A Comparison Study on Tourists’ Perceptions of and Intentions to Visit Different Cultural Regions - The Case of Tibet -

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the tourists’ perceptions of and their intentions to visit different cultural regions as a tourist destination by nationality. For the study, Tibet was designated as a cultural region for the tourist destination. A questionnaire was administered to 438 people who were living in six countries such as China, India, South Korea, Laos, Mongolia, and the U.S.A. The analyses were conducted using SPSS 21.0. The descriptive analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, one-way ANOVA and multiple regression analysis were applied to analyze the data. The results prove the existence of differences in the perceived images for the different cultural regions by nationality. The lack of information was the main factor impeding their intentions to visit different cultural regions, followed by cultural backwardness, politics and economic issues, and inconvenience.