The Influence of Political Ideology on the Outbound Tourism in China

Abstract

Outbound tourism in China began to flourish in the late 1990s, albeit in a very modest manner. Since 1949, the role played by the Chinese socialist ideology in tourism development has not been fully understood. However, on the heels of ideological change resulting from economic reform and formulation of the open policy, Chinese outbound tourism has transitioned from being a nonpriority industry before the turn of the century into one that continues to generate supportive development. This study, which adopts the chronological framework approach, aims to examine how political ideology is intertwined with Chinese outbound tourism development. Ideology appears to assume a significant role in shaping outbound tourism development, though its weighting may not finally determine such development in China. The relationship between political ideology and outbound tourism development becomes less obvious when the latter moves further to a more open and relaxed condition, with external and internal factors playing a more significant role.

中国出境旅游自二十世纪九十年代后期在政府采取温和的措施下蓬勃发展。然而，自一九四九年起，中国的社会主义思想在旅游发展过程中所发挥的作用并未得到充分了解。经济改革和开放政策引致的思想变化，使中国出境旅游从上世纪的非重点产业，演变至现在得到支持作持续发展的重要产业。本研究采用时间顺序框架方法，旨在探讨政治思想与中国出境旅游发展不可分割的关系。研究发现，虽然政治思想未必是影响中国出境旅游发展的决定因素，但其所扮演的角色十分重要。当出境旅游进一步开放，条件得以放宽，内部跟外部因素的重要性提升，政治思想和出境旅游发展的关系就不是那么明显。

Keywords:

• China outbound tourism
• tourism politics
• tourism development
• political ideology
• socialism

Keywords:

• 中国出境旅游，旅游政治，旅游发展，政治思想，社会主义