Minorities, tourism and ethnic theme parks: employees' perspectives from Yunnan, China

Abstract

Ethnic tourism has been promoted and widely adopted as a strategy for economic development and cultural preservation. Employing surveys, interviews, observations and secondary sources, this study explores tourism employees' perceptions of tourism, park and cultural representation using a case study at an ethnic theme park in Yunnan, China. The employees generally have favorable perceptions of tourism. Many expressed positive views of the site and indicated that the folk villages in the park are authentic and reflect essential elements of minority culture. However, some employees perceived negative aspects of tourism, including cultural commercialization, acculturation, misrepresentation, inappropriate visitor behavior, heavy workload and low pay. The park is operated by Han entrepreneurs, while the minority workers who are paid low wages are mainly involved in providing entertainment for tourists. Tourism developers and operators should consider the perceptions and attitudes of minorities when creating ethnic attractions if the development is to be successful in the long term.

Keywords:

• minorities
• tourism
• ethnic theme parks
• employees
• Yunnan
• China

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Drs. Geoffrey Wall, Stephen L.J. Smith, Kenneth E. Foote as well as the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. This research was funded by the Milton & Ruth Scherer Endowment Fund (Department of Geography, Western Michigan University).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Li Yang

Li Yang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Western Michigan University, 3519 Wood Hall, 1903 W. Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5424, USA