The Spatial Distribution of Tourism in China: Trends and Impacts

Economic inequality in China has increased since China began its economic reforms in 1978. Economic activity has become increasingly more skewed towards China's coastal areas and overall regional economic inequality has increased with economic growth in China. The paper utilizes statistical data over two decades, and tracks the growing regional inequality in terms of economic and tourism development. It confirms the concern that along with phenomenal growth of inbound tourism to China, considerable regional inequality has arisen in tourism in China. There is significant spatial inequality in the distribution of inbound tourism in China and its economic characteristics. International tourism in China is heavily concentrated in the coastal areas. This paper attempts to identify trends in the regional concentration of international tourism in China from 1986 to 2004. Gini coefficients for major tourist indicators are applied to test the characteristics of tourism distribution.