is limited. Studies undertaken in Australia and New Zealand ( eg. Khoo and 

Kee, 1992; Chapelle, 1992; Ip, 1995; Boyer, 1996) show that Asian immigrants take 

the longest time to find employment, and many of them are underemployed or 

unemployed. Some of them have to return to their counties of origin to work and 

support their families in New Zealand (so-called 'semigration' though much of this 

remains based on anecdotal evidence). Greif (1995) highlighted that immigration 

policy has always been enshrouded in controversy and tied to an economic strategy. 

This underlies the fundamental question of what kind of New Zealand its population 

wants. 

2.4.3 Immigration to New Zealand: Patterns and Trends in the 1990s 

In most immigrant receiving countries, immigration is the result of changing 

economic requirements and immigration policy. In the post-war period, New Zealand 

encouraged relatively high levels of immigration when sustained economic growth 

and industrialisation created a strong demand for foreign workers. Research by Trlin 

and Spoonley (1992) highlighted the changing nature of immigrant flows to New 

Zealand, which has been a major contributor to the post-war development of New 

Zealand's economy and society. Kritz and Zlotnik (1992) conceptualised these 

migration flows in terms of vanishing frontiers, the rise of transnational labour 

markets and freer exchange of labour and capital. 

Traditionally New Zealand recruited skilled manual and white-collar migrants from 

Britain and Northern Europe, while most of the demand for unskilled or low skilled 

migrants was met from the Pacific Islands. Ongley and Pearson (1995) in a 

comparative analysis of immigration policy in Canada, New Zealand and Australia 

observed the change from discriminatory policies towards non-European immigrants 

to non-discriminatory assessment (see also Inglis 1992; Jones 1994). In the case of 

New Zealand, they noted the relationship of immigration to labour demand, with 

32 



policy adjusted to meet specific targets. Nash (1994: 87) summarised the interest in 

such flows where 'skilled migrants continue to receive attention, especially those 

migrating under business migration programmes to destinations such as Canada and 

New Zealand, where the benefits appear to favour metropolitan cities'. 

The country's immigration policy initially maintained a preference for British or 

European immigrants and restrictions on non-European immigration, but these 

policies were gradually eroded. Le Heron and Pawson (1996) examined changes in 

government policy post-1989 and its contribution to net immigration from North Asia. 

This was a corollary of official government encouragement, the attraction of a 

peaceful and hospitable environment and concerns with changes in the political 

environment in Hong Kong post-1997. Castles (1998) examined the political 

consequences of growing immigration from Asia in the context of Australia and the 

increase in racism towards new immigrants from non-European source areas. 

In respect of the Chinese immigration to New Zealand, Ip (1995) has argued that, 

'when we look at the 'new wave' of Chinese immigrants to New Zealand, it is 

important not to view them in isolation, but to remember that they are part of a 

worldwide trend of ethnic Chinese people on the move'. In turn, this migration of the 

Chinese is a manifestation of the 'global village' phenomenon, when people of all 

races all round the world become much more mobile and move in search of a lifestyle 

that suits them better (Appleyard, 1992, cited in Ip, 1995). According to a study by the 

International Organisation for Migration (1992) on contemporary migration patterns, 

more than one million people leave their homelands permanently every year. A more 

recent study revealed that about 125 million people live outside of their country of 

birth (Martin and Widgren, 1997). This international migration demonstrates a 

greater dynamism in population flows and changes demographic patterns. 

2.5 Summary 

As emphasised earlier in this chapter, tourism represents the world's largest industry, 

and has a significant impact on the world's economy. For this reason, it is important 

to understand the nature and functions of tourism and the processes shaping distinct 

forms of tourist activity and behaviour. Although tourism definitions recognise that 

33 



tourism mainly involves a temporary movement, the emphasis is on the intention of 

returning home, and not taking up permanent residence elsewhere. This is significant, 

because trips have a return function that is not necessarily present in other forms of 

migration in the shorter term. Thus, this raises the issue of more permanent migration 

such as taking up employment from the places visited and the interrelationship with 

tourism flows. It also indicates the interrelationship between tourism and migration, 

that is, tourism to a country can generate permanent immigration: permanent 

immigration may generate increased tourism, particularly for the purpose of visiting 

friends and relatives as elaborated earlier in this chapter. In other words, there are two 

types of population flows at work: fust the migration for employment; second the 

travel patterns of these migrants after emigrating, often to visit relatives back in the 

home country. Research which has been carried out in this area exhibits a strong 

relationship between people born overseas and the VFR category of tourist, 

particularly the VR category for both inbound and outbound travel. These studies 

also indicate that not only the links between tourism and migration become more 

important in determining mobility, but also they are increasingly being expressed at 

the international scale as opposed to the intra-national scale as a result of the 

globalisation of tourism markets, tourism capital, changes in post-working lives and 

changes in the reorganisation of the labour process. 

The Chinese population has been the largest immigrant group of Asian origin in New 

Zealand since the nineteenth century when they first arrived in the country. There 

have been dramatic increases in the Chinese population since the implementation of 

New Zealand' new immigration policy in 1986. New Zealand, like many countries 

around the world, has increasingly become more multiracial and multicultural. It is 

apparent that there is growing interest in understanding the different aspects of the 

ethnic groups. This is imperative for the success of the nation as a whole and its 

industries including the tourism sector. Considering the increased global demand for 

business and consumer behaviour that incorporate ethnicity, due to the growth in 

migration, tourism and international trade, and the significant volume of immigration­

induced tourism in tourism flows, ethnic tourism is a fruitful area for research 

(Rossiter and Chan, 1998). Given the limited degree of understanding and research 

on the interface of population geography, migration and tourism, this study of Chinese 

New Zealanders' travel patterns will consider the impact of family reunion, VFR 

34 



travel and other factors in shaping the travel patterns of Chinese immigrants in New 

Zealand. It will provide one example of ethnic tourism in gaining a better 

understanding of the relationships between tourism and immigration. This study may 

also form the basis for further comparative studies between different ethnic groups in 

terms of their patterns of outbound travel. Attention now turns to the profile of the 

Chinese population in New Zealand to establish the nature and characteristics of this 

group prior to considering their travel habits. 

35 



3. THE PROFILE OF CHINESE-NEW ZEALANDERS 

3.1 Introduction 

This chapter sets out to explore profile of Chinese population in New Zealand in order 

to identify specific factors which impact upon their travel patterns and habits. It 

examines the demographic and socioeconomic profile of Chinese New Zealanders. 

This is because the profile can provide relevant information regarding age, sex, 

income, education, employment and other related characteristics of Chinese New 

Zealanders which is essential to understand the factors influencing and shaping their 

outbound travel. Thus, through the profile, one can gain better insights into the 

specific determinants of Chinese New Zealander's outbound travel which may be 

influenced by specific variables such as country of origin, ethnic ties and VFR. 

Therefore, this chapter will examine the following areas: 

• How to understand travel behaviour; 

• The meaning of' Asian' in a New Zealand context; 

• The Chinese population in New Zealand from a historical perspective; 

• The Chinese community in New Zealand; 

• Demographic and socioeconomic profile of Chinese immigrants; and 

• Travel habits of Chinese population in New Zealand 

3.2 Understanding Travel Behaviour 

Seaton (1996: 56) contends that 'understanding tourism behaviour involves two 

different levels of analysis: macro-analysis which seeks to identify the patterns and 

determinants of aggregate demand; and micro-analysis which involves insight into 

individual tourist behaviour'. For the purpose of this study, the former will be the 

focus of this study. Based on Seaton's contention, identifying the Chinese New 

Zealanders' travel patterns and habits can be understood as a form of macro-analysis 

because macro-analysis is concerned with examining collective tourism movements in 

terms of number of visitors, trips and revenue generated from them. Thus, an 

examination of collective tourism movements of Chinese New Zealanders of this 

study is a form of macro-analysis. 

36 



Aggregate demand for tourism is influenced by many factors including commodity 

prices; disposable income; exchange rate; economic environment such as inflation or 

deflation in the host and generating countries; economic structure of industries 

relevant to tourism such as cost of accommodation and travel, and demographic 

changes. According to Seaton (1996), the main approaches to macro-analysis derive 

from economics and demography. Therefore, it is essential to examine patterns of 

Chinese-New Zealanders' demography such as age, income, education, employment 

and other related characteristics in order to identify how specific factors impact upon 

their travel habits. In particular, the unique demographic characteristics of Chinese 

New Zealanders as a group of immigrants in New Zealand could influence their travel 

patterns and so their demographic profile is likely to have a significant effect on the 

nature of this study. In other word, it is argued that new migrants and more 

established migrants from specific ethnic groups may have specific determinants of 

their outbound travel influenced by their country of origin, ethnic ties and VFR. 

The data used here are derived from the 1986, 1991and1996 New Zealand Census of 

Population and Dwellings - Ethnic Groups (Statistics New Zealand, 1987, 1992, 

1997) which contains data on demographic trends of the Chinese population in New 

Zealand. The data was mainly collected from the 1996 Census of Population and 

Dwellings, New Zealand's 30th national census, held on 5 March 1996. It contains 

data on the population characteristics, including duration of residence in New 

Zealand, birthplace, languages spoken, age distribution, family type, labour force 

status, household income, education and location of Chinese ethnic group in New 

Zealand. However, due to inconsistencies in the data availability from different 

censuses, 1991 data have been used in this study in the event that 1996 data were not 

available. One of the principal reasons for using census data is that it is the more 

readily available data source to profile the target group of this study, so as to build a 

more detailed understanding of the group and their characteristics in New Zealand. It 

is argued that if the group exhibits significantly different characteristics to the resident 

population, then it is likely to have different determinants of outbound travel. 

37 



3.3 The Meaning of 'Asian' in a New Zealand Context 

Until the 1950s, a vast majority of immigrants from Asia came to New Zealand from 

China and India. Since then, the source of these immigrants has become more diverse 

as the discussion later will show. Therefore, it would be useful to look at the term 

'Asian' and the confusion surrounding its usage. In Britain, in the domestic context, 

Asian is used mostly to refer to persons from the South Asian countries of India, 

Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, or more commonly termed the Indian Sub­

continent. In South Africa, it is used chiefly to refer to Indians. However, in the 

United States the term, along with 'Orientals', is employed mostly to refer to the 

peoples from the regions of East Asia and Southeast Asia; Indians are referred to as 

East Indians to distinguish them from the indigenous Indians. Clearly there is no 

particular logic to the usage in a global context. 

Vasil and Yoon (1996) note that in New Zealand, especially following the recent 

controversy in Auckland relating to Asians, the term 'Asian' has led to the 

development of its own peculiar usage. Asian is used essentially to refer to Chinese, 

Japanese and South Korean people in New Zealand. In the case of the Chinese, the 

term 'Asian' is used not only to refer to Chinese from China (including Taiwan and 

Hong Kong) but also to those who have migrated from countries such as Singapore, 

Malaysia, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Indonesia and Thailand. Indians, Indonesians, 

Filipinos and others from South and Southeast Asia are not grouped together and are 

looked at on the basis of their own individual ethnic identity. For reasons of accuracy, 

the broad term ethnic Chinese immigrants ( eg. those from China, Hong Kong, 

Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Viet Nam, Indonesia and Thailand) are 

referred to as 'Chinese' or 'Asians' in this study. 

3.4 The Chinese Population in New Zealand: A Historical Perspective 

Chinese immigration to New Zealand dates back to 1866 when the first organised 

group of Chinese arrived in New Zealand as emphasised earlier. These were miners 

from the gold-fields of Australia, brought over to Otago at the invitation of the 

Dunedin Chamber of Commerce. The Chinese were enthusiastically recruited in the 

38 



early part of this period because the Otago gold-fields became desperately short of 

labour after a large number of miners left for the West Coast gold-fields (Ng, 1993). 

Up to 1911 , the Chinese comprised almost all of New Zealand's Asian population 

with the exception of a small number of Indian settlers. According to Statistics New 

Zealand (1995), the latter, however, never exceeded 50 during this time, although the 

first Indian settler arrived in New Zealand around 1820, about 45 years before the first 

Chinese settlers. As Ng (1993) noted, almost all those Chinese who emigrated to 

New Zealand were Cantonese, who arrived either directly from Hong Kong and 

Guangdong, or by way of the Australian gold-fields. Almost all worked as gold­

miners, and tended to leave the country after a relatively short time. In the 1890s, as 

Alexander Don's 'Roll of the Chinese' shows, many were beginning to turn to 

shopkeeping and market gardening and others were