The effects of political power, political ideology, interest groups and the government on the making of Chinese outbound tourism policies: From the perspective of policy change

The polarized orientation toward prescriptive elaborations of tourism policies has omitted political and bureaucratic dimensions underlying such policies which have wielded more essential influences on their formulations. Taking cognizance of the temporal research scope of this study, the mechanisms are evaluated from the perspective of policy change, placing into particular account the policy changes between the respective Chinese outbound tourism regulations and the inducing factors underlying such changes.;Pursuant to an extensive literature review, four significant political and bureaucratic factors, namely political power, political ideology, interest group and the government, are identified and integrated into a conceptual framework guided by stakeholder theory. Correspondingly, five research questions composed of several sub questions are proposed with regards to the respective and composite effects of the four factors on the formulations of Chinese outbound tourism policies. A multiple case study approach is selected, encompassing two qualitative methodologies of convergent interviews and documentation are launched to collect research data in multiple media forms. Content analysis is utilized in data interpretation, facilitated by computerized analytical instruments. Particularly, a Policy Analytical Framework (PAF) is developed and proposed by this study to serve as a comprehensive, consistent and context-relevant platform upon which further and in-depth assessment of the gathered data can convincingly proceed. The results of this study account for the postulations of 15 research propositions corresponding to the research questions of this study.;This study has made its due contributions to theoretical advancement of tourism policy research in such aspects as in-depth investigations of individual political and bureaucratic factors, capture of the essential dynamism underpinning the development of Chinese outbound tourism, and proposition and application of a useful analytical instrument for tourism policy studies. In the meantime, the study is credited with its practical implications for the authorities and industrial entities from outbound destinations interested in the Chinese outbound tourism market to devise corresponding strategies and measures to take better advantages of this exponentially growing market.;Key words: Political Power, Political Ideology, Interest Group, Government, Tourism Policy Making, Policy Analytical Framework...