Holistic Tourism: A Destination Governance Tool

Hello everybody. I am Professor Wu Bihu from Peking University, but also I’m a visiting professor to Nankai University. but also I’m a visiting professor to Nankai University. Today, I’d like to share some ideas about Quan Yu tourism or holistic tourism. Quan and Yu is a Chinese character. I want to share the experience of China to all the destination countries governance and the innovation to our global audience. and the innovation to our global audience. What is Quan Yu tourism or holistic tourism? The former China Tourism Administration had their own definition. But I don’t like to explain the definition here more in detail. I just share my understanding to you about the tourism concept.

Quan Yu tourism is consisting by two Chinese words: Quan and Yu. Quan means all, whole, entire, complete something like that. That means when we make a tourism planning, we want to consider many determinants or those influential impacts which make tourism industry or tourism growth healthier or positive something like that. For example, we want to take all the elements, the whole industry, the whole picture to make all the stakeholder take part in and all the possible orientations are put into consideration. So, Quan means that integration or to put things in one destination. Any planning that we have the process to bargain, to discussion, to debate. So, Quan means before we make any recommendation.

we debate, we discuss in detail for all the stakeholders. So it’s very responsible to the theories already existing. And Yu, originally is a space, is geographically called understanding our place. But, Yu also means domain, or means a society, a field, maybe economically understood as all the sectors together or all the people together. Not only a special understanding. So, Yu is more complicated than its original understanding absolutely including the area first. So, Yu means that in China or I think. So, Yu means that in China or I think. it’s also very popular in the world in other parts of the world that we only develop or manage a national park or a tourist attraction very well.

But outside the gate, the conditions, the environment or the amenity of the city is no good. so, that we call Quan Yu means all the destination areas, destination cities should be well welcomed, should quite responsible for tourism development. And also the Yu means that all the industries change from the airlines, from the transportation, from railway companies to national parks, to cultural relics, management companies and the departments something like this. And also another meaning of Yu means time domain of all stage all the seasons or the 365days, the tourism system is responsible to the operation of tourism. So, Quan yu lv you or Quan Yu tourism means integrating work together.

So, in China, the central government has a propaganda to make it not only a concept, but also as the destination governance a tour China Tourism Administration declare that we have five hundred Quan Yu tourism demonstration area. The level of these areas is quite different. We have two provincial level demonstration areas. It is Hainan province and Ningxia Autonomous Region. And we have more than ninety cities and also more than four hundred counties listed in the Quan Yu tourism demonstration either with simple model or leading the industry in China.

So the government take it very seriously into action to make the tourism operated in that way in that integrated way, the intergovernmental department that work together and the public and private sector work together and the government investor work together with the local people. So, Quan Yu tourism, I think, is also very comfortable for other countries because it’s the same thing that when different kinds of sectors, the government sector, and the public and private partnership work together and get the host and guest to coordinate smoothly and harmoniously. So this is my understanding of Quan Yu or holistic tourism.

But if we accept the concept of Quan Yu tourism, how should we do or how to make tourism planning in a professional way. Okay, I’ll give you some answers that we have two goals for Quan Yu tourism that is the government’s goal that all the government people work together very well. Another way that satisfaction goal that two goals in terms of satisfaction, one from local community, another from the outside visitor that are the two groups of people all satisfied by the performance of tourism or Quan Yu tourism. That’s okay. And also we have Quan Yu tourism support policy or institution reform to make land availability, the overland reform to meet the tourism development.

and also we have the transformation from second industry to tertiary industry and also some other laws, regulations, the institutions to change, to meet the requirements of the tourism or Quan Yu tourism. Central government of China also the China Tourism Administration also delivers and declares some guidelines for tourism, Quan Yu tourism in different areas, different level, in province, in city and in county level. And it is considering a lot of measurement to it is framework to measure or to assess the performance of Quan Yu tourism development. So I think it’s the assessment index of Quan Yu tourism demonstration area.

Considering the different parts, I don’t like to take more in details, about the index, but it just tells you that we have some way to assess, to evaluate the performance of Quan Yu tourism from philosophy principle to some actions. Okay, today I am very happy to have this opportunity to share my understanding to Quan Yu tourism and take this principle to tourism planning. Thank you.