王 冠

WANG Guan

（四川出版集团 四川 成都 610031）

(Sichuan Publishing House,Chengdu Sichuan,610031)

Usually，governments can change the nature of the globalisation of tourism with a policy change，various promotional campaigns，new and competitive technologies，and new events(Pope and Turco，2001).Indeed，events represent an important element of the tourism industry，which is growing and maturing at a rapid speed.From origins in Europe and North America，event is now a truly global industry，witnessing huge investments across all continents.Since the 1960s there has been a progressively increasing investment in the whole infrastructure supporting events，an investment which accelerated into a rapid growth during the 1990s，not only in Europe，Australasia and North America that major investments were being made，but also large -scale infrastructure projects have been undertaken throughout much areas of Asia，Pacific rim，East European counties and the African countries（Roger，2008）.After the huge investments，followed by the boom of the new destinations，especially with the rise of BRIC (Brazil，Russia，India and China)nations，which account today for about 40% of the world’s population and 40% of the world’s annual gross domestic product(GDP) (EIBTM，2010)，are set to become the global growth locomotive.China，as an emerging destination of event，is becoming progressively involved in the global tourism，and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games established a landmark of Chinese global tourism industry.

Since the first Olympic Games was held in 776 BCE，almost all the host countries were western countries or the developed countries，China as a developing country did many efforts to win the bid for 13 years.According to Wallerstein’s World-Systems Theory，this theory emphasis on development and unequal opportunities across nations，and the elements within the system are variables.Wallerstein calls a world-system“the modern nation state exists within a broad economic，political，and legal framework”.Among these institutions exist relationships of the“core”and“periphery”(Martínez-Vela，2001)，including four different categories：core，semi-periphery，periphery，and external.Skocpol indicate that，the core-periphery relationship is structural，semi-peripheral states acts as a buffer zone between core and periphery，and has a mix of the kinds of activities and institutions that exist on them (Martínez-Vela，2001).According to the World-Systems Theory，advanced or developed countries are the core，and the less developed are in the periphery，and China takes an obvious state in semi-periphery class，since China was opened to the world by taken the“open door”policy in 1987，in resent 20 years，China is doing the effort to improve the overall strength under the globalisation process，and broke away from the unequal world system rules.The successful to win the bid of Beijing Olympic Games is a meaningful action for China to show the new image of international status and the ability to host an international mega event，and which is benefit to the position and extension of Chinese tourism in the world.

With the growing international interconnectedness of societies，economies and cultures，alongside considerations of the extent to which a dominant global culture is emerging (Weed.2008).In the view of World Culture Theory，globalization is“the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole”(Robertson，1992).Specifically，it means that holding Olympic Games far away would influence the worlds’ people more directly and fast than ever before.Oppositely，every individual once makes decisions，the consequences often are global.Also the sociologist Roland Robertson encompasses the homogeneity versus the heterogeneity dispute (Robertson，1995)，and the significance of the local as an essential ingredient of the overall globalization process(Robertson，1997).China often recognizes localization should be combined with the globalization.On one hand，Chinese should keep the cream of the traditional culture and spread to the world;on the other hand，Chinese culture should be more involved in the world culture.Olympic Games are always being regarded as an a positive way in relation to globalization process，and branding the identity to the world，therefore，China intends to diffuse the cultural charm to the world through the window of Olympic Games，and add the competitive strength with other countries in tourism .

Moreover，there are many factors of globalisation drive Beijing to win the bid successfully.Firstly，global economy is one of the most important factors that make Beijing win the favor of IOC (International Olympic Committee).From the past 20 years，with the high degree of commercialization and international in sports industry，the economy is becoming a dominant direction of the movement of Olympic Games.Beijing，a burgeoning cosmopolitan city，the political，economic and cultural centre of China which is becoming a new hub of international trade and finance，and is one of today's hottest investment focuses of world-renown.From Beijing to the other area of China，the potential market value is optimistic.A number of international sponsors of IOC such as Coca-Cola，McDonald's are bullish on China.China is growing into the preferred destination competed with other more well-known Asian destinations;meanwhile，the Beijing Olympic Games would bring enormous business opportunities for the world.

Secondly，Chinese culture is an attractive element for the visitors from all over the world.China is one of the world’s oldest and most complex cultures and is becoming a compelling destination for event and tourism (CIBTM，2010).“Cultural and heritage attractions are expanding in popularity，and there is more interest in authentic experiences，as opposed to traditional resort holidays”(Getz，2005) .And sports event can be considered as a cultural product，According to the China Tourism Statistical Yearbook 2009，49.5% of foreign visitors come to China for the purpose of cultural travel during the year of 2007-2008(Shao，et al.2009).In the globe wide cultural world，the understanding and interaction between different counties and culture are increasing under the flow of globalisation.Although globalisation does not form a universal culture that everyone with the same belief and sense of worth，it does provide a stagy for diversity culture to show and compete.The Beijing Olympic Bid Committee claimed 94.9 per cent public support in Beijing(Tang，2001)，it indicated the willing of Chinese people to show elegant demeanor and communicate with the world.

Thirdly，Beijing Olympics was strongly supported by the Chinese government with sufficient financial support and other guarantees.Beijing spent at least $40 billion on venues and related infrastructure (Simpkins，2008)，which attract many international company and multinational corporation to get involved in the construction process.

It is well-known that，Olympic Games as a global mega event in the human history，which plays a very significant role in the process of globalisation in event and tourism industry.Form much experience，it seems that Olympic Games can help a country to add the depth and dimension to the states’ international image and increase long-term economic and social benefits in global stage.

For instance，due to 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games，Barcelona has been highly successfully in harnessing the impetus and legacy of the Games：in 1997，the number of holiday visitors (42.3%) was more than business travelers for the first time，and in 2001，the city was ranked as the Europe’s sixth most attractive (Brunet，2002).And Australia is one of the most successful countries in Olympic Games and tourism development，“the Olympic Games made an additional 1.6 million visitors spending US$3.5 billion，accelerated development of Brand Australia by 10 years，and generated 11% increase in visitor arrivals in 2000”(ATC，2001).Also，the Salt Lake City winter Olympics attracted close to 700，000 visitors and created a $56 million surplus in only 17 days.And the city’s convention market was driven by the Olympics，Salt Lake is hosting more conventions and larger conventions，with several enjoying recordbreaking attendances.(Hotel news resource，2001)

However，Beijing，the last city to host the Olympics，experienced a major disruption to their normal tourism market and none revealed any conspicuous tourism growth in 2008.China National Tourism Administration statistics showed“international visitor arrivals plummeted by 30% in the month before the games，compared with the previous year.In the months after the games，the tourism slump continued with international arrivals down by more than 20%”(BBC，2009).

Why this happened? Except the“crowding-out effect”in tourism flow and the disaster of Sichuan earthquake in May，there are some global factors leading to the unanticipated result.

Tourism is vulnerable from external environment such as natural disasters and man-made crises.The 2008 global financial crisis has adversely affected global tourism，moreover，the global financial meltdown affects the livelihoods of almost everyone and every industry in an increasingly inter-connected world.“In fact，2008 was a dismal year for Asia Pacific tourism，with Beijing bearing the brunt of the hurt.While travel was down to mainland China by 2%，Beijing averaged out at an 18%loss over 2007”(Terracurve，2009).

There were other factors from clash between East and West.The Tibet riots in early 2008 sparked anti-Chinese sentiment around the world (Johnson，2008).And Human-rights groups have tried to disturb the games with the voice like“the crackdown on human rights defenders，journalists and lawyers has intensified because Beijing is hosting the Olympics”(ASA，2008).In addition，Western media were raising questions about Beijing's air quality.

However，after 2008，China’s tourism industry was set to receive a boost in the wake of Beijing Olympics Games.In 2008，a worldwide survey released by media and information group Nielsen：about 51% of 26，000 people polled in 26 countries and regions said after seeing the opening ceremony of the Games they now intend to travel to China at some point，and those who had no interest in visiting China dropped from onethird to one-quarter over the course of the Games (Xin，2008) .These fingers indicated China has successfully built the positive image with the international audience.

According to the Report on China Tourism Industry 2010-2015，in the next 10 years，the annual growth rate will maintain at 10.4% in the whole China tourism，personal tourism consumption will grow averagely at 9.8% annual，the growth rate of enterprises and government will be to 10.9%，and China will grow to be the first inbound country and the fourth outbound country to 2020 (OCN，2010).

In the future，the globalisation process will continue to influence the industry of event and tourism.And the global society opens an entirely new worldwide market for event and tourism.The shrinking globe enables people，organizations and companies to participate more freely across the bounder of area，economy and culture;however，there also would be more challenges to face when the new phenomenon occurs in various aspects of globalisation.Many developing countries like China would do more efforts to win the success in the intricate event and tourism industry.

［1］ATC (2001).Australian Tourist Commission Olympic Games Tourism Strategy [OL].Last accessed 22 March 2011 at：http：//fulltext.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2001/atc/olympicreview.pdf.

［2］ASA (2008).People’s Republic of China the Olympics countdown–broken promises [OL].Last accessed 22 March 2011 at：http：//www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA17/089/2008/en/8249b304 -5724 -11dd-90eb-ff4596860802/asa170892008eng.pdf.