Isaac Scientific Publishing

Journal of Advances in Economics and Finance

Effects of Tourism on Handicrafts Industry Development During the Process of Recovering from the Earthquake in Beichuan, China

Download PDF (1036.8 KB) PP. 147 - 155 Pub. Date: November 1, 2018

DOI: 10.22606/jaef.2018.34006

Author(s)

  • Chuntao Wu1, Mai Xianmin2*, Tingting Yuan1, JingTing Yuan1
    1School of tourism, Sichuan University, P.R. China
    2School of Urban Planning & Architecture, Southwest Minzu University, P.R.China

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of tourism development on innovation and diversification of ethnic handicrafts in a newly development natural disaster tourism site – Beichuan Qiang Tourism Area in Sichuan, China. Beichuan was one of the worst-affected regions during the Great Sichuan Earthquake of May 12, 2008. Fieldworks including site visit, participation and observation, semi-structure interview with the local elites and tourists’ questionnaire survey are methods used by this paper. The results indicate that tourism development has leaded to a diversity of the embroidery handicrafts and is re-shaping the embroidery industries now. It is argued that local Qiang embroidery enterprises should decrease the cost and tailor the products to increase the sales. The higher quality and authenticity of embroiders’ product should be emphasized so that tourists can see the reason for the higher price of the local hand-made products.

Keywords

Earthquake recovering; Beichuan; Qiang Embroidery; natural disaster destination management

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