ABSTRACT
Academic planners refer to professors and researchers in universities and relevant research institutes who take part in the practice of tourism planning. Compared with developed countries, academic planners in China play a bigger role in the promotion of the development of the tourism industry, tourism research and tourism education. For example, the first regional tourism plan was initiated by a group of academic geographers when they were engaged in the national land survey and use planning in the 1980s (Fan and Hu, 2003). According to the National Tourism Bureau in 1998, among all the first registered tourism organizations, 69 percent were from universities, 21 percent from social research institutes and 10 percent from science research institutes. These academics are also the main force in the theoretical development of tourism research in China, and at the same time educators of tourism students.
