Chinese Tourism in Cultural Routes: The Camino de Santiago and the Ancient Tea Horse Road

Abstract

This paper is a comparative study of Chinese tourists in the Camino de Santiago in Spain and the Ancient Tea Horse Road in China. First, we introduce a brief state of the arts on cultural routes as part of cultural tourism, and on the recent evolution of inbound and outbound Chinese tourism. Second, we analyze the construction/creation of the Camino de Santiago and the Ancient Tea Horse Road as tourist destinations. Finally, we compare the profile of the tourists on both routes, including their motivations, experiences and the way to access to the necessary information to travel. The cultural routes have become a symbol of distinction and class for a minority of the population and are framed in the new trend of independent and experiential tourism that is developing in China.