Regional ecotourism cooperation provides an institutional guarantee that brings together ecological resources development, protection of natural ecologies and regional economic growth, and also is one of the keys to improve the level of China’s ecotourism development. China’s administrative regions are divided by large areas of natural geography, such as vast tracts of land, mountainous areas and bodies of water. Given the structure of China’s administrative system, administrative areas make independent and uncoordinated decisions concerning the use of ecological resources, resulting in low-level ecotourism products and redundant construction projects undertaken by local governments, limiting the further improvement of China's ecotourism level. Therefore, it is necessary to construct a spatial system and a model of regional ecotourism cooperation in line with China's national conditions. This paper adopts an inductive deductive method analyze systematically the connotations and obstacles of China’s regional ecotourism cooperation, and proposes space development and cooperative model. Research shows that the inescapable choice is cross-regional ecotourism cooperation based on natural zonality, cultural similarity, coordinated regional economic development and policy integration. The key existing obstacles include administrative barriers, lack of motivation to cooperate and loose cooperation patterns. Future regional ecotourism cooperation should define the thematic function area, cooperation zones, scenic roads and ecotourist routes, to establish the cross-regional integration development system and realize systematic optimization. This study is of theoretical value for the development of regional ecotourism cooperation and the construction of spatial systems in China.
YU Hu, ZHONG Linsheng
. Influence Factors and Development Model of Regional Ecotourism Cooperation in China[J]. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 2017
, 8(5)
: 478
-484
.
DOI: 10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2017.05.005
[1] Andergassen Rainer, Candela Guido, Figini Paolo. 2017. The management of tourism destinations: a policy game. Tourism Economics , 23(1): 49 - 65.
[2] Cátia Jesus, Mário Franco. 2016. Cooperation networks in tourism: a study of hotels and rural tourism establishments in an inland region of Portugal. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management , 29: 165 - 175.
[3] Cooper C, Hall C M. 2007. Contemporary Tourism: An International Approach . Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann Limited.
[4] Dong S C, Zhao M Y, Guo P et al ., 2016. Development mode and countermeasures for international ecotourism zones along the Belt and Road. Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences , 31(6): 647 - 655. (in Chinese)
[5] Duan J J. 2012. Study on cooperative development of Qinba mountain ecotourism based on ecological compensation: taking Shanxi Qinba mountain as an example. Xi’an: Xi`an International Studies University. (in Chinese)
[6] Guo L X. 1997. Chinese ecotourism: The foundation of sustainable tourism. Progress in Geography , 16(4): 1 - 10. (in Chinese)
[7] Huang J B, Xiao H P, Li C et al ., 2013. The coordination modes of ecological tourism in prohibition development zones of the juncture area of Hunan, Guangdong and Jiangxi province: a case study of the world natural heritage Danxia mountain. Acta Geographica Sinica, 68(6): 839 - 850. (in Chinese)
[8] Huang J R. 2005. Public Management: A New Perspective. Beijing: Social Science Academic Press. (in Chinese)
[9] Li M L. 2015. On the regional cooperation mechanism of Chinese ecological tourism. Reformation & Strategy , 31(6): 148 - 151. (in Chinese)
[10] Liang Y H, Yang X J. 2005. The game-theory analysis on regional tourism cooperation and competition. Geography and Geo-Information Science , 21(2): 94 - 97. (in Chinese)
[11] Liu W D. 2014. Economic geography for spatial governance. Acta Geogrphica Sinica 69(8): 1109 - 1116. (in Chinese)
[12] Liu X Y, Chen G S, Chen X L. 2013. Be based on the perspective of stakeholder theory the region folk ecological tourism cooperation and development research in Hunan, Guizhou, Chongqing and Sichuan limbic areas. Economic Geography , 33(2): 189 - 192. (in Chinese)
[13] Lofo Resources Focus. Financing environmental services: The Costa Rican experience and its implications. The Science of the Total Environment , 1999. 157 - 169
[14] Lu D D. 2002. Formation and dynamics of the “Pole-Axis” spatial system. Scientia Geographica Sinica , 22(1): 1 - 6. (in Chinese)
[15] Lu Y T. 1996. Ecotourism and sustainable tourism. Economic Geography , 16(1): 106 - 112. (in Chinese)
[16] Ralf Buckey.1994. A Framework for Ecotourism. Annals of Tourism Research , 21(3): 661 - 664.
[17] Song Z Q. 2008. A discussion about some basic problems concerning the study on regional tourist cooperation. Tourism Tribune , 23(6): 74 - 79. (in Chinese)
[18] Stoffelen Arie, Vanneste Dominique. 2017. Tourism and cross-border regional development: Insights in European contexts. European Planning Studies , 25(6): 1013 - 1033.
[19] Tang C C, Zhong L S, Chen T. 2009. Characteristics of spatial differentiation and development modes for ecotourism resources in the Sanjiangyuan region. Resources Science , 31(11): 1825 - 1831. (in Chinese)
[20] Vítor Mendonca, João Varajão, Paula Oliverira. 2015. Cooperation networks in the tourism sector: Multiplication of business opportunities. Procedia Computer Science, 64: 1172 - 1181.
[21] Wang D G, Lu L, Chen T, et al ., 2005. A study on the evolution of resort system spatial structure of the pole——AXIS theory——a case of tourism region of Hulun Buir Aershan. Economic Geography , 25(6): 904 - 909. (in Chinese)
[22] Wang J Z, Li T Y. 2013. Review on tourist destination governance in foreign countries. Tourism Tribune , 28(6): 15 - 25. (in Chinese)
[23] Wu Z H, Hong C M, Zhong L S. 2005. A study on the residents’ perception and attitude towards ecotourism in Penghu islands. Tourism Tribune , 20(1): 57 - 62. (in Chinese)
[24] Xue Y. 2001. Several fundamental issues about regional tourism cooperation studies. Journal of Guilin Institute of Tourism , 12(2): 26 - 29. (in Chinese)
[25] Yang Y D. 2001. Research on tourism cooperation and development in south-western region. Journal of Guilin Institute of Tourism , 12(3): 58 - 61. (in Chinese)
[26] Zhang H X, Liu S W. 2006. A study on the cooperation of regional tourism in the middle area of China. Economic Geography , 26(4): 714 - 716. (in Chinese)
[27] Zhong L S, Ma X Y, Ceng Y X. 2016. Progresses and prospects of ecotourism research in China. Progress in Geography , 35(6): 679 - 690. (in Chinese)