Red Tourism: With the completion of one hundred years of the Chinese Communist Party, China is witnessing an unprecedented raise in Red Tourism, in which all the locations of historical and cultural significance to the party are visited, according to a report in IE. Among the locations that are visited as portion of the tour are Zhejiang’s Nanhu Lake exactly where the party held its First National Congress back in 1921 on a boat, and Shaoshan, which was the birthplace of Mao. These locations have been witnessing a considerable rise in vacationers, so a great deal so that Red Tourism has been playing a essential function in providing a enhance to the economy of China amid the pandemic.
‘Red Tourism’ in China was launched in 2004 and it refers to going to internet sites that are connected to modern day revolutions, aiming to market areas that are linked to the history and culture of the ruling party. Moreover, Red Tourism, like all other types of tourism, also boosts regional firms. As per the nation, the aim of this variety of tourism is to make men and women conscious about the origins of the ruling party and its history. The report added that now, the internet sites visited as portion of this tour have turn into the core of the developing tourism sector in the nation. By attempting to remind men and women of the sacrifices that leaders of the ruling party made, party aims to instil the party ideology in the minds of the citizens.
As a portion of the tour, some renowned internet sites that are covered contain Yan’an, which was the revolutionary base location of Mao Zedong and the place exactly where the Red Army had arrived right after obtaining completed the Long March. Birthplace of Mao is also a location in the tour, and so is Jinggangshan exactly where the party had in 1927 set up their initial rural base. Sites of early battles and the escape of Mao are also incorporated in the tourism.
The report stated that the list of locations incorporated in the tour is a extended one, considering the fact that just Yan’an homes a whopping 140 red internet sites.
These tourism internet sites are piquing the interest of the youth of the nation who are keen to study more about the nation’s history. Apart from that, technologies like AI and virtual reality getting incorporated into this tourism has also helped in gaining the consideration of the youth. Among the vacationers at red internet sites, 40% are in between the ages of 21 and 30 years, the report added.
China has also invested heavily in this type of tourism more than the years. Between 2016 and 2020, the budgeted commit on Red Tourism was about $370 million. Such major spends are also yielding outcomes, as in 2018, of the domestic tourism spending by men and women, red internet sites accounted for 10%, and in 2019, 1.4 billion vacationers visited red internet sites. There has been exponential development in this location.
However, this type of tourism is also getting criticised as critics say that it aims to paint a one-sided image about the country’s history amongst men and women. They added that it can ignore the failures as effectively as misdeeds of the Communist leaders in China, telling men and women a history that would be in the favour of the party.