Study On The Development Of Tourism Industrial Clusters In Xinjiang

In recent years, the rapid development of tourism industry has become a new national economic growth pole. With the scale of tourism industry expanding and the development level improving, the phenomenon, tourism industrial clusters in tourism destinations, went more and more obvious. As a significant path to enhance the competitiveness of tourism industry, industrial clusters are not only a means for promotion towards the development and establishment of local tourism industry, but moreover, an inevitable trend, which demonstrates great practical significance to achieve the interregional cooperation and win-win situation, to frame highly targeted planning and measurements for tourism development, and to enhance the overall strength and sustainable development of tourism industry.Xinjiang, as a major gateway for China's opening up and an important base for strategic resource, has abundant tourism resources, while tourism industry plays a specially advantaged and irreplaceable role in the leaping development and long-term securityand stability in Xinjiang. This paper takes 15 regions (prefectures or prefecture-leveled cities) in Xinjiang between 2000-2009 as study objects, establishes an identification evaluation system of Xinjiang tourism industrial clusters based on the qualitative research on industrial clusters and basic theories of tourism industry, performs quantitative research on tourism industry in Xinjiang from the aspects of agglomeration levels, industry connections, industry scale, enterprises'information and innovation levels, comprehensively evaluates the cluster degree of Xinjiang tourism industry, analyzes the impact factors and effects, demonstrates the spatial layout of Xinjiang tourism industrial clusters, and finally proposes the strategic model of developing Xinjiang tourism industrial clusters, in order to provide an advantageous reference for future development of clusters in Xinjiang tourism industry.This paper draws the following conclusions: (1) During the study period, the overall development of Xinjiang's tourism industrial clusters had not been fully developed and was still under a growing stage, which indicates a greater potential to enhance the tourism competitiveness through the development of industrial clusters.(2) Growth poles of tourism industrial clusters had become more distinct in Urumqi, counties directly under Ili Kazak Prefecture and Kashgar Region, where had developed into specialized areas of tourism industry.(3) Main factors that influences tourism industrial clusters are tourism resources, market demand, traffic location, tourism related industries, policies, capital technology and industry structures.(4) Tourism industrial clusters in Xinjiang are divided into functional regions, from which the ranges of optimal development zone, key development zone, properly guided development zone, and appropriate development zone, are identified; Nodes of tourism industrial clusters are determined based on the distribution density of major tourism enterprises in 85 counties (cities); Spatial network structure of Xinjiang tourism industrial clusters are built; and the development pattern of Xinjiang tourism industrial clusters are defined.(5) Considering of the current development in Xinjiang, the development and enhancement of tourism industrial clusters should be government-led, with tourism enterprises being the principal part, and with public participation,to enhance the competitive power of tourism.