In Fenghuang County, China, The Economic And Socio-Cultural Impacts Of Tourism Development

Abstract

"The Chinese government has long acknowledged that tourism has the ability to greatly benefit the rural sections of the nation. 

In an effort to enhance the local economy, private developers and local governments collaborate to preserve and enhance the area's cultural and natural landmarks. Development "rights" and control are sold by the state to private enterprises. The local government and the Yellow Dragon Cave Corporation (YDCC) are collaborating to increase tourism in Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, and this paper examines one such programme there. Among the many attractions of Fenghuang County are the recently discovered and extensively restored Ming Dynasty Southern China Great Wall, the nice weather, the picturesque scenery, the vibrant minority cultures, and the Great Wall of southern China. Among the 29 minority groups that will feel the effects of this initiative are 374,000 people, or around 74% of the local population. Increased economic development and "profitable returns for developers" are the outcomes, according to some researchers, of public-private partnerships. By adopting a power and scale perspective, this research identifies the first cultural, social, and economic effects of this paradigm of capital-intensive expansion on local communities.

We learn who has decision-making authority, where the money is going, and how the “tourism” sector is doing by combining economic and demographic statistics with in-depth interviews with residents, government officials, and company executives.