Pro-poor tourism and the Chinese experience

Abstract

Tourism and poverty are two phenomena that used to be studied separately. The concept of pro-poor tourism (PPT), which highlights the theoretical and conceptual recognition of the role of tourism in poverty alleviation, is relatively new to the tourism research sphere. The objective of this paper is to examine the concept and purposes of PPT and draw attention to the neglected studies of the links between tourism and poverty alleviation. This is done using the case of tourism development in rural China. The key benefits and challenges of PPT are also highlighted. The paper concludes that PPT is an effective tool against poverty, but the tourism communities should fundamentally shift their thinking about the socio-economic roles of tourism and make use of PPT proactively and attentively.