Tourism Industry And Urban Economy

Tourism can be dated back to the ancient time. With the steady development of the world economy, the rising of living standards, the growth of recreation consciousness, and the advancement of transportation technology after the World War II, tourism developed into a period of popular tourism and its economic quality became increasingly obvious. Today tourism has become an important drive for world economy. Meanwhile, cities are becoming important places of great resort due to their advantages in economy, transportation, business transaction, shopping environment, and diversified services. In this sense, cities serve as very good angles for observing the influence of tourism on macro-economy. For an accurate and all-round observation of the driving force of tourism on city developments, the study of a typical city can be an important approach. This dissertation, taking Miami as the subject of study, reviews the process of Miami's development, sums up the characteristics of its development and demonstrates the significant influences of tourism on the development of modern cities with both national and international influences taken into full consideration. It stresses the relationship between tourism and urbanization, highlighting the role of tourism in urban economy. Through a case study, this dissertation reveals some fundamental rules in the development of a tourist city, and hopefully, provides reference for the development of some tourist cities in China.Arrangement of Contents is as the following:Chapter one: The early development of Miami's tourism economy. It briefs the regional natural geographical features, its early history, its initial prominence and its establishment and development as a tourist city.Chapter two: The perfection of Miami's tourism economy: its progress and periodic feature. In the favorable global and domestic environments after World War II, Miami transformed from a winter resort to an all-season tourist site, from a regional tourist city to a global one, from a mono-industry structure to a multi-industry economy. Chapter three: The perfection of Miami's tourism economy: an analysis of related features. this chapter details the objective opportunities for the rise of tourism, the active promotion and the strategic positioning for the urban development by the chamber of commerce and the city's elites, and primary channels and forms of influences of tourism on Miami urban economy.Chapter four: The multimode urban tourism economy taking shape. In the process of the world economic globalization, America came into frequent economic and trade exchange with the countries in Latin America and Caribbean Sea and such industry as foreign trade and finance prospered in Miami. As multi mode economic structure furthered, Miami earned the name of "Capital of Latin America" and consolidated its core position in the urban system of Caribbean area.Chapter five: The significances of urbanization pattern of Miami. By giving a summary of Miami's development, this chapter demonstrates the significance of tourism industry in the development of current world cities and draws some useful references from the case of Miami.The concluding part reviews and sums up the viewpoints of the dissertation.