Sustainability and Tourism: the Case of China

Master’s Degree in Languages, Economics and Institutions of Asia and North Africa Final Thesis Sustainability and Tourism: the case of China Supervisor Ch. Prof. Daniele Brombal Graduand Paola Colombo Matricolation number 871781 Academic Year 2018 / 2019 2 引言本文旨在讨论可持续发展观念对中国发展的意义及其在中国的实施情况。可持续发展的概念最早出现于 30 多年前，但是它的具体涵义至今仍在讨论中。研究者从不同的角度出发，对可持续发展的定义也就不同。一般来说，可持续发展的概念涉及自然、社会、经济、科技等多个方面。可持续发展倡导将自然资源公平和合理地运用在各种开发领域中，使社会、经济、文化、科技都能取得平衡、健康的长期发展。它反对为追求发展而过度开发自然资源、破坏生态多样化、污染环境等手段，要求保护和加强环境系统的生产和更新能力，采取更清洁、高效的发展技术，既能增加当代人的福利，又不会减少后代的福利。根据世界旅游组织预测，到 2020 年中国将会成为世界上最大的旅游目的地国家，接待游客超过 1 亿名。对于中国经济而言，旅游业占据的地位越来越重要。旅游业不但产生了可观的经济效益，而且对环境的影响绝对不小。景点开发、基础设施建设、旅游管理服务等方面仍会对自然环境产生一定的负面影响。根据中国的自然环境综合情况、经济发展的需求来看，旅游业必须走可持续发展的道路。有效保护自然资源与环境，是实现旅游业可持续发展的基础。不能只顾发展而忽略了对自然环境的保护，要努力实现生态效益和经济效益的双赢。旅游业和自然环境之间存在紧密的联系，因为旅游业的发展很大程度上依靠当地自然环境的吸引力。即使一个地区拥有得天独厚的自然旅游资源，也仍然需要当地政府部门用正确、环保的方式来开发和保护环境，才能达到吸引游客的目的。否则，当游客看到原本优美的风景被污染破坏，会对该地区的旅游业十分失望，严重影响了当地旅游业的发展前景与口碑。 3 一个地区的旅游业发展必需考虑两个重要的方面，即环境承载力与经济效益。第一，环境的承载能力是有限度的，如果有关部门管理不善，旅游业会对生态环境造成较严重的破坏。发展旅游业需要对外宣传，扩大知名度，必定会吸引来大量的游客。一旦游客的数量超过该地区的承载能力，随之而来的破坏便不可避免。其中，水资源、空气资源和土壤资源首当其冲。景区里的人群和商店会产生大量生活垃圾，渗入到附近的水源与土壤中，造成难以清除的破坏。过多的旅游业车辆也会排出超额的废气，污染空气。所以，环境的承载力必须成为旅游业发展的一个重要考虑因素。第二，要考虑旅游业为当地社会带来的经济效益。旅游业能推动落后地区的经济发展，但同时也需要大量的投资。如果一个经济落后的地区拥有丰富的旅游资源，而缺少足够的资金投入到旅游业中，那就很可能吸引外地资本加入，共同开发当地旅游资源。因为开发旅游业会占用本地社会的资源，因此可持续发展的原则要求本地社会也能收获公平的效益，而不能让绝大部分旅游业的收益都流入外地投资者的口袋中。总的来说，遵循可持续发展的原则对旅游业而言非常重要。不仅因为可持续发展体现了人类对保护生态环境的责任感，还因为可持续发展与旅游产业的经济效益紧密相关，它能实现真正长久的持续收益，一边发展经济，一边保护环境，形成健康良好的循环。论文一共分为三章。第一章主要介绍了可持续发展的概念，以及围绕它意义和解释的争论。这一章分别从经济、社会、文化、环境的角度探讨可持续发展的涵义。其中，论文还讨论“弱”和“强” 可持续发展这两种概念。在第一章的最后一部，论文还通过解释环境的承载力和场所感，进一步讨论旅游业的可持续性。 4 第二章的重点是中国的旅游业发展情况，分别从正面与负面的角度探讨了旅游业对中国社会、经济、文化和环境的影响。本章从两种不同的旅游现象出发，即讨论自然风景旅游地与文化遗产旅游地的区别和各自的问题。第三章讨论了中国如何开发自然旅游资源，重点分析了中国的环境保护区与国家公园。本章将以张家界国家森林公园为例，研究中国对旅游业的管理和保护自然环境的情况。张家界国家森林公园成立于 1982 年，位于湖南省西北部张家界市境内，至今已经经历了 30 多年的发展。作为中国第一个国家森林公园，它具有典型性和代表性，可以从中窥探中国旅游业几十年来的演变轨迹。由于张家界自然景观丰富独特，吸引了大批游客，近年来当地旅游业发展十分迅速，带来了可观的经济收益。但是，在快速开发旅游资源的同时，景区内部也产生了较严重的污染问题，一定程度上破坏了当地的生态环境。在这种情况下，遵循可持续发展的原则就显得格外重要，要做到在保护自然旅游资源的前提下，合理开发文化旅游资源，维护好张家界国家森林公园的旅游口碑，努力实现人与自然和谐相处。总而言之，论文以中国的张家界国家森林公园为例，探讨大众旅游对社会、环境等方面产生的影响，并阐述可持续发展原则对中国旅游业的重要意义。中国虽然拥有丰富的旅游资源，但是旅游业的发展仍存在许多问题，需要格外重视合理、长效的发展途径，增强保护环境与可持续发展的意识。 5 6 Table of contents 引言……………………………………………………………………………………p. 3 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..p. 9 1. The concept of sustainability………………………………………………….....p. 13 1.1. The debate on sustainability………………………………………………......p. 13 1.1.1. Indicators of sustainability ………………………………………........p. 17 1.1.2. The four “dimensions” of sustainability…………………………….....p. 22 1.2. Strong and weak sustainability……………………………………………......p. 27 1.3. Sustainability applied to tourism……………………………………………...p. 32 1.3.1. Sustainable tourism……………………………………………………p. 33 1.3.2. The increasing impacts of tourism…………………………………….p. 35 1.3.3. Carrying capacity……………………………………………………...p. 38 1.3.4. The “sense of place”…………………………………………………..p. 43 2. Tourism in China…………………………………………………………………p. 47 2.1. Evolution of Chinese tourism…………………………………………………p. 47 2.1.1. Pre-Maoism……………………………………………………………p. 49 2.1.2. Maoist period………………………………………………………….p. 51 2.1.3. From Deng to the current situation……………………………………p. 55 2.1.4. Today………………………………………………………………….p. 59 2.2. Impacts of Chinese tourism…………………………………………………...p. 62 2.2.1. Economic……………………………………………………………...p. 63 2.2.2. Social………………………………………………………………….p. 65 2.2.3. Cultural………………………………………………………………..p. 67 2.2.4. Environmental………………………………………………………...p. 69 2.3. Natural and cultural tourism………………………………………………….p. 73 3. Natural tourism………………………………………………………………….p. 78 3.1. Chinese national parks and protected areas………………………………….p. 78 3.2. The park of Zhangjiajie……………………………………………………....p. 84 3.2.1. Foundation and evolution…………………………………………….p. 85 3.2.2. Environmental exploitation…………………………………………..p. 90 3.2.3. Tourism impacts: conservation and management issues……………..p. 100 3.2.4. Role of local communities and co-management practices…………...p. 103 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………..p. 107 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………p. 109 Sitography……………………………………………………………………..……..p. 115 7 8 Introduction Sustainability has emerged since the 1980s as a sensible approach to nature, society and the economy. The development achieved through industry and other human activities has had to come to terms with the necessity of a rationally planned growth and exploitation of the limited resources available. Therefore, sustainable measures have started to appear in all fields of development, advocating for an environmentally-friendly and socially equitable growth. The debate on sustainability has been riddled with conceptual issues, resulting in heterogenous operationalisations. Two major approaches epitomize this heterogeneity: weak and strong sustainability, based on different conceptions about the finitude and usability of natural resources, as well as about the value which should be recognized to nature (i.e., intrinsic in the case of strong sustainability, and instrumental in the case of weak sustainability).1 With 8,8 trillion dollars generated globally in 2018 (China being the top spender), an employment rate equal to 10% of Earth’s population, and a 10,4% contribution to global economy, tourism is now becoming one of the largest economic sectors in the world. Its economic consequences are evident. Its environmental and social impacts, however, may not be as manifestly visible as in other industries, as they are multifaceted and multi-scalar, being expressed through different activities (such as transportation, accommodation and related services), whose effects differ in size and content.2 Ever since the negative impacts of tourism have begun being recognised, the tourism industry has started being flanked by sustainable practices as well. Tourism and territory share a close relationship, as tourism needs a clean and healthy environment to be functional and attract visitors, while on its part the environment can potentially sustain damages due to that same touristic exploitation. Contextually, tourism may also inspire preservation practices and environmental behaviours, specifically because of its dependence on the territory. This sometimes-conflictual way tourism activities and ecological resources interact make it clear that tourism needs a well-thought planning. Tourism is now a global phenomenon and an economic activity that can hardly be stopped or contained with traditional measures. Therefore, sustainability in the touristic sector asks 1 KUHLMAN, Tom, FARRINGTON, John, What is Sustainability?, Sustainability, 2010, pp. 3436-3448. 2 WORLD TRAVEL AND TOURISM COUNCIL, Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2019, WTTC, London, 2019. 9 for a balanced development that so much as possible prevents negative effects on those same resources that constitute the premise of its development and maintenance.3 Against this background, this work seeks to explain the relationship between tourism and sustainability. Its core objective is to understand whether it is possible for tourism to become a vessel of sustainability and influence practices on the environment and the society. To do so, natural tourism is taken as a case study. This is a choice made in order to more closely analyse the pressures of tourism and the environmental response in the sustainability framework. Moreover, natural tourism has been known as a locus for experimentation of innovative tourism models, based on a more balanced relationship between tourists, places, and local communities, both human and more-than-human.4 The work is structured as follows. In the first chapter, the concept of sustainability and the debate regarding its interpretation are introduced. Sustainability is then explained through its multidimensional nature binding environmental, social, cultural and economic aspects. Weak and strong sustainability visions are also presented as possible interpretative paradigms on the theme of natural resources exploitation and more in general about human- nature relations. In the second part of the chapter, sustainability implications of tourism are discussed, framing them through the complementary concepts of carrying capacity and sense of place implications. The second chapter focuses on the case of China as a touristic country, by first giving a panoramic view on the historic development of this industry in China, highlighting the political and cultural consequences that resulted. The discourse then moves to the identification of tourism impacts in the country, specifically its effects on economy, society, culture and environment. A distinction is also made between the two principal types of tourism, namely natural and cultural tourism, which are distinct declinations of a single phenomenon. Finally, the third chapter deals with natural tourism in China, in the specific case of Zhangjiajie National Park. An introduction is made on the development of nature-based tourism and nature reserves in China, and the Zhangjiajie National Park is then considered from its temporal development, environmental exploitation, community involvement and economic consequences. One of the oldest protected natural areas in China, the Park has 3 ZOLFANI, Sarfaraz Hashemkhani, SEDAGHAT, Maedeh, MAKNOON, Reza & ZAVADSKAS, Edmundas Kazimieras, Sustainable tourism: a comprehensive literature review on frameworks and applications, Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 2015, pp. 1-30. 4 FREDMAN, Peter, TYRVÄINEN Liisa, Frontiers in Nature-Based Tourism, Scandinavian Journal

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