The evolving path of community participation in tourism in China

Abstract

While there has been a plethora of research on community participation in tourism, most has relied upon a single survey or other form of data acquisition that lacks a dynamic component. Therefore, there is a need for longitudinal research to examine any changes in that participation. This article explores the evolution of participation in tourism in two communities, Nanshan and Tangfeng, in Hainan, China. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 villagers, and secondary data were collected to supplement the qualitative research. It postulates four stages of community involvement in sharing benefits and decision making: impactee, beneficiary, client, and owner. It is found that, in the cases under consideration, the evolution of participation has been slow, and the benefits to the communities from tourism and access to decision-making power are limited, with the power structure involved with tourism resorts being the main reason for this slow progress. Three suggestions are proposed to address this situation: capacity building, partnership, and institutional empowerment.

Keywords:

• Community participation
• developing countries
• development stage
• benefits
• decision-making

Note

Acknowledgments

This research is supported by National Science Foundation of China in full, Grant Reference (41601611).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 A village committee is a residents’ organization that manages village affairs, and is not a government institution. However, it is the lowest level administrative unit in rural areas in China. The village committee is the organizational unit of the administrative village, and generally, an “administrative village” manages several villages composed of village groups.