The Impact of the Full-brown Development of the Jian Men Guan Scenic Zone, China to Local People's Livelihood

Abstract

The development of tourist industry has affected the livelihoods of local peoples' living around the scenic zones in China. However, only a limited studies exist concrete and detailed information on the impact of the development of tourist scenic spots on local people. This study aims to clarify the impact of scenic zone development to the livelihoods of local people in the surrounding area of scenic zones and it differentiation among local people. The study collected data by conducting interview survey to the scenic zone officers, household survey and practical observation in the Zhi Gong Village adjacent to Jian Men Guan scenic zone, Sichuan Province, China. The results of the study found out that the farmlands of some local people were expropriated for the development of the scenic zone; however, they reduced their reliance on agriculture and migrant work by having/taking the opportunity to enter the tourism business with their land compensation and preferential policies. In contrast, non-expropriated local people could not receive the benefit from tourism. And their main livelihood still has continued dependent on migrant work income, and the second livelihood has become less dependent on agriculture, but increased wage labor. The study concluded that the impact of the development of the scenic zone and local people livelihood have huge gap due to the differences between the location of farmland expropriation and the applied compensation policies of the Provinces.