Tourism Industry Planning Guide

Author: Wang Xingbin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-08-01
Features: Guiding Ideology and Basic Principles for Formulating Tourism Development Plans
When formulating tourism industry development plans during the 10th Five-Year Plan period, the following guiding ideology should be adhered to:
Guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory and the spirit of the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, we should adhere to the market-oriented approach, leverage resources, base products on quality, prioritize benefits, and vigorously develop inbound tourism, actively develop domestic tourism, and moderately develop outbound tourism. We should adhere to a government-led approach, combine market operations with mobilizing the enthusiasm of the whole society, vigorously cultivate and develop the emerging tourism industry. We should adhere to the combination of tourism resource protection, development, and ecological environment construction, implement the sustainable development strategy for tourism. We should adhere to the combination of hardware and software development, strive to improve the quality of the entire industry and the level of socialist spiritual civilization. We should adhere to the development of a large-scale tourism industry, the opening of a large market, the cultivation of a large-scale industry, and the realization of large-scale development, making tourism an new growth point for the national economy and a pillar industry in more regions, thereby making greater contributions to promoting national economic and social development.
In line with this overall guiding ideology, localities can flexibly apply the following principles when formulating tourism development plans based on local conditions:
1. Alignment with Urban Characteristics and Development Direction, Coordination with National and Regional Tourism Development Plans
Tourism is a part of service trade in the tertiary industry and a component of the local national economic and social development plan. The development of tourism must align with and adapt to the nature, characteristics, and development direction of the local city, serving to achieve these goals. The overall urban plan and the national and regional national economic and social development plans are the basic basis for formulating tourism development plans. When formulating tourism development plans, if conditions permit, it is advisable to adopt a moderately advanced development approach with a certain margin. The development speed of the tourism industry should be appropriately faster than the overall national economic development speed to reflect its role as a new growth point for the national economy and to play a greater role in driving consumer demand, increasing foreign exchange earnings, and promoting national economic growth. The formulation of tourism development plans should be coordinated with the formulation of the local national economic and social development five-year plans and long-term goals. The tourism industry is composed of numerous related industries. The development of tourism directly relies on transportation, information industry, landscape architecture, agriculture and forestry, ecological and environmental protection, cultural relics and tourism, and commerce. Tourism development plans should be coordinated and aligned with these departments, industries, or professional plans.
Tourism activities involve the spatial movement of tourists away from their habitual residence. Tourists are not constrained by county, municipal, or provincial boundaries but rather move along reasonable combinations of routes or regions they choose. Therefore, formulating regional tourism development plans must break through the limitations of administrative regions and conceptualize them from a broader perspective. The tourism industry of any region is a part of a larger regional tourism network, with tourism resources, tourist sources, products, facilities, and objective complementarity and competition with surrounding areas. Therefore, tourism development plans at different scopes and levels should be coordinated and aligned, adhering to the principle that the whole governs the part, the part submits to the whole, higher-level guidance guides lower-levels, and lower-levels support higher-level plans. In summary, formulating a local tourism development plan requires a global and holistic perspective. One must have a high-level view and avoid "discussing tourism in isolation from tourism" or "discussing the local area in isolation from the local area."
2. Unity of Economic, Social, and Ecological Environmental Benefits for Sustainable Tourism Development
Tourism is a high-level social activity and a modern lifestyle that combines material civilization, spiritual civilization, and ecological civilization. The tourism industry is a highly social, cultural, and ecologically oriented economic industry. Economic benefits are the direct purpose and powerful driving force for developing tourism. Without attention to economic benefits, tourism becomes a "water without a source." It is essential to firmly establish and continuously strengthen the industrial and market awareness of tourism. The tourism development plan should determine the industrial status of tourism in the local national economy and evaluate its direct and indirect contributions to the national economy.
Social benefits are the fundamental purpose and ultimate goal of developing tourism. Developing tourism can promote opening-up, economic and cultural exchanges, improve investment, construction, living, and ecological environments; it can broaden horizons, transform concepts, cultivate sentiments, and comprehensively improve people's quality. The tourism development plan should calculate the economic accounts but not only focus on total revenue and added value; it should also fully estimate its intangible, immeasurable social comprehensive benefits. Sustainable tourism development refers to meeting people's economic, social, and aesthetic needs while promoting local and national cultural characteristics, protecting cultural relics and ecological environments. It can provide high-quality experiences and experiences for today's tourists, ensure a good livelihood and quality of life for local residents of tourist destinations, and meet and protect the development needs and interests of future generations. Ecological and natural and cultural resources are the primary prerequisites and prerequisites for the survival and development of the tourism industry. Many natural ecosystems and historical and cultural relics are irreplaceable and precious resources. Future tourists' demands for ecological environments and social and cultural environments are becoming increasingly high. A sound ecological environment and well-preserved cultural resources can ensure the healthy and sustainable development of the tourism industry, while the healthy and sustainable development of the tourism industry can promote the improvement of ecological environment quality and the protection of historical, cultural, and folk cultures. The unity and mutual promotion of economic, social, and ecological environmental benefits are key to achieving sustainable tourism development. Economic sustainability, social and cultural sustainability, and ecological sustainability are the three major elements and principles of sustainable development.
3. Government Leadership, Social Participation, Market Operations, and Enterprise Operations
Government Leadership China is transitioning to a socialist market economy, and the tourism industry is an emerging and developing industry. The imperfections of the market economy system, the comprehensive, interconnected, and immature nature of the tourism industry, determine that a government-led development model should be implemented in the coming period. Government leadership is based on respecting the economic laws of tourism development. The government advocates the tourism industry through industrial policies, regulates it through laws and standards, guides it through plans, leads it through information release, coordinates related aspects through appropriate administrative intervention, and promotes the overall tourism image of the local area through organized publicity. Government leadership primarily involves strengthening advocacy, guidance, leadership, and coordination for the tourism industry, rather than returning to the era of directive planned economy where the government decided everything, commanded everything, and took over everything. It is also not about blindly acting on the will of superiors without considering objective and subjective conditions or the laws of the tourism economy.
Social Participation The tourism industry involves all aspects of socio-economy and culture. Developing the tourism industry requires the participation, support, and coordination of all sectors and industries of society. Through extensive and in-depth publicity and education, a consensus can be formed across society. Through economic ties that bind interests, social synergy can be formed. Through government organization and coordination, a social systematic project can be formed. Only through the joint efforts of the whole society can a natural and social environment and atmosphere conducive to the sound and sustainable development of the tourism industry be created.
Market Operations In the initial stage of the tourism industry, the driving force often comes from government initiatives, but the enduring driving force comes from market pull. Tourism is not a survival need but an enjoyment need. This need does not come from any external arrangements or commands but is formed spontaneously from people's voluntary choices, creating market demand. The development of tourism resources, marketing of tourism products, investment in tourism funds, allocation of tourism talent, and economic development of tourism ultimately depend on the "invisible hand" of the market. Ultimately, the market is the basis for allocating various tourism elements and the fundamental determinant of whether and how the tourism industry develops. If the government's guidance aligns with the laws of the tourism economy, it can strongly promote the tourism industry. If the government's guidance deviates from or violates the laws of the tourism economy, it will hinder or even destroy the tourism industry, causing significant losses in human resources, materials, resources, and the environment.
Enterprise Operations Enterprises are the cells of the market. Truly property rights-clear, diversified ownership, autonomous operation, and self-accountable enterprises are the foundation of market operations. Various reception service enterprises and units that emerged under the planned economy system should, in accordance with the principles of separating government from enterprises, government from public institutions, and public institutions from enterprises, detach themselves from their supervising government departments and move onto the track of market operations. They should be reformed in line with the requirements of modern enterprise systems to truly become autonomous operating entities and main bodies, surviving and developing in a fair and orderly market competition.
Among the four aspects mentioned above, government leadership is key, social participation is a condition, market operations is the foundation, and enterprise operations are the root. Throughout the entire process of cultivating and developing the tourism industry, these four aspects are interrelated and none can be neglected. Without sound enterprise operations, normal market operations cannot be achieved. Without normal market operations, social participation would lose its economic driving force. Without social participation, government leadership would become a hollow framework. In this sense, government leadership is advocating social participation, guiding market mechanisms, and guiding enterprise operations.
4. Market Demand Orientation, Resource-Based Tourism Product Development
Under the market economy conditions, market demand determines the direction, scale, speed, and prospects of industry development. Implementing accurate and refined market positioning of tourist sources, guided by the current and potential demand of tourist markets, to discover, explore, evaluate, screen, and develop tourism resources, design, produce, and combine tourism products, and introduce them into the tourism market to guide and open up the market; according to the operating rules of the market economy, to raise and use funds, manage and operate enterprises, develop and use human resources, and reform and optimize the industry management system. When formulating tourism development plans, it is necessary to adhere to a market-oriented approach, resource-based approach, product-centered approach, promotional leverage, management assurance, talent support, and ecological and resource protection as prerequisites, with each link tightly connected and progressively advanced, for overall planning and systematic planning.
5. Highlighting Characteristics, Accurately Targeting Resource and Product Development, and Shaping a Unique Overall Tourism Image
Characteristics are the source of attractiveness, competitiveness, and vitality for tourism destinations. Accurately targeting high-quality, distinctive, or even monopolistic tourism resources, developing landmark and supporting tourism main products, and complementing them with other supporting products and high-quality service facilities to become a tourism gem or even a top-tier tourism product, and through meticulous planning and publicity, to form a distinct and unique overall tourism image (such as a province, city, or county) in the fiercely competitive domestic and international tourism market, thereby creating a strong attraction for tourists near and far. This is the central issue that regional tourism development plans need to focus on exploring and solving.
6. Tourism Industry Self-Regulatory Organizations—Tourism Associations
Under the market economy conditions, industry organizations are social organizations with legal status formed by voluntary participation and organization of enterprises, serving as industry coordination, supervision, self-regulation, and self-protection organizations, as well as a for strengthening enterprise connections and a bridge between the government and enterprises, being a market intermediary organization. The China Tourism Association is an important working assistant of the National Tourism Administration and the main channel for tourism exchanges with Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. Provinces, cities, and counties can establish their own tourism associations and travel agency associations, hotel associations, etc., forming a national tourism association network system under the guidance of governments. tourism associations should widely connect member units belonging to various departments and industries, break through the constraints and limitations of sectoral segmentation, and fully play the role of a bridge and link between the government, industry, and enterprises, performing various service functions such as vertical and horizontal, internal and external liaison, communication, consultation, and training, providing new channels and methods for tourism industry management under the market economy conditions.
The members of the tourism association should primarily be tourism enterprises, supplemented by tourism management, education, training, research, and consulting units and experts. The association's articles of association are discussed and approved by the general assembly or the representative assembly of members, and the association's leaders are elected by the general assembly or the representative assembly of members. The main responsibilities and work of the association are: under the supervision and management of the local civil affairs and tourism administrative departments, to carry out research, investigation, coordination, liaison, assist the Party and government in implementing relevant policies and measures, represent the legitimate requirements of peer enterprises to the government, formulate industry standards, and carry out civil external exchanges, publicity, consultation, education, and training. In the future, as the market economy develops and tourism enterprises grow and mature, the role of the tourism association will be further enhanced and gradually aligned with international practices.