title: Tourism-Induced Livelihood Changes at Mount Sanqingshan World Heritage Site, China.
abstract: Although tourism has the potential to improve the wellbeing of residents, it may also disrupt livelihood systems, social processes, and cultural traditions. The livelihood changes at three rural villages at Mount Sanqingshan World Heritage Site, China, are assessed to determine the extent to which tourism strategies are contributing to local livelihoods. A sustainable livelihood framework is adopted to guide the analysis. The three villages exhibit different development patterns due to institutional, organizational, and location factors. New strategies involving tourism were constructed and incorporated into the traditional livelihood systems and they resulted in different outcomes for residents of different villages. Village location, including the relationship to the site tourism plan, affected the implications for rural livelihoods. High dependence on tourism as the single livelihood option can reduce sustainability. Practical implications are suggested to enhance livelihood sustainability at such rural heritage tourism sites.
authors.affiliation: School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China, 59 ZhongGuanCun Dajie, Haidian District, Beijing, 100872, China. smm52@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ming Ming
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Environmental Management, Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Geoffrey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.affiliation: School of Humanities and Economic Management, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), No. 29, Xueyuan Road, Beijing, People's Republic of China. xukj@cugb.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Kejian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D006801:Humans; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014937:Work
keywords: Community; Sustainable livelihood; Tourism; World Heritage