A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE LEVEL AND STRUCTURE OF DOMESTIC TOURISM CONSUMPTION OF CHINESE URBAN AND RURAL RESIDENTS

The domestic tourism,which has been a major component of Chinese tourism market,plays an important role in stimulating domestic demand and promoting national economy.So,it is significant to study Chinese domestic tourism industry.According to the Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics and the Domestic Tourism Sample Survey of China from 2001 to 2008,the authors compared the level and structure of domestic tourism consumption of urban residents with that of the rural residents,the result shows that,(1) the level of the domestic tourism consumption of urban residents has increased steadily,but the growth of the level of rural residents is not obvious;(2) the domestic visitors from rural areas are more than that of urban residents,but their domestic tourism consumption level is lower;(3) the purpose of the tours of tourists from urban areas is mainly for sightseeing or spending holiday,but that of visitors from rural areas is mainly for visiting relatives or friends;(4) concerning the accommodation,urban residents mainly choose hotels or rest houses,but rural residents mainly choose to stay at the homes of their relatives or friends;(5) concerning transportation,more urban residents choose flight than rural residents;(6) the spiritual consumption level of both the urban tourists and the rural tourists are not high;(7) the proportion of non-essential consumption of rural tourists is higher than that of urban tourists.Furthermore,the authors analyze the causes of the findings,and then put forward three ways to upgrade the level of the domestic tourism consumption and optimize the structure.Firstly,the government should develop the economy in both urban and rural areas in order to improve the disposable income of the residents.For China,it is more important to improve rural residents' income.Secondly,the ticket price of tourist attractions should be more rational.Thirdly,the structure of tourist products should be optimized.We should develop more special tourist products.Finally,the authors point out that the government should strengthen guidance for the domestic tourism consumption by policies,cultivate the consumption consciousness and raise the spiritual consumption demand.