Contexts of Political (Un)Stability in Asia and the Chinese Instrumentalisation of Tourism

Abstract

Tourism is one of the most vulnerable sectors in the face of economic, political, environmental, and social changes. The study regarding the relationship between political phenomena and the dynamics of international relations and tourism is still at an infancy stage. The authors refer, in particular, to contexts of crisis, catastrophes, and conflicts in their relationship with tourism indicators. This is the purpose of this work, focusing on the Chinese case due to its particularities. In other words, they want to see how some regional political phenomena—the Asian context—are reflected in the development of Chinese tourism. They find that there is an immediate correspondence between the number of Chinese tourists and the contexts of political instability, but in which tourist flows are very dependent on government guidelines. Although subject to market dictates, they often obey geopolitical imperatives.