Rural Tourism Households Adapting to Seasonality: An Exploratory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study
Date
2023
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Article
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
Journal Title
Rural Tourism Households Adapting to Seasonality: An Exploratory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study
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Abstract
The inherent vulnerability of tourism poses a substantial challenge to maintaining the productivity and stability of livelihoods among rural tourism households. Although tourism seasonality significantly influences the livelihood activities of rural tourism households, research exploring how they adapt their livelihood strategies to achieve optimal outcomes is limited. Employing an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design that combines thematic analysis and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), we investigated the relationship between the livelihood strategies and outcomes of rural tourism households under the influence of tourism seasonality in the Lijiang scenic spot of China. The results indicate that livelihood strategies adopted by rural tourism households include ÒTourism PersistenceÓ, ÒSeasonal EmploymentÓ, and ÒSeasonal FarmingÓ during the off-season and ÒExtending Working HoursÓ, ÒIncreasing Staffing InputÓ, and ÒIncreasing Capital InputÓ during the peak season. Furthermore, these strategies form flexible combinations to realize livelihood outcomes, with ÒExtending Working HoursÓ being a necessary condition. The findings also revealed that the four configurations of seasonal livelihood strategies in the two patterns significantly contributed to high livelihood outcomes. One is named ÒPeak-Season Driven PatternÓ; the other is named ÒPeak-Off Blend-Driven PatternÓ. These findings provide theoretical and practical insights for sustainable livelihood research. © 2023 by the authors.
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Citation
Sustainability (Switzerland)