Travel Economics (Second Edition)

Author: Li Weiqing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Around the world, tourism is becoming an important way of life and socio-economic activity in modern human society. Since the 1950s, mass tourism has maintained a strong momentum in development and has rapidly become a major pillar of the global economy, following the oil, automotive, and real estate industries. Although China's tourism industry started relatively late, it has developed rapidly and achieved remarkable accomplishments. Since the implementation of China's reform and opening-up policy in 1978, in just over two decades, China has transformed from a small tourism country ranked 41st in the world into a major tourism nation ranked 6th globally, and is gradually advancing toward becoming a world-class tourism powerhouse. China's tourism industry has been the fastest-growing in the world during the same period, with an average annual growth rate close to 20%. Especially since 1986, when tourism was officially incorporated into the national economic planning system, China's tourism economy has experienced rapid development. In 1998, the tourism industry was designated as a new growth point for the national economy, and to date, most provinces, cities, and regions in China have prioritized tourism as a key or pillar industry for local economic development. Tourism economics is a discipline that studies the economic phenomena, economic relationships, and development patterns of the tourism industry. The development of the tourism industry has promoted the advancement of tourism education, while the improvement of tourism education has, in turn, become a driving force for the development of the tourism industry. After years of exploration and effort, China's tourism higher education textbook development has taken shape. However, with the growth of the tourism industry, some tourism textbooks have lagged behind industry development, with issues such as outdated theories and outdated data becoming apparent. The publication of this book aims to address these shortcomings to some extent. With the support and assistance of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press and fellow colleagues, the author edited and published the book Tourism Economics several years ago, which received positive feedback after several rounds of teaching practice. Given the development of China's tourism industry, research on tourism economics theory needs to not only elaborate on the basic laws of tourism economics but also continuously track and summarize the operation and development of China's tourism economy, reflecting these insights in discipline development. Therefore, with the continued support and assistance of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press, the author has revised the book Tourism Economics. The revised Tourism Economics presents the following features: 1. Comprehensive content, concise and streamlined structure. The book consists of 11 chapters, covering all macro and micro aspects of the tourism economy. 2. Utilizing theories and methods from Western and socialist economics, combined with the unique laws of tourism economic operation, it systematically and comprehensively elaborates on the basic theories and methods of tourism economics. 3. Emphasizing the integration of theory and practice, it strengthens quantitative analysis and argumentation based on qualitative research, thereby demonstrating strong theoretical rigor, scientific validity, and practical applicability. 4. It breaks certain conventional structures of existing tourism economics textbooks, with language that is easy to understand. It is not only suitable for teaching in universities and colleges, particularly in tourism and related fields, but also serves as a professional textbook for higher vocational tourism education and self-study examinations. Additionally, it holds significant reference value for those engaged in tourism economic research and practice. Due to the author's limited expertise, there may still be omissions and shortcomings in the book, and the author sincerely invites readers to point them out.