Carrying capacity and its implications in a Chinese ancient village: The case of Hongcun

Guiling ZHAO , Zongji DENG , Jun SHEN , Chris RYAN , Jinhua GONG

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Hongcun, an ancient village in Anhui in China, is an UNESCO-gazetted village because of its Huizhou architecture. It attracts over 1.6 million visitors per annum. Based upon a simple spatial model, the results of this study indicate that its social carrying capacity is being vastly exceeded, and the consequences are discussed in terms of the impacts on village life using data derived from a survey of residents. In terms of addressing the issues of crowding, it is suggested that a number of future choices face the village, ranging from the imposition of quotas on visitation to sustain and protect its UNESCO status by significantly reducing overcrowding, or alternatively, to embrace mass tourism to become akin to a theme park that is based on Huizhou culture. Copyright © 2018 Asia Pacific Tourism Association.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)260-280
JournalAsia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research
Volume23
Issue number3
Early online dateJan 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Citation

Zhao, G., Deng, Z., Shen, J., Ryan, C., & Gong, J. (2018). Carrying capacity and its implications in a Chinese ancient village: The case of Hongcun. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 23(3), 260-280. doi: 10.1080/10941665.2017.1421566

Keywords

  • Tourism
  • China
  • Heritage
  • Tourism capacity
  • Local residents
  • Sustainable development

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