Socio-Cultural Impacts of Tourism on Shanghai - Research Paper Example

Module Socio-Cultural Impacts of Tourism on Shanghai China experienced remarkable growth in the tourism sector in With a considerable increase in international as well as domestic demand, China has grown to be a fashionable tourist destination. In 2011, the nation was the most preferred tourist destination worldwide and ranked third in terms of outbound as well as inbound tourism. Shanghai is an increasingly popular city among domestic as well as international tourists. Also identified as Hu or Shen by the Chinese citizens, Shanghai is situated at the center of China’s eastern shoreline. It is one of the nation’s biggest cities with approximately 20 million residents. Shanghai is the most industrialized metropolis in China and is counted as one of the major metropolitan cities of the world. Shanghai has more than 5,800 square kilometers. Most tourists visiting Shanghai are usually advised to travel with maps in order not to get lost. The metropolis is not only identified as a financial, economic, and trade center, but is also admired for its cultural as well as historical heritage. The capital city, Beijing, is approximately 1460 km away from Shanghai. Most tourists in China, who wish to visit Shanghai, usually take the two hour flight from the capital to Shanghai, or take a 17 hour train journey that allows them to enjoy the scenery. Shanghai tourist attractions are easy to get to from its main center. Some of these include the Yuyuan Gardens, the Bund, which is the embodiment of Shanghai's history in prominent architectural structures, the lake Dianshan Hu, and the Four Cornered Pagoda, which is locally referred to as the Fang Ta. Shanghai, which is China's business and financial headquarters, has in the recent past benefitted from a double-digit growth. The city got over 80 million foreign and domestic tourists in 2001, alone. No town in China has fully embraced modernity and technology in the same way as Shanghai has. When in Shanghai, a tourist may get the illusion that he or she is in Europe or America and not Communist China. Shanghai radiates a cosmopolitan quality that is characterized by the contemporary lifestyles of its citizens, busy industrial and financial districts, skyscrapers, one of the busiest harbors in the area and ultra-chic business centers like museums, hotels, and shopping malls. While Beijing is recognized as the center of the political government of China, which sponsors the Chinese academic institutions, Shanghai is known worldwide as China’s economic center and an incredibly enterprising city. Once a tiny and sleepy fishing rural community in the 1800s, Shanghai has been turned into a most enchanting, decadent and refined Chinese city. According to (Moscardo 3), “Shanghai has been dubbed as the "Paris of the East." International tourism takes place when citizens from different nations travel across intercontinental borders outside their normal homes as well as places of work, and stay for more than 24 hours in their places of visitation. The motivations for such trips are diverse, but usually recognized as being largely influenced by health, recreation, friendship and family visits, education, business, sports, and religion. As one of the most significant sources of foreign exchange revenue, and an investment catalyst, knowledge disseminator, and employment generator, international tourism has grown to be one of Shanghai’s most significant industries. Tourism has developed swiftly in Shanghai. At present, China is investing a lot of capital in promoting tourism and revising laws that govern its tourist industry. In the coming years, China expects to experience even more growth in this area, with the lion share of this development taking place in Shanghai. China’s tourism industry was somewhat affected by SARS scare but recovered swiftly. China is projected to be the world’s most fashionable tourist destination in the next decade. According to (Pike and Ryan 333), “tourism in Shanghai is a colossal labor intensive business that creates a lot of jobs and has a considerable multiplier effect.” Not only does it generate employment for citizens working within the tourism industry but also creates jobs in transportation, construction, craft production, agriculture, livestock raising and fishing. Today, Shanghai’s revival in financial prosperity, which has been assisted greatly by tourist dollars, is evident from the fast developments in the metropolis. The ‘Pudong New Area’, used to be a quiet farmland and is now a high-end business district. Nicknamed the "New York of China," Pudong hosts the city’s most recent international airport, as well as a busy urban area, and apartment buildings. In addition, Shanghai’s skyline along the River Hungpu, more commonly identified as the Bund tourist region, is filled with buildings that have European architecture. The present French concession region is the stylish part of town where the well-known shopping street known as ‘Huai Hai’ Road is positioned. This street is dominated by classy restaurants, shops, boutiques, and cafes. Most of its old structures are presently being eliminated in favor of skyscrapers and sleek department stores. The inward spending of the many tourists that witnessed the 2008 Beijing Olympics brought Beijing and its environs an economic boom in areas like communications, construction, tourism, postal and telecommunication services, and catering. Tourism often calls for the construction or improvement of infrastructure, so as to offer the basic amenities to the visiting tourists. Most less economically developed nations have inadequate sanitation facilities, sporadic electricity, and no fresh water or good telecommunications connections. Yet, in order to draw tourists, all of these factors have to be adequately addressed. Thus, in nations such as China where there are many areas that are still under developed even though there are highly developed cities, many airports have to be reconstructed in order to accommodate mass tourism. This investment in transportation facilities profits the local populace in the preferred tourist destinations in numerous ways. The essential expenditure is regularly on “public goods”; which are simply goods whose benefits can be enjoyed by a lot of people. For instance, the recent construction of a modern motorway from Beijing city to the airport has profited both the nationalized as well as private businesses located in the area. This new building has greatly helped in lessening the phenomenon of constant traffic build-up, thus increasing effectiveness. This increased expense also generates job opportunities for the partially educated. As a result, there is a noticeable increase of buying power among the normal citizens, and this contributes to the enhancement of their spending behavior and gives a boost to the national economy. Tourism also brings the much needed foreign currencies to tourism destinations. This allows the less developed regions to be able to import the necessary machinery, in order to industrialize and begin economic development. According to (Xiang and Gretzel 179-188), “tourism is a huge supplier of employment in nations and regions that have a large number of jobless youth. Not only does it generate enough, official, service jobs in hotels and restaurants, but also casual jobs. Markets vendors in Shanghai are likely to benefit from the influx o tourists as much as the other sectors of the economy.” Through supplying both informal and formal jobs, the tourism industry helps in increasing the standard purchasing power of normal citizens. With a better disposable income, more consumption is the natural result. This, in turn, will stimulate the formation of other local corporation to meet this demand. Tourism also provides an additional stream of investment. In order to contain tourists with sufficient facilities, capital is moved by the government into Shanghai to pay for the construction of restaurants, hotels, vacation resorts, bars, and other facilities. According to (Li, Zhang, Mao and Deng 629-640), “whilst most of the specialized jobs are occupied by foreigners, the supply of raw materials like cement is usually locally sourced.” In addition, the work of constructing is usually carried out by local workers. Therefore, the investment by the centralized government assists by injecting capital into Shanghai’s economy, thereby boosting orders for companies and generating jobs. Tourism is also perceived as a contributing factor to the image of the nation. When big groups of Western tourists visit Shanghai, the West’s insight and knowledge of China, as well as Shanghai, increases. This usually acts as an emotional impetus to prospective entrepreneurs to establish their ventures. It is therefore not astonishing that the development of tourism has been so directly aligned with financial growth in areas like Shanghai. The advantages of tourism mainly center on economic development. Shanghai’s thriving tourism industry, contributes a lot to the city's financial system. According to (McCabe and Johnson 42-65), “in recent years, the financial market has steadily matured, supplying both tourists and citizens with improved services. International as well as domestic trade is also rapidly developing.” In Pudong, the Lujiazui Financial and Trade Zone is growing progressively more influential. It brings together many commercial as well as financial institutions like foreign as well as Chinese securities companies, stock exchanges, and insurance companies. In addition, tourism can be a source of global friendships, and an instigator of peace and understanding. International tourism reduces negative stereotypes and perceptions by encouraging appreciation, pride, respect, understanding, and tolerance for different cultures. Social contacts between local citizens and tourists can result in, understanding, mutual appreciation, awareness, tolerance, family bonding, learning, and mutual respect. The local population is educated about cultures of other nations without leaving their homes, while the tourists learn to appreciate new customs. The local communities in Shanghai, for instance, are profited by tourism’s contribution to the development of the social infrastructure such as libraries, schools, internet cafes, and health care institutions. International tourism, however, can also adversely affect local cultures by assaulting the privacy of local citizens and contributing to ecological destruction. Besides, if Shanghai’s local culture is an additional base that draws tourists who are interested in Chinese indigenous cultures, tourism assists in the preservation of local customs and tongues that may have been rendered extinction. On the other side, international tourism can sometimes cause hostility, tension, and suspicion. Tourism has the authority to bring about cultural changes that residents or the government in the tourist destination are not prepared to implement. CONCLUSION China has in the past felt the effects of having so many visitors teeming at its shores on an annual basis. There have been definite moves implemented by the central government to protect Chinese culture and governing approaches even though China outwardly continues to insist that it wishes for more tourists. For instance, after comprehending that it can no longer keep China protected from outside influences it may not whole heartedly approve of, the Chinese government has permitted some aspects of western culture into the nation, while keeping technologies such as that of the internet, under strict watch. The main cities in China have assimilated features of western culture into their societies. From the construction of Chinese branches of international American hotels such as the Hilton, and Marriott to the Chinese procurement of American debt, Chinese culture has acknowledged western products and ideals to a large extent, thus becoming a key political and economic power. In spite of this, censorship is still widespread all through China. Internet search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo have to submit to the censorship guidelines of the Chinese government. Controversial issues concerning China’s history, like the Tiananmen Square carnage have been removed from all historical texts with all information about these unfortunate events coming from external sources. Works Cited Li, Mimi, Hanqin Zhang, Iris Mao, and Claire Deng. “Segmenting Chinese Outbound Tourists by Perceived Constraints.” Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing. 28.6 (2011): 629-643. McCabe, Scott, and Sarah Johnson. “The happiness factor in tourism: subjective well-being and social tourism.” Annals of Tourism Research. 41 (2013): 42–65. Moscardo, Gianna. “Interpretation and sustainable tourism: Functions, examples and principles.” The Journal of Tourism Studies. 9 (1998): 2-13. Pike, Steven, and Chris Ryan. “Destination Positioning Analysis through a Comparison of Cognitive, Affective, and Conative Perceptions.” Journal of Travel Research. 42 (2004): 333. Xiang, Zheng, and Ulrike Gretzel. “Role of social media in online travel information search.” Tourism Management. 31.2 (2010): 179-188. Read More