A REVIEW OF RESEARCHES ON TOURISM CLUSTER AT HOME AND ABROAD
FENG Wei-hong1, MIAO Chang-hong2
1. School of City and Tourism, Taiyuan Normal University, Taiyuan 030012, China;
2. College of Environment & Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China
Abstract The researches and practices on tourism cluster are increasing at home and abroad. The definition of "tourism cluster" has three aspects:the whole tourism industry, tourism industry organization or initiative and tourism cluster on the base of geographical agglomeration. Generally speaking, the research emphasizes the third aspect in academic studies, and includes four parts:1) the formation condition and competitive advantage of tourism cluster; 2) the importance of the tourism cluster; 3) the enterprise network and social capital in tourism cluster; 4) the competition and cooperation among enterprises in tourism cluster. The method of research is characterized with various angels. Many case researches have been done abroad, but the lack of the quantitative methods is their deficiency. The researches on tourism cluster at home are only at beginning stage with main attention on the formation of the theory, including the defination, structure, types, the formation condition, agglomeration dynamics and competitice advantage of tourism cluster. The subject characteristic and methods have not been well formed yet and the case researches are very insufficient. The paper explains the differences of the researches on cluster at home and abroad with one table, and argues that the formation mechanism and evolving law of tourism cluster should be conducted with the theory of different subjects at home in future. The local relations and external relations of tourism cluster are also one of important research topics. The spatial structure and the distribution of tourism cluster should be stressed on because the spatial structure of tourism cluster can influence the local tourism environment greatly. Moreover, the role of government in tourism cluster development and governance should be considered in the research of tourism cluster, especially in China, due to its significance.
2009, Vol. 24 
