The peculiarities and problems of cultural tourism in the free economic zones of China

Abstract

Many cities in China currently have a reputation of international centers of tourism. For example, Beijing simultaneously draws attention as a city of centuries-old history and a modern cultural center. Other cities, such as actively developing free economic zones (Shenzhen, Shanghai, Tianjin, Hong Kong, etc.) initially did not have cultural uniqueness that would form the cultural brand of the territory and turn them into a remarkable cultural center. This hinders the development of cultural tourism in these territories. The goal of this article consists in determination of the peculiarities and problems in the development of cultural tourism in the free economic zones of China, using the example of Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tianjin. It is established that such peculiarities and problems is directly related to the fact that initially these zones had more of an economic orientation. On the one hand, this provides financial resources and makes these territories potentially promising for the development of cultural tourism; while on the other hand, it sets back the cultural component, focusing on the different forms of tourism, namely economic shopping tourism. It is emphasized that the key characteristics of the development of cultural tourism consist in creation of infrastructure for the cultural tourism and availability of resource for cross-cultural communications and multicultural tourism. Among the relevant problems of the development of free economic zones, the author notes the slower development of cultural tourism compared to the economy and economic tourism; lack of perception by the local authorities of the value of cultural tourism and integration of its resources into the development of free economic zones, insufficient scientific reflection on cultural tourism in these territories of China.