Institutional and ecological factors shaping community participation in tourism under the Belt and Road Initiative in China and Madagascar
This study employs an institutional-ecological framework to compare China and Madagascar under the Belt and Road Initiative, revealing that China's superior community participation in tourism stems from its incremental institutional innovations and adaptive Confucian ethics, whereas Madagascar's lower engagement is hindered by path dependence and cultural conflicts, thereby offering strategic insights for advancing sustainable tourism and SDG goals in the Global South.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
Imagine two neighbors, China and Madagascar, who have decided to open their backyards to tourists. Both are part of a big global neighborhood project called the "Belt and Road Initiative," which is like a giant handshake agreement to help each other grow. The goal is to make sure that when tourists visit, the local families living there actually get to help decide what happens and get a fair share of the money.
This paper is like a detective story comparing how these two neighbors are doing. It asks: Why is one neighbor's backyard thriving with happy, involved locals, while the other is struggling to get anyone to the table?
Here is the simple breakdown of their findings, using some everyday analogies:
1. The "Family Tree" Problem (History)
Think of a country's history like a family tree.
- China is like a family that has been carefully pruning and growing its tree for decades. Even when they changed how they farmed or managed money, they kept the roots strong. They didn't chop down the whole tree; they just added new branches. This is called "incremental innovation." Because they kept their rules consistent (like a reliable family schedule), they built trust.
- Madagascar, on the other hand, is like a family that has had to replant its tree four times in a row. Every time they started to grow, a storm (political crisis) or a new gardener (colonial history) came in and tore the roots out. Because they keep restarting, they can't build deep roots. The paper calls this "path dependence," meaning they are stuck in a loop of starting over, making it hard to plan for the future.
2. The "Game Rules" (Politics)
Imagine tourism as a game.
- China plays with a centralized rulebook. The "referee" (the government) and the "players" (local communities) are on the same team. When the referee says "Go," everyone moves together. They have a system where local leaders are evaluated on how well they include the community, so they have to listen to the locals. It's like a well-oiled machine where every gear turns together.
- Madagascar is playing a game where the referee changes every few months, and the rules are different in every village. Sometimes the village elders make the rules; sometimes the church does; sometimes the government tries to, but they can't enforce it. It's like trying to play soccer when the goalposts keep moving and the referee keeps quitting. The paper calls this "fragmented governance," where the rules exist on paper but don't actually work in real life.
3. The "Heart and Soul" (Culture)
This is about what people believe in and how they treat each other.
- China uses Confucian ethics (a traditional system of respect and family duty) like a flexible toolkit. They took old ideas about respecting elders and family and turned them into modern business rules. For example, they use family trust to get loans or decide who gets a share of the money. It's like taking an old, sturdy wooden spoon and carving it into a modern, useful tool. It fits perfectly with modern tourism.
- Madagascar relies heavily on ancestor worship. While this is beautiful and unique, it can be like a glass wall. Some sacred sites or traditions are so holy that locals are afraid to let tourists in, or they are afraid that breaking a taboo will anger the ancestors. It's not that they don't want to participate; it's that their spiritual "rules" sometimes clash with the "rules" of making money from tourism. This creates a conflict that stops them from joining in.
4. The "Wallet" (Economics)
Obviously, having more money helps.
- China has a deep wallet. They can afford to build roads, train guides, and buy equipment. Because they have money, they can afford to experiment and fix mistakes.
- Madagascar has a very shallow wallet. They struggle to pay for basic things like electricity or training.
- The Big Surprise: The paper found that money isn't everything. Even though Madagascar is poor, they can still make it work if they change their "game rules" (institutions). For example, in some parks, they created a system where locals guard the animals and get a share of the ticket sales. It's not perfect, but it shows that good rules can help a poor family succeed even without a rich wallet.
The Bottom Line
The paper concludes that if you want local people to help run tourism and share in the profits, you can't just copy-paste a plan from one country to another.
- China's success came from keeping their rules steady, mixing old family values with new business ideas, and making sure everyone was on the same team.
- Madagascar's struggle comes from constantly changing leaders, rules that don't stick, and cultural traditions that sometimes block progress.
The main lesson is: You don't need to be rich to succeed; you need a system that works. If a country can fix its "game rules" and find a way to make its old traditions work with new ideas, it can help its people participate in tourism, even if they are starting with very little money.
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