Tourism development and the disempowerment of host residents: types and formative mechanisms

¹Originally published as: Disempowerment and its formation mechanism of tourism development on host residents in rural mountainous areas: A case study in Tiantangzhai tourist area, Anhui Province, China, by HAN Guosheng, WU Peilin, HUANG Yuehwen, and YANG Zhao, Geographical Research 32(10, October), 2013, pp. 1948–1963.

Abstract

In-depth interviews, text analysis of official documents, and a representative case study are explored to investigate the disempowerment of residents in Tiantangzhai, an emerging yet isolated alpine tourism area in Anhui Province, China. Qualitative research was conducted within the specific political and economic context of China and concludes that (1) residents suffered disempowerment in five areas, including access to productive living space, access to natural resources, access to information, travel benefits, and travel participation; and (2) the mechanisms of disempowerment included government development strategy and system design, elite community relationship networks, individual socio-economic conditions, and social support measures. The research implications suggest that smooth and successful tourism development depends on improving the performance assessment of officials, consolidating administrative supervision, the timely dissemination of information relevant to tourism development, and enhancing opportunities for local residents to participate in tourism development.

Keywords:

• community-based tourism
• community development
• tourism empowerment
• tourism development
• tourism disempowerment
• China

Acknowledgements

Many thanks go to the reviewers of this paper for the precious suggestions, which helped massively to enhance the quality of this paper; I am very grateful to Tiantangzhai Township government and various village committees for their wholehearted assistance when I was conducting research and investigations there.

Notes

¹ Originally published as: Disempowerment and its formation mechanism of tourism development on host residents in rural mountainous areas: A case study in Tiantangzhai tourist area, Anhui Province, China, by HAN Guosheng, WU Peilin, HUANG Yuehwen, and YANG Zhao, Geographical Research 32(10, October), 2013, pp. 1948–1963.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Guosheng Han

Han Guosheng is an associate professor at the Department of Tourism Management in the School of Business of Shandong University at Weihai. His research focuses on community tourism development.

Peilin Wu

Wu Peilin is a professor and associate dean in the School of Business of Shandong University at Weihai. His research focuses on industry development and planning.

Yuehwen Huang

Huang Yuehwen is a professor at the Department of Tourism Management in School of Management, Shih Hsin University at Taipei, Taiwan. His research focuses on ecotourism and national park development.

Zhao Yang

Yang Zhao is an associate professor at the Department of Tourism Management in College of Territorial Resource and Tourism, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, China. His research focuses on tourism migration.