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Sustainability Assessment of Cultural Heritage Tourism: Case Study of Pingyao Ancient City in China

Author

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  • Lisheng Weng

    (School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
    Center for Tourism Planning and Research, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China)

  • Bao-Jie He

    (Faculty of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia)

  • Lina Liu

    (Department of Management, Taiyuan Normal University, Jinzhong 030619, China)

  • Chenxi Li

    (School of Public Administration, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an 710055, China)

  • Xin Zhang

    (Shanghai Institute of Tourism, Shanghai 201418, China)

Abstract

Cultural heritage tourism (CHT) has become an important part of the tourism industry. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the sustainability of CHT destinations for tourism development. The majority of existing studies have examined the destination sustainability of ecotourism with the considerations of three stakeholder groups, namely, resource administration, tourist, and local community. However, the impact of tourism enterprises on destination sustainability has been constantly ignored in CHT-related studies. To fill these gaps, this study aims at developing an indicator system for comprehensively assessing the sustainability of CHT destinations. Specifically, this study identified an evaluation indicator system based on the Delphi technique and applied it to the context of Pingyao Ancient City in China. Results demonstrated that scores obtained by all four stakeholder groups ranged between 3.0 and 4.0 and the overall sustainability score was only 63.94, indicating that Pingyao was in the “somewhat sustainable” state according to the criteria (0−25, unsustainable; 25−50, somewhat unsustainable; 50−75, somewhat sustainable; 75−100, sustainable) specified in previous studies. A more balanced outcome should be achieved where each stakeholder’s interests are fully considered, but not at the expense of the others. The findings are of great significance for heritage tourism literature and sustainable destination management.

Suggested Citation

  • Lisheng Weng & Bao-Jie He & Lina Liu & Chenxi Li & Xin Zhang, 2019. "Sustainability Assessment of Cultural Heritage Tourism: Case Study of Pingyao Ancient City in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:5:p:1392-:d:211481
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Byron W. Keating, 2022. "CSR Commitment, Alignment and Firm Performance: The Case of the Australia-China Tourism Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-18, October.
    4. Mateusz Naramski & Adam R. Szromek, 2019. "Configuring a Trust-based Inter-organizational Cooperation Network for Post-industrial Tourist Organizations on a Tourist Route," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-20, June.
    5. Paweł Kłobukowski & Jacek Pasieczny, 2020. "Impact of Resources on the Development of Local Entrepreneurship in Industry 4.0," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-25, December.
    6. Pablo Altaba & Juan A. García-Esparza, 2021. "A Practical Vision of Heritage Tourism in Low-Population-Density Areas. The Spanish Mediterranean as a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-15, May.
    7. Na Xu & Yanpu Zhao, 2023. "A Moderated Mediation Analysis of the Relationship between Cultural Embeddedness of Regional Brand Products and Behavior Loyalty: A Case Study of Wudang Mountains in Hubei Province of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-18, May.
    8. Pan Jiang & Long Shao & Christopher Baas, 2019. "Interpretation of Value Advantage and Sustainable Tourism Development for Railway Heritage in China Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-17, November.

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