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INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
Sustainable Development and Chinese Tourism Industry
Dr. Luo, Yan
Keiser University Graduate School
1900 W Commercial Blvd, Ft Lauderdale, FL, 33309
JUNE 2011
VOL 3, NO 2
Abstract
With the fast growth of Chinese tourism industry, sustainable development catches more and more
attention of professionals. Starting from the basic concept of sustainable development, this paper,
using China as examples, analyzes the inter-impact of sustainable development and tourism industry
in different aspects. Strategies to improve sustainability of one of famous Chinese tourism
destination are introduced.
Keywords: Sustainable development, Tourism, Chinese, Strategy
1. Introduction
Nowadays, "Sustainable" has become one of the newest hot topics. The term came into widely use in
1987 with publication of Our Common Future, the report of the World Commission on Environment
and Development (WCED), and then be spread to all over the world in different industries. Tourism,
as an industry which is one of the largest economic sectors internationally and depends a lot on the
destinations’ environments (natural, socio-cultural, and/or economic), must be taken into account of
the sustainable development issues. The concept of sustainable development has becoming a
catchphrase in tourism research and in the international development community. This paper will
concentrate on the sustainable development of tourism from three aspects, environmental, sociocultural,
and economic, according to its definition from World Tourism Organization (WTO). It
includes the relationship between sustainable development issues and tourism industry and the
strategies to improve its sustainability situation.
1.1. Concepts and Definitions
Generally speaking, "sustainability" represents an idealized state of society where people live to
satisfy their needs in environmentally sound and socially just ways so as to not compromise the
ability of other human beings from doing the same now and in the future (WCED 1987).
In the tourism field, the sustainable tourism was defined by Bramwell and Lane (1993 p.2) as “A
positive approach intended to reduce the tensions and friction created by the complex interactions
between the tourism industry, visitors, the environment and the communities which are host to
holidaymakers… (it) is not antigrowth, but it acknowledges that there are limits to growth (which)
vary considerably from place to place, and according to management practices.” The WTTC et al.’s
definition (1995 p.30) is “sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present tourists and
host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future. It is envisaged as leading the
management of all resources in such a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled
while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life
support systems”. In Buckley definition (2002), “sustainable tourism means tourism at any scale
with practical and proactive design, engineering, and management to reduce environmental
impacts". And from the latest definition from WTO (2004), "Sustainability principles refer to the
environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance
must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term development.”
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