COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN AND BENEFITS OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE TURPAN VALLEY, XINJIANG AUTONOMOUS REGION OF CHINA

While western scholars such as Jamal and Gertz (1995), Tosun (2005), Fallon and Kriwoken (2003), usually presume that community participation is critical to sustainable tourism development, Chinese scholar Wenjun Li (2006) boldly states that it is possible for a community to achieve benefits of tourism development despite weak involvement in the planning and management of a tourist destination. Our survey of government officials, tourist business operators and residents in seven locations in the World Heritage-listed Turpan Valley in the Xinjiang province found that top-down, government-led participation is necessary and desirable, and does not detract from stakeholders' perception that they are sharing in the benefits of tourism development in the region.