Paper short abstract:

Through data mining from a Chinese OTA, this study obtained 3,000 travel notes of Chinese tourist in Africa. Using a keyword co-occurrence analysis method, we examine the image of Africa through the gaze of Chinese tourists which will be enriched by insights gained from anthropological fieldwork.

Paper long abstract:

The strengthening of China-Africa economic cooperation has promoted the development the tourism market of both Africa and China. In 2017, the number of bilateral visits between China and Africa reached about 1.426 million, consisting of 7.978 million Chinese tourists and 628,300 African tourists (CTA 2018). This ongoing research aims to explore the image of Africa through 'the gaze' (Urry 2011) of Chinese tourists in order to test similarities and differences with traditional Western tourists. Through data mining from one of China's most representative Online Travel Agency, the study examines 3,000 travel notes of Chinese tourists who visited Africa continent. We conducted a content analysis, using a keyword co-occurrence analysis method to show what the African image from Chinese tourists' view. At the same time, The content analysis will be enriched by insights gained from anthropological fieldwork on Chinese in Africa since 2018​.