Routledge Handbook of Tea Tourism

The Routledge Handbook of Tea Tourism provides comprehensive and cutting-edge insights into global tea tourism. With contributions from leading scholars and experts across 19 countries, it demonstrates the interdisciplinary nature and breadth of topics associated with global tea tourism.

Tea is deeply connected to tourism through both travel and consumption. For host communities it provides an opportunity for diversification from the production and/or serving of tea while sharing cultural traditions and improving livelihoods. The Handbook is organised into five parts, with an introduction and epilogue, and the first part begins with an overview of historical and contemporary perspectives on the foundations of tea tourism. It digs into the roots of such tourism in China, the relationship of wild tea to indigenous tourism in Vietnam, heritage railways to tea tourism, and tea tourism in Africa. The second part examines sustainable tea tourism, with examples from Thailand, Turkey, Sri Lanka and India. The third part explores the management and marketing of tea tourism, highlighting tools and techniques for development and the impact of social media on the tea tourism experience. It draws on examples of tea tourism experience in diverse settings, such as the English tea room, a pearl milk tourism factory in Taiwan and a hot spring tea destination in Japan. The fourth part provides perspectives on innovation and practice in tea tourism, such as gastronomical tea tourism in Turkey, Japan and Thailand; tea cafés and community diversification in Japan; the role of GIAHS designation in tea tourism; and tea tour guiding in Iran. Finally, the fifth part provides insights on resilience in tea tourism, examining topics such as human-wildlife conflicts and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector in both Asia and Europe.

This Handbook provides a valuable resource for students and researchers, presenting a rich collection of theoretical and empirical insights, an agenda for future directions in the field and end-of-chapter discussion questions. It also serves as a useful tool for key stakeholders, aiming to increase interaction between academia and industry, encouraging the development of sustainable responsible tea tourism that benefits local communities on a global basis.

Lee Jolliffe is visiting professor at Ulster University, UK. She has written extensively on heritage tourism topics including tea tourism through her 2007 edited book, Tea and Tourism: Tourists, Transitions and Transformations. In researching tea and tourism she has visited tea gardens and estates in many countries, completing a Japanese Tea Master Course in Japan and the World Tea Tours Darjeeling Immersion program in India.

M.S.M. Aslam is professor in tourism management, Department of Tourism Management at Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, and Editor in Chief, Asian Journal of Management Studies. He has carried out research on tea and tourism from different perspectives published individually and jointly in international journals and conference proceedings. He initiated and is working with Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka to establish the International Tea Tourism Institute (ITTI). He works with public and private organizations to develop tea tourism in Sri Lanka.

Amnaj Khaokhrueamuang is an associate professor in tourism at the School of Management and Information, University of Shizuoka, Japan. His research interest focuses on rural tourism-related issues associated with community development, agricultural extension, culture and heritage. Tea tourism is one of his research focuses, particularly in the international exchange of tea-related business between Japan and Thailand, which expects to provide the lessons learned to global tea industry communities.

Li-Hsin Chen is an assistant professor, International Masters' Program of Tourism and Hospitality, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism. She is Associate Editor of the Journal of Responsible Tourism Management and also serves as editorial board member for other journals in tourism and hospitality. Her research interests include coffee and tea tourism, bicycle tourism, dual attitudes model, indirect measurement, experiencescapes, service design and multisensory marketing.