Understanding the past, anticipating the future–a critical assessment of China outbound tourism research

This paper presents a critical assessment of the current state of China outbound tourism research. It draws upon an extensive review of peer-reviewed literature on China outbound tourism published between 2003 and 2015. In seeking an in-depth understanding of the current literature and its implications, the researchers propose five potential directions for future investigation. These include a call for researchers to embrace alternative research techniques that will contribute to theory building, as well as for an alignment of research activity that provides insights into both the evolution and the transformation of China outbound tourism.