Urban Tourism in China

Mimi Li, Wu Bihu

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781135741914
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

China has witnessed a dramatic development of tourism in urban context in the past thirty years, especially with its success in hosting the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and the Shanghai World Exposition in 2010. Urban areas as tourism destination are receiving increasingly more popularity than traditional destinations such as national parks, natural reserves, and historical relics.

Deriving largely from a special issue on "Urban Tourism Development and City Destination Marketing" (Journal of China Tourism Research), Urban Tourism in China presents the readers with a collection of nine independent research reports examining issues such as consumer behaviour in urban destinations, the social impact of tourism, destination image, leisure, regional collaboration, and heritage tourism in ancient towns. The investigations covered urban areas of different scales and diversified nature from major metropolises such as Beijing, and Guangzhou, to ancient towns like Lijiang and Pingyao. Readers who have interests of tourism research, business development, and in-depth understanding of urban life in China may find the book informative and interesting.

This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of China Tourism Research.

Introduction: Urban Tourism in China

Mimi Li and Bihu Wu

Cities have been among the most significant of all tourist destinations since urbanization began (Edwards, Griffin, & Hayllar, 2008). City areas are distinctive and complex places characterized by four commonly accepted qualities: a high density of physical structures, people, and functions; social and cultural heterogeneity; economic multifunctionalism; and a physical centrality within regional and interurban networks (Pearce, 2001). Present-day tourism occupies substantial amounts of space within urban destinations via tourist-historic urban cores, museums of all kinds, urban waterfronts, theme parks, and specialized precincts (Edwards, et al., 2008).

A city may have different roles as a gateway, a tourist source, or a destination. The appeal of cities lies in the variety of things to do and see in a reasonably compact, interesting and attractive environment (Karski, 1990). Significant numbers of tourists visit urban areas for a primary purpose other than to go on vacation: the large populations in cities naturally attract visiting friends and relatives; the easy accessibility and large stock of accommodation and other support facilities appeal to the business and meeting, incentive travel, convention, and exhibition (MICE) markets; the well-educated and senior travelers may appreciate the heritage and historical sites on offer in cities; and young people are attracted by the excitement or urban environment, along with entertainment, nightlife, and sporting events (Edwards, et al., 2008). Given that visitors are normally drawn to a city by the completeness of its urban ambience, the demand for urban tourism is multidimensional and frequently multipurpose in nature (Ehrlich & Dreier, 1999).

Until the 1980s, studies on urban tourism were fragmented and not recognized as contributions to a distinct field (Edwards, et al., 2008). An upsurge in interest in urban tourism was sparked by Ashworth’s work, in which he stated that “the failure to consider tourism as a specifically urban activity imposes a serious constraint that cannot fail to impede the development of tourism as a subject of serious study” (Ashworth, 1989: 33). In his pioneer work, Ashworth (1989) outlined four extant approaches to analyzing urban tourism: 1) the facility approach, which focuses on the spatial analysis of the location of tourism attractions, facilities, infrastructure, and zones; 2) the ecological approach, which focuses on the structure and morphology of urban areas and features the identification of functional zones or districts, such as central business districts (CBDs); 3) the user approach, in which a marketing perspective is adopted to focus on tourists; and 4) the policy approach, which is concernedwith a range of policy issues, including infrastructure provision and destination marketing (Ashworth, 1989).

A significant amount of research has been published since Ashworth’ s groundbreaking work. The literature covers topics such as heritage conservation (e.g., Chang, Milne, Fallon, & Pohlmann, 1996), urban planning and governance (e.g., Albalate & Bel, 2009), the regeneration of inner cities and waterfronts (e.g., Gospodini, 2001), the sustainability of urban tourism (e.g., Savage, Huang, & Chang, 2004), and urban tourist behavior (e.g., Suh & Gartner, 2004). Studies in these areas have largely focused on two types of cities: de-industrialized cities such as those found in many parts of the U.S. and the U.K. (e.g., Bramwell, 1997; Judd, 1995) and heritage cities, most of which are in Europe (e.g., Caffyn & Lutz, 1999; Chang, et al., 1996). Later in a study that sought to address the research gap in urban tourism, Edwards, Griffin, and Hayllar (2008) developed a research agenda for urban tourism using Delphi studies and focus groups in academia and the tourism industry. Their study identified the top issues that were most highly valued by both groups, including the tourist experience and behavioral issues, the impact of tourism on urban areas, destination development and management, and spatial relationship issues.

Despite academic efforts in this area, the complexity of urban tourism has undoubtedly delayed the research carried out, and the tourism and urban studies literatures scarcely overlap. One of the major research gaps is that, with few exceptions, the existing literature has been limited to studies on Western cities. With histories of hundreds of years, the Western cities analyzed in these studies generally have a well-established urban configuration and fabric, but have suffered at some stage from economic decline, environmental decay, community dereliction, growing unemployment, and/or a deteriorating image, especially after World War II. Many of these studies have shown that tourism serves to foster new economic opportunities that result in a restructuring of post-industrialization cities and revitalize heritage cities. However, the prior literature has ignored Asian cities, in which the booming tourism industry of recent decades has represented a developmental opportunity rather than a route to revitalization.

Urban Tourism in China

In the sightseeing era of tourism development in China over the past three decades, most tourist attractions such as national parks, natural reserves, spas and beaches, historical relics, and minority people villages have existed far from the downtown areas of cities. However, researchers and tourism operators have recently found that business tourism, such as MICE, and entertainment activities are becoming increasingly popular in urban areas, especially with the successful hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games and the Shanghai World Exposition. City or urban tourism has demonstrated its importance as a major contributor to the prosperity of local tourism. Rapid economic development brings more disposable income to urban residents as urbanization swiftly spreads throughout the country. All of these changes mean that cities become a source of both short excursion trips and long-haul travel in addition to attracting visitors from both international and domestic markets.

This trend necessitates urban tourism research in China. A brief review of the literature on China’s urban tourism revealed close to 800 publications, the majority of which have been published in Chinese journals. These investigations were conducted from a wide variety of perspectives including tourism, geography, economics, environment and resources, and social science. The literature covers topics such as the spatial structure of metropolitan tourism (e.g., Bian, 2003, 2009; Wu, 2001), the image of urban tourism destinations (e.g., Gu, 2000; Xu & Gu, 2005), the competitive advantages of urban tourism destinations (e.g., Zhou & Bao, 2005), urban tourism theory (e. g., Liu & Fan, 2008), urban tourism planning and governance (e.g., Wu & Zhang, 2003; Zhu, Liu, & Bao, 2002), urban tourism resources and products (e.g., Wang, 2004), and the driving forces behind urban tourism development (e.g., Bao & Liu, 2002; Peng, 2000). While contributing enormously to the understanding of urban tourism development in China, empirical case studies are still dominant in this area of study, whereas studies grounded in solid theories are rare.

This Book

This book is largely based on The Journal of China Tourism Research’s special issue on "Urban Tourism Development and City Destination Marketing” (volume 7, number 2, 2011), for which we were guest editors. We distributed a call for papers from a very broad pool of potential submissions and encouraged contributions from different perspectives, including but not limited to the following subject areas: cities as international destinations, urban tourism policies and planning, business travel to/from cities, mega events in cities, shopping and recreational business districts, city destination marketing, the image and branding of tourist cities, heritage tourism and tourism-oriented redevelopment in cities, urban tourism interpretation, museum and arts tourism, shows and performances for tourists, theme parks, urban entertainment industries, and recreational belts around cities.

This book includes five articles from the special issue (volume 7, number 2, 2011) and four articles from previous issues of the journal. It is the editors’ hope that by presenting a number of perspectives on urban tourism in China in a single volume, this special collection might help promote theoretical and methodological awareness of urban tourism research in China.

The contributions in this book address distinct issues relating to urban tourism in China. Drawing on new economic growth theory, Shan Li, Min Xiao, Kun Zhang, Jing Wu, and Zheng Wang investigated in Chapter Two the spatial interaction processes between Shanghai, southern Jiangsu province, and northern Zhejiang province with the concept of tourism spillover effect. They propose an improved measurement model capable of enhancing the understanding of regional tourism cooperation and competition.

Chapters Three and Four focus on the impact of city tourism on historical towns in Pingyao, Shanxi province and Lijiang, Yunnan province, respectively. Philip Xie and Kai Gu present a case study of spatial morphology in Pingyao, an ancient walled city. A longitudinal analysis of urban planning documents and fieldwork from 2005 to 2009 shows that the development of urban tourism played a critical role in shaping and transforming the city’s morphology. The chapter concludes that in historical towns such as Pingyao, where tourism is a dominant source of economic growth, tourism should be integrated into urban planning to better balance heritage development and preservation. In Chapter Four, Xiaobo Su and Chunyuan Huang investigate the impact of tourism on public space in Lijiang. The public space in the ancient town has been commodificated and museumized as the result of rapid tourism development, which has altered the city’s urban function. Possible roles that tourism could play in preserving Lijiang’s urban texture and local culture are discussed.

One of the major characteristics of tourism in urban areas is that it is only one of many functions fulfilled by a city. Tourists share or compete with local residents for many spaces and services and the tourism industry competes with other industries for resources such as labor and land. This type of competition is particularly intense in Hong Kong, where land and other resources are scarce. Recognizing the importance of leisure and recreation to urban residents’ wellbeing and the subsequent healthy and harmonious development of the city, in Chapter Five, Shan Yang, Honggen Xiao, and Chau Yeung Tse examine Hong Kong university students’ perceptions of leisure by drawing on the results of in-depth interviews structured around open-ended questions pertinent to their participation and experiences. Four categories of activities and four types of benefits are identified, and the meaning of leisure and its association with quality of life and work are discussed in a non-Western context.

A very important yet often ignored stakeholder in urban tourism planning and policy making is the local community. Chapters Six and Seven address this issue by examining the social impact of urban tourism in two major cities in Northern China: Beijing and Harbin in Heilongjiang province. In Chapter Six, Chris Ryan and Huimin Gu analyze the results of interviews with 40 residents and over 40 business people to examine attitudes toward tourism as expressed by residents of Beijing Hutong. Four major impact groups are identified, including changes in the physical appearance of the Hutong, increased noise, increased congestion, and safety and public order issues. These impacts are attributed to an increase in the numberof migrant entrepreneurs and the specific growth of the pedicab business. A Hutong destination life cycle, based on Butler’s life cycle, is also proposed along the localization-globalization-glocalisation continuum through the addition of a further axis that represents the quality of life of local residents. In Chapter Seven, Yu Wang, Gang Li, and Xuemei Bai explore residents’ perceptions on the impacts of tourism development in Harbin by analyzing the results of face-to-face interviews. Local residents’ attitudes toward tourism development are found to be different across various interest groups.

The last three chapters address the tourists to urban destinations. In Chapter Eight, Shaojun Ji and Geoffrey Wall examine the image of Qingdao, Shandong province, as perceived by tourists and local residents through questionnaire survey. The perceptions of both groups are compared along two dimensions: cognitive and affective image. Shopping facilities are an indispensable part of urban tourism destinations and shopping is widely recognized in the extant literature as one of the major activities in which tourists frequently participate while traveling. In Chapter Nine, Qiuju Luo and Xiangyu Lu examine inbound business tourists’ shopping behavior and the influencing factors in Guangzhou through analyzing the results of a survey and in-depth interviews. It is found that inbound ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• 1. Introduction: Urban Tourism in China
• 2. Measuring Tourism Spillover Effects Among Cities: Improvement of the Gap Model and a Case Study of the Yangtze River Delta
• 3. Urban Morphology and Tourism Planning: Exploring the City Wall in Pingyao, China
• 4. The Impacts of Heritage Tourism on Public Space in Historic Towns: A Case Study of Lijiang Ancient Town
• 5. Leisure in an Urban Environment - A Perspective of University Students
• 6. A Residential Survey on Urban Tourism Impacts in Harbin
• 7. The Social Impacts of Tourism in a Beijing Hutong—A Case of Environmental Change
• 8. A Study of Inbound Business Tourists' Shopping Behaviour and Influencing Factors - A Case Study of the Canton Fair in Guangzhou
• 9. Visitor and Resident Images of Qingdao, China as a Tourism Destination
• 10. Developing a Framework for Assessing Visitors' Responses to Chinese Cities
• Index