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Heritage Tourism in a Historic Town in China: Opportunities and Challenges

ABSTRACT Heritage tourism is a driver of economic growth in many historic towns. However, these places often experience many problems and current planning usually does not address all the difficulties adequately. Small towns in peripheral areas often lack economic opportunities and rely heavily on cultural heritage to develop tourism. A conceptual framework was applied to examine the challenges and opportunities of heritage tourism development in a small historic town in Guangxi, China, based upon semi-structured interviews with decision makers, business operators and residents, supplemented by on-site observations and review of secondary data. Findings reveal that tourism provides incomes, fuels local economic development and increases awareness and knowledge of cultural heritage, but also brings changes to the town, presenting challenges to the community and heritage perpetuation. Stakeholders differ in the power that they bring to bear, and also in the positions that they hold on tourism development and heritage conservation. Insufficient financial resources and lack of adequate planning and effective management are impediments to heritage tourism. Adaptive planning, with broader community participation and greater collaboration among stakeholders, is proposed to achieve more equitable development.