Developing regional tourism in China(2)

中国区域旅游发展

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J.Jackson/TourismManagement27(2006)695–706

tourismauthoritiesindevelopingandpromotingthetourismproductandtheneedforlocallybasedorganisationalstructurestosupportregionaldevelop-ment.Xu(1999,p.209)hasnotedthat‘People-centred,community-responsiveyapproachesintourismplan-ningandpolicyformulationsareabsent’.Atop-downindustrialpolicyapproachwiththeassociatedsubsidisa-tionandprotectionismisseenaslesslikelytobeproductivethanalocallybasedindustry-drivenmodel.Moreover,traditionalmodelsforregionaldevelopmentthathavematuredincapitalisteconomies,basedontheassumptionsofthecompetitivemarketmodel,donotadmittheuniquehistoricsocialandbusinessculturefromwhichtheChineseeconomyiscurrentlyevolvingtoa‘socialistmarketsystem’.

Thishistoryincorporatescollectivismandthenotionsofguanxi(trust/connections/socialrelationships/in u-ence)andrenqing(humanfeelings/sympathy/giftex-change).Localcollectivesarecharacterisedbyastructurethatfacilitatescooperationthroughimplicitcontractsamongstcommunitymembers.Manyofthemarehorizontallyintegrated,incorporatingnetworksthatincludescientists,engineers,academicsandbusinesspeople(Harvie&Turpin,1997).Alongsidethesefeatures,Chinaisanationwithahugepopulationcompetingfortheuseoftheexistingresourcebase.Thispaperexploreswhetherincreasingself-relianceinregionaltourismdevelopmentviacreationoractivationofregionalandlocaltourismclustersbasedonPorter’s(1998)modelandlocatedinPorter’s(1990)theoryofcompetitiveadvantage,isaneffectivemodelforChina.Theseclustersmightthenbecomethemeansofconvertingcomparativeadvantagetocompetitivead-vantageinregionalChinaandmakingbetteruseofexistingtourismresources.Itisproposedthat,whilethemodelofbusinessclusterswasalsomaturedwithinthecapitalistmarketsystem,therearespeci cfeaturesofthemodelthataretheoreticallyconsonantwithguanxi,renqing,localcollectivesandthe‘socialistmarketsystem’.Porter’smodelprovidesanorganisationalstructureforregionaldevelopmentlinkedtoatheoryofcompetitivebehaviourthatmaybetteraccommodatethesefeaturesoftheChinesesystem.

2.Background

2.1.RegionalinequalitiesandtourisminChinaSince1978,facedwiththeimperativesofeconomicdevelopmentandmodernisation,withtheintroductionoftheopennessandreformpolicy,theChineseeconomyhasbeengraduallyevolvingfromaclosedsocialisteconomytowardsamarketsystem.ThelateststageinthisprogresstowardsanopenglobaleconomyismarkedbyChina’sentrytotheWorldTradeOrganizationin

November2001.From1978to2000itwasestimatedthattheaveragegrowthratewouldbeintheorderof10%perannum(Tisdell&Chai,1997,p.1).However,thisaggregate gureobscureslargeinter-provincialdisparitiesinthegrowththatactuallyoccurredoverthistimeperiod,withcoastalregionsenjoyingaveragegrowthratesofupto14%,whileinlandprovincesmayhavehadgrowthratesofaslittleas6.9%overthesameperiod(Demurger,2000,p.15).

ThecurrentinequalityinwealthdistributioninChinacanbeattributedinparttotheprocessbywhichChina’sprogresstoamarketeconomyhastakenplace.Theopennessandreformpolicythat,amongstotherthings,enabledinboundtourismandtheassociatedearningsofforeignincome,wasintroducedinDecember1978,butwasnotappliedtoallprovincesatthesamerate(Demurger,2000).At rstitwasappliedonlytoselectedcoastalprovincesinitiallyGuangdongandFujian(Demurger,2000,p.14),whichwereintendedtobecometheenginesforthegrowthprocessinChina.Indeed,inthe ve-yearplanfrom1981to1985theintentionto‘exploittheeconomicpowerofthecoastalregionsyinordertopromoteeconomicdevelopmentintheinterior’wasexplicitlystated(Lemoine,1994,quotedinDemur-ger,2000,p.14).Thispatternofinequalityhasalsobeenreinforcedbyforeigninvestment.In1983,almost93%ofForeignDirectInvestment(FDI) owswenttotheeastcoast‘gateway’regionsofChina(Demurger,2000,p.21).TheseprovincesareGuangdong,Beijing,Fujian,Shanghai,Jiangsu,Liaoning,Guanxi,Tianjin,Shan-dong,ZhejiangandHainan(seeFig.1).In2002,forthesame11provincesitwasjustunder86%(ChinaStatisticalYearbook2003,p.675).

Thetourismindustryisanareainwhichthemove-menttoa‘socialistmarketsystem’hasbeenmostrapidandpronounced.Also,theinternationaltourismin-dustryisanexportsectorandenjoysnationalincentivelegislation(Xu,1999,p.20).Earningsfrominterna-tionaltourismhaverisenfrom$US7.223billionin1994to$US18.53billionin2002(NTAofPRC).However,asisalsothecasewithbroadereconomicdevelopmentinChina,bothdomesticandinternationaltouristactivityisheavilyconcentratedonthecoastalgateways.In2000,thetop12tourismregions,asmeasuredbytotalarrivals,accountedfor82.9%oftotalvisits,including77.1%ofinternationalvisitorsand86.8%offoreignexchangeearningsfromtourism(seeTable1).

Nineofthesetop12arecoastalgatewayprovincesidenti edbyDemurger(2000).Inlandprovincestobeincludedinthetop12areShaanxi,whichhousesthefamousTerracottaWarriorsatXi’anandawealthofwell-promotedhistoricandculturalattractions,andYunnan,withthebeautifulcityofKunming,theStoneforestandahostofhistoricalandculturalattractions.Guangxi,identi edbyDemurger(2000)asoneofthe11coastalprovinces,butreceivingtheleastamountof