Recent protests in Hong Kong have dominated international media, amongst which have been protesters displaying banners encouraging that “CHINESE: GET OUT”. What is striking about this is that Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, and 93% of people are ethnically Chinese. This complicated question of identity politics reflects wider debates about migration, borders and the role of international tourism in promoting peace and intercultural understanding. Specifically, questions of risk perception linked to national or ethnic identity in travel behaviour become paramount. Sense of belonging to a social group is derived from the interactions that distinguish “us” from “others”, whilst the Chinese have been signified as “others” in this scenario, their perspectives on the issue are poorly understood. This study examines Chinese tourists’ reflections on the negative image projected on them by their Hong Kong “compatriots” and its influence on their travel behaviours. The implications for UK tourism are assessed. The dataset here contains primary qualitative data (30 interviews).Recent protests in Hong Kong have dominated international media, amongst which have been protesters displaying banners encouraging that “CHINESE: GET OUT”. What is striking about this is that Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, and 93% of people are ethnically Chinese. This complicated question of identity politics reflects wider debates about migration, borders and the role of international tourism in promoting peace and intercultural understanding. Specifically, questions of risk perception linked to national or ethnic identity in travel behaviour become paramount. Sense of belonging to a social group is derived from the interactions that distinguish “us” from “others”, whilst the Chinese have been signified as “others” in this scenario, their perspectives on the issue are poorly understood. This study examines Chinese tourists’ reflections on the negative image projected on them by their Hong Kong “compatriots” and its influence on their travel behaviours. The implications for UK tourism are assessed.
The dataset presented here contains qualitative data. The study conducted a qualitative phase to understand Chinese tourists’ reflections on the protest movements and draw out dominant themes that underpin this reflection on their social identity. We adopted an exploratory qualitative approach to collect the data through semi-structured in-depth interviews with Chinese tourists who have been to Hong Kong. In total, 30 interviews were conducted virtually.