Chinese tourists in Italy: design for extending Chinese tourists’ possible experience in cultural activities

Chinese tourists have become a significant consumer group for the development of the Italian tourism industry. However, a lack of effective access to information leads to subpar cultural activity engagement for Chinese tourists. From a perspective of design for experience, this research seeks to create a condition of cultural contact between Chinese tourists and Italian culture, interpreting as a cultural travel experience between tourists, activities, and places in which activities take place. This research demonstrates the characteristics of different Chinese tourists in Italy, through human-centered design methodology, based on the results of desk research data, targeted group analysis, questionnaire and interview surveys. Additionally, this research examines how Chinese cultural values, which also contribute positively to the optimization of cultural contact, affect Chinese tourists on their travel motivations, behaviors, emotions, and decision-making in cultural activities while traveling in Italy. Through holistic experience design methodology, this research maps a holistic cultural tourism experience of Chinese tourists from expectation (pre-trip), cultural activity (on-site process) to influence (post-trip). By using the mental model diagram analysis, it also gains a deep understanding of Chinese tourists' motivation, thought process, the emotional feedback, the processes generating cultural memories and the influence on the post-trip period. This study argues that the sensory experiences and the impressive things during cultural activity are not only about feelings, but also about learning that are replayed in the memories of Chinese tourists, and affect overall cultural impression of Italy. The key outcome of this research is that it suggests the Chinese outbound tourists' holistic mental mode diagram (HMMDs) for design hints, as well as the concept of 'design for preparation', the cultural tourism experience quadrant model (CTEx) for Chinese tourist, and the 'platform' tool for the aim of extending Chinese tourists' cultural tourism experience designed specifically.