Production, Transmission, and Consumption of Red Tourism in China: a Model of The
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Production, Transmission, and Consumption of Red Tourism in China: A Model of the Circuit of Red Heritage and Tourism by Shengnan Zhao A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved September 2014 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Dallen J. Timothy, Chair Deepak Chhabra Woojin Lee Gyan P. Nyaupane Wei Li ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY December 2014 ABSTRACT Because of its ability to harbor social values, norms, and beliefs, heritage has always been utilized as an ideological vehicle. One prominent example of politicizing heritage is Chinese red tourism, comprised of state-promoted tours to revolutionary memorial sites. It is expected to generate political, economic, and social benefits, particularly to reinforce the legitimate leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Statistics show that dramatic market growth in red tourism has occurred over the past decade. Yet it is still heavily driven by the government and thus whether long-term sustainability can be achieved is still questionable. This dissertation explores the dynamics of red tourism from the perspective of a meaning-making process, where tourism discourses circulate among the processes of production, transmission, and consumption. The results reveal that higher-level government primarily assumes the leading role, whereas local government is largely excluded from strategy making processes and primarily responsible for implementation and operation. Some dissonance exists between higher and lower-level governments in their goals and involvement in red tourism development. Second, intermediaries are not altruistic and attempt to maximize their own benefits. While site interpreters may provide officially authorized narratives, their primary focus is hosting higher-up administrative visitors. On the contrary, tour guides are more customer-oriented, which may lead to officially undesirable interpretations. Third, driven by multiple motives, tourists have increasingly diverse attitudes towards red heritage and participate in various political and non-political activities. A considerable degree of congruence was found between tourists’ i participation, motivation, memories, and perception. Quantitative results indicate that the majority of tourists have learned about the political significance and/or content of red heritage, and developed more positive attitudes towards, and support for, the CCP and the government, to a certain extent. This dissertation contributes to current research by adopting a systematic and emic perspective to explore the dynamics of red tourism. Several conceptual frameworks were developed inductively to describe the meaning-making process. Mixed methods were used to learn about tourists’ consumption and perceptions of red heritage. Implications regarding enhancing the effectiveness of the meaning-making process, limitations of the study, and potential directions for future research are also discussed. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My four-year PhD studies at Arizona State University in the U.S. has been an amazing journey, full of challenges, joys, fulfillments, and personal growth. Studying and teaching in a very different cultural, social, and political environment is absolutely an exciting adventure for me. It could not have been accomplished without the generous help and strong support of many individuals and institutions. It is the time to express my deepest gratitude to all the people who have made this journey possible. I owe my greatest debt to my supervisor, Professor Dallen Timothy. For the past four years, he has always been there to broaden my thinking, provide critical perspectives, and discuss potential research directions with me. Thank you, Dallen, for always being so supportive and believing in me. I will always remember your incredible wisdom, intelligence, inspiration, optimism, encouragement, patience, and wonderful sense of humor, which have made this journey so enjoyable and rewarding. You have dramatically changed my way of looking at the world, both academically and personally. I am grateful for the advice and encouragement of other committee members, Dr. Deepak Chhabra, Dr. Gyan Nyaupane, Dr. Woojin Lee, and Dr. Wei Li. Dr. Chhabra, thank you for taking care of me in many aspects of my life. Thank you for trusting me and involving me in some of your projects, which have greatly helped me develop my research skills. I will always remember our memorable time in New Delhi. Dr. Nyaupane, thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with you and always being available for me whenever I have questions. I will always be inspired by your intelligence, patience, iii and humbleness. Dr. Lee, thank you for your helpful cultural orientation, encouragement, and sense of humor. Your hard work always motivates me to set higher goals for my academic career. Dr. Li, thank you for always putting the students’ future and career as a priority. Your wisdom, sharp insights, modesty, student-centered pedagogy, and life philosophy, will always motivate me to move forward. I would also like to thank other faculty members and staff in the School of Community Resources & Development at ASU, who have graciously helped me throughout my doctoral studies, particularly Dr. Kathleen Andereck, Dr. Richard Knopf, Dr. Timothy Tyrrell, Dr. Megha Budruk, Dr. Lili Wang, Dr. Rebekka Goodman, Mr. Brandon Royal, Ms. Jeniece Morales, and Ms. Linda Newsom. I would also like to thank my colleagues and friends, with whom I have shared joys and sorrows during this venturing process, especially my PhD fellows, Ara, Beth, Heekyung, Sara, Burcu, Edward, Surya, Nick, Moren, Craig, Vern, and Jessica. Special thanks should also be given to my colleagues and friends outside ASU, particularly my master’s supervisor Dr. Lingqiang Zhou and my colleague Dr. Maoying Wu at Zhejiang University, and my dear friend Meng Bao, Uncle Elvis, and Aunt Lucia, who have coached me to be a good scholar and person. I would also like to thank all my informants, and my friends and family in China, who have helped me to contact local government officials and tour guides, and made this study possible. iv I would never be able to finish this dissertation without the support of my family. To my dear Aunt Linda and cousin William, thank you for taking care of me and making me feel like being at home in a foreign country. To my dear Mom and Dad, thank you for always being there, feeling proud of me, and giving me endless support and unconditional love. I love you forever with all my heart! Last but not least, I would like to thank God for his amazing grace and love, always holding my hands and shepherding me in every situation. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction: Overview and Significance of Research ................................................. 1 1.2 Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 6 1.2.1 Communist Heritage in CEE ............................................................................. 6 1.2.2 Research Context of Red Tourism in China ...................................................... 8 1.2.3 Previous Research on Communist Heritage Tourism ...................................... 14 1.2.4 Ideology and Nationalism ................................................................................ 16 1.2.5 Heritage and Heritage Tourism ........................................................................ 18 1.2.6 Representation and Interpretation .................................................................... 20 1.2.7 A New Perspective on Cultural Studies ........................................................... 22 1.3 Relevant Research and Research Gaps of the Three Stakeholder Groups ................. 29 1.3.1 Government...................................................................................................... 29 1.3.2 Tour Guides ..................................................................................................... 30 1.3.3 Tourists ............................................................................................................ 32 1.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 33 2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND METHODS ........................................................... 34 2.1 Research Objectives and the Analytical Framework .................................................. 34 2.2 Research Method ........................................................................................................ 37 vi CHAPTER Page 2.2.1 Observation and Interview ............................................................................... 37 2.2.2 Content Analysis .............................................................................................. 39 2.2.3 Survey .............................................................................................................. 39 2.3 Study Site .................................................................................................................... 40 3 STORY CONSTRUCTION AND RED TOURISM DEVELOPMENT