Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Promoting Festival Tourism-An Examination of Motives and Perceptions of Chinese Visitors Attending the Oktoberfest in Munich (Germany)

Festivals have been increasingly utilized as cultural tourism attractions and an effective image maker for destinations. In the intensively competitive international tourism market, promotion of events requires in-depth cross-cultural research so that proper marketing strategies can be made based on an improved understanding of tourists from the target market. This study is aimed at identifying motives and perceptions of Chinese visitors to the Munich Oktoberfest from a cross-cultural viewpoint. Potentials of using this German hallmark event to effectively enhance the destination's competitive advantages in China's outbound tourism market and marketing implications are discussed as well in the study.