Visitors' Perception Based Authenticity in Tourism

Visitors’ Perception Based Authenticity in Tourism Development Project: A Case Study of Xietang Old Street in Suzhou, China Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Architecture and Planning COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Urban Planning Advisor: Lance Freeman Reader: Weiping Wu by Wen Cheng May 2019 ABSTRACT Within the in-depth development of culture-historical block tourism and the involvement of new capital, a new type of culture-historical block tourism has flourished in time. Unlike the traditional culture-historical blocks, these emerging culture-historical blocks are usually archaized blocks. There have been some debates about the relationship between these kinds of archaized blocks and tourism authenticity. It is evident that due to the characteristics of this kind of archaized culture-historical blocks, they lack authenticity. However, whether the authenticity could be perceived by the local residents or tourists still needs to be argued. In this paper, it examined visitors’ perception of authenticity at Xietang Old Street, an archaized project in Suzhou, China. The construction of many historical heritage sites raised the issue about authenticity in tourism. However, visitors’ perceptions towards authenticity in this site continues to be mostly unknown. The study applied questionnaires and interviews to collect data from February 2019 to March 2019 at Xietang Old Street. Visitors were asked to rate the authenticity of many aspects of Xietang Old Street on a Likert-scale and to provide basic socioeconomic information, motivations, and loyalty & satisfaction grade. Moreover, this paper studied the relationship among visitors’ motivation, authenticity perception, and visitors’ loyalty & satisfaction at Xietang Old Street. Based on both the qualitative and quantitative information, the study evaluates the Xietang Old Street as whether it is a successful commercial / tourism / authentic culture-historical site respectively. ii The research defined the project as a successful commercial project in Suzhou. However, it cannot be regarded as a successful tourism project and authentic culture-historical site. All the site was reconstructed, and the authentic elements are hardly seen within the site. Although the visitors can perceive authenticity through the site, they are all based on the physical setting. It cannot be called an authentic culture-historical site, while it is successful among these archaized projects in China. The primary reason for this project is the full respect for the original site and original appearance. Since the old Xietang town was demolished, we should look upon it positively: without this project, the history or even the name of Xietang will be forgotten by the future generation forever. It is a good start point and there are lots of space improving this project. We can believe that Xietang Old Street can be more authentic in the future. Keywords: archaized blocks; authenticity perception; visitors’ motivation; visitors’ loyalty & satisfaction; tourism development iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT The completion of thesis would not have been possible without the contribution and support from the following people: First, I am indebted to my advisor, Professor Lance Freeman and reader, Professor Weiping Wu for their help guiding me to do this research. I learned a great deal about how to do systematic research from Prof. Freeman. He taught me many skills for conducting research. Prof. Wu, whose is knowledgeable about Chinese urbanism and current situation, has also provided much constructive feedback throughout the process. Their direction and insightful comments were a fruitful contribution in the completion of this thesis. Also, I want to thank my classmates, Boying Li, Qianyu Xiang, and Liying Zhang, who gave me inspiration and supports when I were stuck in changing and forming my thesis topic. They were instrumental in helping me to understand the critical concepts and mechanism of the topics discussed in this thesis. I also want to thank my friend, Xincen Xie, who helped me figure out the principle of Canonical Correlation Analysis and modelling. Without her patience and knowledge, I could not have finished the analysis as successfully. I am grateful to the visitors who allocated their valuable holiday time to participate in the interviews. This thesis would never have been possible without their kindness and patience. iv Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Bo Cheng and Suping Shi, and all of my dear relatives for supporting my thesis and education at Columbia. They gave me lots of love and supports during my master study in the United States. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………v Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………vi List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………………viii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………………ix Chapter 1 1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………1 2 Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………7 2.1 Definition of culture-historical block………………………………………………………7 2.2 Definition of archaized block………………………………………………………………8 2.3 Authenticity theory…………………………………………………………………………9 2.3.1 Definitions of authenticity and inauthenticity……………………………………9 2.3.2 Evolution of tourism authenticity…………………………………………………10 2.3.3 Relationship between object and subject………………………………………15 2.3.4 Meaning of coexistence of authenticity theories………………………………15 2.4 Study on authenticity perception………………………………………………………17 2.4.1 Dimensions…………………………………………………………………………17 2.4.2 Determinants / Factors……………………………………………………………17 2.4.3 Authenticity perception effect factors……………………………………………20 2.4.4 The relationship between motivation and authenticity perception…………22 2.4.5 The relationship between visitors’ loyalty & satisfaction and authenticity perception…………………………………………………………………………………23 3 Background - Case study……………………………………………………………………24 3.1 History of Xietang Old Street……………………………………………………………24 3.2 Project history and description…………………………………………………………27 Chapter 2 4 Methodology / Research design……………………………………………………………33 4.1 General research design…………………………………………………………………33 4.2 Survey……………………………………………………………………………………33 vi 4.2.1 Survey design……………………………………………………………………33 4.2.2 Sample size and selection………………………………………………………36 4.2.3 Research model and hypothesis………………………………………………37 4.2.4 Data collection……………………………………………………………………39 4.2.5 Data analysis………………………………………………………………………39 4.3 Interview…………………………………………………………………………………40 4.4 Observation………………………………………………………………………………40 5 Findings………………………………………………………………………………………42 5.1 Survey……………………………………………………………………………………42 5.1.1 Descriptive data analysis…………………………………………………………42 5.1.2 Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA)…………………………………………48 5.2 Interview…………………………………………………………………………………51 5.3 Observation………………………………………………………………………………53 Chapter 3 6 Discussion: Planning implications…………………………………………………………59 6.1 Perception based authenticity of Xietang Old Street…………………………………59 6.2 Common issues in archaized blocks development……………………………………60 6.3 Future development of archaized blocks………………………………………………62 7 Limitations……………………………………………………………………………………64 8 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………66 Chapter 4 9 Appendix A: Survey…………………………………………………………………………69 Appendix B: Survey measurements validation……………………………………………72 Appendix C: Interview questions……………………………………………………………74 Appendix D: Outcomes of CCA……………………………………………………………75 10 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………77 vii List of Tables Table 1 Theory evolution of tourism authenticity……………………………………………….11 Table 2 Determinants of visitors’ authenticity perception by scholars……………………….20 Table 3 Authenticity perception effect factors………………………………………………….21 Table 4 Key types and notions of authenticity in tourist……………………………………….23 Table 5 Date dimension reduction for indicators……………………………………………….40 Table 6 Socioeconomic characteristics of respondents……………………………………….43 viii List of Figures Figure 1 Old view of Xietang Old Street………………………………………………………….24 Figure 2 Old layout of Xietang Old Street……………………………………………………….26 Figure 3 View of Xietang Old Street in the late 20th century………………………………….27 Figure 4 Location of Xietang Old Street………………………………………………………….29 Figure 5 Project layout…………………………………………………………………………….30 Figure 6 View of Old Street Area………………………………………………………………….31 Figure 7 View of Exhibition Area………………………………………………………………….32 Figure 8 View of New Building Area…………………………………………………………….32 Figure 9 Model diagram………………………………………………………………………….37 Figure 10 Frequency of visiting Xietang Old Street by different groups……………………….44 Figure 11 Average score for authenticity perception (all respondents)……………………….46 Figure 12 Average score for authenticity perception (different groups)……………………….47 Figure 13 Relationships among motivation, authenticity perception, and loyalty & satisfaction in Xietang Old Street…………………………………………………………………….51 Figure 14 Water network in Xietang Old Street………………………………………………….54 Figure 15 Linear street space and courtyard space…………………………………………….55 Figure 16 View of Suzhou garden style………………………………………………………….56 Figure 17 Jiangnan style architecture and landscape………………………………………….56 Figure 18 Old construction materials…………………………………………………………….57 Figure 19 Bronze statues showing old Xietang life……………………………………………….57 Figure 20 Activities in Xietang Old Street………………………………………………………….58 ix CHAPTER 1 1. INTRODUCTION The existence and continuation of a city are continuously extended

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