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Tourism-Induced Livelihood Changes at Mount Sanqingshan World Heritage Site, China

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Abstract

Although tourism has the potential to improve the wellbeing of residents, it may also disrupt livelihood systems, social processes, and cultural traditions. The livelihood changes at three rural villages at Mount Sanqingshan World Heritage Site, China, are assessed to determine the extent to which tourism strategies are contributing to local livelihoods. A sustainable livelihood framework is adopted to guide the analysis. The three villages exhibit different development patterns due to institutional, organizational, and location factors. New strategies involving tourism were constructed and incorporated into the traditional livelihood systems and they resulted in different outcomes for residents of different villages. Village location, including the relationship to the site tourism plan, affected the implications for rural livelihoods. High dependence on tourism as the single livelihood option can reduce sustainability. Practical implications are suggested to enhance livelihood sustainability at such rural heritage tourism sites.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Mount Sanqingshan Management Agency and all the interviewees for their kind help and support, which make this research possible.  The research was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and the Research Funds of Renmin University of China [16XNB014] to Dr. Ming Ming Su.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China, 59 ZhongGuanCun Dajie, Haidian District, Beijing, 100872, China

    Ming Ming Su

  2. Department of Geography and Environmental Management, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Geoffrey Wall

  3. School of Humanities and Economic Management, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), No. 29, Xueyuan Road, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Kejian Xu

Authors
  1. Ming Ming Su
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  2. Geoffrey Wall
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  3. Kejian Xu
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Correspondence to Ming Ming Su or Kejian Xu.

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Su, M.M., Wall, G. & Xu, K. Tourism-Induced Livelihood Changes at Mount Sanqingshan World Heritage Site, China. Environmental Management 57, 1024–1040 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0672-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0672-8

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