ON THE SCHOOLS, COURSES AND PROSPECT OF COMPLEX SYSTEM EVOLUTION THEORY IN TOURISM AREAS
YANG Chun-yu1,2, HUANG Zhen-fang1, MAO Wei-dong1
1. College of Geographical Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, China;
2. School of Tourism Management, Guizhou College of Finance and Economics, Guiyang 550004, China
Abstract The establishment of general system theory started not only the creation of modern system science, but also the research on system complexity. Some new system theories have constantly been emerging in complex system research movement, and the applications of those theories have been extended to the fields of politics, economy, culture, society, environment, etc. Tourism area complex system with open nature, complexity and diversity is also drawing more and more attention from researchers. Currently, tourism region complex system researches mainly focus on the discussion about the system concept, structure, function, application to tourism planning, and so on, from the various angles, but few about its evolution mechanism and laws. Taking the process of system science development as a clue and based on the current tourism evolution system theories, the authors of this paper, first, classify the current vigorous researches of evolution theories on tourism region complex system, distinguish the different theoretical schools of the central concept, theoretical system as well as research approach, and then explore the intrinsic reasons why common program and paradigm have not been formed. Besides, the authors argue that the exploring approaches of system science, such as the "non-linear thinking", "the overall thinking", "relationship thinking" and "process thinking" should be employed, and coupling the relationship between system elements should be introduced to construct the research framework of tourism area complex system evolution theory by abandoning the different theoretical views and integrating their strongpoint in the field. Finally, the authors prospect the future research directions and ideas from three angles:1) ensuring the sustainable development of tourism region under the conditions of uncertainty; 2) the evolution process of tourism region complex systems involving a variety of spatial and temporal scales; 3) developing a system coupling model in which the involved space is an important area for future research.
2009, Vol. 24 
