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Examination of Chinese Tourists’ Unsustainable Food Consumption: Causes and Solutions

Author

Listed:
  • Jianwei Qian

    (Communication University of Zhejiang, 998 Xueyuan Street, Hangzhou 310018, China)

  • Huawen Shen

    (City University of Macau, Avenida Padre Tomas Pereira Taipa, Macau 999078, China)

  • Rob Law

    (Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 17 Science Museum Road, Hong Kong 999077, China)

  • Ka Yin Chau

    (City University of Macau, Avenida Padre Tomas Pereira Taipa, Macau 999078, China)

  • Xin Wang

    (City University of Macau, Avenida Padre Tomas Pereira Taipa, Macau 999078, China)

Abstract

Gastronomic tours have become a prevalent form of travel in many destinations and have boosted the development of destinations’ tourism economy. However, unsustainable food consumption, especially the wastage of food by tourists, is severe and has yet to receive sufficient academic attention. Thus, this study aimed to examine this kind of unsustainable behavior from tourists’ perspective to help the academia and practitioners to better understand the causes and solutions pertaining to the issue. Participants’ demographic information and content data were collected and analyzed. Content analysis was adopted to summarize the major themes emerging from the data. Results indicated that tourists, the industry, and government should be responsible for the issue. The reasons related to each stakeholder are shown together with the countermeasures. This study is among the first to examine the issue, which can lay the foundation for further studies in the same research area and help to address unsustainable food consumption.

Suggested Citation

  • Jianwei Qian & Huawen Shen & Rob Law & Ka Yin Chau & Xin Wang, 2019. "Examination of Chinese Tourists’ Unsustainable Food Consumption: Causes and Solutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-12, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:12:p:3475-:d:242643
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gerrit Antonides, 2017. "Sustainable Consumer Behaviour: A Collection of Empirical Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-5, September.
    2. Kim, Yeong Gug & Eves, Anita, 2012. "Construction and validation of a scale to measure tourist motivation to consume local food," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1458-1467.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lijun Zhou & Lucen Liu & Yan Wang & Yuxian Ou & Zijing Zhao, 2021. "Exploring the Relationship between Leisure and Sustainability in a Chinese Hollow Village," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-17, September.

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