Study On The Domestic Tourism Demand Of Urban Residents In China

The increase of the domestic tourism demand can not only improve residents’quality of life and enhance people’s well-being, but also help to boost the domestic demand and stimulate the economy in the wake of the Chinese economic slowdown. At present, the development of domestic tourism in China is still in the transition phase from growth period to maturation period, and it has a great potential for development. Conducting the thorough research of the domestic tourism demand of urban residents in China helps us to explore the method to increase the domestic tourism demand and promote the development of the domestic tourism industry, and let us target to make the tourism industry administration policies, guide the rational supply and demand of the tourism consumption market, and improve the market transaction efficiency of tourism products and services. This dissertation applies an innovative way to study the domestic tourism demand of urban residents in China from both aspects of "quantity" and "quality", which provides a more comprehensive way to study the tourism demand.In this dissertation, the "quantity" of domestic tourism demand is measured by the domestic tourism rate. This dissertation establishes the domestic tourism demand model which is called the DSME model. That is to say, the domestic tourism demand has four influencing factors:factors on the demand side, factors on the supply side, factors on the government side, and special event factors. Then, this dissertation conducts the empirical analysis of the influencing factors of the domestic tourism rate of Chinese urban residents.The "quality" of domestic tourism demand, which is measured by the average spending per trip in this dissertation, refers to the domestic tourism’s contribution to the economy. This dissertation conducts the in-depth data mining with the use of124196samples in the time period of2008-2010, explore from an micro point of view how the major economic variables such as tourists’absolute income, tourists’relative income, domestic tourism price influence the domestic tourism demand of urban residents in China using a multilevel model. The study of the domestic tourism demand of urban residents in China in the new era from an micro point of view is an add to the existing literatures, and this dissertation gets several valuable conclusions:Tourists’ absolute income, tourists’ relative income and domestic tourism price all have significant influences on tourists’ average spending per trip in the sample period. Firstly, the domestic tourism price has a positive effect on the domestic tourism demand which means the domestic tourism price in China is inelastic; the domestic tourism price in the east is inelastic and is elastic in the centre and in the west, which means tourists from the centre and the west are more sensitive to the price than the eastern tourists. Secondly, tourists’absolute income has a positive effect on the domestic tourism demand, absolute income’s effects on domestic tourism demand are different in different cities, and absolute income’s impact degrees on domestic tourism demand are different in different regions. For example, absolute income’s effect on domestic tourism demand in the centre is greater than in the east and west, absolute income’s effect on domestic tourism demand in the west is greater than in the east for middle and high income tourists. Thirdly, tourists’relative income has a negative effect on the domestic tourism demand, and relative income’s effects on domestic tourism demand are different in different absolute income groups.As the development potential and trend of domestic tourism in China, rural tourism is studies in this dissertation. This dissertation obtains first-hand data through questionnaires to further understand urban residents’cognition, intention and behavior characteristics of rural tourism, and to study the main influencing factors of rural tourism demand more comprehensively with the use of logistic model. Results show that gender, education, place of residence, family income, health status, work overtime, private car ownership, average annual cost on tourism, familiarity of rural tourism, interest on rural tourism are the important factors that affect whether urban residents participate in the rural tourism. A lower education level increases the chances of participating in rural tourism, residents who live near an urban center experience a high likelihood of participating in rural tourism, a higher household income increases the odds of participating in rural tourism, healthier residents are more likely to participate in rural tourism, residents who like to travel are more likely to participate in rural tourism than those who do not like to travel, both higher interest in, and familiarity with, rural tourism increase the chances that a person will participate in it, men are more likely to participate in rural tourism than women are, an increase in private car ownership will improve the chances of participation in rural tourism, residents who have more free time are more likely to participate in rural tourism. Among them, private car ownership is expected to complement the existing literatures.Finally, according to the research conclusion of this dissertation, this dissertation puts forward some suggestions to improve the domestic tourism demand in China and promote the development of domestic tourism. Firstly, urban residents’ willingness to spend should be improved. Secondly, public holidays should be arranged more reasonably, and paid leave should be implemented. Thirdly, pay attention to the tourism marketing, and cultivate residents’travel habits. Fourthly, improve the ability to cope with emergencies, establish and improve the related insurance mechanism. Fifthly, provide tourism products and services that are worth spending. Sixthly, the tourism enterprises should pay attention to the market segmentation, different marketing strategies should be adopted in different market segments. This dissertation also puts forward some suggestions to improve the rural tourism demand in China and promote the development of rural tourism. Firstly, the plan and construction of rural tourism projects should be government-dominated, at the same time, the marketing and promotion of rural tourism should be conducted in order to attract the potential rural tourists. Only when the supply and demand of rural tourism promote each other can the whole rural tourism market become bigger. Secondly, rurality, as rural tourism’s core resource, should be protected during the development of rural tourism, and the environment protection should be paid attention to in the process of construction and management. Thirdly, pay attention to the construction of rural tourism supporting facilities, and the public transportation construction between the main tourist generating regions and the rural tourism destination. Fourthly, the rural tourism marketing should be pointed.