Psychological, physiological and behavioural responses of tourists to interactions with rhesus macaques at Zhangjiajie, China

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Author(s)
Li, J
Yang, D
He, L
Tao, S
Zeng, L
Buckley, R
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2012
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
We compared gait, pulse, blood pressure and speech volume of tourists before and after encounters with rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta, in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China, relative to the same parameters after the same tourists had visited a control site without macaques. We tested 600 tourists from 38 groups, stratified by age and gender. We also compared the length of stay and number of photographs at each site and elicited tourists' views and emotions through a questionnaire. Behavioural, physiological and psychological indicators all showed positive responses to interactions with macaques. Few previous studies ...
View more >We compared gait, pulse, blood pressure and speech volume of tourists before and after encounters with rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta, in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China, relative to the same parameters after the same tourists had visited a control site without macaques. We tested 600 tourists from 38 groups, stratified by age and gender. We also compared the length of stay and number of photographs at each site and elicited tourists' views and emotions through a questionnaire. Behavioural, physiological and psychological indicators all showed positive responses to interactions with macaques. Few previous studies of wildlife tourism have measured human responses in this way.
View less >
View more >We compared gait, pulse, blood pressure and speech volume of tourists before and after encounters with rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta, in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China, relative to the same parameters after the same tourists had visited a control site without macaques. We tested 600 tourists from 38 groups, stratified by age and gender. We also compared the length of stay and number of photographs at each site and elicited tourists' views and emotions through a questionnaire. Behavioural, physiological and psychological indicators all showed positive responses to interactions with macaques. Few previous studies of wildlife tourism have measured human responses in this way.
View less >
Journal Title
Journal of Ecotourism
Volume
11
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2012 Taylor & Francis. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal website for access to the definitive, published version.
Subject
Other environmental sciences not elsewhere classified
Tourism
Tourist behaviour and visitor experience