Abstract
Many rural areas in Yunnan province, PR China, have become tourist resorts since the latter half of the 1990s. Spontaneous, autonomous management of tourist facilities by local residents has become an important priority because tourism development through the construction of facilities by external developers does not necessarily contribute directly to increasing local residents' income levels and the development of local communities. Therefore the early achievement of autonomous management of tourist facilities is required. We investigated the formation process and joint management of tourist areas around Lake Lashihai in northwest Yunnan province, where farmers of the Naxi tribe operate autonomous equestrian tourism facilities. The results clarified that they manage the horse riding facilities democratically by distributing the profits equally and selecting a leader through the electoral process, contributing to an increase in their income levels.
