Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management

Tourism Development and Rural Poverty Alleviation in China
Liu Huiyue, Li Zhoufei

Abstract
The paper selected data from each province in China from 2002 to 2016 for a threshold panel regression analysis. The empirical results show that tourism’s poverty reduction effect is even more significant in poor area, and the volatility of domestic tourism economic development and the poverty alleviation effect are negatively correlated. Moreover, the poverty alleviation effect of tourism varies at the different stages of tourism’s economic development. In the initial stage of development, tourism shows a positive effect on poverty alleviation. When tourism income exceeds 1.928 billion Yuan, the poverty reduction effect enters the second stage, which reduces poverty even further. As tourism income reaches or surpasses 114 billion Yuan, the poverty reduction effect enters the third stage, which still shows a little enhancement. Therefore, the government should formulate strategies for different stages of tourism development as well as reduce tourism’s economic fluctuations by adjusting the demand and industrial structures.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jthm.v9n1a1