Published on : Tuesday, March 27, 2018
CNTA or the China National Tourism Administration a week before was formally suspended and absorbed into a larger state body named the Ministry of Tourism and Culture or MTC. Officially, the focus is “coordinating the development of cultural and tourism industries, enhancing the country’s soft power and cultural influence, and promoting cultural exchanges internationally.”
This strategy was not entirely unanticipated, and few analysts had forecasted that the CNTA would be dissolved anytime soon. The declaration nevertheless highlights the role of tourism in the larger foreign policy objectives of China. The new Ministry of Tourism and Culture was created via joining of the Ministry of Culture (MOC) and the CNTA.
As apparently a ministry aimed on the domestic sphere, the MOC at the same time served as means of endorsing “Chinese culture” in foreign countries and promoting Chinese soft power, side by side with editing and policing the production and distribution of artistic works at home. In this sense, the joint partnership of the CNTA and the MOC is quite a logical move that strengthens the role of tourism and “culture” as a way to attain Chinese state political and social influence at home and across the globe. The new MTC stands for the development of tourism to “ministerial” status, giving tourism the same importance as managing and controlling China’s cultural discourse.
Tags: china national tourism administration