A Study Of The Development Of Japanese Tourism Industry

The second industrial revolution brought the world into the era of locomotivesand ships, and brought about the emergence of automobiles and airplanes. Tourismindustry gradually took form and thrived. Since the end of the WWII, the world hasbeen in a relatively peaceful development environment, in which tourism industryquickly prospered. The records of the UNWTO show that tourism industry has beena leader of development among industries in the world.Compared with other industries, tourism industry has unequaled advantages andfunctions. First, it is highly related to other industries, provides many job openingsand boosts consumption. Second, it is environment friendly, because it consumesmuch less energy, helps to bridge the development gap between different areas, andhelps to cultivate environment protection awareness among people. Thirdly, it is agood carrier of culture as it serves as an important locomotive for cultural industrydevelopment, helps to improve the quality of nationals and increase culturalcommunication. These three reasons qualified tourism industry as an importantstrategic industry in more than 100 countries. Japan, the neighboring country ofChina, even adopted the basic law on tourism nation promotion, promulgatedrelevant basic plans, in order to develop tourism industry into an important part innational economy. With almost national support, the Japanese tourism economythrived and did much better than its Chinese counterpart in many fields. Thisdissertation will focus on the development of Japanese tourism industry, carry outtheoretical exploration and seek practical significance, by having a review of therelevant theories on tourism industry and summarizing the Japanese experiences oftourism industry development.Based on the survey of relevant economic theories on tourism industry and theresearch findings by Japanese and Chinese scholars on the development of Japanesetourism industry, this study systematically analyzed the experiences and achievements of the Japanese tourism industry and gave suggestions on developingtourism industry in China. The dissertation consists of four parts. (1) Chapter I and IIserve as the research basis and theatrical support for the whole dissertation. Chapter Imainly expounded the research background and significance of research bysurveying the literature on tourism industry in China and abroad. Chapter I also putforward the research design and framework, and determined the researchmethodology involved. Chapter II is the theatrical basis of researches on tourismindustry development. This chapter set up the theoretical basis of the dissertation, byevaluating the theories such as sustainability of tourism industry, value chain intourism industry and industrial clusters. (2) Chapter III discussed the evolution ofJapanese tourism industry and its characteristics from temporal and spatialperspectives. (3) The core of the dissertation lies in Chapter IV, V, VI and VII.Chatter IV comprehensively discussed the achievements of the Japanese tourismindustry. Chapter VI and VII gave a detailed analysis to the roles played by tourismassociation and tourism agencies in promoting the development of tourism industry.Chatter VIII took the case of Miyagi County as a typical example to summarizesuccessful experiences by analyzing the development process and actual effects oftourism industry development. (4)Chapter IX, the concluding part, offers an outlook.After analysis of the current development of tourism industry and existing problemsin Qinghai Province, we summarized several points based on the empirical analysisand standard analysis, and offered measures and suggestions for developing tourismindustry in China, especially in Qinghai Province.The main innovation in the dissertation consists in three aspects. (1) Afterextensive survey of relevant literature using professional databases and academicbooks, we decided that there is a scarcity of detailed research into the developmentof Japanese tourism industry in China and abroad, and the majority of currentresearches are about strategies, dealing with superficial experiences only. Bychoosing this topic, we would like to use a rich collection of first-hand material anda wealth of empirical research data to contribute to the theoretical research onChina's tourism industry. (2) After analysis of the roles played by the Japanese government and Japanese industry associations in the development of Japanesetourism industry, we realized that the coordinated efforts of government, industry,academic research and association served as an indispensable part, which is animportant insight for tourism industry in China. (3) By taking the case of MiyagiCounty, the dissertation gave a comprehensive analysis of the measures taken bytourism industry and achievements of the industry, offered reference for the theoriesand practice of tourism industry development in different provinces of China, andprovided state-of-the-art information and perspectives for local governments inChina in their policy-making concerning tourism development.The dissertation is limited in two aspects. First, there is a scarcity of theoreticalliterature concerning development of tourism industry in Japan and in China. Thereis no available comprehensive theoretical research system. As a result, the theoreticalanalysis in this dissertation is generally not profound enough, with some points notexpounded enough. Second, due to the limited time and limited capability of theauthor, in addition to the scarcity of literature, this dissertation has not given adetailed feasible plan for setting up the indicator system suitable for China in thedevelopment of tourism industry.