Introduction

The modern tourism industry in nineteenth century has seen an unprecedented development in the twentieth century, especially after the Second World War. The world has gained a relatively peaceful and stable environment, and tourism become an emerging industry. For emerging countries, as representatives of new tourist destination continue to appear. The focus of the world’s tourism region was shifted to the east. China is the representative of this trend is the third largest tourist destinationin the world today [1]. Since the reform and opening up of China in 1978 to now, China’s tourism industry and the whole society and economy of China had a great change. China’s tourism industry has maintained a healthy, sustained and rapid development trend over the last thirty years since its reform and opening up. With the development of social economy and the improvement of people’s living standards, China’s tourism industry has seen clearly a huge advantage and huge domestic demand. It has shown a huge consumption potential, and good growth performance as the sunrise industry [2]. China has a lot of tourism resources such as magnificent mountains and rivers. It has rich and colorful folk customs, peculiar animal and plant, and incalculable scenic spots and historical sites. It coupled with the unique characteristics of the opera, music and dance. It is also famous for its food in the whole world. China attracts a large number of domestic and foreign tourists every year. China’s vast land has numerous and colorful mountains, lakes, canyons, caves and waterfalls [2]. China’s long history has left many cultural relics for modern tourists. It has magnificent treasure caves, rock paintings and sculptures, like the Mogao Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes and Han Stone Engraving. The Great Wall as a symbol of the Chinese nation has become the most famous tourist attractions in China. In the history of human civilization, this greatest architectural engineering founded in 2000 years ago in the spring and autumn and Warring States period. Due to its engineering and grand scale, it has been called the miracle in the world. China has hundreds of historical and cultural cities, most of them have reached a thousand years of history, like the picturesque landscape Suzhou and Hangzhou, and ancient natural Lijiang in Yunnan. China has 56 ethnic tribes and these different ethnic tribes have different culture and way of life. Each of them has different colorful and distinctive ethnic festivals [2]. Tourism itself is a cultural industry. Most tourists’ motivation to travel is to leave the place where they are, to find a new experience and to enrich their experience. China is a country with rich tourism resources, especially in the cultural tourism resources. Chinese culture is fully integrated into the cultural elements of each region and the national culture. Chinese culture is ancient, and the region is very wide. The Oriental civilization system, which is influenced by the Chinese civilization, is called “the Chinese culture circle”, which refers to the social ideology. It is the reflection of the social politics, economy and science and technology development level. Chinese culture produced a significant impact not only in Japan, the Korean Peninsula, but also to Vietnam, Singapore and other South Asian countries and regions. With the prosperity of China’s national strength, its international status was improved. A number of continents around the world including Asia and Europe accepted all of the Chinese culture and gave it a high degree of recognition and attention.

Background

Henan is a large province with rich cultural tourism resources. For the majority of tourists at home and abroad, especially for those obsessed with exploring the origins of Oriental culture and Chinese civilization, Henan is like a vast natural history museum to see and touch. Here, the oriental culture connotation is rich and profound, precious and unique style. Thirty years of reform and opening up the tourism industry Henan Province has made great development. Across the province through a variety of channels, increase tourism resources development and infrastructure construction efforts, here has built scenic spots in over 300 locations. Henan in the history of the formation and development of Chinese culture and the Eastern culture has a very important position. A large number of historical records and years of archaeological excavations proved that at least 8,000 years ago, the ancestors here created a precedent of human civilization, from China’s first dynasty 21 century BC - Xia Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty of the 13th century. Over 3500 years, there have been more than 20 imperial dynasties, more than 200 capital or moved the capital here, and countless monuments left. Called “national treasure” of national heritage conservation units has 96 underground cultural relics in the nation of cultural relics 1.3 million, accounting for about one-eighth of the country [3]. Henan is an important birthplace of Chinese surnames. The Chinese surname ceremony “top 100 most common surname in, root in Henan has 78, whether it is Li, Wang, Zhang, Liu on behalf of the fourth surname or Lin and Chen, Zheng, practice, south of the most common surname in the Huang Wei representative root in Henan. Henan to 10000 surname root, million cases of homologous “host Surname Culture Festival, has been widely recognized at home and abroad. Global Chinese set off the upsurge of roots, pilgrimage, worship the father. Surname culture is a unique cultural phenomenon in Henan [3]. Now, Nanyang is where the world’s largest water diversion project water diversion midline Taocha canal headwork and important water source core of Nanyang egg fossils National Nature Reserve, Baotianman National Forest Park and World Biosphere Reserve Funiu Mountain, National Geological Park and Nanyang Dushan Jade National Mine Park. Nanyang is one of the birthplaces of Chinese ancient culture. It does not only have a large number of primitive society ruins, but also have Chu culture and Han culture, three Kingdoms culture and folklore art [3]. Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Graving is made from stone, with the burin, or hook to ink lines, coating color special works of art. Han Dynasty is most popular as a kind of cultural ritual in society at that time. The essence of a material and spiritual is a precious heritage in Chinese art treasures. As the society of the Han Dynasty the typical cultural relics, the Han dynasty like stone (brick) to study the culture of the Han Dynasty and the ancient civilization has a very high value. It forms a vivid image with rich aesthetic connotation and the diversification of artistic style, called the Encyclopedia of the Han Dynasty. Nanyang has the largest collection of Chinese painting stone. Nanyang is the first museum of Han Dynasty China special collection, display, and research on Han Dynasty stone relief art museum (Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving Introduction) (Figures 1 and 2). Nanyang Wuhou Temple is located in China’s historical and cultural city in Henan Province, west of the city of Nanyang. It was built in the beginning of the Wei and Jin Dynasties and flourished in Tang and Song Dynasties and has 1800 years of history [4]. In the early Tang Dynasty Nanyang Wollongong Wuhou Temple has become a famous cultural landscape and people pay homage to sages and edify sentiments of the local. Many scholars sacrifice their time to visit life place. The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang is located on the north side of Western on Minzhu Street. It was founded in 1271 and lived through the Yuan, Ming and Qing, the People’s Republic of China’s five historical period. Now the existing houses are about more than 100 [5]. The South and North gates are 240 meters long and 150 meters wide, the area is 36,000 square meters. It is the national key cultural relic protection units and it is only one of The District Magistrate Office which preserves integrity and complete regulation. It is a complete physical specimen at County level (Supplementary Files). The existing building is a historical museum. It is a small replica of Forbidden City in Beijing, and also is a symbol of historical and cultural city Nanyang. It has high historical, artistic, scientific and cultural value [6]. Nanyang city has rich cultural tourism resources but because its cultural tourism development started late and did not get attention for a long time, Nanyang’s cultural tourism resources have many problems such as insufficient and lack depth and suffers from low utilization of cultural tourism resources and cultural tourism projects. It has less cultural tourist routes and cultural tourism resources development. Also it lacks of unified planning and culture. It experienced a sense of travel difference and some parts of the area are accessible poor in which tourists and others concentrated in a short holiday. The low quality of tourism services, part of the cultural tourism products and cultural connotation has lack of mining and development of related industries, also is low level. The relevant government departments did not pay attention to cultural tourism experience. These problems have affected the further development of cultural tourism experiences in Nanyang. The researcher decided to conduct a study about the tourist industry in Nanyang Henan and how to improve the culture experience of the tourist.

Figure 1: Map of China and Henan Province (www.zh.wikipedia.org).

Figure 2: Map of Nanyang City (www.zh.wikipedia.org).

Theoretical framework

The researcher used the Principles of Effective Interpretation in the study. Moscardo, in 1999, suggested a Mindfulness Model of Effective Interpretation for Visitor Attraction [1]. Moscardo identified the following factors as the foundations for mindfulness: good physical orientation, information to assist in planning a visit, programmes to ensure visitor comfort and safety, strategies to manage and alleviate crowding and congestion [1,7]. Mindfulness Theory comes from social psychology, where it is used to explain a large variety of everyday behaviors (Langer, 1989). Mindfulness has been shown to result in more positive perceptions of an experience, better responses to management requests and conservation messages, excitement, learning and satisfaction and in leisure and tourism settings. Moscardo suggests that the visitor’s previous experience at the destination and his level of personal interest will affect the interpretive factors of the visitors (Figure 3) [1]. If everything is in order, this can lend to positive outcome. This is shown in the theoretical framework below. The researcher used the principle of effective interpretation and attempted to determine the tourist’s assessment of two cultural attractions in Nanyang, Henan province, China for the improvement of its cultural tourism experience (Figure 4).

Figure 3: Adopted from Moscardo’s (1999) A Mindfulness Model of Effective Interpretation for Visitor Attraction.

Figure 4: Procedural Framework.

Statement of the problem

The main purpose of this research is to analyze the current situation of cultural tourism in Nanyang City, find the shortcomings of cultural tourism and improve the tourism experience of tourists in Nanyang for further promote the development of Nanyang tourism. This paper aimed to answer the following questions:

1. What was the profile of the respondents as to

1.1 Age

1.2 Gender

1.3 Frequency of visit

1.4 Educational attainment?

2. How did the respondents rate the three cultural attractions as to the following?

2.1 Good physical orientation

2.2 Information to assist in planning a visit

2.3 Programmes to ensure visitor comfort and safety

2.4 Strategies to manage and alleviate crowding and congestion?

3. How did the respondent’s ratings and the attributes of the three Cultural attractions compare?

4. What were the suggestions of the visitors to improve the cultural experience in Nanyang’s selected attractions?

5. How can the cultural tourism experience in Nanyang’s selected attractions be improved?

Hypothesis

This research hopes to prove the following hypothesis. There is no significant difference between respondents’ ratings of attributes of the three attractions.

Assumption of the study

This study was anchored on the assumption that the respondents answered the questionnaire truthfully and objectively. The researcher also assumed that the selected attractions will contribute the Nanyang cultural tourism experience. The characteristics and selection of local residents and tourists have a certain influence on these selected attractions.

Significance of the study

The individuals and groups identified below will benefit from this study:

For tourists: This study can improve the cultural tourism experience in Nanyang City. It can also enrich their spiritual experience, can relax at the same time and feel the different cultures and experiences in different walks of life.

For tourism companies: This study can help the companies recognize the current state of Nanyang city’s cultural tourism. Thus, the tourism companies can research and develop new cultural tourism products, tourism line and develop appropriate marketing strategy for tourism in these areas.

For the government departments: This study can promote the understanding of government departments on cultural tourism and pay attention to the promotion of cultural tourism in Nanyang city tourism and therefore help the economy. They can formulate policies and guidelines to help improve cultural tourism experience in Nanyang City. For other researchers, this study can be used as a reference for the study of cultural tourism in Nanyang. For the study, this research gave the researcher a new understanding of the importance of cultural tourism and tourism experience. It also gave future for a good preparation for the future career path.

Scope and limitation

This study on the cultural tourism experience in Nanyang, Henan Province, China. It does not include business travel, tourism and other tourism experience concentrate only on Nanyang city, not including the countryside. Visitors are local residents and local tourists. It does not include foreign tourists. Due to lack of publicity and the traditional Chinese culture is different, so no foreigners come to visit in the selected attractions. The research is about Wuhou Temple, Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings and The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang. The present cultural tourism in Nanyang is rich in cultural tourism resources, cultural tourism resources and natural resources. The cultural tourism resources are unique. The government has a policy to support for the development of cultural tourism.

Definition of terms

For clearer understanding of the research study, the following terms are defined:

Cultural tourism: This refers to the movement of persons to cultural attractions away from their normal place of residence with the intention to gather new information and experiences to satisfy their cultural needs [8]. Cultural tourism includes tourism in urban areas, particularly historic or large cities and their cultural facilities such as museums and theatres.

Humanized management: This refers to the management philosophy of human nature which is based on the theory of human nature. It is a kind of management mode in the process of the whole enterprise management to fully pay attention to human nature Tourist [9]. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes [10].

Tourism assessment: This refers to a scientific division of the different regions’ tourism resources quality and tourism attraction. Its purpose is to determine the value of tourism resources development and the development of the order. Making a clear direction of development is an important part of the tourism resources development planning [10].

Tourism attractions’ attributes: This refers to the ornamental and experiential tourism resources that have aesthetic characteristics and ornamental value [10].

Tourism experience: This is a result of a series of specific experience activities. This particular experience is formed by tourists in a particular tourism destination, which is composed of many complicated factors, including personal perception, local impression, and the products [11].

Tourist satisfaction: Essentially speaking, this refers to visitors’ satisfaction in a psychological state, which comes from the comparison of the feeling of the products of the enterprise and the feeling of their own. It is a feedback of the tourists. It is the evaluation of the product or service performance, as well as the product or service itself.

Tourism service: This refers to a variety of facilities, equipment, methods, means, ways and “enthusiasm” of the various forms, in order to meet the physiological and psychological needs of tourists. The material and spiritual needs create a harmonious atmosphere, a spirit of psychological effects to touch the passenger’s emotion and to arouse the psychological resonance, so that passengers receive a pleasant and happy service [11].

This chapter presents foreign and local literature, and studied which are found significant in the conduct and result of the study.

China’s tourism industry

Since the 60’s of the last century, the tourism industry has been developing with the rapid development of the world economy, and has gradually developed into the world’s largest emerging industries. The tourism industry has become the world’s largest industry in the ‘90s. International tourism receipts in the world grew with the proportion of export earnings of more than 8%, more than oil, automobile, mechanical and electrical export earnings. Tourism industry has remained the world’s largest industry, due to its income, employment, or investment and tax. The tourism industry gave to the development of the world’s economy that has played a pivotal role. China’s international tourism began in 1978 to motivate the social and economic development. The country was building its foreign exchange; therefore, the beginning of entry tourism, from then on, inbound tourism on sustained and had stable growth. As China’s overall national strength continued to rise the international influence continued to expand and market development was more in-depth. China’s rapid economic growth in the tourism industry promoted social and economic development. The “China Tourism News” and other media reported, in 2013, that China’s tourism industry accounts for 9.5% of global GDP, the contribution of the global economic growth of 3.1%, creating more than one hundred million direct jobs. Appreciation of the RMB, visa relaxation, especially the orderly development of policies for the development of outbound tourism has created a relatively relaxed environment. Tourism forms, online travel, mobile travel, etc., gradually increased the pursuit of quality of tourism services. Thanks to the rise of new products such as smart phones, tablet computers, online travel in recent years. The rapid development of mobile terminal with more convenient, more personalized user experience the online travel will become a new impetus for the rapid growth of China’s tourism market [2].

Cultural tourism

With the development of economy and the process of global integration, tourism has attracted more and more attention with its unique advantages. Traditional forms of travel, like business travel, holiday travel and education travel has been unable to meet the needs of people. The rich and colorful cultural tourism become people’s love. According to the analysis of cultural tourism industry cultural tourism is a behavioral process of perception, understanding and experiencing human culture. It refers to the appreciation of traditional culture in exotic places in search of traces of cultural celebrities. It also to the participation in various cultural activities organized for the purpose of local tourism. It is a collection of tourist activities which are created by the tourist business operators, which make the tourists obtain the rich cultural connotation and the depth of the tourism activities. Tourist experience is the product of a series of specific experience activities. The specific experience activity is tourists in a specific travel to sightseeing tour, visit, and learn, experience formed, formed by the feeling, consisting of many complex factors. These factors include individual perception, impression of a place and the consumption of products.

Cultural tourism (or culture tourism) is the subset of tourism which is concerned with a country or region’s culture. Specifically, these are the life style of the people in those geographical areas, the history of those people, their art, architecture, religion(s), and other elements that helped shape their way of life. Cultural tourism includes tourism in urban areas, particularly historic or large cities and their cultural facilities such as museums and theatres. It can also include tourism in rural areas showcasing the traditions of indigenous cultural communities (i.e. festivals, rituals), and their values and lifestyle, as well as niches like industrial tourism and creative tourism. It is generally agreed that cultural tourists spend substantially more than standard tourists do. This form of tourism is also becoming generally more popular throughout the world, and a recent OECD report has highlighted the role that cultural tourism can play in regional development in different world regions.

Nanyang city henan

Henan in the history of the formation and development of Chinese culture and the Eastern culture has a very important position. A large number of historical records and years of archaeological excavations proved that at least 8,000 years ago, the ancestors created a precedent of human civilization, from China’s first dynasty 21 century BC – Xia Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty of the 13th century. These 3500 years have been more than 20 imperial dynasties. There are more than 200 capitals moved to the capital, and left countless monuments. Called “national treasure” of national heritage conservation units have 96, underground cultural relics in the nation of cultural relics 1.3 million, accounting for about one-eighth of the country. Nanyang City is located in the Central Plains that has a long history and culture. It is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. There are rich cultural tourism resources. In the actual development of Nanyang’s cultural tourism resources are not fully utilized. The tourist cannot get a good cultural tourism experience in Nanyang city. Most of the cultural tourism resources in Nanyang are unique and monopolistic, but there are no domestic and foreign tourists’ that give too much attention. It many cultural tourism products in the county, the city and the province has a certain degree of visibility. It did not become famous, not even known by foreign tourists. How to expand the popularity of Nanyang cultural tourism resources has become one of the urgent needs to solve the problem of the development of cultural tourism in Nanyang City. Also some scenic spots have not been developed; the cultural connotation of the scenic spot has not been excavated. These cultural tourism resources need to study and show the depth of tourism developers to experience. Because the cultural tourism is conducive to promoting the traditional culture, the role of the tourism industry is becoming more and more important, to promote the economic benefits of the tourism industry [11]. Therefore, improving the Nanyang cultural tourism experience, many visitors can experience the traditional Chinese culture. The Chu and Han dynasty, Three Kingdoms culture and jade culture, are not only the external propaganda Chinese culture, but also promote the Nanyang city’s economic development.

Chu and han culture

Chu culture is the general name of the spring and autumn period of China Southern vassal state of Chu. The material culture and spiritual culture is an important part of Chinese civilization. The Western Zhou Dynasty in the state of Chu Chu culture is formed in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Basin as the representative of historical culture. The ancestors of Chu absorbed the Chinese ancestors created the advanced cultural factors, and to the Shang and Zhou civilization especially Ji Based slowly forward. Lacquer culture mainly bronze culture, silk embroidery, etc. [11] Han culture is the origin Chinese culture. In ancient times, it created a splendid culture and art with distinct characteristics. Han has 5,000 years of history with extremely rich cultural classics. For several years, regardless of the political, military, philosophy, economics, history, science, literature, art, etc. It had a number of far-reaching and representative works. Nanyang jade culture is the representative of Chinese jade culture. Dushan jade with its long jade mining processing and rich cultural connotation famous overseas, is one of China’s four famous jade. Dushan jade is tough micro close, delicate soft; color variegated, warm, green, blue, yellow, purple, red, white six pigments. Dushan jade has a long history, archaeology, projections. As early as 5000 years ago, Chinese ancestors had to understand and use the Dushan jade. Jade is an important part of Chinese traditional culture. The jade culture, which is the carrier of jade, not only has a deep influence on the idea of Chinese people, and has become an indispensable part of Chinese culture. Jade culture contains a “better to die honorably” patriotic national integrity; “to beat their swords into plowshares” solidarity fashion; “moist with warm” selfless dedication character; “be” honest and honest spirit. Jade is a vivid manifestation of the spirit of the East, is the essence of Chinese culture, the material foundation. Folk art is the Chinese art of various rap collectively. It is by singing folk oral literature and arts through a long evolution of a unique form of art form. Chinese folk art forms, including ballad singing, storytelling, comic dialogues, clapper talks, cross talks, etc. All kinds of folk art of the Chinese nation, said, pull, play, singing and other arts collectively. It is by Chinese folk oral literature and through long-term evolution of the art of singing, a unique form of art [11].

Tourist management

The creation of the Brundtl and Committee has become the most frequently cited definition of sustainable development that is to meet the needs of contemporary people in the condition of protecting the environment, and to develop models that do not harm the needs of future generations. Through investigation and research to improve the experience of cultural tourism in Nanyang, not only to promote the development of tourism in Nanyang, but also to protect the cultural tourism resources, and to provide a reference for the future development and utilization of cultural tourism resources, and to promote cultural tourism experience Tourist management refers to the behavior of tourists in the tourism management department or organization. Through the use of technology, education, economy, administration, law and other means, it can strengthen the attraction of tourism resources and environment it can also improve the quality of tourist experience, and realize the sustainable utilization of tourism resources and the maximization of economic benefits. Tourist management includes the management of tourist destination, tourist capacity management, visitor behavior management, tourist experience management, visitor management, visitor safety management, etc. Reasonable tourist management plays an important role in the maintenance and management of scenic areas, while protecting the tourism environment and promoting the cultural connotation. Also realize the sustainable development of the environment, social and tourist destination.

Tourist experience

Travel experience is an experience-based ultra-utilitarian comprehensive experience. In the course of this experience, tourists can watch in landscape aesthetic pleasure, to discover and develop themselves in dealing with people in colorful taste of life one can imitate his positive role in the process of species and may be in the process of tourism consumption will the enjoy worldly pleasures. These pleasures are general affiliated to some kind of super-utilitarian color. Travel experiences in pursuit of the goal of pleasure travel. Tourism pleasure is a special pleasure. It is the tourists in the tourism process by viewing experience, communication, imitation and consumption and other ways to relax, change, experience, novelty, and indeed other psychological thrill. Travel experience is the product of a series specific experience activities. This particular experience activity will give the tourists the best way to spend time for sightseeing tour, visit, learn and experience. It is a synthesis of the many complex factors which include the personal perception, local impression and consumer products, etc. [12,13] pointed out that different people need different experiences. Different experiences have different meanings for different travelers and their social. Cohen defined tourism experience as the relationship between the “center” and individuals. Personal experience that the meaning of the world value, depending on the individual whether or not attached to a “center”; he is convinced that the travel experience reflects a variety of motives. Some stable pattern turns to build the world concerning individual travelers, and represents the way to meet the various needs of the individual. Ryan after a comprehensive view of the parties pointed out that the individual tourist experience is a versatile leisure activity, which may include the entertainment component or learning component [14]. Dou Qing in the type of tourism experience in the further study of the tourism experience into 9 categories such as emotional experience cultural experience, survival experience, national style experience, learning experience, life experience, natural experience, dream to achieve experience and entertainment experience [15]. Zou Tongqian after the discussion of the essence of tourism experience distinguished among the five types of tourism experience, entertainment, education, escape, and beauty, and empathy. He thought that tourism experience has individual participation and integrated features. Li Xiaoqin believes that the core content of the travel experience is the emotional experience, knowledge experience, and practical experience and change experience [16]. Song Yongmei, sun Gennian based on the connotation and characteristics of tourism experience dealt that experience tourism has five grades of types: entertainment, escape relax, intellectual education, aesthetic adventure and exposure of empathy [17]. Richard et al. integrated multi view found out the five theories of tourism experience were summarized as follows [18]:

(1) The level of experience. They enjoy the experience of nature’s get rid of tension, communion and learning, value sharing and creation,

(2) Experience of the standard mode - flow. It was the best experience of the psychologist. J Jane Te Mikhail [19] proposed that this state “has the appropriate challenge and can make a person deeply immersed in it. He can forget the passage of time and not ever aware of his own existence”;

(3) A destination behavior model. Include from the concept of behavior, the concept of standardization and control of the concept of predictive goal oriented behavior;

(4) Multi type model. Based from the tourists have many types, they seek the tourism experience so different. Therefore, they also mentioned that the [20] to experience division;

(5) Insider and outsider models.

The insider in early residents, while the tourists are the outsider. Some are not aware of the symbolism of the local culture but later with the desalination of social relations, the shorten distance between the tourists and local residents the tourists had the chance to know the history of tourism destination and other information. Tao Shaohua proposed the combination of experience economy and Literature Tourism in 4 ways. First, the tourism experience is decomposed into people, environment, activity and reaction4 elements [21]. The interaction between tourist and other participants (people) is involved in various recreational activities (activity), which is composed of tourism attraction, physical environment and design, and through this process to produce a variety of intrinsic reaction (reaction). Nilnoppakun A and Ampavat K said that with the tourists’ behavior trend gradually change from conventional “mass” tourism to alternative “niche” tourism, tourist destinations have to improve their tourism products and differentiate the destinations’ image to tourists [22]. The growing demand in cultural tourism is because of local arts and culture. They would like also to engage in local cultural events and activities. On the supply site, local stakeholders recognized of their unique cultural resources that could be developed to attract tourists. Tobe Quality Tourism Experiences destination; besides enhancing their ability to develop, manage, and market the destination; local community should create this new image to tourists using variety of media Lalith Chandralal and Fredy-Roberto Valenzuela found that memorable tourism experiences(MTE) of which eight represent the cognitive domain-perceived meaningfulness experience [23]. Such as

1) Perceived opportunities to encounter authentic local experiences,

2) Perceived significance of the experience,

3) Perceived novelty of the experience,

4) Perceived opportunities for social interactions,

5) Perceived serendipity and surprises encountered during the experience,

6) Perceived local hospitality,

7) Perceived professionalism of local guides-and the last theme represent the affective domain i.e. various emotions such happiness and excitement associated with MTEs. DMOs may attract previous visitors by clever promotions which creatively invite them to replicate previous good feelings MTEs also can have a positive impact of attracting new visitors to the destination through word of mouth recommendations since many travelers tend to recommend MTEs to others. The most important implication for managers is that creativity should be an attribute of Greg Richards, and Julie Wilson [24]. By dint of being developed endogenously, creative tourism does more than add a creative element to the destination product. It has to involve the creative use of destination assets (inherited, created and creative assets) to provide creative experiences for tourists. This implies that there should be a specific reason why tourists should engage in specific creative activities in one’s particular destination. Creative tourism also arguably has the potential to tackle other issues of tourism management. Creative tourism can also transform this relationship, turning the local into the essential source of expertise that the tourist is seeking, reversing the usual power relationships of the host-guest encounter. Creative tourism should be viewed as one potential option among many others for destinations seeking to avoid problems of serial reproduction of culture. Scott McCabe tourists’ concept in tourism research focused on the type and form of tourism experience, rather than the concept of use [25]. In fact tourist talk is perhaps one of the most interesting and fundamental frames of discourse through which to analysis contemporary social mores and moral concerns. tourism researchers to focus much more on the features of the interaction data they acquire, and shift the focus on understanding inner worlds, towards the focus on practical achievements. They have to recognize the cultural and interactional contexts in which they engage with their subjects.

Synthesis

From the readings and articles everyone can know that Nanyang city has rich cultural tourism resources, if these resources will be utilized, Nanyang cultural tourism will have a big change to improve the cultural tourism experience. The better experience the tourists have the more tendency they will visit Nanyang. The improvement of the cultural tourism experience is not an easy thing; it is a complicated wok. It needs to consider many aspects, like tourists spiritual need, culture need, enjoyment need, include tourism resources authenticity, tourist emotion and so on.

This chapter discusses the research design, the setting of the study, the respondents involved in the study, subject of study, sources of data, procedures of study and statistical treatments used by the researcher.

Methods of research used

In this study, the researcher used the descriptive method of research for it is the appropriate method in assessing the tourism cultural experience of both residents on selected attractions in the city of Nanyang. The results will become the baseline of improvement cultural tourism experience in the city. According to Manuel and Medel (1990), the descriptive method of research describes what is involved on the description, recording, analysis and interpretation of the present nature, composition and process of the phenomenon the focus is on the prevailing conditions on how a person, group or things behave or function.

Setting of the study

Henan Province is located in East Central of China. Most of the area lies in the south of the Yellow River so named “Henan”. The province’s total area is about 167,000 square kilometers and population is 97 million. Henan has a unique geographical and natural condition due to its special strategic position and abundant resources of agricultural and sideline products, wide variety of mineral products, extending in all directions of the road traffic, splendid history and culture, rapid development of economy. Thus, Henan became one of the important provinces in China.

Nanyang is a perfect level city in Henan province of China. It is located in the middle, between northern and southern boundary line of China. It has a subtropical monsoon climate, winter is cool and dry, and summer is hot and humid. It is the center of politics, economy, culture, science and education, transportation, finance and trade center in the south west. The city is the third biggest in Henan province. Nanyang is the first batch of historical and cultural city opened by the State Council. It has 3,000 years of history. It is the birthplace of Chu and Han culture in China.

Respondents of the study

The respondents of the study were 100 domestic tourists each for Nanyang Wuhou Temple, Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving and The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang. They were asked to answer the questionnaire related to the selected attractions in Nanyang city in order to assess their cultural tourism experience and recommend innovative suggestions as basis for Nanyang cultural tourism experience promotion.

Sampling technique

The respondents were chosen based on non-probability sampling technique. Utilizing the purposive sampling technique, the respondents were the domestic tourists visiting the three selected attractions.

Data gathering instrument

The questionnaire was developed by the researcher and consisted of two (2) parts. The first part was composed of the profile of respondents in Terms of age, gender, the frequency of visits to the three selected attractions, and their educational attainment. Part 2 used the Principles of Effective Interpretation to determine the tourists’ assessment on the three attractions based on good physical orientation, information to assist in planning a visit, programmes to ensure visitor comfort and safety, strategies to manage and alleviate crowding and congestion. The five-point Likert Scale was used to give an equivalent interpretation for each point. The following were used as the based for interpretation:

Validation of the instrument

In order to determine the validity of the instrument, the researcher presented the questionnaire to her adviser and to the statistics department of Centro Escolar University. It was also presented to other undergraduate school professor (an English teacher of Nanyang Normal University and a literature teacher of Nanyang Normal University) in China for comments and suggestion. The revised questionnaire was then submitted to the adviser for approval before its administration. A pretest among 30 respondents was conducted in Nanyang.

Research protocol

The researcher distributed 100 questionnaires in each of the 3 attractions for a total of 300 respondents. After the survey, the questionnaires were given to Centro Escolar University’s Statistics Department for statistical treatment.

Statistical treatment

The following statistical procedures were used to attain an indepth analysis of data: Frequency, percentage and ranking distribution were utilized in order to determine local tourists profile in terms of age, gender, and the frequency of visit to the three attractions. Weighted mean was utilized to determine the tourist’s assessment on the Nanyang Wohou Temple, Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings and The District Magistrate office of Magistrate cultural tourism experience in terms of interpretation and attraction, the good orientation attention gave comfort to the visitor with variety or change in experience, personal control or choice. Standard deviation was used to identify the gap of responses and to determine the homogeneity and heterogeneity in the assessment. A t-test was used to compare and determine difference in their assessment of the respondent regarding their cultural tourism experience in Nanyang Wohou Temple and Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings and The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang. ANOVA is comparison of the sample mean between different conditions, through the data analysis to find out a significant impact on the factors of cultural tourism in Nanyang, and the interaction between these factors, and the impact of the best level of cultural tourism in Nanyang city.

Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data

This chapter presents the results and discussion of the gathered data that would answer the problem stated. The data and statistical findings are presented herein.

Personal profile of the respondents

The personal profile of the respondents is presented according to their age, gender, number of visit and educational attainment.

Table 1 reveals the data of the respondents of the study. Among the respondents’ age in Nanyang Han Stone Engraving, the highest is 61 or 61.00 percent of the respondents who are between 40-46 years old. For Wuhou Temple the highest rank is 36 or 36.00 percent who are between 54-60 years old, and for the District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the highest rank is 21 or 21.00 percent who are between19-25 years old. This revealed that majority of the respondents belong to 40- 46 age bracket. With regard to gender, the male and female respondents were more or less equal, except for the Nanyang Museum of Han stone of Engraving which had more female visitors than male.

Table 1: Respondents’ Profile.

In general for Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving, people between 40-46 years old already have aesthetic judgment and sense of worth. They enjoy and appreciate the historical engravings (Table 2). For Wuhou Temple, most of the visitors are between 54-60 years old because in China most of women retired at age 55 and men at age 60. People in that age have more free time to travel. Since The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang is located near one of the biggest shopping streets there are many young people who belong to age between 19-25 years old who like to go there. After shopping they go to the District Magistrate Office along the way. The highest educational attainment of the respondents is college with 39.00 percent of Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving. The Han Stone of Engravings exhibit the Han Dynasty culture and history as well as astronomy and geography. People who attained college have achieved the higher knowledge and intellect to understand the Han Stone Engraving. For Wuhou Temple, the highest educational attainment of the respondents is senior high school with 40 percent. People who attained this level have the normal knowledge and intellect to understand the culture of the Wuhou Temple. Also, as stated above, 37 percent of the visitors are between 54-60 years old. This generation of people was not able to attain high education because at that time China was still very poor and most people only attained junior high school. The old people like Wuhou Temple because it was built based on one of the China four famous traditional novels-The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It was a very popular novel in the past. There are three hundred respondents of the three attractions, and the result showed that the respondents have visited the District Magistrate Office in Nanyang which is considered as the highest because of its good location. There are always many more people and tourists in the area. However, not many people want to visit again because even through this attraction is housed in a very historical building, a lot of the relics are actually manmade. So visitors think this attraction does not have much historical significance. Many of the respondents have also visited the attractions more than once; hence, they are very capable of answering the survey.

Table 2: Shows the frequency of visits to the three selected attractions.

The respondents rate about the three attractions

Good physical orientation: Table 3 shows that the respondents assessment on the attractions good physical orientation, for Wuhou Temple on the statement “signs panels or exhibits that provide information” got the highest mean of 4.62 with a verbal interpretation of excellent and followed by “information centers to help tourists” with the mean of 4.11 interpreted as very good. Last in the rank is the statement “ramps for the handicap or elderly” with the mean of 1.32 or interpreted as poor. For Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving the statement “signs panels or exhibits that provide information” got the highest mean with 4.86 interpreted as excellent and followed by “information centers to help tourists” with the mean of 4.38 or very good. Last in rank is the statement “paths are identified” with the mean of 2.03 or fair. For The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang with the statement “find way around through paths” got the highest mean with 3.60 interpreted as very good and followed by “signs panels or exhibits that provide information” with the mean of 3.41 interpreted as good. Last in rank is the statement “paths are identified” with the mean of 2.92 or good.

Table 3: Good physical orientation.

It is implied that good physical orientation is an important factor for respondents because it helps the tourists the ability to appreciate more the target destination. The results proved that the Wuhou Temple and Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving are excellent at “signs panels or exhibits that provide information” and good at “information centers to help tourists”. These two attractions have been very famous since a long time and they provide information to show the importance of each exhibit. They all have information centers to tell tourists how to visit the attraction and how to appreciate and learn more about each exhibit. The Wuhou Temple and Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings rated poor and fair respectively as far as ramps for the elderly and handicap is concerned. The Wuhou Temple is a historical attraction and has 1800 years of history and most of all is ancient architecture. It is difficult to make new ramps for the handicap or elderly inside because new ramps may destroy the aesthetics of the ancient architecture. Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving’s is not very accessible. It is not beside the main way and no more public transportation can go there. The Museum cannot be relocated to a better area like business center or city center because they are very expensive and have a lot of limitations. The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang is an old government office and it is not very big so it is easy to find the way around. It is also a historical and cultural attraction and provides many signs, panels or exhibits to provide information to visitors and make their stay worthwhile.

Information to assist in planning a visit: Based on the result, for the Wuhou Temple the statement “lectures and audio-visual presentation” got the highest rank with a mean of 2.77 and verbally interpreted as “good”. Second in rank is “Range of different media to educate visitor” with the mean of 2.61 and interpreted as “ good” also while the statement “the websites have special interests to inform visitors” obtained the lowest mean of 1.12 and verbally interpreted as “poor”. For the Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving the statement “lectures and audio-visual presentation” got the highest rank with a mean of 3.72 and verbally interpreted as “good”. Second in rank is “range of different media to educate visitor” with a mean of 2.15 and interpreted as “fair” while the statement “guidebooks, pamphlets or brochures” obtained the lowest mean of 1.01 and verbally interpreted as “poor”. The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang at regards “lectures and audio-visual presentation” got the highest rank with a mean of 3.36 and verbally interpreted as “very good”. Second in rank is “brochures for different levels of visitors” with mean of 3.21 and interpreted as “good while the statement “range of different media to educate visitor” obtained the lowest mean of 2.82 and verbally interpreted as “fair”.

Table 4 shows that all of the three attractions were “very good” or “good” at the statement “lectures and audio-visual presentation”. All three attractions have developed lectures and audio-visual presentations that can give more direct information to tourists. Since the development of technology, Wuhou Temple and Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving have also used different media to educate visitors like large screen display, interactive TV, and radio which let visitors get more direct knowledge. However, there were also some weaknesses. The Wuhou Temple does not have a good website, and most of the information about the attraction is just given by travel agencies and tour offices. The website is not interesting and does not inform visitors. If the visitors never know this attraction, they cannot find more information from the websites. It makes Wuhou Temple lose more potential visitors. The Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving does not provide quality guidebooks, pamphlets or brochures. The Museum is run by the government to protect and exhibit the Han Stone Engravings. It is free for everyone although the government is not making any strategies to promote the attraction. The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang was rated “fair about “range of different media to educate visitor” because it is new compared to the other two attractions and is not yet complete. It only uses one kind of media to introduce the general information for its tours which is the radio. It does not give visitors more direct and personalized interpretation, so the visitors see no need for repeat visitation.

Table 4: Information to Assist in Planning a Visit.

Programmes to ensure visitors comfort and safety: Table 5 reveals that for the Wuhou Temple the statement “restrooms are clean and comfortable” got the highest rank with a mean of 4.12 and verbally interpreted as “excellent”. Second in rank is “available rest areas everywhere” with a mean of 3.98 and interpreted as “very good” while the statement “prices at souvenir shops” obtained the lowest mean of 1.35 and verbally interpreted as “poor”. For the Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving the statement “security measures for visitors at the parking areas” got the highest rank with a mean of 4.77 and verbally interpreted as “excellent”. Second in rank is “souvenir shops selling variety of items” with a mean of 4.61 and interpreted as “excellent” while the statement “available restaurant for food and drink” obtained the lowest mean of 1.14 and verbally interpreted as “poor”. The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang shows that the statement “security measures for visitors at the Temple or Museum” got the highest rank with a mean of 3.20 and verbally interpreted as “good”. Second in rank is “security measures for visitors at the parking areas” with mean of 3.16 and interpreted as “good” while the statement “restrooms are clean and comfortable” and “number of restrooms” obtained the lowest mean of 2.90 and verbally interpreted as “good”.

Table 5: Programmes to ensure visitors comfort and safety.

Wuhou Temple is a famous attraction in Nanyang city, so every year many people come to visit. It is AAAA tourism destinations (China tourism destination rank: the highest level is AAAAA) so it provides excellent restrooms that are clean and comfortable. Although the restrooms are all Chinese style, the restrooms at Wuhou Temple are antique architectural style. The restrooms can give a deep impression to the visitors. The restrooms are a part of public infrastructure, thus they are brightly lit during work time. It is also necessary for AAAA tourism destination to provide rest areas everywhere to make visitors more comfortable. The rest areas are very interesting because they are located in The Long Corridor outside every building. After visitors look around the building they can have a rest on the long corridor and experience the historical and cultural atmosphere. The souvenir shops, however the price of their goods are quite high so visitors rated them poorly. As mentioned earlier Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving is not located in the city center, but in a way, it benefits the Museum as it has a big parking area with good security measures. It is the only Museum of Han Stone Engraving in China. Many people have great interest in it. The souvenir shop has variety of engraved rubbings. The visitors can buy the rubbings for souvenirs as a memento of this attraction where they experienced the unique history and culture. The Museum does not sell food and drink as a way to keep the Museum environment clean and preserve the relics. The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang highest rank is about “security measures for visitors at the Temple or Museum”. It is very evident inside the attraction that it provides good security and fire-control measure, because a lot of the cultural relics are wooden construction and very precious. So the attractions need preservation of cultural relics at the same time keeps the visitor safe. Since, it is beside the business center it has secured parking areas that help visitors feel relieved while on tour. The lowest rank is about restrooms, because this attraction is a newly developed scenic spot compared to the other two attractions. It is still in the development stage and many public infrastructures are under construction and service development has not kept up with the attraction’s development. It does not have enough restrooms, for visitors and they are not very clean and comfortable.

Strategies to manage and alleviate crowding and congestion: Table 6 shows that based on the respondents assessment on the attractions strategies to manage and alleviate crowding and congestion, for Wuhou Temple the statement “different paths for visitors to take” got the highest mean of 2.72 verbally interpreted as “good”. Last in rank was the statement “seasonal event programs throughout the year” with the mean of 1.02 and interpreted as “poor”. For Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving the statement “different themes for visitors to select” got the highest mean with 2.27 and verbally interpreted as “good”. Last in rank was the statement “seasonal event programs throughout the year” with the mean of1.21 and verbally interpreted as “poor”. For The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the statement “different paths for visitors to take” got the highest mean with 3.16 with verbal interpretation as “good”. Last in rank is the statement “availability of guided walks and tours” with the mean of 2.86 and interpreted as “good”.

Table 6: Strategies to Manage and Alleviate Crowding and Congestion.

Through the data, one can find that Wuhou Temple and The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang are the highest when referred to the statement “different paths for visitors to take” because they both feature a beautiful historic garden building. In the garden, there are many courtyards with different paths surrounding them, so visitors can choose different path of visit. At the Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving, all the engravings for exhibit are also classified or grouped like astronomy theme, folk dance, myths and legends, so visitors can choose different themes to visit that will satisfy their. Table 6 also revealed the lowest statement of both Wuhou Temple and Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving was “seasonal event programs throughout the year”. These attractions are cultural tourism destinations that display history and culture. They have not yet organized seasonal event programs like Spring Plugging Dance and offer sacrifices to gods or ancestors in autumn. They have not yet combined season and culture that give visitors more fun and experience and feel the ancient life. For The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang lowest statement is “availability of guided walks and tours”. Tours guides are not given thorough training which is very much needed in the cultural attractions. A good tour guide can give more knowledge to different level education and visitors. They can help visitors learn more and feel the cultural destination’s spirit and eventually recommend others to visit.

Comparison of rating for cultural attractions attributes

Comparison of rating for good physical orientation: Table 7 reveals the comparison of the assessment of respondents’ rating on attributes in selected attractions. The data shows that there is a very significant difference between respondents’ assessment on good physical orientation. The table shows that Wuhou Temple has a highest assessment than District Magistrate Office which has a mean of 3.52 and standard deviation of 0.42 as compare to 3.24 mean and standard deviation of 0.89 on good physical orientation. Also, Wuhou Temple has a significant difference to Nanyang Stone Engravings. The reason is Wuhou Temple is a famous since and its facilities were completed than other two attractions. Wuhou Temple was built near main way and it can provide information to show the importance of each exhibit and tell visitors how to visit the attraction.

Table 7: Comparison of Rating for Good Physical Orientation.

Comparison of rating for information to assist in planning visit: Table 8 Shows that there is a very significant difference between respondent assessments on information to assist in planning visit. In information to assist in planning visit, District Magistrate Office has a good assessment over the Wuhou Temple and Nanyang Han Stone Engravings. Nanyang Stone Engravings has a significant difference to Wuhou Temple. The selected attractions were rated fair as regards information to assist in planning visit while Wuhou Temple is weak and seems have no interest and no special interests to inform visitors, about Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving. There was no enough a guide book, pamphlets or brochures, while the District Magistrate Office uses limited medium communication to inform the prospective. To improve the insufficient of the selected attractions, can enhance the visitors experience to get more information and knowledge from different ways.

Table 8: Comparison of Rating for Information to Assist in Planning Visit.

Comparison of rating for programs to ensure visitors comfort and safety: Table 9 reveals that there is no significant difference between respondents’ assessment on programmes to ensure visitors comfort and safety. The respondents’ rated the selected attractions’ programmes to ensure visitors comfort and safety as not significant. Regardless of level of education, age or gender, all visitors have the same requirement with comfort and safety in selected attractions, like secured parking areas, restaurant and restrooms. There is no big difference.

Table 9: Comparison of Rating on Programmes to Ensure Visitors Comfort and Safety.

Comparison of rating for strategies to manage and alleviate crowding and congestion: Table 10 reveals that there is a very significant difference between the respondents’ assessment on strategies to manage and alleviate crowding and congestion in selected attractions. The table shows that in strategies to manage and alleviate crowding and congestion, District Magistrate Office has a good assessment over the Wuhou Temple and Nanyang Stone Engravings. Nayang Stone Engravings has a significant difference to Wuhou Temple. For the selected attractions, they all have very significant with one other. Although the selected attractions are all cultural destinations, they have different strategies to manage and alleviate crowding and congestion so respondents’ rate is different. For Wuhou Temple, there are no different themes for visitors to select. For Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving, there are no different paths for visitors to take; and for District Magistrate Office there are no available guided walks and tours.

Table 10: Comparison of Rating for Strategies to Manage and Alleviate Crowding and Congestion.

Suggestions of visitors to improve the cultural experience in Nanyang’s selected attractions

Table 11 presents the respondents’ suggestions on how the selected attractions can improve the cultural experience in Nanyang city: The table above lists the main suggestions of visitors to improve the cultural experience in Nanyang’s selected attractions. The three selected attractions are all cultural and historical attractions so without proper interpretation the visitors cannot understand the great history and culture. For Wuhou Temple, the visitors also suggested for more event programs as well as parking areas. Although it is a famous attraction, it also needs to make the visit more interesting and enrich their event programs to attract more visitors. Other visitors suggested improving the parking areas to expand capacity. Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings did not have good orientation, so the visitors saw the need to find the way around easier and to provide more guidebooks to introduce the place. The visitors to the District Magistrate Office in Nanyang also suggested to improving the public infrastructure and the surrounding environment.

Table 11: Suggestions of Visitors to Improve the Cultural Experience In Selected Attractions.

Improvement of the cultural tourism experience in Nanyang’s selected attractions

After identifying the weaknesses in the cultural tourism experience at the selected attractions, the researcher prepared some proposed measures to improve the cultural experience. Based on the result of the study, various weaknesses among factors were identified (Table 12). As such, development plan was formulated which could be useful in booting the cultural tourism experience in Nanyang. Respondents were college for the Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving. For Wuhou Temple, the highest educational attainment of the respondents was senior high school.

Table 12: Proposed Measures to Improve Cultural Experience At Nanyang’s Selected Attractions.

As the result showed the respondents have visited the District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the most.

The respondents rate about the three attractions

Good physical orientation: From the result, the statements “signs panels or exhibits that provide information” got the highest for Wuhou Temple and Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving with a verbal interpretation of “excellent”. The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the statement “find way around through paths” got the highest with “very good”.

Information to assist in planning a visit: For the Wuhou Temple, Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving and The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the statement “lectures and audio-visual presentation” got the highest with the verbal interpretation of “good” and “very good” respectively.

Programmes to ensure visitors comfort and safety: Wuhou Temple’s statement “restrooms are clean and comfortable” got the highest with the verbal interpretation as “excellent”. For the Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving the statement “security measures for visitors at the parking areas” got the highest with the interpretation of “excellent”. For the District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the statement “security measures for visitors at the Temple or Museum” got the highest with the verbal interpretation as “good”.

Strategies to manage and alleviate crowding and congestion: Wuhou Temple the statement “different paths for visitors to take” got the highest with the verbal interpretation as “good”. For Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving the statement “different themes for visitors’ to select” got the highest and interpreted as “good”. The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the statement “different paths for visitors to take” get the highest with verbal interpretation as “good”.

Comparison the respondents’ rating and attributes of the cultural attractions

Comparison the respondents’ rate and attributes at good physical orientation: The data shows that there is a very significant difference between respondents’ assessment on good physical orientation on District Magistrate Office with Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings and Nanyang Museum and Wuhou Temple.

Comparison of the respondents’ rate and attributes at information to assist in planning visit: The data shows that there is a very significant difference between respondent assessment on information to assist in planning visit on District Magistrate Office with Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings and Wuhou Temple.

Comparison of the respondents’ rate and attributes at programmes to ensure visitors comfort and safety: The data shows that there is no significant difference between respondent assessment on District Magistrate Office with Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings and Wuhou Temple.

Comparison of the respondents’ rate and attributes at strategies to manage: There is a very significant difference comparison between respondents’ assessment on District Magistrate Office with Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings and Wuhou Temple.

Summary of Findings, Conclusions and Recommendation

This chapter presents the summary of findings of the study, the conclusion and recommendations.

Summary of findings

Based on the previous chapters, the following findings have been noted:

Respondents profile for selected attractions

1.1 The personal profile of the respondents is presented according to their age, gender, number of visit and educational attainment. For Wuhou Temple between 54-60 years old was the highest and Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving the highest of the respondents were between40-46 years old, while in District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the highest rank was between19-25 years old.

1.2 With regard to gender, the male and female respondents were more or less equal, except for the Nanyang Museum of Han stone of Engraving which had more female visitors than male.

1.3 The highest educational attainment of the respondents was college for the Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving. For Wuhou Temple, the highest educational attainment of the respondents was senior high school.

1.4 As the result showed the respondents have visited the District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the most.

The respondents rate about the three attractions

Good physical orientation: From the result, the statements “signs panels or exhibits that provide information” got the highest for Wuhou Temple and Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving with a verbal interpretation of “excellent”. The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the statement “find way around through paths” got the highest with “very good”.

Information to assist in planning a visit: For the Wuhou Temple, Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving and The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the statement “lectures and audio-visual presentation” got the highest with the verbal interpretation of “good” and “very good” respectively.

Programmes to ensure visitors comfort and safety: Wuhou Temple’s statement “restrooms are clean and comfortable” got the highest with the verbal interpretation as “excellent”. For the Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving the statement “security measures for visitors at the parking areas” got the highest with the interpretation of “excellent”. For the District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the statement “security measures for visitors at the Temple or Museum” got the highest with the verbal interpretation as “good”.

Strategies to manage and alleviate crowding and congestion: Wuhou Temple the statement “different paths for visitors to take” got the highest with the verbal interpretation as “good”. For Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engraving the statement “different themes for visitors to select” got the highest and interpreted as “good”. The District Magistrate Office in Nanyang the statement “different paths for visitors to take” get the highest with verbal interpretation as “good”.

Comparison the respondents’ rating and attributes of the cultural attractions

Comparison the respondents’ rate and attributes at good physical orientation: The data shows that there is a very significant difference between respondents’ assessment on good physical orientation on District Magistrate Office with Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings and Nanyang Museum and Wuhou Temple.

Comparison of the respondents’ rate and attributes at information to assist in planning visit: The data shows that there is a very significant difference between respondent assessment on information to assist in planning visit on District Magistrate Office with Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings and Wuhou Temple.

Comparison of the respondent’s rate and attributes at programmes to ensure visitors comfort and safety: The data shows that there is no significant difference between respondent assessment on District Magistrate Office with Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings and Wuhou Temple.

Comparison of the respondent’s rate and attributes at strategies to manage: There is a very significant difference comparison between respondents’ assessment on District Magistrate Office with Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings and Wuhou Temple.

Based on the results of the study, the research concludes that:

1. Location plays a very important role for tourist destinations. The most visited attraction is District Magistrate Office in Nanyang because it is located near one of the biggest shopping street so many young people like to go there. After shopping, they go to the District Magistrate Office along the way.

2. Good physical orientation, especially for historical cultural attractions, is an important factor because it helps tourists of all types to enjoy and learn about the destination more.

3. Programmes which help visitors to plan their visit and to ensure visitor comfort and safety are essential factors to further attract tourists to visit the attractions.

4. Good interpretation in historical and cultural attractions can give visitors a more memorable and fruitful experience.

5. New media technology, such as screen display and interactive TV, are effective in giving visitors different ways to experience the culture of an attraction.

1. In order to be able to implement the proposed measures, the management of the three attractions can formulate a committee with representatives from the public and private sector to study the possibility of improving the facilities like ramps for the handicap and elderly; make more clearly road sign everywhere and build enough restrooms. The committee can also consider hinge professionals to design websites and design the guidebooks. They can re-evaluate and divide the tourism resources to develop different themes for visitors to select. The committee can ask for more finance to invest in new media with new technology like interactive TV, simultaneous translation.

2. For the Wuhou Temple, the management can exploit tourism resources to develop more themes for visitors to choose from, like national cultural song and dance or performances to show the history and the ancient life style.

3. For the Nanyang Museum of Han Stone Engravings, the management can extend the Museum’s area to be able to exhibit more engravings.

4. For the District Magistrate Office in Nanyang, the management needs to improve the public facilitates for more visitors comfort and train professional tour guides for better services.

5. For the local government. They can give the attractions more funding and policy support to give more money and policy support to the selected attractions it also helps them improve public facilities and develop more choices to introduce the various cultures.

6. For Tourism Companies. They can explore deeper the cultural tourism resources to give more choices for visitors to select. Train more professional and higher educated tour guides for the attractions to let visitors have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the attractions.

7. For future researchers, they can choose other cultural attractions in Nanyang and expand the respondents to include foreign visitors. This will give a deeper analysis of cultural tourism experience.

Acknowledgments

The researcher hereby expresses her sincerest appreciation and gratitude to the following: Dr. Ma. Cristina R Williams, Tourism professor of CEU Master of Science Hospitality Management, for kindly teaching and helping her how to write thesis with the steps and methods of writing this paper. Dr. Maricar W. Ching, Assistant to the Dean for Research of CEU Graduate School, for giving her the policies about thesis and patiently explain to her how to revise the title. Dr. Cecilia C. Uncad, Dean of Program of CEU Graduate School, for giving approval of her paper. Madam Roselle E. Lopez, office staff of Graduate School for always kindly answering her questions when she has something she cannot understand about the thesis. CEU Statistics Department, for revising the questionnaire and giving her advice on statistical treatment. To her parents, for encouraging her when she is faced with difficulties. To her best friend Angele Cheng for helping her to find foreign literature for her research. To all who have in one way or another provided the strength and inspiration to finish the paper.

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