On The Theory, Method And Practical Application Of Spatial Competition Among Tourism Regions

While study on spatial competition among tourism regions has been researched since 1960s in foreign countries, it didn't emerge as a significant field of tourism study until late 1980s in China. With the rapid development of tourism, competitions among different countries, regions, industries and enterprises have become even more fierce and people are getting more concerned about spatial competition among tourism regions. Yet few systematic studies on this field from the angle of region are found so far. This thesis, thus, by the application of some correlative knowledge of geography, tourism, economics, psychology, ecology and mathematics, seeks to explore the theory, method and practical application of spatial competition among tourism regions from the angle of region on the basis of comprehensive studies of resource-oriented and market-oriented models.The thesis consists of 5 chapters:In Chapter 1, General Introduction, the author reaches a full grasp of the latest movements in tourism research by systematically analyzing of the subjects, contents and methods applied in both post-graduates' and doctors' theses in tourism field from 1988 to 2001. The author thus proposes his own study framework and methods on the basis of comprehensive accounts of the theory, method and case study on tourism spatial competition.In Chapter 2, Basic Concepts, the author firstly gives a definition and discrimination on the connotation, characteristic and spatial structure of the key concept-"tourism region". Secondly, he set forth the connotation, category and factors that affect spatial competition among tourism regions in a systematic way. And thirdly, from the angle of tourism balance between supply and demand, the author divides spatial competition among tourism regions into two types-"spatial deformation" and "spatial shield", and proposes structural pattern of factors that affect spatial competition among tourism regions.In Chapter 3, Basic Theory, the author finds that location theory, spatial interaction theory and field theory can provide some useful quantitative research methods in analyzing spatial competition among tourism regions, and thus, he makes a more systematic and thorough reasoning concerning the application of the above three theories in the study of spatial competition among tourism regions.In Chapter 4, the Case Study, on the basis of spatial movement of tourists andspatial structure of tourism resources, the author makes an overall systematic analysis of the nature, degree, factors and ways of improving tourism spatial competitions with a case study on spatial competition in southern Anhui Province tourism regions.In Chapter 5, the Conclusion, the author summarizes and explores the main achievements of the thesis as well as work to be done for further improvement.So far, systematic study on spatial competition among tourism regions still remains an explosive work. Compared with similar studies at hand, this thesis has made some achievements in the following aspects:I.It establishes such concepts as "tourism region" and "spatial competition among tourism regions" from the angle of region. In tourism research, the introduction of the term "tourism region" can not only help to understand regional integration degree and spatial property of tourism factors, but help to realize the link between regions in the field of tourism development as well as the style, characteristic and strength of spatial interactions.2.It establishes the distance valve value model of interactions between different tourism regions, and concludes that distance being the crucial factor that decides the nature and degree of tourism spatial competition among regions.3.It introduces a new concept concerning spatial competition-"tourism resource assembling shield". Then by comprehensive utilization of the following six kinds of analytic techniques-index R, index 3 , index Y .accessibility index, average directory length and intensity index, it makes a relatively comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the sp...