What are the problems facing the development of world tourism at present?

First, the development status and characteristics of the world tourism industry

Over the past 60 years, the world tourism industry has developed and prospered. Although there are fluctuations during the period, the overall growth trend is high. There are three key factors to promote the rapid development of world tourism: first, the rapid economic growth of various countries and the steady increase of national income related to it make people able to pay expensive travel expenses. For example, in Europe, middle-income families with a monthly income of 4,000 to 6,000 euros can travel to Asia and Africa very easily. The average cost per person per trip is around 2000 euros, which is lower than the monthly income. Now some families in Europe and America are used to traveling abroad every year. Second, the great progress of transportation technology has revolutionized long-distance travel, greatly shortened the distance between countries and made the concept of "global village" a reality. Among them, the invention of wide-body jet aircraft, the popularization of family cars and the wide application of high-speed railways are particularly worth mentioning. Third, the substantial improvement of labor productivity and the continuous improvement of human rights and people's livelihood have given people a lot of leisure time to travel. Take France, which has the shortest working hours per week and the longest paid vacation in one year, as an example. The legal working hours per week have been reduced from 19 19 to 40 hours, and the 35-hour working system has been implemented since 2000. Except the annual statutory holidays, the annual paid holidays are 1936 two weeks, 1956 three weeks, 1968 four weeks, 198 1 five weeks. In other words, the French don't have to work for about five months every year. Other countries in northern Europe are similar. Americans already have13 leisure time, 2/3 income is used for leisure, and13 land area is used for leisure. Leisure vacation has become an important way of life in modern society, and leisure economy has become an important economic form of economic and social development.

Looking at the development of world tourism in the past 60 years, it presents the following outstanding characteristics and development trends.

First, the rapid, sustained and steady growth of tourism can't be compared with any other industry. Some scholars' research shows that in terms of the number of global tourists, during the 50 years from 1950 to 2000, it basically doubled every ten years, from 25 million in 1950 to 670 million in 2000; In the last decade from 2000 to 20 10, the growth rate slowed down due to the increasing number of tourists, but it still increased by 270 million in ten years, reaching 940 million in 20 10. As far as the growth rate of world tourism revenue is concerned, the average growth rate of middle age in the past 60 years is 6.9%, which will basically double every ten years or so. Among them, in the first ten years from 1950 to 1960, the average annual growth rate was10.6%; 9. 1% in the second decade, 5.6% in the third decade, 4.8% in the fourth decade, 4.3% in the fifth decade and 6.5% in the sixth decade. Comparative analysis shows that the growth rate of world tourism revenue is obviously higher than the average annual growth rate of the world economy in the same period (calculated every ten years as a cycle, the average annual growth rate is usually below 3%) According to the data released by the World Tourism Organization, as of 20 10, the proportion of international tourism economy in global GDP exceeded 10%, and the proportion of tourism investment in total investment exceeded 12%. The position and weight of international tourism in the world economy can be seen.

Second, the world tourism market is gradually divided, showing a new pattern of "three pillars". Judging from the regional division of tourist destinations, Europe and North America have long been the two most popular tourist attractions in the world, and they are the "two heroes" in the global tourism market. But in the past decade, the situation is changing rapidly. The process of economic globalization and regional economic integration profoundly affects the development track of world tourism, and also breaks the original tourism market pattern. International tourists have diversified their choices of tourist destinations, with East Asia and the Pacific becoming the third preferred destination, thus forming a new pattern of "three pillars" among Europe, North America, East Asia and the Pacific. As early as 1950, the number of international tourists received in East Asia and the Pacific was less than190,000. By 2000, the number of international tourists reached1120,000, and in 20 10, it was close to 200 million, accounting for about 20% of the global share. It is predicted that by 2020, the global share of international tourists in East Asia and the Pacific will rise to 27.3%, surpassing North America (then 17.8%) and ranking second in the world, further consolidating the new pattern of "three pillars".

From the perspective of country distribution, the traditional tourist destinations and source countries have long been the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Japan, all of which are western developed countries. Before 1980s, western developed countries almost monopolized the international tourism market, and the number of tourists and tourism revenue accounted for about 90% of the world total. Since 1990s, China, Russian, Indian, Brazilian, Polish and Asian "Four Little Dragons" countries have joined in succession. This situation can be described as "multipolarization" or "letting a hundred flowers blossom". For example, 20 10, 47% of the world's 940 million tourists come from newly industrialized countries. China, in particular, is the representative of this trend, becoming the third largest tourist destination in the world today, with 56 million tourists in 20 10. It is predicted that by 20 15, China will become the world's largest tourist receiving country, the fourth largest tourist source country and the largest domestic tourism market. On the whole, however, the dominant pattern of tourism in developed countries in the global tourism industry is still difficult to change for a long time.

Third, tourism has basically realized leisure, popularization and socialization, and has become a universal lifestyle and basic right of people. The world has entered the "tourism era". For more than half a century, with the progress of science and technology and economic development, people's leisure time has increased with time, while Engel's coefficient has decreased with time. As early as 1995, 145 countries around the world implemented a five-day working week, and most countries implemented a paid vacation system of 5-52 days a year. Some developed countries even plan to work four days a week, five hours a day and 20 hours a week, and further extend the paid vacation time. In developed countries and regions, Engel's coefficient has dropped to 20%~30%, and people's disposable income has greatly increased. In this context, leisure and holiday tourism has become an important part of modern people's lives. From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, tourists were not satisfied with the traditional sightseeing products, and began to choose leisure and holiday products with distinctive regional characteristics, times characteristics and individual characteristics. Developed countries in Europe and America are the birthplace of leisure and holiday tourism. At present, leisure and holiday tourism has become the most important market direction, and the world's tourism powers are basically developed countries for leisure and holiday tourism. Among them, island and coastal leisure vacation is the first pillar of tourism, which has become the main source of economic income in some countries and regions, such as Bermuda, Bahamas and Cayman Islands, and tourism income accounts for more than 50% of their national income. The beaches and beaches along the Mediterranean coast, the Caribbean Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean have become very famous tourist attractions of the resort.

Fourthly, the combination of tourism with science and technology education, culture and sports, business exhibitions and other industries is getting closer and closer, especially with information technology, which has become a comprehensive and strategic industry across fields and industries. First, scientific and technological progress and technological innovation have become the main driving force for the development of world tourism. The rapid development of information technology, network technology and transportation technology has promoted the diversification of tourism demand, the informationization of tourism management and the scientification of tourism equipment. Online travel booking, e-travel information, e-visa and e-commerce are changing the market environment of tourism, and the wide application of social networks is also changing the face of tourism. Relevant research shows that online sales of global tourism products currently account for about 15% of total tourism sales, and this proportion will rise to 25% in the next five years. Man-made theme parks make full use of the crystallization of modern high technology, such as acoustics, optics and computer simulation systems. To increase the attraction of tourism to people. Second, the combination of tourism and cultural and sports industries has become a bright spot. Culture is the soul of tourism products, and tourism without culture does not exist. Major cultural and sports events such as the Olympic Games and the World Expo can not only bring strong tourist sources and tourism revenue growth to the host country, but also spread its own culture, show the achievements of civilization and enhance its national image. Third, tourism directly promotes the consumption of hotels, restaurants, services, department stores and luxury goods that are closely related to it. In addition, the tourism company itself can become a huge business empire. For example, American Express, the world's largest travel company, has total assets of more than $200 billion, and has more than 1700 business outlets in more than 30 countries around the world, with an annual income of $36 billion.

Second, the new trend of world tourism development

The development trend of the above four aspects of world tourism is also the future development trend, which will last for a long time to come. On this basis, it can be predicted that in the next 10~20 years, the development of world tourism will present the following new trends and new characteristics.

First, the tourism market is further refined and differentiated. In the future, tourists' tourism purposes will become more and more personalized, and tourism agencies will pay more and more attention to developing people's tourism consumption demand at a deeper level. The tourism market will be more refined and differentiated, and tourism products will be more colorful. In addition to the three leading projects and products of traditional sightseeing, vacation and business tourism, special tourism and theme tourism have more development potential, such as religious tourism, adventure tourism, archaeological tourism, research tourism, honeymoon tourism and ethnic customs tourism, which will form distinctive tourism market segments. Moreover, the three traditional tourism projects of sightseeing, vacation and business will be further upgraded. Sightseeing tourism will still occupy the first leading position in low-and middle-income countries, and it will gradually become popular and popular; The market in high-income countries will gradually shrink. In terms of holiday tourism, these two kinds of holiday resorts, which highlight regional cultural characteristics and are supported by ecological, green and low-carbon natural resources and environment, will become the mainstream products in the tourism market. In terms of business tourism, with the multipolarization of the world economy and the transfer of economic growth centers and business hotspots, it will become multipolar and diversified. The status of traditional business tourism destinations such as Europe, North America and Japan is hard to shake for a while, but it will also increase new business tourism hotspots such as East Asia, the Middle East and emerging economies.

Second, the mode of travel is more flexible. Tourism mode will develop in the direction of individualization and liberalization, and various novel and unique tourism modes will emerge as the times require. Under the wave of pursuing individuality, the share of personal travel, especially family travel in short and medium-distance areas, will gradually increase in the future. Tourists seek more participation and entertainment during their travels. Those interesting, vibrant and distinctive tourist spots, and those relaxed, lively, colorful and entertaining ways will be sought after by more and more tourists. Ethnic customs, local characteristics and the combination of tourism and entertainment will become the important direction of tourism product design and development in the future.

Third, the "silver hair market" continues to expand. According to the current United Nations standards, when the proportion of the elderly population over 60 years old to the total population exceeds 10% (or the proportion of the elderly population over 65 years old to the total population exceeds 7%), a country has entered an aging society. Aging is a global problem. The proportion of the elderly population in developed countries is usually above 20%, while the situation in developing countries is slightly better but the aging trend is rapid. In the local society, the elderly are a rich, leisure, healthy and active class. They are more interested in leisure vacation and foreign ancient traditional culture than young people, and will inevitably become an important force in the tourism team. In recent years, high-income countries such as Europe and the United States have seen the phenomenon of elderly people traveling with their children and grandchildren. The "silver hair market" has been paid more and more attention by tourist receiving countries, and it will become an important market for world tourism in the future.

Fourthly, tourism safety has been paid more and more attention. Local wars, regional conflicts, ethnic conflicts, religious conflicts, international terrorism, political turmoil, social instability, natural disasters, major accidents, infectious diseases and other factors in tourist destinations will all hit tourists' consumption confidence, thus adversely affecting the development of world tourism. Especially after the "9. 1 1" incident in the United States, tourism safety has become the first consideration for tourists. Undoubtedly, the future tourism safety and the social stability and harmony of tourist destinations will be paid more and more attention by tourism institutions and tourists.

Fifth, "green tourism" has become a new trend. Countries pay more and more attention to the sustainable development of tourism, the protection of natural resources, human resources and ecological environment, and the environmental construction of tourist destinations; At the same time, guide tourism enterprises and tourists to actively fulfill their social and environmental responsibilities, pay attention to and respond to global warming, and strive to reduce the negative impact of tourism activities on the natural, human and ecological environment. For example, IUCN first put forward the term "eco-tourism" in 1983, and defined it as "a tourism activity with dual responsibilities of protecting the natural environment and maintaining the lives of local people". Some people define it as "returning to nature tourism" and "green tourism". At present, the western developed countries with good eco-tourism development include the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries. When developing eco-tourism, they avoid practices that destroy the natural landscape, such as large-scale construction. The tourist traffic is mainly on foot, and the tourist reception facilities are small and exquisite, which are integrated with nature. Accommodation is mostly tent camping, and every effort is made to minimize the impact of tourism on the tourism environment. For another example, the Korea Tourism Organization has launched a green tourism project in recent years and developed a variety of green tourism products.

Third, the enlightenment of the development of world tourism.

Nowadays, all countries and regions in the world pay more attention to tourism, and the role of tourism in promoting economic and social development is becoming more and more obvious. Looking at the development trend of world tourism for many years, we can get some important enlightenment.

First of all, more and more countries have promoted the development of tourism to the position of national strategy as an important platform to participate in international competition. The United States, France, Spain and many other developed countries regard the development of tourism as a national strategy. The central government generally establishes a centralized and unified tourism affairs management department or a tourism policy coordination Committee with multi-sectoral participation. Governments at all levels should increase guiding investment, improve public service facilities, develop tourism products and improve international tourism competitiveness. Many heads of state, government and politicians personally promote their tourism industry, and even serve as "tourism ambassadors", taking tourism as a platform or media to participate in international affairs and actively expand their international influence. For example, Japan implemented the strategy of "building a country through tourism", South Korea put forward the national tourism professionalization, Malaysia put forward the national tourism slogan of "Malaysia, real Asia" and India put forward "incredible India!" Slogan. Especially after the international financial crisis broke out in 2008, the Spanish government adopted the "Tourism Promotion Plan" and decided to invest an average of 654.38+0.5 billion euros in 2008-2020 to promote the development of tourism. Mexico has enacted the national tourism development plan into law and designated 20 1 1 as the "year of tourism". Tourism has become an important means for countries to cope with the economic crisis, promote economic recovery and cultivate new economic growth points.

Second, tourism is increasingly closely integrated with a country's humanities, society and history, and has become an important aspect of the country's "soft power." With the advent of the era of informationization and globalization, the competition between countries has developed from the contest of hard power to the competition of soft power such as cultural image. More and more countries realize that international tourism is an important channel for exporting national culture, image and influence. Holding national theme culture year, sports events, large-scale exhibitions and other activities can attract more international tourists, enhance international exchanges at all levels and in all fields, expand the export of national history, culture and values, and help spread values and enhance the country's "soft power." For example, 20 1 1, the annual theme determined by the World Tourism Organization is "the high coupling between tourism and various cultures", and the annual theme determined by China National Tourism Administration is "the journey of Chinese culture". This shows that people's understanding of the close combination of tourism and humanities, society and history is constantly improving. The close combination of tourism and culture makes China, Greek, Egyptian, Indian and other countries with a long and profound cultural and social history increase some international competitiveness in the future tourism development.

Third, tourism is not only a pillar industry with comprehensive, basic and sustainable economy, but also a major livelihood project related to social employment, poverty alleviation and environmental protection. In promoting employment, the World Tourism Organization pointed out as early as 1993 that "worldwide, tourism as a whole has become the industry that creates the most new employment opportunities in the world." At present, the proportion of global tourism employment to total employment is about 9%. In poverty alleviation, remote and underdeveloped areas all over the world often have very unique tourism resources. If these resource advantages are transformed into economic advantages, it will greatly promote local economic and social development and improve the living conditions of local people. It is very successful for most countries to regard tourism as an advantageous industry to promote poverty-stricken areas to become rich. In terms of environmental protection, tourism is a resource-saving and environment-friendly industry. By protectively developing tourism resources and actively developing green tourism, eco-tourism and civilized tourism, the ecological environment of a country and region can be improved and sustainable development can be realized.

Fourth, pay attention to the integration of related resources and form a "big tourism" development pattern. Some tourist powers in Europe and America attach great importance to the integration of tourism-related resources, and attach importance to combining tourism with large-scale cultural exchanges, sports events, cultural relics protection, commodity fairs and other activities to form large industrial clusters and industrial chains. At the same time, as the tertiary industry, tourism is closely related to transportation, hotel industry and catering industry. The development of "grand tourism" is conducive to a country's national economy, social construction and the improvement of people's quality. To this end, governments around the world generally increase public investment related to tourism, which is used to improve road traffic, environmental protection facilities, cultural relics protection and development, tourism education and scientific research, scenic spot development, scenic spot and resort environment and supporting facilities construction. At the same time, countries generally attach importance to strengthening the development of tourism commodities, severely crack down on all kinds of illegal acts that infringe on tourists' shopping rights and interests, and create a fair, transparent, friendly and comfortable tourism shopping environment. For example, in the tourism income of European countries and Japan, tourism shopping accounts for a considerable proportion.

Fifth, establish a centralized, unified and authoritative national tourism administrative department and strengthen the overall coordination and comprehensive management of national tourism affairs. The modes of tourism management system in different countries are very different, and they are constantly being adjusted and improved, which is related to the national conditions, political systems and historical and cultural traditions of each country. Up to now, the World Tourism Organization has 157 national member units. Among the 123 countries for which information can be found, 37 countries have national tourism bureaus, accounting for 30.0%; There are 35 countries, accounting for 28.4%, where the tourism administrative agencies are merged with or located in the economic department of the central government (cabinet); There are 20 countries that have merged tourism administrative agencies with the Ministry of Culture, accounting for16.3%; There are 15 countries that have merged tourism administrative agencies with the Ministry of Environment, accounting for12.2%; There are 15 countries that have merged tourism administrative agencies with the Ministry of Transport, accounting for 12.2%. In addition, Pakistan is managed and operated by the National Tourism Development Corporation. On the whole, however, with the rapid and in-depth development of tourism in the contemporary world, the tourism management systems of various countries have shown some similar or similar trends, forming a four-level tourism management system and operation mechanism of "inter-ministerial coordination and decision-making-administrative departments-industry organizations coordination and self-discipline-professional organizations publicity and promotion". Tourism is comprehensive, interrelated and dependent, and the establishment of inter-departmental coordination and cooperation mechanism at the central government level is conducive to strengthening the support and cooperation of economic, social and cultural departments for tourism. The administrative department shall perform macro-management functions in accordance with the principle of separating government from enterprise, separating government from business, and separating government from society, and focus on studying and formulating major policies for industrial development such as tourism development strategy, legal policies, development planning, departmental coordination, and international liaison. Trade organizations play a very important role, and some have shifted from the functions of government administrative agencies to tourism industry organizations, intermediaries and non-governmental organizations, such as the formulation and promotion of industry service standards, hotel star rating, travel agency rating, credit recognition of tourism enterprises, visitor center management, service quality supervision, staff training, market research, information analysis and consulting services. Tourism promotion has changed from the competent government agency to the combination of competent government agencies and industry organizations, and from administrative propaganda to professional and market-oriented promotion. For example, more and more countries have established professional marketing promotion agencies with government-led, industry cooperation and enterprise participation. The more successful ones are Japan Tourism Promotion Association, Korea Tourism Organization, France House, National Tourism Organization of the United States, Canadian Tourism Commission, Singapore Tourism Promotion Bureau, etc.