The sustainability of ecotourism stakeholders in ecologically fragile areas: Implications for cleaner production

Abstract

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The Regime of Rural Ecotourism Stakeholders in Poverty-Stricken Areas of China: Implications for Rural Revitalization

“…Tourism activity in rural areas has remarkably increased in all the developed countries and developing countries worldwide, which has played a key role in the development of rural areas that were economically and socially depressed [26,46]. Rural tourism is a multi-stakeholder process that requires the joint efforts of all stakeholders [30,32,36,47,48]. The relevant studies on rural tourism include the following aspects.…”

“…As a method tool, evolutionary game theory has been applied to many fields [ 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 ]. In recent years, evolutionary game theory has been increasingly applied in the field of rural tourism [ 79 , 80 ] or ecotourism [ 32 , 81 ], with less attention paid to the poverty-stricken areas, especially in China. Previous studies have mainly considered the relationship between government, firms or residents and firms.…”

“…Some previous studies especially emphasized the evolutionary stable strategies of local governments, tourism enterprises and residents in the development and construction of ecotourism in ecologically fragile areas [ 32 ], and ignored the rural ecotourism among the three stakeholders in the poverty-stricken areas of China. In this research, we analyze how the different strategies of the three parties affect the rural ecotourism project and implications for rural revitalization.…”

“…However, there are problems in the development of rural ecotourism, such as homogenization of projects, sloppy management, difficulties in financing, shortage of talent and serious environmental pollution [29]. Due to the asymmetrical distribution of rural ecotourism resources, uneven economic development between urban and rural areas, towns and villages, villagers and local governments often develop "rural ecotourism" under the banner of ecological conservation to pursue their own interests and performance, while secretly trampling on the natural ecological environment of the countryside [30][31][32].There is no balance between pre-conservation development and post-conservation development, which may lead to further deterioration of the rural ecological environment [33][34][35]. In the process of developing and building rural ecotourism, tourism enterprises will adjust their strategies according to local government policies, but may sacrifice rural ecological environment and engage in false promotion of rural ecotourism in order to maximize short-term benefits [36][37][38].…”

“…In our study, we plan an ecotourism system and analyse the relationship of the tourism enterprises, local residents and government by using an evolutionary game theory. Based on the theoretical analysis, an evolution game model for the three stakeholders is developed and the evolution process of strategies is described by replicator dynamic equations [ 32 , 44 ]. Then, we use simulation method and case study to analyze the stability of interactions among the stakeholders and determine an equilibrium solution in the finite rationality case.…”