Urgent! ! The development history of China’s tourism industry

1. A brief review of the development of China's tourism industry sO100

(1) The transformation from "business-oriented" to "industrial-oriented"

The development of my country's tourism industry Although it started late, its development speed has attracted worldwide attention. Before the reform and opening up, the tourism industry mainly focused on foreign affairs reception. It only had the prototype of an industry and did not fully belong to the industrial category. In 1978, the mechanism was changed to develop industrial tourism. In 1984, the central government put forward the tourism construction policy that the state, local governments, departments, collectives and individuals should work together, and rely on self-reliance and utilize foreign capital, which opened the prelude to the all-round development of the tourism industry. In 1986, the State Council decided to include tourism into the national economic and social development plan, officially establishing its national economic status. In 1992, the central government clearly stated that tourism is a key industry in the tertiary industry. After that, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China put forward the "Recommendations on Formulating the Ninth Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development and the Outline of Long-term Goals for 2010", and the tourism industry was Ranked first in the sequence of actively developing emerging industries in the tertiary industry. In 1998, the Central Economic Work Conference proposed tourism as a new growth point for the national economy. Since then, the State Planning Commission has included tourism projects in national debt projects, and the railway department has launched hundreds of special tourist trains in a timely manner. The support of the central government and the State Council has laid a solid foundation for the development of the tourism industry.

From the perspective of development stage, before 1980, the overall scale of the tourism industry was small; during the "Sixth Five-Year Plan" period, inbound tourism had a relatively large scale. Great improvement, domestic tourism began to take off; during the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" period, inbound tourism continued to develop, and domestic tourism had greater development; during the "Eighth Five-Year Plan" period, inbound tourism developed greatly, and domestic tourism rose rapidly. This period is The period of fastest development. During the "Ninth Five-Year Plan" period, the industrial foundation was solidified and developed steadily; in 2001, affected by the overall negative growth of the world tourism industry, China's tourism industry continued to move forward despite difficulties, but the growth rate declined; in 2002, China's tourism industry It is an overall rebound, with the growth rates of the four tourism economic indicators exceeding 10% (see Table 1).

Table 1 Growth of my country’s main tourism economic indicators in different periods (1991~2002)

Note: ①National Tourism Administration, "50 Years of China's Tourism Industry", population and income data The total is the sum of periods;

②National Tourism Administration, "Statistical Bulletin of China's Tourism Industry in 2001";

③National Tourism Administration, "Statistical Bulletin of China's Tourism Industry in 2002".

In short, my country's tourism industry has continued to develop rapidly for more than 20 years with the help of reform and opening up. From scratch, from small to large, the industry image has become increasingly clear, and the industry scale has continued to grow, becoming the fastest growing industry in the national economy. One of the fastest growing industries.

(2) From a small tourism country to a big tourism country

China is one of the countries with the fastest growing tourism industry in the world. In 1978, the number of international tourists received by China (1.8 million people) was only 0.7% of the world's total, ranking 41st in the world. In 2002, China received 97.91 million overseas tourists, making it the fifth largest tourist attraction country in the world and the first tourist country in Asia. In 1978, China's international tourism foreign exchange earnings (US$260 million) accounted for only 0.038% of the world's total, ranking 47th in the world; in 2002, it increased to US$20.4 billion, accounting for 4.4% of the global total, making it the world's fifth largest tourism foreign exchange earner. In 2002, the number of Chinese citizens going abroad reached 16.6023 million, an increase of 36.84% over the previous year, making it an eye-catching emerging tourist exporter in Asia. In 2002, the number of domestic tourists in China reached 878 million, making it the domestic tourism market with the largest number, fastest growth, and strongest potential in the world

The scale of China's tourism industry has also continued to expand. According to incomplete statistics, by the end of 2001, there were 11,000 foreign-related tourism hotels in China, of which 8,018 had been rated as star-rated hotels; there were more than 10,000 travel agencies of various types, including more than 1,300 international travel agencies; the fixed asset value of China's tourism industry reached 700 billion Yuan, there are 260,000 tourism enterprises and institutions of various types in the country; 5.98 million people are directly employed in the tourism industry, and about 29.8 million people are indirectly employed; there are 1,152 colleges and universities offering tourism education in the country, with 340,000 students enrolled. people.

(3) Tourism has increasingly become a new growth point for China’s economy

With the vigorous development of China’s tourism industry, its comprehensive and highly relevant characteristics have become increasingly apparent. The more fully it plays an increasingly important role in driving the development of related industries, expanding domestic demand, enhancing economic vitality, and improving people's quality of life.

In 2002, my country's tourism industry achieved a total tourism revenue of 556.6 billion yuan, an increase of 12% over the previous year, more than 3 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of the national economy. The total tourism revenue was equivalent to the domestic tourism revenue of that year. It accounts for 5.4% of the GDP and more than 16% of the tertiary industry. Foreign exchange earnings from tourism account for more than half of the country’s foreign exchange earnings from service trade.

Tourism has increasingly become a new growth point for China's economy and one of the main pillars of China's tertiary industry. Twenty-four municipalities and autonomous regions across the country have positioned tourism as a pillar industry, while the remaining provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have positioned tourism as an important or advantageous industry.

2. Analysis of opportunities and prospects for the development of China's tourism industry

(1) Development opportunities

First of all, the sustained, rapid and healthy development of the national economy will promote the tourism industry to rise again. New level. In the first 10 years of the 21st century, the average annual growth rate of my country's national economy will remain above 7%, and the overall national strength will be further improved. The deepening of economic system reform, the development of opening up to the outside world, the overall economic and social progress, and the adjustment of industrial structure will all promote the development of tourism.

The second is the opportunities brought by building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way. Comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society means that more than one billion people in our country will move towards a higher level of moderately prosperous society. Tourism demand will inevitably grow accordingly, and tourism consumption has become one of the symbols and characteristics of a moderately prosperous society. "The moderate prosperity our country has achieved now is still a low-level, incomplete, and very unevenly developed one." However, it is at this level of moderate prosperity that the world's largest domestic tourism market and the fastest-growing overseas tourism market have been formed. The source cities are often

Third, the implementation of the Western Development Strategy will enable many world-class tourism resources in the West to be developed, transforming resource advantages into economic advantages, thus continuously improving the international competitiveness of my country's tourism industry. The competitiveness and development potential have formed a new growth pole for my country's tourism industry.

Fourth, after joining the WTO, the tourism industry and its related industries will accelerate the pace of integrating with international standards, the development environment will be further optimized, and it will also promote the growth of international business tourism.

Fifth, China is the safest tourist destination in the world. The "9.11" incident in the United States and the outbreak of the U.S.-Iraq war led to a decline in global tourism. However, China's political stability, sustained and rapid economic development, and a series of major measures implemented by the Chinese government have instead strengthened China's image as the safest tourist destination.

Sixth, China's accession to the WTO, Beijing's successful bid for the Olympic Games, Shanghai's successful bid to host the World Expo, Hangzhou's successful bid to host the 2006 World Leisure Expo, and the World Tourism Organization Conference in October 2003 will be held in Beijing for the first time, indicating that China Its international status and influence are increasing day by day, playing a positive role in promoting the development of China's tourism industry.

(2) Prospect Analysis

With the comprehensive construction of a moderately prosperous society and the two-way interaction of supply and demand, China's tourism industry has a bright future.

1. The tourism market has huge potential

As people's affluence increases, their leisure time and disposable income increase, which will drive domestic tourism demand to grow at a relatively high rate. Our country is the most populous country in the world and has the largest source of domestic tourists unparalleled by any other country in the world. In 2002, it was equivalent to 8 out of 13 Chinese people taking a trip. Our country has implemented a 40-hour work week and two-day holiday system since May 1, 1995. In 1999, we began to implement the seven-day holidays for "May Day", "National Day", and the Spring Festival. Currently, the number of legal rest days that Chinese citizens can enjoy every year is The total amount is 114 days, and residents have more and more leisure time. At the same time, the consumption structure is shifting from a subsistence-based one to a well-off one, and consumption is developing from survival consumption to enjoyment and development. The Engel coefficient is declining year by year. The Engel coefficient of urban and rural residents' consumption dropped from 49.9% and 58.6% in 1995 respectively. levels of 37.7% and 46.2% in 2002. Consumption such as housing, car purchases, and communications will gradually be satisfied, while travel needs, which are a combination of spiritual and material needs, will arise repeatedly. According to international experience, when per capita GDP reaches 800 to 1,000 US dollars, tourism consumption will become popular and universal and become one of the elements of life. By 2020, my country will build a moderately prosperous society in all respects. If each person travels twice a year, the number of domestic tourists by then will be as high as about 3 billion.

2． China is blessed with unique tourism resources

China has a vast territory, beautiful mountains and rivers, a long history, splendid culture, and numerous ethnic groups. The long history and vast territory have formed extremely rich tourism resources. According to research, my country ranks first in the world in terms of the number of natural and humanistic tourism resources, surpassing tourism powers such as the United States, Spain, and France. At present, there are more than 15,000 tourist attractions (spots) across the country, covering various aspects such as natural landscapes, history and culture, reform achievements, and social life. Among them, 28 are included in the "World Heritage List" and 151 are national key scenic spots. , 44 national geological parks, 197 national nature reserves, 439 national forest parks, 99 national historical and cultural cities, 360 national 4A-level tourist areas (spots), 137 outstanding tourist cities in China, and 1,269 national It is a key cultural relics protection unit and has more than 2,000 museums of various types. The unique customs, colorful city scenery, majestic construction projects, etc. provide unique conditions and foundation for the development of tourism industry.

3. From a major tourism country to a world tourism power

According to the basic ideas of the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" for tourism development formulated by the National Tourism Administration, by 2020, the number of overseas tourists in China will exceed 210 million, and the tourism foreign exchange revenue will be 58 billion USD and above. Domestic tourism will reach more than 2.9 billion people, and tourism revenue will reach more than 2.04 trillion yuan. The total tourism output will reach more than 2.5 trillion yuan, equivalent to an increase in the proportion of GDP to about 8%.

Domestic and foreign scholars are unanimously optimistic about the development prospects of China's tourism industry, and China will become a world tourism power. Authoritative organizations including the World Tourism Organization (WTO) have determined that China will become the world's top tourist destination in 2020 (see Table 2). The World Travel and Tourism Council predicts that by 2020, China's total tourism output will account for 8.64% of GDP, tourism consumption will account for 6.79% of total consumption, and tourism investment will account for 8.61% of total investment, close to the world average level.

Table 2 Forecast of the world's top ten tourist destinations in 2020

Data source: Compiled based on the World Tourism Organization (WTO) "2020 World Tourism Development Forecast Report", 1997. 3. Further leverage the leading role of tourism in the development of the national economy

(1) Implement the tourism economic development strategy

Building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way means that our country will basically achieve Industrialization, comprehensive improvement of land and resources, and ecological protection have reached a new level, agricultural modernization and rural urbanization have achieved great results, the Western Development Strategy has made breakthrough progress, and the proportion of the tertiary industry in the national economy has greatly increased. This history The process will form a positive interaction with the tourism industry from all aspects and achieve common development.

Investment, consumption and export are the three main aspects of maintaining economic growth, and tourism can play an important role in all three aspects. From a macro perspective, tourism investment has played a certain role in economic growth and maintained a high input-output rate. It is generally believed internationally that tourism is the best export industry, exporting scenery locally and having the advantage of low exchange costs. The state has implemented a number of policies to stimulate internal demand, such as implementing the Western Development Plan, increasing civil servant salaries, and increasing infrastructure spending. On the basis of these policies, we should also learn from the successful experience of developed countries in developing the tourism and leisure industry, take measures to vigorously stimulate tourism and leisure consumption, and promote the development of our country's tourism economy. In the process of industrialization, the United Kingdom formulated corresponding plans and policies to promote the transformation from a product-centered industrial society to a service-centered post-industrial society. It can be boldly predicted that among many policies, the implementation of the "tourism economic development strategy" can achieve better results.

To this end, it is necessary to completely change the long-term misunderstanding of the tourism industry, clean up some restrictive consumption policies in the past and a series of policies and regulations that discriminate and restrict the development of the tourism industry, and clarify that the tourism industry as our country We will maintain our advantageous industrial status, implement the tourism economic development strategy, and comprehensively build a world tourism power.

(2) Give full play to the role of domestic tourism in stimulating domestic demand

The Central Economic Work Conference at the end of 2001 clearly stated: "Expanding domestic demand is a strategic policy that needs to be adhered to in the long term." The 2003 "Government Work Report" put forward suggestions for eight key tasks this year, the first of which is "expanding and cultivating domestic demand and promoting rapid economic growth." Under the current severe international economic situation, the fundamental strategy to achieve rapid economic growth is to expand domestic demand and further form a dual pull of consumption and investment. The "Government Work Report" lists tourism as the second area to expand consumption, and its importance is self-evident.

The tourism industry has the characteristics of one industry prospering and all industries prosper. The tourism industry includes six major elements: travel, travel, food, shopping, and entertainment. Tourism consumption is not only related to transportation, accommodation, catering, commerce, scenic spots, etc. It is directly related to the industry, and is also related to industry, agriculture, information, finance, insurance, medical care, consulting, environmental protection and other industries. It directly and indirectly affects more than 100 subdivided industries, so its role in stimulating the economy is very obvious. Compared with consumption levels such as housing and cars, tourism consumption covers a price range ranging from a few yuan for tourist souvenirs to tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan for travel routes. The products are extremely producible and consumable. In 2001, Chinese residents' tourism consumption expenditure accounted for only 5.97% of residents' final consumption expenditure, which is still far away from the world average of 11%. There is still a lot of room for the development of domestic tourism.

Therefore, while vigorously developing inbound tourism, we must put domestic tourism in a more important position and promote the development of domestic tourism in breadth and depth. It is necessary to further increase publicity efforts, actively guide domestic tourism consumption, and implement a paid vacation system. It is necessary to actively guide the planning and development of new tourism products, actively explore new business methods, continuously improve service quality, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

(3) Actively promote the adjustment of the economic structure

Tourism is an industry with relatively large industrial correlations, which is conducive to the development of related industries and the upgrading of the economic structure. Tourism is an important part of the modern service industry. The service industry is an important part of the national economy. Its development level is a basic indicator to measure economic modernization and comprehensive national strength. Its development status indicates the direction of the evolution of the economic structure and industrial structure. In accordance with the requirements of the "Tenth Five-Year Plan", the average annual growth rate of the added value of the service industry should be appropriately faster than the growth rate of the national economy, and the proportion of GDP should increase from 33.2% in 2000 to 36%. Further accelerating the development of tourism is crucial to maintaining the growth rate of the entire service industry and increasing its proportion in the national economy. Tourism should be regarded as the core industry and influencing industry of the service industry, break down various ideological barriers, further expand the industrial scope, lengthen the industrial chain, and form an industrial cluster.

Accelerating the development of tourism is one of the important aspects of the adjustment of the industrial structure of the national economy. It is necessary to consciously integrate the development of tourism into macroeconomic structural adjustment, and cultivate the growth points of the tourism industry's own development while promoting the structural adjustment of other industries. It is necessary to strengthen the integration of tourism with other categories of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, and vigorously develop industrial tourism, agricultural tourism, science and education tourism, business tourism, exhibition tourism and urban tourism. For some old industrial bases and resource-based cities with relatively good conditions for developing tourism, tourism can be developed as a continuing industry during economic transformation. Jiaozuo City has been very successful in this regard. For some old industrial enterprises, they can develop industrial tourism to resettle laid-off employees, improve the comprehensive utilization of resources, promote the company's products and image, expand their influence and enhance their employees' sense of honor; for some enterprises that originally relied on deforestation, planting and In areas with animal husbandry, since the country began to implement the measures of "banning logging of natural forests", "converting farmland to forests" and "converting grazing land to grassland", economic development needs to find a new way out, and the development of eco-tourism is a good alternative; in rural areas Through the development of agricultural tourism, we can increase farmers' income, increase the added value of agricultural products, strengthen exchanges between urban and rural residents, and broaden farmers' horizons. This can also play a certain role in solving the problems of rural areas and farmers; the development of tourism can also help the development of other service industries. Provide larger new markets and space, such as traditional service industries such as business circulation and transportation, as well as modern service industries such as information, finance, and consulting. In short, tourism can serve to "strengthen the primary industry and improve the secondary industry" and can also link up with the tertiary industry.

Therefore, the "National Tourism Industry Policy" should be issued as soon as possible to clarify the guidelines and policies to support the tourism industry. At the same time, the government should increase investment through multiple channels, increase directional investment in the tourism industry, strengthen tourism infrastructure construction, pay attention to the protection of tourism resources, actively support the tourism industry to enter capital market financing, further increase opening up to the outside world, and strengthen inter-departmental cooperation. collaboration, etc.

(4) Give full play to the leading role of tourism in the development of the western region

Tourism resources are outstanding advantageous resources in the western region, and tourism is a highly competitive advantageous industry in the western region. The pristine and simple natural environment, majestic and unique natural landscapes, ancient and mysterious cultural relics, and different ethnic customs in the west are in line with the trend of world tourism's demand for novelty, diversity, knowledge, and entertainment, and are very attractive. The five key directions identified in the western development are closely related to the development of tourism and promote each other.

The tourism industry has a special low center of gravity to start the economy and a highly relevant radiation driving function. This is of "breakthrough" significance for the launch of the western economy, which is rich in tourism resources but has a weak economic foundation and a prominent urban-rural economic dual structure. It will then directly and indirectly drive related industries through the industrial chain, develop on a rolling basis, and ultimately promote the economic prosperity of the western region. . Vigorous development of tourism will help improve the economic income and social welfare level of the people in the western region, change the "blood transfusion economy" model of local finance, and also help strengthen the connection and collaboration between the western region and developed regions at home and abroad, and attract investment. The development of tourism will inevitably bring about rapid growth in passenger flow, talent flow, capital flow, commodity flow, and information flow, which will expand the purchasing power of inflows from outside the region. It will also inevitably drive the development of the catering industry, hotel industry, and commerce, and promote the improvement of transportation and communication facilities. These are the preliminary work that must be done to improve the investment environment and attract external funds.

Therefore, tourism should become an important entry point for the development of the western region, and the "tourism-driven development strategy" should be implemented in areas with suitable conditions.

(5) Fully tap the potential of tourism employment

Tourism is a labor-intensive industry, and my country’s tourism employment has the characteristics of rapid growth, large capacity, and great potential. In 2001, my country's tourism indirectly employed 29.8 million people, and the total number of tourism employment reached 35.78 million. In the last decade of the 20th century, among the 77.4 million new jobs created in my country's tertiary industry, tourism accounted for 38%, reaching 29.4 million. The number of people directly employed in tourism in my country increased from 520,000 in 1989 to 5.98 million in 2001, an increase of 12 times.

Tourism promotes large employment capacity and many opportunities. Many tourism jobs have low thresholds and have great demand for labor at all levels. Most jobs do not have strict requirements on cultural quality and age, especially It is suitable for re-employment of laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises. Tourism has become the main channel for creating urban jobs and absorbing surplus rural labor.

From the perspective of growth potential, the proportion of direct employment in my country's tourism industry in 2001 was only 0.8% of all employment, which was far lower than the world average, and its growth potential is still huge. According to the "Several Opinions on Developing Tourism and Expanding Employment" jointly proposed by the National Tourism Administration and the State Planning Commission, in the next 10 years, my country's tourism industry will continue to maintain a growth rate moderately faster than GDP, creating approximately 40 million new jobs. On average, tourism has increased direct employment by about 700,000 people per year and driven indirect employment of about 3.5 million people. By 2010, the proportion of people directly employed in tourism in my country will account for about 1.7% of all employed people in society, while the world average will be 3.3% by then. There is still a lot of room for growth in tourism employment.

To this end, we should fully tap the potential of tourism employment and achieve great growth in tourism employment based on the expansion of industrial scale; we should focus on increasing the development of tourism products to widely form growth points to expand employment; Reform, innovation and structural adjustment should be used as breakthroughs to achieve both improvement in the number of employees and the quality of enterprises.

(6) Give full play to the poverty alleviation function of tourism

Many poor areas in my country are rich in tourism resources, and the richness of tourism resources has a high overlap with poverty-stricken areas and minority areas. sex. As of 2001, there were more than 100 national forest parks among the 592 key impoverished counties across the country. Among the 307 key impoverished counties in the west alone, 78 counties had national or provincial nature reserves, and 34 counties had national nature reserves. level scenic spot.

The current financial situation of our country and the reality of poor areas determine that our country cannot rely on strong investment to change the appearance of poor areas like developed countries. Therefore, how to use limited investment to activate the vitality of local economic development has become the key to development-based poverty alleviation. Finding an industry that is closely connected with local resources, has low investment, has a wide impact and benefits a lot is the best way to solve the problem. In poor areas with abundant tourism resources and certain market conditions, tourism has undoubtedly become the preferred industry. In this regard, many places have achieved successful experience.

Therefore, relevant national departments should actively explore new models of tourism poverty alleviation, set up and cultivate a number of national tourism poverty alleviation experimental (demonstration) zones in poverty-stricken areas with great tourism potential, and provide necessary external support to Make full use of local resources to promote economic development in poor areas and help farmers get rid of poverty and become rich.