Tourism as an Agent of Political Socialisation

Abstract

Relationship between tourism and political socialisation has not been sufficiently studied as a topic of academic inquiry. Linking tourism to the process of political socialisation, this study analyses the influences and mechanisms of red tourism in China as an agent of political socialisation that serves the ruling party's intention to sustain its regime. Based on field studies in the Jinggangshan Scenic Area, we find that red tourism functions adequately as an authorised form of political socialisation. However, the effects of tourism as an agent of political socialisation are dependent on the discursive interactions among consumers, industry operators and the state. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

50 Shades of Red: Recreational Communism in Post-Socialist Vietnam

“…By the same token, tourism provides a new appreciation of communism, adding symbolic, sentimental, and even, as we shall see, economic value to its political and historical base. However, there is an important distinction to be made between the places studied in this article and those described within the scientific literature on Red Tourism that are part of an official communist tourism, in China or Vietnam (Gu et al, 2007;Rioux, 2008;Zuo et al, 2016). While these two types of places can nowadays be frequented by the same people, their significance differ considerably, and they should thus not be confused.…”

Memorable Tourism Experiences in Red Tourism: The Case of Jiangxi, China

“…With the development of red tourism, theoretical research in this field is becoming more and more abundant, thus generates more research directions, such as marketing development of red tourism, national identity, and political role ( Caraba, 2011 ; Zuo et al, 2017 ; Hung, 2018 ). Li et al (2010) explored the interpretation of red cultural heritage by taking some famous red tourism attractions as examples; based on the destination image theory, Hunter (2013) combined the specific policies of red tourism context to define the basic principles of pilgrimage or religious tourism and visually analyze the image of Hunan’s network destinations and explore management methods; Zuo et al (2016) linked tourism with the process of political socialization to analyze red tourism as the intermediary of political socialization effects and mechanisms in China, as well as the willingness of the ruling party to maintain its political power. However, the study of red tourism is still in its infancy and requires more representative research from tourists’ perspectives ( Sima, 2017 ).…”

The influence of a destination’s red cultural atmospherics on tourists’ confidence in Chinese culture

“…“Red tourism” is a type of tourism related to the Chinese Revolution ( Zuo et al, 2016 ). China’s central government has implemented a series of nationwide strategic such as the National Red Tourism Development Planning (2004–2010; 2011–2015; 2016–2020) to facilitate red tourism development across the country because of its political functions.…”

“…Thus, China’s General Secretary Xi Jinping repeatedly reiterated that the main goal of red tourism development in China is to promote patriotism and popularization of revolutionary history that led the CPC to achieve national liberation, independence, rejuvenation, and prosperity. Based on this, scholars define educational function of the red tourism as the ideological and political education for tourists through red tourism activities ( Wall and Zhao, 2017 ; Liu et al, 2018 ), which is about improving tourists’ ideological and political quality and strengthening their party identification and national identity through the display, publicity and promotion of the red revolutionary history, revolutionary deeds and revolutionary spirit related to the red tourism destination ( Zuo, 2014 ; Zhao and Timothy, 2015 ; Zuo et al, 2016 ; Wall and Zhao, 2017 ). The perception of red education means that tourists can intuitively feel and receive revolutionary and patriotic education in red tourism destinations through such activities as visiting revolutionary relics, listening to the deeds of real revolutionary heroes, watching historical photos and documentaries, and participating in ritual experience ( Caraba, 2011 ; Liu et al, 2018 ; Shen et al, 2021 ; Tang et al, 2021 ).…”