Research on Chinese tourists' Preference for Football Tourism in the UK

Based on Mafengwo Data

Abstract

As the COVID-19 pandemic spread globally in early 2020, the international travel market was hit hard. The number of Chinese tourists traveling abroad has dropped significantly due to travel restrictions imposed by the epidemic. According to the Annual Report on China's Outbound Tourism 2022-2023, nearly 26 million Chinese tourists made overseas trips in 2021, down 83 percent from 2019. With the further adjustment of COVID-19 prevention and control policies, the number of outbound tourists is expected to increase significantly in 2023. As a country with a long history and rich culture in Europe, Britain is very popular among tourists. Based on one of the important factors of British tourism -- football tourism, this thesis makes an in-depth analysis of the travel preference, destination choice, travel route and other factors of Chinese football tourists to Britain. This thesis aims to provide effective theoretical support for tourism enterprises to make schedules through the analysis of travel preferences of special groups, provide reference for tourism enterprises to plan characteristic travel routes, and provide basis for sports tourists, especially Chinese football tourists to the UK free travel schedule design. This thesis also makes a preliminary discussion on the less studied direction in the current academic research field, that is, the preference of sports special groups in outbound tourism. At the same time, through the analysis of the preference of football tourists to the UK, this thesis hopes to seek more diversified tourism modes for "post-epidemic era" tourism, catering to more sports tourists and travel agencies aiming to develop "post-epidemic era" tourism routes. The content of this thesis is to analyze the preferences of Chinese football tourists to the UK. The data is based on the travel notes of Mafengwo Online Travel Agency, and the destination preference, scenic spot selection preference and satisfaction evaluation of Chinese tourists to the UK for football related tourism are analyzed by using Octopus, ROST CM6, ArcMap 10.8 and other software. Finally, the author puts forward the following suggestions to the tourism authorities on the development countermeasures of Chinese football tourism activities in the UK: first, develop football-specific tourism and choose suitable tourist destinations to experience the British football culture. Second, Give full play to the advantages of the Internet to promote football tourism with British characteristics. Third, The cooperation in transportation and sports should be taken into account in economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries.