Abstract
Water resources play a critical role in the sustainable development of river-based tourism. Reduced stream flow on the Lijiang River, south China, may negatively impact the development of cruise tourism. We explored the effects of stream flow changes on cruise tourism by determining (1) cruise tourism development indicators, (2) stream flow regime characteristics and their impacts on cruise tourism development indicators, and (3) climate variability and socio-economic factors effecting stream flow. Cruise tourism on the river has experienced rapid growth in recent decades. Stream flow regimes displayed no significant changes between 1960 and 2016, although dry season stream flow was significantly lower than in other seasons. We found that stream flow changes did not have a significant impact on the development of cruise tourism. As precipitation has not changed significantly, policies, including regulated stream flow from hydroelectric reservoirs, are assumed to mitigate reduced stream flow. However, increased irrigation and economic development, combined with future climate change, may increase challenges to cruise tourism. Future reservoir operations should prepare for climate change-related increases in temperature and insignificant changes in precipitation, and adopt adaptive measures, such as rationing water use in various sectors, to mitigate water shortages for supporting sustainable tourism development.
Highlights
Water is a foundational natural and economic resource that plays a critical role in sustainable development [1]
Tourism development has been booming based on the distribution of tourism resources and accelerating the economic growth in the Guilin region [17,18]
The cruise passenger index and the cruise ticket revenue index
Summary
Water is a foundational natural and economic resource that plays a critical role in sustainable development [1]. The boom in cruise tourism has brought about substantial local and regional economic benefits, including increased employment, infrastructure development and the expansion of urbanization [11] The consequence of these developments can have serious negative impacts on water resources and the natural environment [12,13]. The Lijiang River connects downtown Guilin and Yangshuo County with more than 18 scenic spots in the middle and lower reaches of the river with 3A or higher rankings. As such, it represents the core area of socio-economic growth in the Guilin region [17]. Yangshuo County is the southern core areas of tourism, and it contains a number of historic and cultural heritage sites, and karst landscape scenic spots
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