Heritage conservation and communities’ sense of deprivation in tourism: the case of the Hani community in Yunnan, China

Abstract

Communities play a critical role in the development and maintenance of sustainable heritage tourism. However, conflicts often arise when these communities are ignored or marginalized in the heritage tourism development process. This paper examines whether the community located within the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, a World Heritage Site in China, views the designation and subsequent tourism development as beneficial or not. The findings show that there are significant differences in opinion between the local Hani people and non-Local Hani and outsiders who live in the heritage area. The local Hani feel a greater sense of deprivation due to de-empowerment and economic inequalities as compared with non-Local Hani and outsiders. This deprivation has reduced their motivation to conserve their own heritage, while the non-local Hani feel a greater sense of gain and a newfound appreciation for their personal and collective heritage identity. Frequent interactions between the two groups have led to local Hani people resisting the heritage preservation responsibilities enforced upon them.

摘要

社区对于遗产旅游的可持续发展十分重要。然而在遗产旅游发展实践中, 常因忽视或边缘化社区而引发冲突。本研究以中国红河哈尼梯田世界遗产地为例, 探索哈尼社区如何看待世界遗产命名与旅游发展带给他们的利益, 这些看法又怎样影响其遗产保护。研究发现, 在地（居住在遗产区）哈尼人与非在地（居住在遗产区外）哈尼人对此看法有显著不同。其中, 在地哈尼人因经济收益低于外来旅游经营商, 以及相比过去家园感的缺失而有明显的剥夺感, 这极大降低了他们保护遗产的积极性。然而非在地哈尼人却有强烈的获得感, 因为参与遗产保护和旅游发展的过程实现并强化了其个体及集体文化身份认同, 这进一步增强了他们对遗产的保护责任。在地与非在地哈尼人两个群体的互动, 强化了非在地哈尼人的遗产责任, 却让在地哈尼人对加于其身的遗产责任产生了更多的抵制。

Keywords:

• Heritage conservation
• sustainable tourism
• relative deprivation
• community
• community development
• identity

关键词:

• 遗产保护；可持续旅游；相对剥夺；社区；社区发展；认同

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the all those who assisted in the research during our survey and writing process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ce Qu

Ce Qu, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Joint Institute of Ningbo University and University of Angers at Ningbo University. (Ningbo, China. Email: [email protected]). Her research interests include heritage tourism and sustainability.

Chaozhi Zhang

Chaozhi Zhang, PhD, is a Professor in School of Tourism Management at Sun Yet-sen University. (Guangzhou, China. Email: [email protected]). His research interests include heritage tourism and tourism destination’s management.

Shiwei Shen

Shiwei Shen, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Joint Institute of Ningbo University and University of Angers at Ningbo University. (Ningbo, China. Email: [email protected]). His research interests include heritage tourism and coastal tourism.

Daniel H. Olsen

Daniel H. Olsen, PhD, is a Professor in Department of Geography at Brigham Young University. (Provo, USA. Email: [email protected]). His research interests include heritage, religion, and tourism.