Zhong Linsheng

Tibetan Attitudes Towards Community Participation and Ecotourism

Abstract: Some Tibetan villages in Shenzha county, Tibet were chosen as typical Tibetan communities in China. Attitudes and perceptions towards Tibetan community participation in ecotourism were analyzed using face to face interviews. Most residents supported the development of ecotourism. They are willing to engage in ecotourism projects and accept ecotourism education and training, and expect that the government provides opportunities for them to participate in making ecotourism decisions. Most residents believed that ecotourism promotes local economies and social development, and enhances the ability and quality of local residents while improving their environmental consciousness. However, some residents were concerned that ecotourism may destroy local natural environments and Tibetan folk customs and culture. The level of community participation in ecotourism development is only in its infancy in Shenzha, but there is strong potential. The chief participatory approaches of ecotourism development for most residents were providing labor and catering services and commodities for tourism, and Tibetan performance singing and dancing. Limiting factors include language, a shortage of knowledge and skills, and poor ecotourism infrastructure. Most residents had little confidence that the government was willing to support them to participate in ecotourism. We put forward some mechanisms to enhance the level of community participation in ecotourism in this important region.

Ecotourism Development in China: Achievements, Problems and Strategies

Abstract: Since the 1990s, ecotourism has developed rapidly and been an important and distinctive part of the tourism industry in China. Based on an analysis of the current development status and problems of Chinese ecotourism, this paper puts forward the development goals and strategies for ecotourism in the future. In addition, it tries to provide some suggestions for Chinese ecotourism development. It is proposed that the main path for making China a competitive country for ecotourism is to form a comprehensive system including public services, resources conservation, environmental education, policies and regulations, eco-certification, marketing promotion, community participation, technology and talent by constructing ecotourism cooperation areas, destinations, ecotour routes and ecological scenic roads.

Spatiotemporal changes in recreation potential of ecosystem services in Sanjiangyuan, China

ABSTRACT Based on the theory of recreational experience and landscape character classification systems, we propose that recreation potential includes aesthetic service potential and suitable environment provision potential. These two potentials are determined by landscape features including topography, land cover, vegetation and climate. Taking Sanjiangyuan as an example, we analyse spatiotemporal changes in both potentials from 1978 to 2012. In Sanjiangyuan, aesthetic quality has deteriorated, but the recreational environment has become more suitable owing to climate change. These changes may decrease ecotourism and increase mass tourism, which would further increase pressure on the environment.

Impact of Tourist Environmental Awareness on Environmental Friendly Behaviors: A Case Study from Qinghai Lake, China

Abstract: This paper examines the influence environmental awareness and recreation experience has on the environmentally-friendly behavior of tourists, and identifies the function of perceived quality as an intermediary variable. By providing a conceptual framework based on the combination of environmental awareness theory and tourist perception theory, and a SEM-based methodology, an in-depth analysis of the influence mechanism was carried out in the Qinghai Lake area of Qinghai province. Results show that there exist differences in the ways environmental awareness influences perceived gains and perceived losses, and the influence coefficient of the former is higher than that of the latter. The perceived gains may promote environmentally friendly behaviors, while the perceived losses have an adverse impact on such behaviors. Moreover, the strength of the adverse impact of the latter is less than the strength of the positive impact of the former. The mediating effect of perceived quality was confirmed in the EA (environmental awareness)-EB (environmental behavior) nexus, within which the influence of tourist environmental awareness on environmentally friendly behavior could be transformed. The mediating effect of perceived quality in the perceived-gains model was more obvious than that in the perceived-losses model. This study highlights the importance of understanding the foundations of environmental behavior related to environmental awareness and tourist perceptions.

Ecotourism Resources Assessment and Development Strategy for Guizhou Province, China

Abstract: The aim of this study is to understand ecotourism resources, taking into considering their quality and the comparative advantages of districts in order to develop effective strategy. Ecotourism is an important developmental model for those undeveloped regions that have superior landscape resources in ecologically fragile environments. This article has identified 181 ecotourism sites in Guizhou province, based on field work in the province. A quantitative assessment using 18 indicators was performed and, based on the results, these resources were divided into five levels. The paper also analyzed the comparative advantage of districts to reflect the developmental potential of different districts. Results show that ecotourism resources in Guihzhou province are numerous, varied in type and high quality; among them, six sites ranked level 5 represented the essence of Guizhou province. Moreover, there are four districts that are high superiority — Anshun, Qiannan and Qianxinan and Zunyi - one that is average and four that are low. According to our analysis, ecotourism development models for Guizhou province can be classified into four types; effective strategies were proposed for each.

Influence Factors and Development Model of Regional Ecotourism Cooperation in China

Abstract: Regional ecotourism cooperation provides an institutional guarantee that brings together ecological resources development, protection of natural ecologies and regional economic growth, and also is one of the keys to improve the level of Chinas ecotourism development. Chinas administrative regions are divided by large areas of natural geography, such as vast tracts of land, mountainous areas and bodies of water. Given the structure of Chinas administrative system, administrative areas make independent and uncoordinated decisions concerning the use of ecological resources, resulting in low-level ecotourism products and redundant construction projects undertaken by local governments, limiting the further improvement of Chinas ecotourism level. Therefore, it is necessary to construct a spatial system and a model of regional ecotourism cooperation in line with Chinas national conditions. This paper adopts an inductive deductive method analyze systematically the connotations and obstacles of Chinas regional ecotourism cooperation, and proposes space development and cooperative model. Research shows that the inescapable choice is cross-regional ecotourism cooperation based on natural zonality, cultural similarity, coordinated regional economic development and policy integration. The key existing obstacles include administrative barriers, lack of motivation to cooperate and loose cooperation patterns. Future regional ecotourism cooperation should define the thematic function area, cooperation zones, scenic roads and ecotourist routes, to establish the cross-regional integration development system and realize systematic optimization. This study is of theoretical value for the development of regional ecotourism cooperation and the construction of spatial systems in China.

Quantitative Study on the Evolution of Ecotourism Policy Development in China

Abstract: It is widely recognized that the complexity of ecotourism development requires understanding of interrelated factors that influence outcomes and achievements. For this reason, public sectors are increasingly interested in designing policies as driving forces of ecotourism development and exploring policy effectiveness. The purpose of this study is to describe evolutionary characteristics of Chinese ecotourism development and reveal the relationship between policy evolution and ecotourism development. A series of statistical analyses is conducted to explore evolvement characteristics and prospects of Chinese ecotourism policies. Ninety-one sample documents issued by the central government and its departments from 1994 to 2016 are obtained to analyze policy number and content structure, policy intensity, policy tools, and participation of department in policy making. Results show: (1) policy evolution reflects the change of objectives, contents and patterns in Chinese ecotourism development; (2) ecotourism policies stably evolved and adjusted to environmental change, and ecological conservation was core content in policies under a growing number and breadth of policies; (3) ecotourism policy tools transformed from micro-regulation to macro-control, but are not yet systematic; (4) the number of departments involved in policy design continues to increase and the value of policy intensity is rising. In the context of ecological civilization construction and implementation of Tourism Law, macro-control and micro-autonomy is the trend of future ecotourism policies; criteria system improvement may be important tools to regulate ecotourism development; cross-department coordination will act as a guarantee for designing and implementing policies; and welfare of stakeholders, behavioral regulation of tourists and business, and patterns of ecotourism development will be the subject of future policy.

Tourism Competitiveness Evaluation and Spatio-temporal Characteristics of Chinese Border Counties

Under the current government strategy of building a Silk Road economic belt, tourism in Chinese border counties has becoming increasingly popular. Studying tourism competitiveness in Chinese border counties is of sizable theoretical and practical importance, as there are several notable factors involved. In this study, we constructed a tourism competitiveness evaluation model based on eight factors: natural environment, tourism resource, location and transportation, social environment, tourism service facility, border port, tourism industrial cluster and tourism market. We then analyzed the spatial characteristics of tourism competitiveness in border counties and identified five types of border counties: resource advantage type (RA), border-port advantage type (PA), location advantage type (LA), agglomeration advantage type (AA), and relative balance type (RB), and examined the correlation between tourism market competitiveness and interior competitiveness factors in the counties from 2006 to 2011. Results showed that tourism resource, location and transportation, and tourism service facility are the most important competition factors for RA border counties during the study period. Competition factors in PA counties transferred from tourism resource, social environment and tourism service facility to border port and tourism industrial cluster; competition factors in LA counties transferred from natural environment and tourism resource to tourism service facility and tourism industrial cluster and border port. Competition factors in AA counties transferred from tourism service facility to tourism resource. Tourism industrial cluster, tourism service facility and tourism resource proved to be important competition factors in RB counties. The findings of this study can be used to target tourism strategies according to different county types.

Identifying and Mapping Wetland-Based Ecotourism Areas in the First Meander of the Yellow River: Incorporating Tourist Preferences

Abstract: We identified and mapped ecotourism areas in the First Meander of the Yellow River (FMYR) by incorporating tourist preferences, and regional division was also conducted. Considering wetland protection and local natural worship, we identified available ecotourism areas and used GIS to overlay six layers of the criteria to generate a suitability map of available areas. This process incorporated the opinions of 158 tourists to weight each criterion. Available areas were classified into five levels of suitability, with class I being the least suitable for ecotourism and class V being the most suitable. Distance from water area was found to be the most important criterion, and presence of forest to be the least important. The results show that a majority of the FMYR is class II, III or IV. FMYR was further divided into five sub-regions, and it is clear that the particular ecological characteristics and service functions of each sub-region warrant particular development. This study provides useful insights for tourism planners, local managers and visitors.