Hanqin Qiu Zhang

An analysis of tourism policy development in modern China

Abstract Tourism in China has rapidly developed since the adoption of open-door economic reform policy in 1978. There is still little understanding about the role played by the Chinese government in the development of tourism. This paper represents a first attempt to identify the roles played by the Chinese government in developing its international inbound tourism. The period examined is from 1978, a turning point for China’s development, to the present. Generally, the Chinese government has played the following roles: Operator – involving ownership and provision of the infrastructure for tourism development and operation of tourism business activities; Regulator – formulating and implementing regulations to control tourism business; Investment stimulator – stimulating tourism investment through the provision of financial incentives; Promoter – spending money on the promotion of tourism in the international market; Coordinator – coordinating activities of different government departments with respect to tourism; and Educator – establishing a system of tourism education institutions and providing tourism education and training programs. Analysis of the policies and government roles in China was examined systematically in terms of demands, decisions, outputs and impacts for each of the three historical periods identified, namely 1978–1985, 1986–1991 and 1992 to the present. The framework adopted for examining the policies in terms of demands, decisions, etc. represents the specific policy issue components of the tourism policy-making process suggested by Hall’s model (1994). Based on China’s experiences, some implications of the governmental roles for other developing countries are suggested.

Service quality of travel agents: the case of travel agents in Hong Kong

Abstract Travel agents in Hong Kong have faced difficult times in recent years because of increasing customer demands and internal competition in the industry. A Hong Kong Consumer Council report (1998) stated that complaints against travel agencies had increased by 12.4% for the year 1996/97, as compared with the previous year. Looking at the nature of the complaints, there was room for improvement in terms of service quality. The purpose of the study was to assess customers’ expectations and perceptions of service provided by travel agents, and to explore how the service factors derived from the factor analysis were related to overall customer satisfaction. The results showed that customers’ perceptions of service quality fell short of their expectations, with the reliability dimension having the largest gap. Five factors were derived from the factor analysis of 26 service attributes, and the result of regression analysis showed that overall customer satisfaction was related to these five factors.

Job satisfaction and organizational commitment in the Hong Kong fast food industry

Studies of new employees’ socialization have gained importance in the fast food industry in view of the demand for high quality service in this increasingly competitive business environment. New employees in the industry are unique in terms of job expectations. The aim of this study was to investigate the unmet expectations of new employees, and the relationships between unmet expectations, job satisfaction and organizational commitment in the Hong Kong fast food industry. A sample of 203 employees from the industry was collected. The results show that expectations are normally unmet, and job characteristics, training and development, and compensation and fairness are related to satisfaction and commitment.

The challenges and opportunities of franchising in China’s hotel industry

Franchising develops quickly in the hotel industry with the expansion and globalization of hotel chains, as it brings about advantages and sets up a very good leverage between two parties – franchisor and franchisee. Major multinational hotel corporations have entered China, but franchising is seldom used as a tool of expansion there. The continuous increase in tourism and the structural change in the hotel industry in China afford more opportunities for the growth of franchising operations and also of indigenous hotel chains. When franchising in this specific market, quality control, ownership, connection, business tradition and franchisor‐franchisee relationships should be examined carefully in order to ensure success. A full understanding of China’s peculiar social, cultural, economic and political context is essential for foreign companies, whilst existing and new indigenous companies require greater technical and operating expertise along with the necessary business acumen to operate hotel chains.

The emergence of the mainland Chinese outbound travel market and its implications for tourism marketing

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the current trends of the mainland Chinese outbound travellers to Hong Kong. According to the World Tourism Organisation’s forecasted figures, China will be the fourth largest generator of outbound tourists in the world. In 2000, China generated about 29 per cent of the total tourists to Hong Kong, and was the biggest market for Hong Kong. Given the importance of this market, this study attempts to find out how the trend of outbound travel and market performance has been developed; what the main social, economic and political factors are affecting the emergence of the China outbound market; and what the policy implications are for the tourism industry in Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific region.

The effect of competitive strategies and organizational structure on hotel performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of competitive strategies and organizational structure on hotel performance and to explore whether organizational structure has a moderating effect on the relationship between competitive strategies and hotel performance.Design/methodology/approach – This study employed a causal and descriptive research design to determine the cause‐and‐effect relationships among competitive strategies, organizational structure, and hotel performance based on previous studies. A 28‐question self‐administered questionnaire comprising three sections was employed. The target population for this study was US hotel owners and general and executive managers whose e‐mail addresses were listed on a publicly available database. A census survey was carried out and e‐mails were sent to all of the hoteliers listed in the database.Findings – The results show a competitive human resources (HR) strategy to have a direct impact on a hotels behavioral performance, and a ...

China’s international tourism development: present and future

International tourism as an industry is the outcome of China’s economic reform and open policy to the outside world initiated in the late 1970s, and it has become one of the important foreign exchange earners, playing an increasingly significant role in the country’s national economy. The paper explains the main stages of its development and identifies the important changes in the past two decades. It analyzes the opportunities and challenges with which China’s international tourism is confronted, and further suggests the choices of policies and strategies China should undertake for its international tourism development in the new millennium and on the threshold of joining the World Trade Organization.

Play or not to play—An analysis of the mechanism of the zero-commission Chinese outbound tours through a game theory approach

Abstract The purpose of this study is to demystify the mechanism of the so-called zero-commission tours that have become synonymous with the booming Chinese outbound tourism market in the past decade. Two models of game theory are applied to identify nine proposed key factors that constitute the “zero-tour” phenomenon. These involve interactions in both the temporal and spatial dimensions of all of the stakeholders concerned with such tours, from outbound tourists and outbound and inbound operators to local guides and governments both within and beyond the Chinese border. It is concluded that zero-commission tours, underpinned by the proposed factors and notwithstanding their current legal and practical viability, have a tremendous negative impact on all of the stakeholders. This study may serve as a reference for the drafting and implementation of both policy and business countermeasures to curb zero-commission tours, thus facilitating more positive contributions from Chinese outbound tourism to the development of world tourism.

The determinants of the 1999 and 2007 Chinese Golden Holiday System: A content analysis of official documentation

Abstract This study examines the factors that lay behind the development of the Golden Week holiday system in China in 1999 and 2007. It does so by evaluating three dimensions, namely (a) dominant government policy, (b) the pattern of tourism demand and (c) the degree of public participation in the policy making process. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are used in a content analysis of 45 related documents. The results indicate that while little relationship existed between the demands of tourism and public policy in both 1999 and 2007, the requirements of social policies and a greater role being attributed to public participation in the policy making were more emphasized in 2007. The theoretical contributions and practical implications of this study are also addressed.

Analysis of training and education needs of mainland Chinese tourism academics in the twenty-first century.

China’s tourism and hotel education at tertiary level started in the late 1970s. A lack of qualified tourism educators and employees is a common concern for all levels of Chinese tourism education. Further education and training for the faculty in institutions has become an urgent need for the Chinese government and the institutions themselves. The purposes of this study are to examine the education needs of tourism academics in terms of their perception of the value of upgrading their qualifications, the likelihood of further studies, levels of attainment, preference of study places and possible barriers; to understand the degree of importance of upgrading their qualifications; and to identify the main tourism training and education issues facing China in the twenty‐first century. The results suggest that the Chinese academics perceive upgrading their qualifications and getting more exposure to the outside world as important to them. The training and education issues facing China in the twenty‐first century are improvement of the tourism education system and its structure, improvement in the design of the syllabuses with more language training and the balance of theory and practice, change from a traditional teaching mode to a more modernized innovative and interactive teaching mode, and greater responsiveness of education to the needs of the industry.