Chinese-Speaking Local Tour Guides in Australia

In 2001, the annual growth rate of Chinese visitor arrivals in Australia was 38 per cent. Similar growth is predicted for at least the next eight years. The latest forecasts from the Australian Tourism Forecasting Council (2002) indicate that the number of Chinese visitors to Australia will reach more than 1.4 million annually by 2012, beyond the growth of any other market.

It is the policy of the Chinese government, however, to organise, plan and control the development of Chinese outbound travel (China National Tourism Administration, 2001). Control is achieved through a number of mechanisms such as single-trip passports, restricting travel options through approved travel agencies and tour operators, and limiting travel to designated destinations. By the year 2002, China had approved 22 destinations for outbound travel1. Of these destinations, Australia was the first Western country to be given Approved Destination Status (ADS), which enables Chinese nationals to use ordinary passports when applying for tourist visas for visiting Australia (Tourism Forecasting Council, 1999).

Chinese-speaking Local Tour Guides

Under the ADS scheme, Chinese holidaymakers must join an ADS group tour if they wish to visit Australia. These ADS group tours are fully inclusive, and require a Chinese-speaking local guide for every group. These guides are expected to lead the groups to places of interest, deliver commentary and interpret the attractions of the visited region. They are also expected to mediate interactions between the group and the host as well as control the tour (that is, they are responsible for safety and security as well as the itinerary). As a result, local tour guides looking after Chinese tour groups serve as the main point of contact between the destination and their Chinese clients.

Despite the importance of the tour guide's job for the Chinese market, there have been few published studies on guides of Chinese group tours (Ap & Wong, 2001; Wong, 2001; Zhang & Chow, 2004), and no study of Chinese-speaking local tour guides in Australia. While anecdotal evidence suggests that many of these guides are able to facilitate non-stressful, interesting and satisfying interactions for visitors, some have low levels of English language proficiency and limited knowledge of Australian geography, history and culture. Despite their official status as `Australian residents', they struggle with cultural fluency in much the same way as their clients, and lack the in-depth knowledge and cultural competencies necessary to facilitate the intercultural experience that their Chinese visitors are seeking. Given the importance of guides as cultural mediators for Chinese visitors to Australia and other ADS countries, an examination of cultural mediation in this context is both timely and important (Yu, Weiler & Ham, 2001).

Perceptions of Tour Guides as Cultural Mediators

As already mentioned, semi-structured interviews were conducted with tourism industry representatives to elicit the most important roles of Chinese-speaking local tour guides. Using content analysis, five main roles (categories) emerged, one of which was `to be a cultural mediator'. Some respondents noted that, although desirable, the role of cultural mediation is a difficult one for guides.

Subsequently in phase two, the five roles were presented (in a self-completed questionnaire) to both tour guides and visitors, and respondents were asked to rate the relative importance of the roles on a scale from 1 (not at all important) to 7 (extremely important). Both groups rated cultural mediation as an important role of the guide (mean score of 5.8 for both groups), although all of the other roles (providing good customer service, caring for the health and safety of the group, providing information and managing the group itinerary) were rated somewhat higher in importance by both guides and tourists. It could be argued, however, that there is an element of `mediation' in each of the other roles.

Respondents' Defined Meanings of the Role of Cultural Mediation

Results from the interviews with the tourism industry representatives and the visitors' self-completed survey revealed not only the perceived importance of the cultural mediating role of tour guides but also insights into the meanings of this role. Consistent with previous studies, as shown in Table 2, both visitors and tourism industry representatives reported that to be a cultural mediator, a tour guide needs to mediate access, information, and encounters, but their elaborations on what these roles entail provide new insight beyond that which has been previously reported in the literature.

Respondents’ Evaluation of Tour Guides’ Role Performance

Visitors were asked to answer three open-ended questions about their most memorable experience during their visit to Australia, what role, if any, their local tour guides played in such experiences and any other comments they would like to make. In terms of actual performance in relation to cultural mediation, findings from these open-ended questions describe the role performance of Chinese-speaking local tour guides in more detail but are consistent with the opinions expressed by tourism industry representatives. ‘Good’ tour guides were seen to be those who were able to deliver and mediate information in ways that broaden visitors’ views and facilitate communication between visitors and locals.

While acknowledging that some Chinese-speaking local tour guides have done well in mediating information, both tourism industry representatives and visitors perceive the main weaknesses in the current performance of many Chinese-speaking local tour guides to be inadequate knowledge about Australia resulting in a lack of depth in the information provided. According to tourism industry representatives, many tour guides have limited knowledge of Australia pertaining especially to tourism sites and general knowledge of Australian culture. The visitor survey respondents also acknowledged that the guides’ provision of information on Australia's history, geography, culture and economic development and the country's position in the world fell short of their expectations. This reinforces the findings of the in-depth interviews with industry representatives, that depth of knowledge and interpretive communication technique are the areas of cultural mediation most in need of attention.

Tour Guides’ Cultural Mediating Role in Visitors’ Most Memorable Experiences

Respondents to the visitor survey were asked to describe their most memorable experiences during their visit to Australia. Two hundred and twenty respondents provided 339 responses to this question. As shown in Table 3, visitors’ most memorable experiences were grouped into five main categories and ranked from the highest to the lowest frequency. Respondents expressed that their guided tour provided them with a deeper understanding of Australia including their understanding of Australian people, Australia as a nation and Australia as a tourism destination. The harmonious relationship between the Australian people and their natural environment was also mentioned, as was the way Australia protects wildlife, the way local people obey rules and regulations and the national interest in sport. Thus, respondents generally provided responses that related more closely to the information aspect rather than to the access or encounter elements of mediation.

Most Memorable Experiences

Most Memorable Experience (Multiple responses)	No. of responses*
Learning about Australia society, cultural values & lifestyles Cities & sites Scenery, nature & climate Friendly people & interaction with locals Others Total	113 88 67 24 27 339

*220 people provided 339 responses to Q19, of which 8 answers are not relevant to the question.

Respondents were also asked to describe what role, if any, their tour guides played in their memorable experiences. The role of cultural mediator was the most frequently mentioned with responses such as: “…furthered our understanding of Chinese & Australian cultures”; “…broadened our views, acted as a link between eastern and Western cultures”; and “…enhanced our understanding and facilitated communication between visitors and the locals” (Yu, 2003:138). 8

Again the role of mediating information was apparent. In short, the visitors’ responses provide empirical evidence that cultural mediation by tour guides facilitates and delivers memorable experiences and is a key mechanism by which the guide enhances the experience for this market segment.

Source: Monash University, http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/2538

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