社会重构下的温泉旅游地兴衰研究——以从化温泉为例

The Rise and Fall of Hot-spring Resort within the Context of Social Reconstruction:A Case Study of Conghua Hot-spring Resorts

采用历史文献分析、实地考察与深度访谈相结合的定性研究方法,对从化温泉这一典型案例地进行深入研究。研究发现,旅游需求重构对于温泉旅游地的发展具有重要影响,旅游重构过程因为改变了温泉水的使用方式及其产出效应,而温泉水使用量又成为判断温泉地是否进入成熟期的饱和标准,因此,旅游需求重构的过程对于温泉旅游地进入生命周期的后半阶段划分起到了延缓作用。

The rise of hot-spring resort has become a nationwide phenomenon during the past 20 years following the advancement of China’s social and economic reform.However,as a result of the reconstruction of tourism demand,the life cycles of those hot-spring resorts vary significantly.Some resorts are able to recover from the decline while others hardly get revival.Therefore,it is meaningful to examine the processes of the development of hot-spring resorts with particular attention to explain what factors have effect on changing development path and how they work.A thorough analysis will contribute not only to the practical management of hot-spring resorts but also to the theoretical study of the life cycle of tourism destination.This paper explores the case of hot-spring resorts in Conghua,Guangdong,China,through analysis of historical literature,on-the-spot investigation and deep interviews.The empirical study reveals that the hot-spring resorts in Conghua have undergone three decline and revival processes.War and Cultural Revolution caused the first and second decline respectively but the hot-spring resorts survived as soon as those two events ended.The third decline was created by the change of the tourism demands,mainly that tourists began to like outdoor spa pool rather than enjoying hot spring in the individual hotel room.Accordingly,the revival was achieved by the reconstruction of hot-spring resorts in order to meet the new tourism demands.During this process,the efficiency of the use of geothermal water and its related output has been greatly improved which could expand the service life of geothermal water.Since the consumption quantity of geothermal water is a crucial determinant to judge what stage of a hot-spring resort would be according to Butler’s life cycle model,this reconstruction process prevent hot-spring resorts from entering into the stage of stagnation or decline.