The problem of 'Guanxi' for actualizing community tourism: A case study of relationship networking in China

Abstract

Past studies have listed a series of barriers to actualizing the concept of community tourism in developing countries. This paper continues to explore such barriers in the context of China from the neglected yet important perspective of guanxi (literarily meaning 'personal relationship networking') by analysing how guanxi has become a major problem for actualizing the principles of community tourism in China. Focusing on a single-clan village in China's Anhui Province, the study examines how the incidence of guanxi stands as a stumbling block to the community residents' participation in the tourism development process. The examination indicates that such 'guanxi barriers' can manifest in two major forms: 'family guanxi' and 'business guanxi'. Together they create a 'circle of guanxi elites', in which equitable and active participation in the tourism development process, by all the community residents, is difficult to achieve.