A brief history of tourism development

A brief comment on the development of tourism in China (1): the transformation from "career type" to "industry type".

Although the development of tourism in China started late, its development speed has attracted worldwide attention. Before the reform and opening up, the tourism industry was mainly engaged in reception of foreign affairs, and only the embryonic form of the industry did not completely belong to the industrial category. 1978 conversion mechanism to develop industrial tourism. From 65438 to 0984, the central government put forward the tourism construction policy of joint efforts of the state, localities, departments, collectives and individuals, self-reliance and the use of foreign capital, which opened the prelude to the all-round development of tourism. 1986 the State Council decided to incorporate tourism into its national economic and social development plan and formally established its national economic status. 1992, the central government clearly put forward that tourism is the key industry in the tertiary industry. Later, the "Proposal on Formulating the Ninth Five-year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Outline of 20 10 Long-term Goals" put forward by the Central Government of China listed tourism as the first in the sequence of the tertiary industry actively developing emerging industries. 1998 the central economic work conference put forward that tourism should be regarded as a new growth point of the national economy. Since then, the State Planning Commission has listed tourism projects as national debt projects, and the railway department has opened hundreds of special tourist trains in time. The support of the Central Committee and the State Council has laid a solid foundation for the development of tourism.

From the development stage, before 1980, the overall scale of tourism was small; During the Sixth Five-Year Plan period, inbound tourism has been greatly improved, and domestic tourism has started. During the Seventh Five-Year Plan period, inbound tourism continued to develop and domestic tourism developed greatly. During the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, inbound tourism developed greatly and domestic tourism rose rapidly, which was the fastest developing period. During the ninth five-year plan period, the industrial foundation was solid and developed steadily; Affected by the overall negative growth of 200 1 world tourism, China's tourism industry continues to advance in difficulties, but the growth rate has dropped; In 2002, China's tourism industry rebounded as a whole, and the growth rate of four tourism economic indicators all exceeded 10%.

Table 1 Growth of Main Tourism Economic Indicators in China in Different Periods (199 1~2002)

Note: ① Fifty Years of Tourism in China by National Tourism Administration, the data of number of people and income are the period plus the total;

② National Tourism Administration, statistical bulletin of China tourism in 20001year;

③ National Tourism Administration, 2002 China Tourism Statistical Bulletin.

In a word, with the help of reform and opening up, China's tourism industry has developed continuously and rapidly for more than 20 years, from scratch, from small to large, with an increasingly distinct industrial image and growing industrial scale, becoming one of the fastest-growing industries in the national economy.

(B) from a small tourist country to a big tourist country

China is one of the countries with the fastest development of tourism in the world. 1978, the number of international tourists in China (1.8 million) was only 0.7% of the global total, ranking 41in the world; In 2002, it received 979 1 10,000 overseas tourists, making it the fifth largest tourist destination in the world and the largest tourist country in Asia. From 65438 to 0978, China's foreign exchange earned by international tourism (US$ 260 million) accounted for only 0.038% of the world, ranking 47th in the world. In 2002, it increased to US$ 20.4 billion, accounting for 4.4% of the world, making it the fifth largest foreign exchange earner in the world. In 2002, the number of China citizens going abroad reached16,602,300, an increase of 36.84% over the previous year, making it a striking emerging tourist exporter in Asia. In 2002, the number of domestic tourists in China reached 878 million, making it the largest, fastest growing and most potential domestic tourism market in the world.

The scale of tourism in China is also expanding. According to incomplete statistics, by the end of 200 1, there were1000 foreign-related tourist hotels in China, including 80 18 star-rated hotels. There are more than 0/0000 travel agencies/KLOC-,including more than 300 international travel agencies/KLOC-. The fixed assets of tourism in China reach 700 billion yuan, and there are 260,000 tourism enterprises and institutions. There are 5.98 million direct employees and 29.8 million indirect employees in tourism; * * * There are 1 152 institutions providing tourism education with 340,000 students.

(3) Tourism is increasingly becoming a new growth point of China's economy.

With the vigorous development of China's tourism industry, its comprehensive and related characteristics are more and more fully revealed, and it plays an increasingly important role in promoting the development of related industries, expanding domestic demand, enhancing economic vitality and improving people's quality of life.

In 2002, China's tourism industry achieved a total tourism revenue of 556.6 billion yuan, an increase of 12% over the previous year, which was more than 3 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of the national economy. The total tourism revenue is equivalent to 5.4% of the GDP in that year, accounting for more than 16% of the tertiary industry, and the foreign exchange income from tourism accounts for more than half of the foreign exchange earned by the national service trade.

Tourism has increasingly become a new economic growth point in China and one of the main pillars of the tertiary industry in China. Twenty-four provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China have positioned tourism as a pillar industry, while other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have positioned tourism as an important industry or an advantageous industry respectively.

Second, the opportunities and prospects of China's tourism development.

Development opportunities

First of all, the sustained, rapid and healthy development of the national economy will push the tourism industry to a new level. In the first 265438+ 10 years of the 20th century, the average annual growth rate of China's national economy will remain above 7%, and its comprehensive national strength will be further improved. The deepening of economic system reform, the development of opening to the outside world, the overall progress of economy and society, and the adjustment of industrial structure will all promote the development of tourism.

Secondly, the opportunities brought by building a well-off society in an all-round way. Building a well-off society in an all-round way means that more than one billion people in China will move towards a higher level of well-off society, and the demand for tourism will inevitably increase, and tourism consumption will become one of the symbols and characteristics of a well-off society. China's "well-off society is still a low-level, incomplete and unbalanced well-off society", but it is at this well-off level that the world's largest domestic tourism market and the fastest growing overseas tourism market are formed.

Third, the implementation of the strategy of developing the western region will enable many world-class tourism resources in the western region to be developed and transform their resource advantages into economic advantages, thus continuously improving the international competitiveness and development potential of China's tourism industry and forming a new growth pole of China's tourism industry.

Fourthly, after China's entry into WTO, tourism and its related industries will accelerate the pace of international integration, further optimize the development environment and promote the growth of international business tourism.

Fifth, China is the safest tourist destination country in the world. The "9. 1 1" incident in the United States and the outbreak of the US-Iraq war led to the decline of world tourism. However, due to China's political stability, sustained and rapid economic development and a series of important measures implemented by the China administration, China's image as the safest tourist destination has been strengthened.

Sixth, China's accession to the WTO, Beijing's successful bid for the Olympic Games, Shanghai's successful bid for the World Expo, Hangzhou's successful bid for the World Leisure Expo in 2006, and the World Tourism Organization General Assembly will be held in Beijing for the first time in June 2003, which shows that China's international status and influence are increasing day by day, and it plays a positive role in promoting the development of China's tourism industry.

(2) Prospect analysis

With the construction of a well-off society in an all-round way, under the two-way interaction between supply and demand, China's tourism industry is promising.

1. The tourism market has great potential.

With the improvement of people's wealth, the increase of leisure time and disposable income will promote the domestic tourism demand to grow at a higher speed. China is the most populous country in the world, with the largest domestic tourism market unmatched by any other country in the world. In 2002, 8 out of 65,438+03 people from China traveled. China began to implement the 40-hour working weekend system from 1 May, 9951,and began to implement the seven-day holiday of May Day, November Day and Spring Festival from 1999. At present, the total number of statutory rest days that China citizens can enjoy every year is 1 14, and residents have more and more leisure time. At the same time, the consumption structure is changing from food and clothing consumption to enjoyment and development, and the Engel coefficient is decreasing year by year. The Engel coefficient of urban and rural residents' consumption decreased from 49.9% and 58.6% in195 to 37.7% and 46.2% in 2002 respectively. Consumption such as housing, car purchase and communication will be gradually met, and tourism demand as a combination of spirit and material will be generated repeatedly. According to international experience, when the per capita GDP reaches 800~ 1000 dollars, tourism consumption will show a trend of popularization and become one of the elements of life. By 2020, China will build a well-off society in an all-round way. If everyone travels twice a year, the number of domestic tourists will be as high as 3 billion.

2. The tourism resources are unique.

China has a vast territory, beautiful mountains and rivers, a long history, splendid culture and numerous nationalities, and its long history and vast territory have formed incomparably rich tourism resources. According to research, China ranks first in the world in terms of natural and cultural tourism resources, surpassing the United States, Spain, France and other tourism powers. At present, there are more than 5000 tourist attractions 15000 in China, covering natural landscapes, history and culture, reform achievements and social life, among which 28 are listed in the World Heritage List, 65438 are national key scenic spots +05 1, 44 are national geological parks and 65438 are national nature reserves. There are 99 national historical and cultural cities, 360 national 4A tourist areas (spots), 37 excellent tourist cities in China 1269 national key cultural relics protection units, and more than 2,000 museums. Unique customs, colorful urban scenery and magnificent construction projects provide unique conditions and foundations for the development of tourism.

3. From a big tourist country to a powerful tourist country in the world

According to the basic idea 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 2 10/00000, and the foreign exchange income from tourism will be more than 58 billion US dollars. Domestic tourism will reach more than 2.9 billion person-times, and tourism revenue will reach more than 2,040 billion yuan. The total tourism output will reach more than 2.5 trillion yuan, equivalent to 8% of GDP. Scholars at home and abroad are optimistic about the development prospects of China's tourism industry, and China will become a world tourism power. Authorities, including the World Tourism Organization (WTO), believe that China will become the first tourist destination country in the world in 2020 (see Table 2). The World 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 8.6 1% of total investment, which is close to the world average.

Table 22020 Forecast of Top Ten Tourism Destinations in the World

Source: According to World Tourism Development Forecast Report 2020 of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), 1997. Third, give full play to the leading role of tourism in the development of national economy.

(A) the implementation of tourism economic development strategy

Building a well-off society in an all-round way means that by 2020, China will basically realize industrialization, the comprehensive improvement of land and resources and the construction of ecological protection will reach a new level, great achievements will be made in the process of agricultural modernization and rural urbanization, breakthroughs will be made in the strategy of developing the western region, and the proportion of the tertiary industry in the national economy will be greatly increased. This historical process will form a benign interaction and common development with tourism in all aspects.

Investment, consumption and export are three main aspects to maintain economic growth, and tourism can play an important role in these three aspects. From a macro perspective, tourism investment has played a certain role in economic growth and maintained a high input-output ratio. It is generally believed in the world that tourism is the best export industry, which exports local scenery and has the advantage of low exchange cost. The state has implemented a number of policies to stimulate domestic demand, such as developing the western region, raising the salary of civil servants and increasing infrastructure expenditure. On the basis of these policies, we should also learn from the successful experience of developed countries in developing tourism and leisure industry and take measures to vigorously stimulate tourism and leisure consumption and promote the development of China's tourism economy. Britain has made corresponding plans and policies in the process of industrialization, which has promoted the transformation from an industrial society centered on products to a post-industrial society centered on services. It can be boldly predicted that among many policies, the implementation of the "tourism economic development strategy" can play a better role.

Therefore, we must completely change the long-standing misunderstanding of tourism, clear up some restrictive consumption policies and a series of policies and regulations that discriminate and restrict the development of tourism, clarify the status of tourism as a dominant industry in China, implement the strategy of tourism economic development, and build a world tourism power in an all-round way.

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

At the end of 20001,the Central Economic Work Conference clearly stated that "expanding domestic demand is a strategic policy that needs to be adhered to for a long time". In 2003, the government work report put forward eight suggestions for this year's key work, the first of which was "expanding and cultivating domestic demand and promoting rapid economic growth". Under the current severe international economic situation, the fundamental policy to achieve rapid economic growth is to expand domestic demand and further form a double pull of consumption and investment. The government work report lists tourism as the second largest area to expand consumption, and its importance is self-evident.

Tourism is a booming industry, which includes six elements: transportation, tourism, food injection, shopping and entertainment. Tourism consumption is not only directly related to transportation, accommodation, catering, commerce, scenic spots and other industries, but also related to industries such as industry, agriculture, information, finance, insurance, medical care, consulting and environmental protection, with more than 100 sub-industries directly and indirectly affected. Compared with the consumption level of housing and cars, the price range of tourism consumption ranges from a few yuan of tourist souvenirs to tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of tourist routes, and the products are extremely productive and consumptive. In 200 1 year, China's residents' tourism consumption expenditure only accounts for 5.97% of the residents' final consumption expenditure, which is far from the world average level of 1 1%, and there is still a lot of room for developing domestic tourism.