Who knows "the characteristics of tourism economic development and its position and role in the national economy?"

Culture is the soul of tourism. Throughout the developed regions of the world, their cultural characteristics are outstanding.

Tourism has a long history. Due to the development level of social productive forces and various conditions, in the past, such activities were only leisure activities of a few people, and their economic attributes were not obvious. With the development of social productive forces and the improvement of people's living standards, the number of people participating in tourism activities increased gradually in the second half of the twentieth century, and the content, form and scope of activities also expanded greatly. In recent twenty years, the rise of business tourism and holiday tourism has laid a solid foundation for tourism demand and tourism economic development.

I. Overview of Tourism Economy

1, the connotation of tourism economy

In the process of viewing and vacationing, modern tourists are not only in contact with nature, but also with society. Activities such as eating, living, traveling, traveling, entertainment and shopping during the tour can not be separated from the cooperation and support of the society in the tourist area and the services and help provided by the masses. Under the condition of commodity economy, the breadth and depth of such cooperation, service and help are based on capital and human input. Tourism demanders pay money to buy tourism products or services from suppliers, and tourism suppliers advance capital to develop tourism resources, build tourism facilities and train service personnel, and then sell and provide tourism products and services to tourists at a certain price, and get compensation in the form of value.

From these characteristics of tourism activities, we can see that modern tourism has developed into a social and cultural activity with obvious economic nature, that is, tourism economic activity. Its connotation is: in the process of tourism activities, the exchange and connection between tourism demanders and tourism suppliers, as well as the sum of all economic phenomena and economic relations movements, changes and developments caused by this connection.

2. Development stage of tourism economy

With the development of social productive forces, tourism economy has gone through different stages from low to high.

(1) The incomplete exchange stage of tourism products is the primary stage of tourism economic development. At present, tourists basically rely on their own food, shelter and transportation, and there are not many exchanges and contacts, and the economic affiliation is not obvious.

(2) Complete the exchange stage of tourism products. With the continuous development of commodity production, exchange activities are increasingly widespread, basically disappearing in the form of barter, and money has become the only means of payment in commodity exchange. Real tourism economic activities are also formed under such conditions. With the growth of tourism demand, the continuous expansion of tourism activities, the continuous enrichment and change of content, tourism supply has gradually become specialized and formed a certain scale. Tourism activities are completely based on currency exchange and have entered a complete stage of tourism product exchange.

(3) Developed tourism product exchange stage. The main symbol of this stage is the rise and development of travel agencies, which enables scattered and individual communication between tourists and providers of tourism products, combines scattered tourism products through intermediaries-travel agencies, and changes repeated purchases of tourists into one-time purchases, simplifying repeated exchanges in tourism economic activities into two independent links: sales and purchase. In the whole society, tourists are regarded as one-sided demanders, and all providers of tourism products are regarded as one-sided providers.

3. Characteristics of the development of modern tourism economy

Tourism economic activity was formed in the middle of19th century, but it has developed slowly for a long time. After the Second World War, especially after the 1960s, the world entered an era of rapid growth of modern tourism economic activities. In its development process, it presents the following remarkable characteristics:

(1) The popularity or reputation of tourism economic activities. The most obvious thing is that more and more people are taking part in tourism now, and it is becoming more and more popular. For example, in China, 1999 has reached 7190,000. Tourism is no longer the exclusive activity of a few rich and powerful people in the past, but has become a right that everyone can enjoy, and tourism has become one of the basic needs of human beings. Many countries have incorporated tourism into their national development plans to ensure that tourism and vacation truly become the rights enjoyed by every citizen. Due to the popularity of tourism activities, a large number of tourism demand has been created, which provides a wide range of opportunities for the development of tourism.

(2) Global tourism economic activities. The development of modern science and technology has greatly shortened the space distance, making people no longer limited to short trips, but breaking through the boundaries of regions and territories. With the substantial improvement of people's income level and the relative stability of the international political situation, the global tourism industry has developed rapidly. According to the information released by the World Tourism Organization (WTO), the number of global inbound tourists reached 593 million from 65438 to 0996, an increase of more than 23 times. The development of global tourism activities has prompted a considerable part of international investment to invest in tourism services. According to the statistics of the World Tourism Organization, as of 1998, 18 famous multinational hotel groups have set foot in 92 hotels in China. From the end of 1970s to the beginning of 1980s, the tourism industry utilized 5 billion US dollars of foreign direct investment, accounting for 29.6438+0% of the total foreign investment actually utilized in China during the same period. By the end of 1996, the scale of foreign investment had reached US$ 20 billion, including US$ 0.5 billion for tourist hotels, US$ 2 billion for holiday resorts, US$ 0.0 billion for tourist attractions and US$ 2 billion for holiday villas and apartments. Tourism economic activities have become an important part of world economic integration.

(3) Standardized operation of tourism economic activities. In the course of its development, modern tourism has gradually formed a standardized operation mode. Whether it is international tourism or domestic tourism, travel agencies are usually the main organizers, organizing scattered tourists in a unified way, relying on various tourism enterprises and scenic spots, and providing comprehensive tourism services according to predetermined tourism routes, activities and times to meet the various needs of tourists. For tourism services, countries draw lessons from each other, and make the regular and necessary services of tourists into standards and norms, requiring tourism enterprises to operate in an orderly manner according to the standards to meet the regular needs of tourists. This unified or similar service standardization has further promoted the globalization process of tourism economic activities.

(4) Sustainability of tourism economic development. This feature was most obvious after World War II, and its growth has always maintained a development trend far higher than the world GDP growth rate. During the 46 years from 195 1 to 1996, the number of global tourists increased by an average of 7. 1% every year, and tourism consumption increased by 12.23% every year. The sustained and rapid development of tourism economy has significantly improved its position and role in the national economy of many countries. At the same time, there is a mutual promotion relationship between tourism activities and ecological environment protection. Rational development of tourism resources and vigorous development of tourism economy have also played a great role in promoting the sustainable development of the global society.

Second, tourism economy is the most dynamic economy in 2 1 century.

Modern tourism is the companion of the development of modern economy and modern society. 1980, the Manila World Tourism Declaration signed by 107 countries once said: "Tourism is a kind of active rest for people, which can strongly and profoundly show the nature of talents." It is precisely because of its positive significance and the characteristics of "smokeless", high industrial relevance, large employment capacity and strong foreign exchange earning capacity that tourism has become one of the "sunrise industries" with the fastest development speed, the most vitality and development potential in the world today.

1, Review of World Tourism Economic Development

Modern tourism originated in Britain from 65438 to 1940s. After the 1960s, modern tourism has really become a popular social mass tourism in the world. During this period, the main factors that promote the development of world tourism activities to a new height come from two aspects: tourism demand and tourism supply.

In terms of tourism demand, the world population base increased rapidly after the war, from 2.5 billion to more than 6 billion now; The rapid development of the world economy after the war has greatly improved the per capita income and ability to pay, which has an extremely important stimulating effect on the popularization of tourism; With the progress of science and technology, the degree of production automation has improved, workers' rest and paid holidays have increased, and the time for traveling abroad has been guaranteed; After the war, the urbanization process in various countries accelerated, and a large number of people gathered in cities to engage in busy and monotonous repetitive work. They hope to return to nature without urban pollution and industrial pollution, so that their nervous physical strength and nerves can rest and relax, which is conducive to the rapid and sustainable development of holiday tourism. With the continuous development of education to a new breadth and depth, coupled with the progress of information technology, more and more people have become curious and interested in their native land and what happened abroad, which has enhanced their thirst for knowledge. The rise and continuous warming of tourism fever is precisely the outbreak of people's interests and desires.

In terms of tourism supply, there are two main factors to promote the vigorous development of post-war tourism economy: one is the intermediary role of travel agencies, which makes cheap group tourism and package tourism spread rapidly and stimulates the development of mass tourism market; Secondly, the supporting attitude and encouraging measures adopted by the governments of tourist receiving countries to develop their economies and facilitate tourists' visits. In order to facilitate the guidance of the state on tourism, almost all countries have established the National Tourism Administration (NTO) to promote the greater development of tourism and make it play a more prominent role in the national economy.

Due to the different statistical caliber of domestic tourism development in different countries, the following is a list of data compiled according to the information published by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) to illustrate the general situation of world tourism economic development after World War II.

Table1-11950-1999 number and income of international tourists in the world

Annual number of tourists (millions) Tourism income (billion dollars)

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 1998 25.372. 1 158.7285.0454.0648.0 2 168.7 179.0 1023.62625.84443.0

According to the report of the World Tourism Council (WTTC), the total output of the world tourism industry in196 reached US$ 3.6 trillion, accounting for13 of the total output of the world service industry and 10.7% of the world GDP. Residents' tourism consumption expenditure accounts for11.3% of the global total consumption expenditure; Tourism capital investment is $766 billion, accounting for11.9% of the global total investment; Tourism employment reached 255 million, accounting for 1/9 of the world employment. All these fully show that tourism is the largest industry in the world economy today.

2. Review of the development of tourism economy in China after the reform and opening up.

China has a long history of tourism activities. After the founding of New China, China Travel Agency and Overseas Chinese Service Agency were established in Xiamen, Fujian on June 5438+0949+0/KLOC-0, and China International Travel Service was established in April 1954, initially establishing a network system for receiving overseas tourists. However, in the nearly 30 years before the reform and opening up, China's international tourism reception has never broken through the "political reception" mode, and its contribution to the national economy is even minimal. It was not until the reform and opening up that the concept of tourism as an economic industry was truly established, especially after the 1980 s, which developed rapidly.

From the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, in view of the general characteristics of the national economy of developing countries and the fact that the tourism base is weak, the China government has been developing tourism in an extraordinary scale, that is, taking foreign exchange as the purpose and policy basis to support the development of tourism, giving priority to and moderately promoting the development of inbound tourism, obviously leaning towards areas or projects with international tourism in capital investment, and actively introducing and utilizing foreign capital to transform and strengthen foreign-related tourism service facilities. Objectively speaking, this unconventional tourism development model makes China's inbound tourism develop at a faster speed (see table 1-2 for details), which has made great contributions to the development of China's national economy, as well as the rapid expansion of China's tourism industry and the establishment of its industry status.

Table1-21978-1999 number of tourists and foreign exchange income.

Total number of arrivals (10,000 person-times) foreigners (10,000 person-times) overseas Chinese (10,000 person-times) compatriots from Hong Kong and Macao (10,000 person-times) and Taiwan Province compatriots (10,000 person-times) saw a year-on-year increase in foreign exchange income (US$ billion) (%).

1978 180.92 22.96 1.8 1 156. 15 - 2.63 -

1979 420.39 36.24 2.09 382.06 - 4.49 70.9

1980 570.25 52.9 1 3.44 5 13.90 - 6. 17 37.3

198 1 776.7 1 67.52 3.89 705.3 1 - 7.85 27.3

1982 792.43 76.45 4.27 7 1 1.70 - 8.43 7.4

1983 947.70 87.25 4.04 856.4 1 - 9.4 1 1 1.6

1984 1285.22 1 13.43 4.75 1 167.04 - 1 1.3 1 20.2

1985 1783.3 1 137.05 8.48 1637.78 - 12.50 10.5

1986 228 1.95 148.23 6.8 1 2 126.90 - 15.3 1 22.5

1987 2269.23 172.78 8.70 2508.74 - 18.62 2 1.6

1988 3 169.48 184.22 7.93 2977.33 43.77 22.47 20.7

1989 2450. 14 146. 10 6.86 2297. 19 54. 10 18.60 - 17.2

1990 2746. 18 174.73 9. 1 1 2562.34 94.80 22. 18 19.2

199 1 3334.98 27 1.0 1 13.34 3050.62 94.66 28.45 28.3

1992 38 1 1.49 400.64 16.5 1 3394.34 13 1.78 39.47 38.7

1993 4 152.69 456.59 16.62 3670.49 152.70 46.83 18.7

1994 4368.45 5 18.2 1 1 1.52 3838.72 139.02 73.23 56.4

1995 4638.65 588.67 1 1.58 4038.40 153.23 87.33 19.3

1996 5 1 12.75 674.43 15.46 4422.86 173.39 102.00 16.8

1997 5758.79 742.80 9.90 5006.09 2 1 1.76 120.74 18.4

1998 6347.84 7 10.77 12.07 5625.00 2 17.46 126.02 4.4

1999* 7280.00 843.00 6426 14 1.00 1 1.9

Source: China Tourism Statistics Yearbook.

* Excerpted from Statistical Bulletin of National Economic and Social Development of People's Republic of China (PRC) 1999.

For domestic tourism, with the growth of demand, this is urgent. 1993 1 1 month began to be recognized by the policy, and the central government put forward the policy of "invigorating the market, correctly guiding, strengthening management and improving quality" for the development of domestic tourism. From 65438 to 0994, domestic tourism was first included in the category of national tourism statistics. Statistics show that the total number of domestic tourists reached 524 million, and RMB 1 023.38+0 billion was returned. Since then, domestic tourism has continued to grow on this large base (see table 1-3). At present, China's tourism market structure and supply structure have begun to undergo great changes, and a national tourism management system has initially formed. Inbound tourism and domestic tourism have developed in an all-round way, and outbound tourism has gradually emerged. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council made a clear decision at the Central Economic Work Conference in 1999 to regard tourism as a new growth point of the national economy and promote the greater development of China's tourism industry across the century.

Table 1-3 Domestic Tourists and Tourism Consumption in China

Total number of domestic tourists (10,000 person-times) Total consumption (100 million yuan) Per capita consumption (yuan) Total number of outbound tourists (10,000 person-times) Number of outbound tourists organized by travel agencies (10,000 person-times)

1994 52400 1023.5 1 195.37 373.36 109.84

1995 62900 1375.70 2 18.7 1 452.05 125.99

1996 63950 1638.38 256.20 506.07 164.00

1997 64372 2 1 12.70 328.20 532.39 143.07

1998 total 694002391.18 344.50.

Zhen 250001515.13 607.00

Rural 44400876.05197.10

1999* 7 1900 227.00

Source: China Tourism Statistics Yearbook 1995- 1999.

* Excerpted from Statistical Bulletin of National Economic and Social Development of People's Republic of China (PRC) 1999.

3.2 1 Century China Tourism Economic Development Prospect.

After more than 20 years of development, China's tourism foreign exchange income has ranked seventh in the world and first in Asia. However, compared with China's rich tourism resources, we should be soberly aware that we are not yet a tourism power, and there is still a clear gap compared with the world's tourism powers, especially whether the proportion of total tourism output value to GDP is an important indicator to judge whether it is a pillar industry. Although China is growing gradually, its growth rate is slow (see table 1-4). Globally, the average value of the index 1998 is1.7%, China is 4.32%, Spain is 17.8%, and the United States, with its highly developed economy and large base, is 10%. The gap shows the potential, and the gap depicts the prospect.

Table 1-4 Proportion of total tourism revenue to GDP

Annual GDP (100 million yuan) as a percentage of total tourism revenue

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 346344675958478678857477279553 1 134 1655209824873 1 123439 3.273.543.953.664. 164.32

Source: Based on the relevant data of China Statistical Yearbook and China Tourism Statistical Yearbook.

Judging from the development trend, China's tourism industry will develop at a faster speed in 2 1 century, which is not only the determination of China people, but also the understanding of the world. It has rich tourism resources, tourism industry scale and huge market demand advantages, plus the correct decision of the central government and the great attention of local governments at all levels. According to the research results of the World Tourism Organization, by 2020, China will become the largest tourist destination in the world, and it is estimated that it will receive 654.38+37 billion inbound tourists annually. Outbound tourism will also reach 6,543.8 billion person-times, ranking fourth in the world. To realize these forecasts, the average annual growth rate will reach 8% and 14% respectively, which is twice as high as the overall growth rate of the world tourism industry, based on the number of overnight tourists who entered China in 1999 and the number of nearly 6 million outbound tourists. We expect these predictions to come true.

The employment problem is the biggest and most difficult problem in China's social development. In terms of expanding employment function, the contribution of tourism to the national economy far exceeds that of other industries, and will also be greater than the contribution of tourism to GDP. At present, our international travel agency

There are 6,543,800 direct employees and 9 million indirect employees in the tourism industry. According to the planning and development goals formulated by the National Tourism Administration, by 20 10, the number of direct employees and indirect employees in China's tourism industry will reach 7.2 million and 36 million respectively. Although there is a big gap with the evaluation of the World Tourism Council (WTTC) (190,000 and 69 million), the pillar position of tourism in the national economy and its contribution to labor and employment will be beyond doubt.

Section II, Tourism

The growth of social tourism demand is the main reason to promote the continuous development of tourism activities. But if we only promote this aspect, it will only bring about the natural development of tourism activities. Without the support and promotion of supply, it is very difficult to form the tourism economy, especially the sustainable development of modern mass tourism. Therefore, the real development of tourism economy is the result of the joint action of demand and supply. The supply side mentioned here refers to tourism.

I. Overview of Tourism

According to China's National Economic Industry Classification Standard, tourism is divided into residential, public utilities and residents' living services, and the definition of "industry" is limited to material production departments. The determination of China's tourism status is the result of reform and opening up.

1, meaning of the concept of tourism industry

Modern economic theory holds that industry is a collective concept, and it is a department directly engaged in economic activities (including material production and intangible production), and these departments obtain corresponding economic benefits through their respective production and operation activities; It also refers to higher-level and more diversified enterprises set up in the national economic system.

According to the meaning of industry, the concept of tourism refers to: in the national economic system, according to a certain social division of labor, taking the form of commodities to provide various tourism products or services for social tourism needs to meet the needs of tourism consumers. With the development of social production and the deepening of social division of labor, as well as the continuous improvement of residents' living standards, tourism has been separated from the original business, transportation and some service industries and integrated into a relatively independent industry. It is not only the product of tourism economic development, but also the promoter of tourism economic development.

2. Elements of modern tourism activities

(1) The main body of tourism activities

Tourism is a part of human social practice. It is precisely because of the expansion of the scale of this activity that people who travel abroad have become a market with a certain scale demand, thus generating operational business opportunities. In other words, without tourists, there will be no tourism activities, and tourism activities will not become a socio-economic phenomenon, let alone promote the formation and development of tourism. Therefore, people who are tourists are the main body of tourism activities.

Regarding the concept of tourists, the United Nations gave the definition of tourists at the International Tourism Conference held in Rome in 1963. For the convenience of statistics, the meeting suggested adopting the general concept of "tourists" and dividing tourists into two categories, one is tourists and the other is short-distance tourists. The meeting also recommended that the United Nations Statistical Commission study this definition. At present, although there are differences in the expression of the concept of tourists in many countries, most of them have different technical understandings, and there is little difference in their understanding of the concept definition. Therefore, it can be considered that both international tourists and domestic tourists are people who temporarily leave their permanent residence to travel in a foreign land for reasons other than employment and immigration.

(2) the object of tourism activities

Tourism resources are the object of tourism activities. Its greatest courage and value lies in its attraction to tourists, and it is precisely because of this power that it has attracted countless tourists to travel across mountains and rivers and not far from Wan Li for sightseeing. Therefore, the theoretical core of tourism resources is the attraction factor. Therefore, it can be considered that all natural factors, social factors and any other factors that can create an attractive environment for tourists can constitute tourism resources. The success of a country or region's tourism economy depends on the quantity and quality of its tourism resources, the geographical location and accessibility of these resources, and the depth of perception and understanding of the connotation of these resources by the places where the tourism resources are owned. Although the quality of tourism service can increase or decrease its attractive charm, tourism resources themselves are still the basis of charm.

(3) Tourism intermediary

In the development of modern tourism economy, the elements of completing tourism activities are not only tourists and tourism resources, but also the intermediary of such activities-tourism. One of the characteristics of modern mass tourism is to make full use of all kinds of convenient services provided by tourism, so that the completion of tourism activities becomes a standardized model. Although the service provided by tourism is not the purpose of tourism, it is a convenient bridge between the source and destination of tourism, the generation of tourism motivation and the realization of tourism purpose. The rise of modern tourism in the true sense started from the emergence of the world's first travel agency in Britain in the 1940s, from 65438 to 2009. The development of tourism economic activities to today's scale is inseparable from the role played by tourism. Tourism is not only one of the elements of modern tourism activities, but also the most active and active factor to promote the rapid development of tourism economy.

According to the United Nations international industrial classification standard and the analysis of specific departments engaged in tourism economic business, the main components of tourism are travel agencies, tourism transportation and passenger transport enterprises, and accommodation departments represented by hotels, which are called the three pillars of tourism.

Second, the signs and functions of the industrialization of tourism economy

1, the symbol of tourism economic industrialization

(1) tourism consumption demand is concentrated,

Industrialization has not only greatly enriched the social material production, but also profoundly changed the social demand in structure, promoted the continuous adjustment of the industrial structure in the national economic system, and emerged some emerging industries that meet the needs of modern society. The emergence and development of tourism is to meet people's needs, from the low-level needs of ensuring survival in the past to the high-level needs of focusing on personality development and spiritual enjoyment. Tourism can not only make people happy, improve health, cultivate sentiment and expand communication, but also provide a wide and concentrated market demand for the society and lay a reliable and solid foundation for the industrialization of tourism.

(2) Specialization of tourism product supply,

In order to meet the growing demand for tourism, the production and operation departments of tourism products must quickly concentrate on production and operation, separate from other industries, and specialize in the production and supply of tourism products, and become a new industry that provides tourists with comprehensive services such as food, housing, transportation, travel, entertainment and shopping. The large-scale development of modern tourism economy in the 20th century is inseparable from the gradual development of British Thomas Cook Travel Company, American Express Travel Company and Belgian Railway Sleeping Car Company as agents of world tourism business, and numerous travel companies have mushroomed in various countries. Tourism has pushed the development of world tourism economy to a new stage.

2. The role of tourism in the development of tourism economy.

As a bridge connecting tourists and tourism resources, tourism has become the main body of tourism market supply in the development of modern tourism economy, which is of great significance to promoting the development of tourism economy.

(1) joint action

The tourism industry combines individual tourism products to form a complete and organically coordinated tourism hotline, which has changed the situation that the original products (scenic spots) are scattered and difficult to sell. Expand the use value of individual tourism products, so that the overall use value of each hotline is far greater than the simple sum of the use values of individual products.

(2) It is convenient for tourists and active in the market.

As one of the pillars of tourism, the emergence of travel agencies has provided great convenience for tourists. They also provide active support and help for scattered tourists who don't know much about tourism products and environment in different places, and activate the tourism market. Its role is particularly prominent in different places and exotic tourism.

(3) Enriching the supply of tourism products

As an enterprise, tourism pursues the maximization of profits on the basis of meeting the needs of tourists. A group of high-level talents who are proficient in tourism business have gathered here. They pay attention to the investigation and study of market demand, pay close attention to the changing trend of market demand, make correct predictions quickly, collect information and pass it on to suppliers, or cooperate with suppliers to develop products that the market likes, such as Disneyland abroad, splendid china in Shenzhen, Window of the World, etc., which are mainly developed by tourism enterprises, greatly enriching the content of tourism products and playing a positive role in the sustained and healthy development of tourism economy.

(4) Competition within the industry to meet the ever-changing travel needs of tourists.

Due to the exclusiveness of some resources, some tourism enterprises may have monopoly in their operations. However, due to the objective existence of the diversity of tourism resources and market demand, it is impossible for any enterprise to completely occupy the whole tourism market. Therefore, every enterprise must make every effort to attract and win more tourists with its unique products, best services and business strategies. It is precisely because of this kind of competition that tourism economic activities are constantly promoted to a higher stage, and the ever-changing tourism needs of tourists can be met to the maximum extent.

(5) Improve the overall benefit of tourism economy.

The industrialized operation of tourism economy not only makes a single tourism product portfolio have an overall effect, but also makes tourists enjoy preferential wholesale prices in the process of realizing tourism behavior because of the joint operation of tourism enterprises. Group tours and package tours have been introduced one after another, which not only facilitates tourists, but also produces the effects of small profits but quick turnover and economies of scale, which is helpful to improve the overall efficiency of tourism economy.