IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i18p4833-d264071.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Livelihood Capital and Strategy in Rural Tourism Households: A Seasonality Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Zhen Su

    (Department of Tourism Management, Business School, Guangxi University, No.100 East Daxue Road, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, China)

  • Joshua R. Aaron

    (Department of Management, Jones College of Business, Middle Tennessee State University, MTSU Box75, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA)

  • Yang Guan

    (Department of Tourism Management, Business School, Guangxi University, No.100 East Daxue Road, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, China)

  • Hongchen Wang

    (Department of Tourism Management, Business School, Guangxi University, No.100 East Daxue Road, Nanning 530004, Guangxi, China)

Abstract

As an inherent characteristic and pervasive market phenomenon of the tourism industry, seasonality plays an important role in tourist business survivability and sustainability. It is also a significant factor for rural households involved in tourism as they plan their livelihood strategies around it. In this study, household surveys were conducted in The Beautiful South , an area for rural tourism in Guangxi of Southern China. We analyzed the livelihood capital and strategy of different household types in response to seasonal fluctuations in tourism by applying a mixed method that integrated livelihood capital index (LCI) evaluation and data envelopment analysis. The results indicate that LCI of tourism income-oriented households ranks second among the four types of households, while the LCI of tourism-engaged households in peak season performed better than that of those not engaged. However, the number of households participating in tourism nearly halved during the off season, and they are mainly diverted to temporary labor work, which may be one of the reasons for the low livelihood capital efficiency of tourism households. The implications of the findings and empirical solutions to mitigate the negative seasonal impact are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhen Su & Joshua R. Aaron & Yang Guan & Hongchen Wang, 2019. "Sustainable Livelihood Capital and Strategy in Rural Tourism Households: A Seasonality Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-14, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:18:p:4833-:d:264071
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/18/4833/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/18/4833/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ma, Jian & Fan, Zhi-Ping & Huang, Li-Hua, 1999. "A subjective and objective integrated approach to determine attribute weights," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 397-404, January.
    2. Frank Ellis, 2000. "The Determinants of Rural Livelihood Diversification in Developing Countries," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 289-302, May.
    3. Manuel Rodríguez Díaz & Tomás F. Espino Rodríguez, 2016. "Determining the Sustainability Factors and Performance of a Tourism Destination from the Stakeholders’ Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-17, September.
    4. Jinhai Ma & Jie Zhang & Li Li & Zhanjing Zeng & Jingrong Sun & Qilou (Bill) Zhou & Yuling Zhang, 2018. "Study on Livelihood Assets-Based Spatial Differentiation of the Income of Natural Tourism Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, January.
    5. Jun Yin & Qingmei Tan, 2019. "Study on Urban Efficiency Measurement and Spatiotemporal Evolution of Cities in Northwest China Based on the DEA–Malmquist Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-13, January.
    6. R. D. Banker & A. Charnes & W. W. Cooper, 1984. "Some Models for Estimating Technical and Scale Inefficiencies in Data Envelopment Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(9), pages 1078-1092, September.
    7. Ming-Huang Lee, 2008. "Tourism and Sustainable Livelihoods: the case of Taiwan," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 961-978.
    8. Anup K. C. & Resham Thapa Parajuli, 2014. "Tourism and its impact on livelihood in Manaslu conservation area, Nepal," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 1053-1063, October.
    9. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    10. Ellis, Frank, 2000. "Rural Livelihoods and Diversity in Developing Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198296966.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mulatu Fekadu Zerihun, 2021. "Agroforestry Practices in Livelihood Improvement in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-13, July.
    2. Zhen Su & Ruyi Wen & Yanyu Zeng & Kai Ye & Tanaporn Khotphat, 2022. "The Influence of Seasonality on the Sustainability of Livelihoods of Households in Rural Tourism Destinations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-25, August.
    3. Huiqin Li & Peter Nijkamp & Xuelian Xie & Jingjing Liu, 2020. "A New Livelihood Sustainability Index for Rural Revitalization Assessment—A Modelling Study on Smart Tourism Specialization in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.
    4. Zhen Su & Kun Xian & Dandan Lu & Wenhui Wang & Yinghong Zheng & Tanaporn Khotphat, 2023. "Rural Tourism Households Adapting to Seasonality: An Exploratory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-19, September.
    5. Yugang He & Xiaodan Gao & Renhong Wu & Yinhui Wang & Baek-Ryul Choi, 2021. "How Does Sustainable Rural Tourism Cause Rural Community Development?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Yueyue He & Tanveer Ahmed, 2022. "Farmers’ Livelihood Capital and Its Impact on Sustainable Livelihood Strategies: Evidence from the Poverty-Stricken Areas of Southwest China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-24, April.
    7. Yaping Liu & Huike Shi & Zhen Su & Tafazal Kumail, 2022. "Sustainability and Risks of Rural Household Livelihoods in Ethnic Tourist Villages: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-26, April.
    8. Wookhyun An & Silverio Alarcón, 2020. "How Can Rural Tourism Be Sustainable? A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-23, September.
    9. Tran, Dung Duc & Huu, Loc Ho & Hoang, Long Phi & Pham, Tien Duy & Nguyen, Au Hai, 2021. "Sustainability of rice-based livelihoods in the upper floodplains of Vietnamese Mekong Delta: Prospects and challenges," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    10. Wang, Wenxiong & Lan, Yuanqin & Wang, Xu, 2021. "Impact of livelihood capital endowment on poverty alleviation of households under rural land consolidation," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    11. Jiaxing Cui & Ruihao Li & Lingyu Zhang & Ying Jing, 2021. "Spatially Illustrating Leisure Agriculture: Empirical Evidence from Picking Orchards in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-20, June.
    12. Xiaonan Zhao & Feng Lan, 2023. "The Impact of Livelihood Capital Endowment on Household Poverty Alleviation: The Mediating Effect of Land Transfer," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-17, July.
    13. Jianghua Guan & Ke Huang & Xi Lan & Junfeng Zhang & Huiqin Li, 2022. "Impact of Confirmation of Farmland Rights on Farmers’ Welfare: Based on the Micro-Empirical Investigation of Farmers in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-13, August.
    14. Xiang Deng & Min Zhang & Chunlin Wan, 2022. "The Impact of Rural Land Right on Farmers’ Income in Underdeveloped Areas: Evidence from Micro-Survey Data in Yunnan Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-16, October.
    15. Li Ma & Shijun Wang & Anders Wästfelt, 2022. "The Poverty of Farmers in a Main Grain-Producing Area in Northeast China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-16, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bhushan, S., 2016. "TFP Growth of Wheat and Paddy in Post-Green Revolution Era in India: Parametric and Non-Parametric Analysis," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 29(1).
    2. Mingming Su & Yehong Sun & Qingwen Min & Wenjun Jiao, 2018. "A Community Livelihood Approach to Agricultural Heritage System Conservation and Tourism Development: Xuanhua Grape Garden Urban Agricultural Heritage Site, Hebei Province of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-14, January.
    3. Shanta Paudel Khatiwada & Wei Deng & Bikash Paudel & Janak Raj Khatiwada & Jifei Zhang & Jiangjun Wan, 2018. "A Gender Analysis of Changing Livelihood Activities in the Rural Areas of Central Nepal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    4. Yang, Guo-liang & Yang, Jian-Bo & Xu, Dong-Ling & Khoveyni, Mohammad, 2017. "A three-stage hybrid approach for weight assignment in MADM," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 93-105.
    5. Ashish Aman Sinha & Hari Charan Behera & Ajit Kumar Behura & Amiya Kumar Sahoo & Utpal Kumar De, 2021. "Livelihood Assets and Income Generating Activities: A Comparative Analysis in the Scheduled and Non-Scheduled Areas of Jharkhand," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 15(3), pages 443-467, December.
    6. Franz R. Hahn, 2007. "Determinants of Bank Efficiency in Europe. Assessing Bank Performance Across Markets," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 31499.
    7. Alperovych, Yan & Hübner, Georges & Lobet, Fabrice, 2015. "How does governmental versus private venture capital backing affect a firm's efficiency? Evidence from Belgium," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 508-525.
    8. Wang, Zhao-Hua & Zeng, Hua-Lin & Wei, Yi-Ming & Zhang, Yi-Xiang, 2012. "Regional total factor energy efficiency: An empirical analysis of industrial sector in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 115-123.
    9. Ruiqing Yuan & Xiangyang Xu & Yanli Wang & Jiayi Lu & Ying Long, 2024. "Evaluating Carbon-Emission Efficiency in China’s Construction Industry: An SBM-Model Analysis of Interprovincial Building Heating," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-16, March.
    10. Azarnoosh Kafi & Behrouz Daneshian & Mohsen Rostamy-Malkhalifeh, 2021. "Forecasting the confidence interval of efficiency in fuzzy DEA," Operations Research and Decisions, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Management, vol. 31(1), pages 41-59.
    11. Costa, Marcelo Azevedo & Lopes, Ana Lúcia Miranda & de Pinho Matos, Giordano Bruno Braz, 2015. "Statistical evaluation of Data Envelopment Analysis versus COLS Cobb–Douglas benchmarking models for the 2011 Brazilian tariff revision," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 47-60.
    12. Rao, Nitya, 2017. "Assets, Agency and Legitimacy: Towards a Relational Understanding of Gender Equality Policy and Practice," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 43-54.
    13. Ahmad, Usman, 2011. "Financial Reforms and Banking Efficiency: Case of Pakistan," MPRA Paper 34220, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Ashrafi, Ali & Seow, Hsin-Vonn & Lee, Lai Soon & Lee, Chew Ging, 2013. "The efficiency of the hotel industry in Singapore," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 31-34.
    15. Büschken, Joachim, 2009. "When does data envelopment analysis outperform a naïve efficiency measurement model?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 192(2), pages 647-657, January.
    16. Babigumira, Ronnie & Angelsen, Arild & Buis, Maarten & Bauch, Simone & Sunderland, Terry & Wunder, Sven, 2014. "Forest Clearing in Rural Livelihoods: Household-Level Global-Comparative Evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(S1), pages 67-79.
    17. António Afonso & Ana Patricia Montes & José M. Domínguez, 2024. "Measuring Tax Burden Efficiency in OECD Countries: An International Comparison," CESifo Working Paper Series 11333, CESifo.
    18. Jahangoshai Rezaee, Mustafa & Jozmaleki, Mehrdad & Valipour, Mahsa, 2018. "Integrating dynamic fuzzy C-means, data envelopment analysis and artificial neural network to online prediction performance of companies in stock exchange," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 489(C), pages 78-93.
    19. Suhyeon Han & Shinyoung Park & Sejin An & Wonjun Choi & Mina Lee, 2023. "Research on Analyzing the Efficiency of R&D Projects for Climate Change Response Using DEA–Malmquist," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-23, May.
    20. Jan Fałkowski & Maciej Jakubowski & Paweł Strawiński, 2014. "Returns from income strategies in rural Poland," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 22(1), pages 139-178, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:18:p:4833-:d:264071. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.