Sustainable Tourism Development--How Sustainable are China's Cultural Heritage Sites

Abstract

In many countries around the world, the UNESCO World Heritage sites are major tourist attractions. The purpose of this study is to examine the level of sustainability of 28 cultural heritage sites in the People’s Republic of China. An analysis of the official websites of the –28 heritage sites was conducted using five sustainable development criteria: authenticity, tourists’ understanding of cultural value, commercial development, cooperation with the tourism industry and the quality of life in the community. Results showed most of the tourism destinations did well in authenticity preservation, commercial development and in obtaining economic revenue. For sustainable management of the sites, it was recommended that more attention should be paid to tourists’ understanding, tourism stakeholders’ collaboration and the environment of the community. As such, a triangular relationship is formed with management authorities, commercial enterprises and the community.