the spatial distribution of tourism in china: trends and impacts

This article was downloaded by: [Florida Atlantic University]On: 18 November 2014, At: 04:41Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office:Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism ResearchPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscriptioninformation:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rapt20

The Spatial Distribution of Tourism in China:Trends and ImpactsJulie Jie Wen a & Corazon Sinha aa School of Social Sciences, University of Western Sydney , AustraliaPublished online: 02 Mar 2009.

To cite this article: Julie Jie Wen & Corazon Sinha (2009) The Spatial Distribution of Tourism in China: Trendsand Impacts, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 14:1, 93-104, DOI: 10.1080/10941660902756776

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10941660902756776

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”)contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and ourlicensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, orsuitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publicationare the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor &Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independentlyverified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for anylosses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilitieswhatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to orarising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantialor systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, ordistribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and usecan be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rapt20

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080/10941660902756776

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10941660902756776

http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

The Spatial Distribution of Tourism in China: Trendsand Impacts

Julie Jie Wen� and Corazon SinhaSchool of Social Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Australia

Economic inequality in China has increased since China began its economic reforms in1978. Economic activity has become increasingly more skewed towards China’s coastalareas and overall regional economic inequality has increased with economic growth inChina. The paper utilizes statistical data over two decades, and tracks the growingregional inequality in terms of economic and tourism development. It confirms theconcern that along with phenomenal growth of inbound tourism to China, considerableregional inequality has arisen in tourism in China. There is significant spatial inequality inthe distribution of inbound tourism in China and its economic characteristics. Inter-national tourism in China is heavily concentrated in the coastal areas. This paper attemptsto identify trends in the regional concentration of international tourism in China from1986 to 2004. Gini coefficients for major tourist indicators are applied to test the charac-teristics of tourism distribution.

Key words: China, coastal/inland, disparity, inbound tourism, spatial distribution

Introduction

International tourism in China has been

growing rapidly since 1979. From 1980 to

2006, China’s inbound tourist arrivals and

tourism receipts grew at an average annual

rate of 11 and 14% respectively (calculated

from data in National Tourism Adminis-

tration of China [NTA], 2007). Inbound

tourism generates over 100 million arrivals,

and US$25 billion receipts in China per

annum (NTA, 2007). Currently ranking as

the sixth most popular tourist destination,

China is expected to attract 130 million tour-

ists annually by the year 2020, making it the

world’s top tourist destination (World

Tourism Organization [WTO], 2002).

Although China deserves congratulations on

its achievement in inbound tourism, it may be

necessary to evaluate the spatial distribution of

inbound tourism in China in order to assess

the role of growing international tourism in

Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 14, No. 1, March 2009

�Email: [email protected]

Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 14, No. 1, March 2009

ISSN 1094-1665 print/ISSN 1741-6507 online/09/010093–12 # 2009 Asia Pacific Tourism Association

DOI: 10.1080/10941660902756776

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Atla

ntic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

4:41

18

Nov

embe

r 20

14

influencing the expanding regional economic

inequality in China. China faces substantial and

expanding regional economic disparity (Pedroni

& Yao, 2006; Wen & Tisdell, 2001). It has

been well recognized that Chinese economic

power is heavily concentrated in the coastal

region, and with the progress of economic

growth since 1978 there has been increasing dis-

parity between the coastal and inland areas in

almost all the major economic indicators, includ-

ing GDP per capita, real per capita incomes and

household income (Chai, 1994; Jian, Sachs, &

Warner, 1996; Pedroni & Yao, 2006).

In accordance with common practice,

China’s coastal area covers three municipali-

ties and nine provinces, namely Liaoning,

Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Jiangsu,

Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong,

Guangxi and Hainan. The remaining 19

localities are categorized as the “inland” or

“interior” area. The coastal area supports

around 47% of China’s population and pro-

duces over 60% of its national income on

14% of the nation’s land area (State Statistical

Bureau [SSB], 2005). In 2004, the total GDP of

this coastal area was 67% of the national total

(based on figures in SSB, 2005). The “West

Development” policy adopted by the Chinese

central government has improved the situation

in the inland. However, from 1978 to 2006 the

proportion of the east coastal areas in China’s

total GDP grew by 11.8%, and the gap

between the east coast and inland is still

increasing (SSB, 1992–2005).

Regional dynamics result in changes in

regional inequality. With growth and relative

decline of regions translating into changes in

regional income inequality, regional diver-

gence (increasing inequality) and convergence

(shrinking inequality) in per capita income

may occur across regions (Williamson,

1965). Regional disparities have been

observed to change with the process of

economic development in both industrialized

countries, including the USA and Canada

(Fan & Casetti, 1994; Rauch, 1993), and

less-developed countries (Ghuman & Kaur,

1993; Kundu, 1975). Evidence has been sup-

plied on convergence among OECD econom-

ies (Dowrick & Nguyen, 1989).

The “inverted U” paradigm and balanced

growth theories suggest that regional inequal-

ity within nations increases in the early stages

of economic development as a result of con-

centration of income and income-generating

factors, and decreases in later stages with dif-

fusion of income and income-generating

factors (Robinson, 1976; Williamson, 1965).

Research has indicated that regional income

in China converged from 1978 to 1984 with

the rise in rural productivity, but started to

diverge again from around 1984 because the

coastal areas grew markedly faster than the

interior, even though the convergence contin-

ued within the coastal localities (Jian et al.,

1996; Pedroni & Yao, 2006).

Against the background of increasing

regional inequality and divergence in China,

the spatial distribution of international

tourism has been in the spotlight of tourism

research (Jackson, 2006; Wen & Tisdell,

1996, 2001). Although tourism is expected

to play a leading role in regional development,

as indicated by Gao and Ge (2000), research

has indicated that spatial inequality of

inbound tourism from the 1980s to mid-

1990s was much greater than for that of the

socio-economic variables, and international

tourism appeared to reinforce the regional

inequalities (Wen & Tisdell, 2001). Tourism

was in fact contributing to greater economic

disparity between coastal and inland China

(Wen & Tisdell, 1997, 2001). With increasing

significance of tourism in China, its impacts on

the regional economic inequality require even

more attention today.

94 Julie Jie Wen and Corazon Sinha

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Atla

ntic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

4:41

18

Nov

embe

r 20

14

It therefore appears long overdue to conduct

a review on the spatial distribution of inter-

national tourism in China. This paper aims

to analyse the regional and provincial distri-

bution of international tourism in 2004, and

investigate the changes in the spatial distri-

bution of international tourism in China

from 1986 to 2004. Gini coefficients for

major tourist indicators are applied to test

the characteristics of tourism distribution. Dis-

tributional shifts within both inland and

coastal areas are discussed separately in

order to consider forces reinforcing or redu-

cing regional inequalities in China’s tourism

industry. Factors contributing to regional con-

vergence in the distribution of international

tourism are also discussed.

In this paper, “China” refers to Mainland

China, excluding Hong Kong, Macao and

Taiwan. “Tourist arrivals” or “overseas tour-

ists” coincides with the concept of “arrivals of

tourists from abroad” (WTO, 1992), and

includes foreigners, overseas Chinese who

hold Chinese passports, and compatriots who

live in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

“International tourism” is used as equivalent

to “inbound tourism”. In addition, Chongqing

is regarded as part of Sichuan Province in this

paper for data consistency, although it was

designated as the fourth municipality in 1997.

Time series data are required in this paper.

In publications of the NTA, tourism infor-

mation by province and three municipalities

(Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin) is supplied

consistently from 1987 onwards. Data

related to cities are not always available in

the NTA publications. This is the main

reason for the comparison of tourism develop-

ment across provinces in this paper. This

province-based approach is also commonly

used in most academic discussion on the

regional disparity in China (Pedroni & Yao,

2006).

Snapshot of the Distribution ofInternational Tourism

On the basis of data published by NTA (2005),

the proportion of 12 coastal localities to the

total of China’s main indicators of inter-

national tourism is calculated and listed in

Table 1. For both demand-side indicators

(receipts and arrivals) and supply-side indi-

cators (hotel rooms and employees), these 12

coastal regions obtain the majority share of

China’s international tourism, and tourism

concentration for the demand-side indicators

on the coast exceeds that for GDP and popu-

lation (SSB, 2005). It appears that tourism to

coastal China exhibits greater concentration

than the already biased distribution of

general economic activity towards the coastal

areas. However, the distribution bias for the

supply-side indicators seems to be less

marked than that for demand-side factors.

Trends in Spatial Distribution of Tourismin China, 1986–2004

The relative dominance of coastal areas in

Chinese tourism has varied over the years.

Table 2 shows the proportion of major

tourist variables accounted for by 12 coastal

areas over a time span of 19 years.

Although the absolute numbers for major

tourism indicators in coastal China have

been increasing (NTA, 1987–2005), an

overall downward trend for the proportion

of 12 coastal areas in China from 1986 to

2004 in main tourist indicators is apparent in

Table 2. The declining relative dominance of

the 12 coastal areas in international tourism

corresponds to the increasing relative import-

ance of inland areas, and smaller gap

between the two parts in China.

The Spatial Distribution of Tourism in China 95

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Atla

ntic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

4:41

18

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Another measure for the distribution across

regions is the Gini coefficient or ratio. The

Gini ratio measures the relative degree of

departure of a population from the state of

perfect equality. It has a value of zero for

absolute equality and unity for complete

inequality. The greater the degree of inequal-

ity, the larger is the Gini coefficient. The Gini

coefficient can be used to measure the degree

of inequality in the regional distribution of

tourism. They are calculated using the

formula provided by the Macmillan dictionary

of modern economics (Pearce, 1992, p. 172):

G ¼ 1 þ ð1=nÞ � ð2=ðn � n � y0Þ � ðy1 þ 2y2

þ 3y3 þ . . .þ nynÞÞ

where G represents the Gini coefficient, n is

the number of observations, y0 is the mean

of observations, and y1, y2, . . . to yn represent

individual observations in decreasing order of

size of the relevant variable, y.

Table 3 presents Gini coefficients for major

tourism indicators for every second year, from

1986 to 2004.

Most of these Gini coefficients for tourism

are extremely high, indicating a severe dis-

parity in the distribution of international

tourism. They are also higher than most Gini

coefficients for the spatial distribution of

general economic indicators in China. For

example, it has been reported that the Gini

coefficient for household income in China as

Table 1 Major International Tourism Indicators for 12 Coastal Localities, 2004

Tourism

Receipts (US$

million)

Number of

Tourists

(thousands)

Number of Hotel

Employees

(thousands)

Number of Hotel

Rooms

(thousands)

China total: 21,026.5 43,937 2,449 1,238

Beijing 3,173 3,155 179 109

Tianjin 412 616 22 11

Hebei 190 581 95 34

Liaoning 613 1,081 97 54

Shanghai 3,041 3,855 101 71

Jiangsu 1,763 3,066 169 78

Zhejiang 1,300 2,767 152 91

Fujian 1,065 1,729 65 40

Shandong 567 1,193 145 42

Guangdong 5,378 15,637 321 134

Guangxi 288 1,176 65 37

Hainan 82 309 35 31

Sum of the twelve: 1,7872 35,165 1,446 732

The proportion of

the twelve to the

total for China:

0.850 0.800 0.590 0.591

Source: Calculated from data in NTA (2005).


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Atla

ntic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

4:41

18

Nov

embe

r 20

14

a whole was 0.46, whereas it was 0.34 for the

urban areas and 0.37 for rural China (Ministry

of Finance of China, 2006).

There is, however, a general reduction in the

value of Gini coefficients for all the four tourist

indicators for China from 1986 to 2004, as

reflected in Table 3, indicating a gradual

overall reduction in the spatial concentration

of tourism. The distribution of hotel rooms

has become more dispersed, corresponding to

the effort of all localities to expand hotel

supply in the hope of promoting tourism

(Wen & Tisdell, 1996). Concentration in

tourism demand on the coast, as depicted by

Table 2 Tourism Indicators for 12 Coastal localities as a Percentage of the Totals

Receipts (%) Tourist Arrivals (%) Hotel Employees (%) Hotel Rooms (%)

1986 93.5 85.7 83.3 78.1

1988 87.3 89.1 78.3 79.0

1990 89.2 88.4 77.6 70.8

1992 89.5 84.0 77.4 71.2

1994 89.3 81.4 76.9 71.5

1996 85.6 78.6 72.7 70.1

1998 84.8 78.9 72.9 70.2

2000 84.5 77.4 68 65.4

2002 83.6 75.9 54 61

2004 85.1 80 59 59.1

Source: Calculated from data in NTA (1987–2005).

Table 3 Gini Coefficients for Major International Tourism Indicators in China

Receipts Tourist Arrivals Number of Hotel Employees Number of Hotel Rooms

1986 0.8374 0.7577 0.7344 0.6344

1988 0.7297 0.7276 0.5766 0.5978

1990 0.7988 0.7412 0.5941 0.5236

1992 0.7472 0.7049 0.6090 0.5361

1994 0.7446 0.6706 0.5815 0.5208

1996 0.7443 0.6701 0.5812 0.5203

1998 0.6903 0.6428 0.5810 0.5128

2000 0.6881 0.6387 0.4432 0.4667

2002 0.6728 0.6361 0.3957 0.3956

2004 0.6635 0.6277 0.3897 0.3901

Source: Calculated from data of NTA (1987–2005).


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Atla

ntic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

4:41

18

Nov

embe

r 20

14

high Gini ratios, has been higher than the

supply of tourism facilities, perhaps mainly

as a consequence of an expansion in the

supply of tourist facilities and services in

some inland areas without adequate consider-

ation of demand (Wen & Tisdell, 1997), or in

the hope of attracting more tourists by increas-

ing supply of tourist facilities. The Gini ratios

for the four indicators were relatively higher in

1986 than those in 1988 because 1988 was the

year when considerable expansion of tourism

supply was accomplished throughout China

(Tisdell & Wen, 1991), consequently increases

in tourist facilities occurred in almost all

localities in China.

It is important to note that Gini coefficients

for the whole of China reflect only the systemic

inequality. Detailed analysis of alterations in

inequality within the coastal and inland areas

is a necessary step to describing more accu-

rately the change in both inter- and intra-

regional inequality in tourism in order to

understand regional dynamics.

Changes in Spatial Distribution ofTourism Within Coastal and Inland Areas

Gini coefficients for major international

tourism indicators in the coastal and inland

areas over years are calculated in order to

understand the trend of international tourism

distribution within a small region.

Gini coefficients for major tourist indicators

within the coastal area listed in Table 4 are

much lower in general than those for the

whole of China as indicated in Table 3, imply-

ing a much more even distribution of tourism

within coastal areas than that for China as a

whole. Although the dominance of three

major gateway localities in international

tourism, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong,

is still apparent, their combined share in

major tourist indicators has been decreasing

(NTA, 1997–2005). A general reduction of

Gini ratio for each indicator along the coast

over years is a result of more dispersed distri-

bution of both demand and supply of

Table 4 Gini Coefficients for 12 Coastal Localities in China, 1986–2004

Receipts

Number of Tourist

Arrivals

Number of Hotel

Employees

Number of Hotel

Rooms

1986 0.6648 0.5693 0.6384 0.5199

1988 0.5878 0.6138 0.4433 0.5121

1990 0.5915 0.6259 0.5234 0.4743

1992 0.5940 0.6203 0.5529 0.4820

1994 0.6003 0.5946 0.5131 0.4640

1996 0.5938 0.5887 0.4879 0.4643

1998 0.5716 0.5484 0.4876 0.4384

2000 0.5521 0.5645 0.4050 0.3338

2002 0.5431 0.6058 0.3454 0.2892

2004 0.5422 0.6121 0.3398 0.2812

Source: Based on data of NTA (1987–2005).


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Atla

ntic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

4:41

18

Nov

embe

r 20

14

tourism along the coast. The next issue to be

considered is change in the spatial distribution

of tourism in the inland areas during the same

time period.

It can be assumed from Tables 1 and 2 that,

between 1986 and 2004, inland China

increased its share of international tourism in

both absolute and relative importance com-

pared with the coastal areas. However, what

happened to the distribution of tourism

within China’s interior? Gini coefficients are

reported in Table 5 to understand the

changes within inland China.

Gini coefficients listed in Table 5 for the

interior localities are generally lower than

those for both the whole of China and the

coastal areas, as depicted in Tables 3 and 4,

implying relatively more even provincial dis-

tribution in this area. The lowest Gini ratios

are found in the supply of hotel rooms, indi-

cating a potential over-supply, along with

possible low productivity and low hotel occu-

pancy rate in localities not frequented by

international visitors (Wen & Tisdell, 1997).

The generally declining Gini ratios from

1986 to 2004 indicate that international

tourism distribution within the inland areas

is becoming more dispersed over the years.

Relatively lower Gini coefficients have also

been observed in the distribution of general

economic indicators within a smaller study

group, including household income. Although

the overall Gini for China’s household income

was 0.46 in 2005, which is very high in the

world, the Gini coefficients for income in

urban and rural areas were a lot lower, at

0.34 and 0.37, respectively (Ministry of

Finance of China, 2006).

Discussion

As a fast growing industry with high multiplier

effect, tourism may have the capacity to influ-

ence the regional distribution of the general

economy. As regional economic disparity has

become a threat to the social stability of

China, the increase of Gini and regional

divergence could lead to social instability,

and inequality in the opportunity in the

Table 5 Gini Coefficients of Major Indicators for 18 Inland Localities

Receipts

Number of Tourist

Arrivals

Number of Hotel

Employees

Number of Hotel

Rooms

1986 0.5293 0.5911 0.5958 0.2857

1988 0.5437 0.5316 0.4082 0.3277

1990 0.5771 0.6144 0.3649 0.4996

1992 0.5301 0.4005 0.3952 0.3338

1994 0.4563 0.4343 0.3596 0.2832

1996 0.4554 0.4338 0.3578 0.2828

1998 0.4432 0.4521 0.3828 0.3684

2000 0.4412 0.4343 0.3881 0.3686

2002 0.4399 0.4186 0.3879 0.355

2004 0.4412 0.4134 0.3767 0.3547

Source: Calculated from data of NTA (1987–2005).


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Atla

ntic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

4:41

18

Nov

embe

r 20

14

access to healthcare and education. The exist-

ence of some monopoly industries, such as

public utilities, and the presence of corruption,

have further worsened Gini ratios for China

(Ministry of Finance of China, 2006). The

country is seeking measures to reduce the

expanding gap between the coastal and

inland areas (Hu, 1995; Pedroni & Yao,

2006). It is therefore interesting to consider

whether there is any indication for convergence

in the sector of international tourism in China.

In contrast to divergence in the general

economy, this paper observes less disparity in

regional distribution, or convergence, in

Chinese tourism over the period 1986–2004.

A general decline of Gini coefficient for

major tourism indicators indicates a reduction

in regional concentration of international

tourism. Gini coefficients for the coastal

(Table 4) and inland areas (Table 5) show a

similar trend of decreasing concentration

within both coastal and interior areas.

Among the Gini ratios for four different

tourist indicators for the entire China,

coastal and inland areas, those for the entire

China are generally the highest, whereas

those for the interior are the lowest, leading

to the conclusion that the disparity between

coastal and interior China is the major cause

of regional inequality in Chinese tourism.

In addition, in inland regions divergence in

economic indicators has occurred, but conver-

gence in tourism indicators is present.

Inequality in the distribution of tourism in

this area appears to be lower than the

overall economic disparity within inland

China. Hence, international tourism in the

inland area seems to have moderated regional

inequality. This is a very encouraging sign of

tourism helping to reduce economic disparity

in the inland areas.

The absolute growth in the value of tourism

variables in both coastal and inland China

may also facilitate the study of spatial conver-

gence of international tourism in China. The

supply of hotel rooms has been increasing in

both coastal and inland areas since 1986.

Total hotel rooms in the inland areas increased

from less than 30% of that in the coastal areas

in the early 1980s to around 40% in 2004

(based on data of NTA, 1987–2005), indicat-

ing a convergence in the number of hotel

rooms between the coastal and inland areas.

Tourist arrivals in the inland areas increased

from less than 12% of that in the coastal

areas in 1986 to over 20% in 2004, while

receipts in the inland areas increased from

less than 7% of that in the coastal areas in

1986 to over 15% in 2004, indicating a

decrease in the gap between coastal and

inland tourism development. The inland area

has benefited from both a rise in the total

number of tourists to China and a bigger pro-

portion of tourists visiting the interior. There

is, consequently, a smaller gap in both

demand and supply of tourism between the

inland and coastal areas.

The trend of convergence in the regional dis-

tribution of international tourism is significant

in the sense that it defies the 1-year snapshot,

reflected in Table 1, that tourism has added

to the economic disparity between coastal

and inland China. The higher concentration

of tourism in the coastal areas than that of

the general economy, as indicated by higher

Gini ratios for tourist indicators than those

for the general economy (Wen & Tisdell,

1996), may well lead to the conclusion that

tourism has added to regional disparity.

However, identification of convergence in

international tourism over the years, as dis-

cussed in this paper, provides an opposite

view of the role of international tourism in

regional disparity, because it is growing

quickly in inland China, fulfilling the goal of

promoting economic growth in the inland area.


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Atla

ntic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

4:41

18

Nov

embe

r 20

14

The trend of convergence in the tourist

industry between coastal and inland China

is obviously an encouraging phenomenon,

because it shows the potential for international

tourism to counteract regional economic dis-

parity in China. Therefore, factors contribut-

ing to the trend in regional convergence of

tourism require more attention in order to

identify ways in which the tourism industry

can make a larger contribution to reducing

regional economic divergence in China.

The reduction in the concentration of inter-

national tourism on the coastal areas of China

since the mid-1980s is a product of various

forces. International tourists were only free

to visit designated places open to foreigners

in China in the late 1970s and early 1980s,

and there were considerable restrictions on

foreigners visiting some parts of China,

mainly in the interior. Entry permits were

issued by the government, after careful check-

ing, in order to control tourist inflow to areas

that were regarded by the Chinese government

as unsuitable for foreign tourists (Tisdell &

Wen, 1991). This type of entry control pre-

vented many foreigners visiting the interior.

However, with the progress of China’s

opening up, restrictions have gradually

decreased. There were only 122 cities and

towns, mainly on the east coast, open to

foreign tourists in 1982, but more than 500

by 1990 and 1,060 by 1994 (NTA, 1995).

There were less than 50 entry ports to China

in the early 1980s, with the majority of them

located in coastal areas, but more than 200

border points all over China were open in

1995, allowing easier entry to the interior

(NTA, 1996). Today, in fact, tourists can

travel freely in China. The proportion of

foreigners visiting the interior among all the

tourist arrivals in China increased from 11%

in 1988 to 20% in 1995, and to over 37% in

2004 (NTA, 1987–2005). This process of

opening the interior to tourism undoubtedly

has contributed to the increase in inland

tourism.

Tourist supply was predominantly concen-

trated in Beijing, Guangdong and Shanghai

in the early 1980s, whose combined hotel

beds accounted for almost 70% of the national

total in 1985 (NTA, 1986), for both historical

and political reasons (Wen & Tisdell, 1997).

Inconvenient transportation, communication

and insufficient infrastructure, combined

with unsatisfactory hotel facilities, handi-

capped tourism to the interior. With continu-

ing tourism development throughout China,

the interior has been able to expand and

upgrade its tourism facilities to meet the

demand of international travellers. Since the

administration of hotels licensed to host inter-

national visitors has been more dispersed,

more hotels in interior China have been

allowed to accommodate foreigners. Tourist

supply, as indicated by hotel rooms and

employees, has been growing in the interior.

With increasing tourist supply in non-coastal

localities and more entry points to China, tra-

vellers are likely to be more dispersed from the

coastal areas to the whole of China over time.

With tourism growth, the “spread effect” of

tourism may have enabled the remote areas

to catch up with the coastal areas, and this

has contributed to the reduction of regional

disparity in tourism.

Tourist activity and average expenditure by

different types of tourist vary in China.

Foreigners are relatively active and higher

spending travellers in China than compatriots.

They were more dispersed spatially and spent

$1,756 on average per trip as compared with

$523 for tourists from Hong Kong and

Macao in 2005 (calculated from data in

NTA, 2006). As foreigners tend to be more

dispersed to the interior and show greater

interest in ecotourism than other tourists,


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Atla

ntic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

4:41

18

Nov

embe

r 20

14

their increasing visits may expand demand for

ecotourism in inland China.

Growth in nature-based and rural tourism

may also have promoted inland China. It has

been mentioned that tourists are seeking

travel alternatives and are prepared to pay

extra to obtain the desired “green” travel

experience (Millman, 1989). Nature-based

tourism is growing by up to 30%, whereas

general tourism has increased at an average

annual rate of 4% (Lindberg, 1991). Ecotour-

ism has potential in providing opportunities

for rural areas to achieve sustainable develop-

ment (Hall & Boyd, 2005). China is promot-

ing ecotourism, and the National Tourism

Administration of China designated 1999 as

the year of “Ecotourism China”. Abundant

ecotourism resources are located mainly in

the inland areas of China.

Nature-based and rural tourism,

accompanied by the philosophy of ecotourism,

may play a role in ameliorating regional dis-

parity in China because the majority of its

nature-based tourism resources are located in

its interior. Rich ecotourism resources are dis-

tributed in inland areas of China and there is

increasing tourist demand in rural places such

as Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province in south-

east China (Catibog-Sinha, & Wen, 2008; Wen,

1997). China has taken steps to limit the speed

of resource depletion in an effort to conserve

its environment and promote ecotourism.

Conclusion

The bulk of international tourism seems

to track economic development in China.

Tourism is likely to remain heavily

concentrated in China’s coastal areas for the

foreseeable future. Tourism development

requires better regional and local planning

to be successful. The public and private

partnerships currently being used are poorly

managed and financed. In particular, the use

of partnerships between regional and local

governments, private hotel chains and individ-

ual entrepreneurs needs to be promoted.

Although international tourism is still

heavily concentrated on the coastal areas in

China, and its concentration has exceeded

that of the general economy, inland areas

have gradually been improving their share

over the years, leading to a slow but noticeable

reduction in the regional disparity of inter-

national tourism distribution. This is an

encouraging development given China’s accel-

erating speed in disparity.

Owing to the limitation of available stat-

istics, the paper analyses only the spatial distri-

bution of international tourism. Considering

the growing significance of domestic tourism

in China and the general tendency for dom-

estic tourists to be more dispersed than inter-

national visitors (Seckelmann, 2002), the

regional distribution of domestic tourism

may have been a lot less concentrated along

the coastal area. More data and research are

needed to validate this assumption.

Inland China is endowed with resource

advantages for ecotourism compared with

the coastal areas where mass tourism is more

significant. The fact that the share of tourism

for non-coastal areas is on the increase in

China along with growth in aggregate

tourism demand for the whole country

implies that greater spatial dispersal of

tourism development is occurring. This is a

desirable change in a country with severe

economic inequality across regions. The

convergence of international tourism as com-

pared with the lack of economic convergence

between coastal and interior China, combined

with the potential of tourism as a growth pole,

reinforces the prospects of tourism growth in

reducing regional inequality in China.


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Atla

ntic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

4:41

18

Nov

embe

r 20

14

References

Catibog-Sinha, C. C., & Wen, J. (2008). Sustainable

tourism and management model for protected natural

areas: Xishuangbanna Biosphere Reserve, South

China. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research,

13(2), 145–162.

Chai, J. C. H. (1994). East–West regional income gap:

Problems of divergent regional development in the

People’s Republic of China. In D. Cassel & C.

Herrmann-Pillath (Eds), The East, the West, and

China’s growth: Challenge and response: Contributions

to the 1994 Duisburg Symposium on “Greater China”

(pp. 93–108). Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlags-

gesellschaft.

Dowrick, S., & Nguyen, D. T. (1989). OECD comparative

economic growth 1950–1985: Catch-up and conver-

gence. American Economic Review, 79(5), 1010–1030.

Fan, C., & Casetti, E. (1994). The spatial and temporal

dynamics of U.S. regional income inequality,

1950–1989. Annals of Regional Science, 28(2), 177–196.

Gao, L., & Ge, F. X. (2000). Formulation of the great

strategy: The West development strategy. Beijing,

China: Economic Daily Publishing House.

Ghuman, B.S., & Kaur, D. (1993). Regional variations in

growth and inequality in the living standard: The Indian

experience. Margin, 25(3), 306–313.

Hall, M., & Boyd, S. (2005). Nature-based tourism in per-

ipheral areas: Development or disaster? Clevedon, UK:

Channel View Publications.

Hu, A. (1995, November 10). Te bie guan cha – guan zhu

zhong xi bu min zu di qu, cha ju dao di you duo da?

[Special observation – concentration on the minority

areas in the central West, just how big are the dispar-

ities?], Beijing, China. Min zu tuan jie [Ethnic Unity],

294, 32–36.

Jackson, J. (2006). Developing regional tourism in China:

The potential for activating business clusters in a social-

ist market economy. Tourism Management, 27,

695–706.

Jian, T., Sachs, J.D., & Warner, A. M. (1996). Trends in

regional inequality in China. China Economic Review,

7(1), 1–21.

Kundu, A. (1975). Measuring inequality: A critique of the

Gini coefficient. Journal of Social and Economic

Studies, 3(1), 119–127.

Lindberg, K. (1991). Policies for maximising nature tour-

ism’s ecological and economic benefits. (International

Conservation Financing Project Working Paper).

Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.

Millman, R. (1989). Pleasure seeking verses the “greening”

of world tourism. Tourism Management, 10, 275–278.

Ministry of Finance of China. (2006, June 21). Disparity in

income distribution in China. Sydney: Australian New

Express, p. 7.

National Tourism Administration of China. (1986). (p. 18

here, p.12 on hard copy)

National Tourism Administration of China. (1987–

2005). Yearbook of China’s tourism statistics. Beijing:

China Tourism Publishing House.

National Tourism Administration of China. (1995).

Yearbook of China’s tourism statistics. Beijing: China

Tourism Publishing House.




National Tourism Administration of China. (1997–

2005). Yearbook of China’s tourism statistics. Beijing:

China Tourism Publishing House.










Pearce, D. W. (1992). The Macmillan dictionary of

modern economics (4th ed.). London: Macmillan.

Pedroni, P., & Yao, J. Y. (2006). Regional income diver-

gence in China. Journal of Asian Economics, 17,

294–315.

Rauch, J. (1993). Economic development, urban underem-

ployment, and income inequality. Canadian Journal of

Economics, 26(4), 901–918.

Robinson, S. (1976). A note of the U hypothesis relating

income inequality and economic development. Ameri-

can Economic Review, 66, 437–440.

Seckelmann, A. (2002). Domestic tourism: A chance for

regional development in Turkey? Tourism Manage-

ment, 23, 85–92.

State Statistical Bureau. (1992–2005). Statistical

yearbook of China. Beijing: Chinese Statistical Publish-

ing House.

State Statistical Bureau. (2005). Statistical yearbook of

China. Beijing: Chinese Statistical Publishing House.

Tisdell, C., & Wen, J. (1991). Investment in China’s

tourism industry: Its scale, nature, and policy issues.

China Economic Review, 2(2), 175–193.


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Atla

ntic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

4:41

18

Nov

embe

r 20

14

Wen, J. (1997). Tourism and the regional develop-

ment of China: Its role and the experience of Yunnan. In

C. Tisdell & J. Chai (Eds), China’s economic growth

and transition, macroeconomic, environmental and

social/regional dimensions. New York: Nova Science.

Wen, J., & Tisdell, C. (1996). Spatial distribution of

tourism in China: Economic and other influences.

Tourism Economics, 2(3), 235–250.

Wen, J., & Tisdell, C. (1997). Regional inequality and

tourism distribution in China. Pacific Tourism

Review, 1, 119–128.

Wen, J., & Tisdell, C. (2001). Tourism & China’s devel-

opment: Policies, regional economic growth, and eco-

tourism. Singapore: World Scientific.

Williamson, J. G. (1965). Regional inequality and the

process of national development: A description of the

patterns. Economic Development and Cultural

Change, 13(4), 3–84.

World Tourism Organization. (1992). Yearbook of

tourism statistics. Madrid, Spain: Author.

World Tourism Organization. (2002). 2001 tourism high-

lights. Madrid, Spain: Author.


Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Flor

ida

Atla

ntic

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

4:41

18

Nov

embe

r 20

14

the spatial distribution of tourism in china: trends and impacts

Documents