Contrasting appreciation of the Tasmanian wilderness: mediating the Chinese visitor experience from a cultural complexity approach

This exploratory study focuses on the diverse appreciation of the Tasmanian wilderness in the eyes of Chinese visitors. In response against an essentialist approach to understanding Chinese visitors and in addressing the criticism that a more dynamic and fluid understanding of culture is mainly academic and not useful for the practice community, this study adopts a cultural complexity approach to understand Chinese interpretation and comprehension of wilderness. It suggests that tourism mediators can utilise the range of contrasting appreciation of a site to engage visitors and shape their experiences. By analysing posts on Cradle Mountain - a premier Tasmanian wilderness site - at a popular Chinese travel blog website, we have identified a range of ‘reference points’ that can be used in tourist experience mediation. We postulate that by invoking the range of them in the mediation process, together with local interpretation and knowledge, visitors can create more endearing and engaging experiences.