A Research On The Sustainable Development Strategy Of Sichuan Forest Ecotourism

Ecotourism is publicly recognized as one of the most important ways for the sustainable development of tourism industry, as it can well deal with environmental protection and resource allocation in the course of developing tourism and achieve a healthy, continuous growth in the long run. Literature review finds that relative researches so far mainly focus on the definitions, connotations, and classifications of ecotourism and are short of empirical studies of its sustainable development. Thus it is of a great theoretical significance as well as of a promising social practicability for this dissertation to appeal to various theories and make a systematic study on the sustainable development strategy of Sichuan forestry ecotourism, taking forestry ecotourism, one of the main categories of ecotourism, as the subject and considering the practices of ecotourism development in natural reserves and forest parks.Subjects/tourists and objects/resources are two indispensable elements of an ecotourist system. This dissertation pioneers a multi-perspective, systematic study on the sustainable development strategies of forestry ecotourism resources, products, travelers, and markets at home and abroad, puts forward strategies and specific measures for Sichuan to develop its forestry ecotourism sustainably, and constructs an evaluation indices system to measure the degree of development sustainability.For the sustainable development of forestry ecotourism resources and products, forestry ecotourism resources (FERs) are classified according to their geographical features and natural features and forestry ecotourism products (FEPs) are categorized following the principles of common tourism products. Based on the elaboration of the development status quo of Sichuan forestry ecotourism scenic area/spot/item products, routine products, and destination products like forest parks and natural reserves, etc., a SWOT analysis is made on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the development of ecotourism in Sichuan. Area-specific operational strategies and elaborate works demonstrating strategy are suggested for resource development. And diversified product strategies and grand panda routines are proposed for product development.Area division is for the sake of harmonious development between different districts and for the objective of "zero obstacle tourism" by means of supplying tourists with a range of forestry ecotourism products which are characteristic of clear hierarchies and complete structures so as to meet various demands of customers from home and abroad in the end. Under these principles, five forestry ecotourism areas are classified in Sichuan: plains in the west, hills in the middle of the Basin, mountain areas surrounding the Basin, mountain areas in the southwest, and alps and plateaus in the west. And analyses are made on each accordingly.The objective of elaborate works demonstration is to construct a series of elaborate ecotourism works, build a unique brand of Sichuan forestry ecotourism, and establish an overall figure and good reputation of Sichuan forestry ecotourism products. Ten state-/province-level natural reserves and ten state-/province-level forest parks of a good accessibility are suggested for Sichuan to demonstrate its construction of forestry ecotourism areas or spots in this research.Diversified product strategies include the following: international safari; ecotourism to animal communities and natural birds; ecotourism to plants like flowers and azaleas, etc., virgin forests, and snowfields; ecotourism to ecological construction, environmental protection, and science education; summer vacation, leisure, and recuperation in forests. The strategy of grand panda products is mainly represented by the designing and programming of travel routines. And ten routines are proposed for Sichuan ecotourists and mass tourists, respectively, in the research.For the sustainable development of tourists and markets, demographic features and consumption characteristics of Sichuan forestry ecotourists from home and abroad are extracted and described on the basis of lots of literature review, field investigation, and data analysis. Here, the demographical features mainly include age, gender, and occupation, etc., and the consumption characteristics refer to components of expenditures and tourist sources. Also, the exterior factors like time, income, safety, and environmental difference and the interior factor of individual personality are listed and discussed as the conditions for the formation of ecotourists.As far as market analysis is concerned, the status quo of Sichuan forestry ecotourism market is discussed first. Then, in market positioning, Sichuan forestry ecotourism market is divided into home market and entry market, and first-level core market, second-level key market, and third-level opportunity market are segmented for both home market and entry market. It argues that specific marketing mix and promotion measures must be taken for different markets. It is also found that the main problems in Sichuan forestry ecotourism market lie in the relatively lower consumption level, the sharp conflict between customers' personalized demands and the sole supply of tourism products, and the need to improve tourists' ecological consciousness. While the prospect of Sichuan forestry ecotourism industry is analyzed, the research puts forward strategies and concrete measures for the development of Sichuan forestry ecotourism, as well, and suggests that we should convert potential tourists, short-term tourists, mass tourists, and soft tourists into real tourists, long-term tourists, ecotourists, hard ecotourists, respectively, in order to realize the sustainable development of tourists.Meanwhile, in order to measure whether and to what a degree forestry ecotourism can develop sustainably, an evaluation indices system is offered in the study. The indices system is formed by experts and indices weights are determined by fuzzy judgment method, with reference to theoretical evaluation and certification evaluation researches at present at both home and abroad. Our indices system is composed of 4 sub-systems (i.e., environment, resources, economy, and society), 11 indices, and 29 factors. The degree of forestry ecotourism sustainability can be calculated as per preset criteria by using fuzzy judgment method, which helps the periodical implementation and crucial breakthrough of the sustainable development of forestry ecotourism, not only enriching relative researches but also offering guidelines to practitioners.In the end, a case study is made on Tianquan Erlang Mountain Labahe scenic area, a good destination for forestry ecotourism as well as a state-level natural reserve and forest park. Our discussion is based on field work, questionnaire, and statistic analysis. It finds that the strategies and specific measures for the sustainable development of forestry ecotourism resources, products, travelers, and markets proposed in this research are feasible and the evaluation indices system is also effective.