Toponymy, place name conversion and wayfinding: South Korean independent tourists in Macau

Toponymy and place name conversion has received little attention in the tourism literature. In particular, how the way the local names of sites are converted into the language of foreign tourists can affect their visiting experience has received no attention. This article identifies the nature of the place name conversion problems that arise in tourism by examining the case of the Historic Centre of Macau as experienced by South Korean independent tourists. The findings reveal that various sources providing tourism information on Macau in Korean are inconsistent in their use of the source languages - Chinese, Portuguese or English - and inconsistently utilise different methods for the conversion of local place names into Korean script. Interviews with Korean tourists indicate that they get confused, and that their tourist experience is adversely affected by the resulting wayfinding difficulties they encounter.