A Research On The Tea Culture Tourism Resources

As a new form of tourism, tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) O.kuntze] culture tourism not only meets the tourist consumers’ demand, but also is a new economic growth point for the tourism industry. Development of tea culture tourism can be of benefit in promotion of the tea and tourism industry in a region. Studies on the tea culture tourism resources could contribute to tea culture tourism planning, enrich the research and development of tea culture. As a part of the traditional culture, tea culture can be better promoted as a key component of tourism.The thesis is organized as follows; the first beginning discusses the concept of tea cultural tourism resources and related theories. Regarding the tea culture tourism, a definition is proposed whereby tea tourism is defined as various tourism activities, involving visiting tea areas and enjoying the culture related to tea, it comprises any or all of the following, folklore tourism, rural tourism, cultural tourism, religious tourism, festival tourism with the tea theme. According to the ancient history the tea-related tourism activities were first reported in China. As the origin of tea and tea culture, China has generated a variety of tea cultures and heritages in the thousands of years of history, and has rich tea tourism resources. These resources can be categorized together as tea cultural tourism resources, including natural and human resources were divided on the basis of the different characteristics, such as mountains, water, tea biological resources, tea culture, historical monuments, history buildings, religious tea culture, tea customs, literature and art of tea, among others. In China the tea producing areas are vast across the country making tea culture tourism resources have distinct geographical characteristics.The area around Taihu Lake is famous in the history of tea, and has been an important tea-producing area since ancient times. This region is also the hinterland of the Yangtze River Delta region, and is developed economically with, well developed transport infrastructure, and tourism industry. As one of the ancient famous tea-plantation, this area has accumulated rich and splendid tea cultural tourism resources. Investigations of the tea culture tourism resources in the survey area with the past literature and books, revealed the basis for tea tourism resources in this area.It is only through evaluation of these resources, that foundation on rational exploitation, for the regional tourism development and planning can be recognized. Thus, the evaluation system was constructed by the Analytic Hierarchy Process method. Three evaluation factors were found to be the most important in coming up with the essential characteristics in the region’s tea culture tourism resources which include the integrated features, the basic travel functions, and the existent conditions for those resources. The qualitative and quantitative methods were combined to establish the comprehensive evaluation index system of regional cultural tourism resources of tea.The evaluation of tea culture tourism resources provides an important and the initial stage in development of tea tourism and involves the historical and cultural value, research and education value, aesthetic value. As tourism develops, tourist actions will affect the resources and the environment, it is therefore necessary to assess the monetary value of these resources, in order to create awareness to the relevant operators and managers on the great importance and potential values of tea culture resources. A case study on Biluochun tea culture tourism resources in Dongting Mountains of Suzhou was examined, based on the theory of environmental economics. A questionnaire was administered on tourists in Dongting Mountains and Traveling Cost Method and Contingent Valuation Method were used to estimate the use and non-use values, and total economic value was calculated. The SPSS17.0statistics software package was used in the analysis including those factors which influenced the results. This result revealed that the tea tourism resources had use values and non-use values when appropriate methodologies are used.Followed for the resource survey and evaluation, the current tourism development models of tea culture and the types of tourism development were explored, around the Taihu Lake area. By use of a questionnaire, current situation and problems faced in the development of tea culture tourism market in this region were evaluated. Recommendations and measures to fix the identified problems were also provided. Finally, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of tea culture tourism development, in the area around Taihu Lake are discussed, it is hoped that this will help in the realization of Tea Culture Tourism, and sustainable development in the future.