Evaluating Sustainability of Tourism Projects in Rural Land Development Base on a Resilience Model

Abstract

The underutilisation or overutilisation of various interdependent and interacting factors poses a challenge to sustainable development and requires the development of an appropriate methodology to evaluate the sustainability of tourism development projects in rural Land (TDPRL). However, most previous evaluations of TDPRL sustainability are macro-oriented and ignore the entire project life cycle. This study focuses on the resilience characteristics of TDPRL and proposes a “sustainable resilience model” based on physical-mechanical theory, which analyses various factors influencing TDPRL resilience based on the three dimensions of tractive force, driving force, and internal dynamic, and constructs a qualitative evaluation index system through stakeholder meetings. Then the analytic network process (ANP) is used to assess the resilience of TDPRL quantitatively. The rationality of the evaluation index system is validated through an empirical analysis of three rural tourism projects in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. We found that the resilience of TDPRL depends first on the project fundamentals, which include population, industry, location, and infrastructure. Second, local elites are crucial to rural tourism revitalization. Third, the project team should have sufficient capacity to provide tourists with satisfactory products and services, ensuring the project’s sustainable operation, and meeting the core demands of stakeholders. This study provides a novel tool for the decision-making and improvement of rural tourist project development and land use planning over the project life cycle.